FeaturesHistory

Queen Victoria's Saloon

Queen Victoria’s relationship with the railway began on 13 June 1842, when she drove from Windsor to Slough with Prince Albert, to make the historic first royal journey by train to Paddington. This relationship would continue throughout her life and endure, even beyond her death, as the Great Western Railway conveyed the Queen’s body in the Royal Train from Paddington to Windsor for her…
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FeaturesHistory

Welcoming a Royal Bride to England

It was not simply the wedding but also the welcome attending the arrival of a future royal bride in England which came to be the subject of public interest; it provided after all, the first glimpse of her in the country in which she would be princess and of which in some…
FeaturesHistory

Royal History Mystery: The Flora Hastings Scandal

Today, we’re looking at a royal history mystery involving Queen Victoria and a controversy that swirled early in her reign. What was the Flora Hastings Scandal?A Royal DestinyQueen Victoria was poised for the throne from birth. By the time her uncle, William IV, became king in 1830, she was his only legitimate heir. She was the granddaughter of King George III and Queen Charlotte who…
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FeaturesHistory

The Chapel Royal, St James's Palace

The Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace first and foremost is the name of the Chapel Royal, that establishment of the Royal Household intended to meet the spiritual needs of the Sovereign; the secondary term refers to the building itself – a royal peculiar – in which…
HistoryInsight

Monarchy Rules: a look at George IV

George IV ascended the British throne 200 years ago today. Here, Royal Central’s Assistant Editor, Moniek Bloks, looks at the life of the Regent who finally got to reign.  The future George IV was born at St. James’s Palace on 12 August 1762 to George III and his queen, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Upon the birth, he automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay…
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Features

All the Queen's lockets

Lockets form an important part in Queen Victoria’s personal jewellery. The first of these lockets was given to the baby Princess Victoria and the last mentions of them occur at the end of her life. Like any object, therefore, they tell a life story in a new way. In briefly…
History

Christmas at Windsor to include gifts exchanged by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

The bicentenary of the births of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert will be celebrated by a small display at Windsor, once the setting for the many Christmases which the royal couple spent together with their growing family of nine children. Displayed in the Octagon Dining Room, it will recall the ritual of the Bescherung, [‘Giving of Gifts’] the traditional German custom of exchanging gifts on…
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