On 1 August 1832, the thirteen-year-old
Princess Victoria of Kent made her first entry into her
diary; it was a diary, as she described it on its title page, which
had been given to her by her mother, the Duchess of Kent, at
Kensington Palace the day before. Bound in red, the diary bears the
stamp of her name in gilt letters: “H.R.H The Princess Victoria”;
it had been given to her so that…
On 16 March 1861, the Duchess of Kent,
born Princess Marie Louise Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and by
her first marriage, Princess of Leinigen, died at her residence of
Frogmore House, in Windsor Great Park. Though she had been mother
to Queen Victoria, the Duchess of…
Animals given to royalty could, of
course, become pets – but they could often be presented in the form
of political gifts, adding therefore to the monarch’s personal
sense of majestas. An example of this is the bay horse and three
brood mares, sent to Henry VIII by…
Out of her nine children, Queen Victoria
favoured her youngest, Beatrice. Known by the affectionate name,
Baby, the Queen both doted and depended on her daughter. Beatrice
was just four-years-old when her father, Prince Albert died
suddenly. At age fourteen, the Queen gifted Beatrice with a brooch
that belonged to her mother, Victoria, the Duchess of Kent. The
brooch is now set to fetch thousands…
The upcoming film Victoria and Abdul will
shine a light on the controversial friendship between Queen
Victoria and her servant, Abdul Karim, focusing on the colonialism
and Islamophobia of the time. Abdul Karim became a servant to the
Queen in 1887, alongside another Indian…
A long battle to keep one of Queen
Victoria’s most magnificent jewels in the UK seems to have been
won. The Queen’s sapphire and diamond coronet is now heading to the
Victoria & Albert Museum in London after it was bought and donated
by an Irish-American hedge fund…
It’s been more than a century since
Whitechapel, London witnessed a disturbing string of five murders
between 1888 to 1891 and historians and interested observers still
argue about the true identity of Jack the Ripper. In the
intervening years accusations have been levelled against a wide
variety of characters – both infamous and not – who may have been
the serial killer. The royal family…
It is hard to imagine British history
without Queen Victoria. So deeply has she made an impression on
British history and bestowed her name upon an era that we
could be momentarily forgiven for thinking that she had always
existed. During her reign, she oversaw a period of…
Since 1837, Buckingham Palace has been
the official London residence and ‘office’ of Great Britain’s
sovereigns. In the spotlight for nearly 180 years, the palace is
one of Britain’s most popular tourist attractions and has had its
fair share of historic moments. The…
Queen Victoria's Coronation fascinated Americans just as British Royal Family does now
11th July 2017
When Prince William and Kate Middleton
walked down the aisle 23 million Americans tuned in to watch. Due
to the time differences, this meant that those millions had to get
up incredibly early. Every single detail of the wedding was
covered. From the appearance of Kate’s tiara to the wedding
invitations and royal etiquette. Hotels around the US held
watch parties and many held their own. When…
