Some royal wedding dresses stand the test of time, others are always very much of the era they were worn but some are such instant hits that they take on a fame all of their own. The gown worn by the Queen’s only sister, Princess Margaret, for her wedding to photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones on 6 May 1960 at Westminster Abbey is definitely an outfit with its own place in history.
The only daughter of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh is known for her down to earth, no-nonsense approach to life and in many ways, the flowers chosen by Princess Anne for her wedding in 1973 to Captain Mark Phillips were that attitude in petal form. As she became the…
The wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, on July 23rd 1986, was really rather floral indeed. We expect all brides to carry a bouquet but Sarah, unlike many women in recent royal history, chose to wear flowers in her hair, too. As she made her way into Westminster…
The Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster Abbey is part of what is the oldest surviving medieval house in London. Its history is significant, but the room itself little seen, because it is not open to the general public. It is part of what is known as Cheneygates, the ancient house of the Abbots of Westminster, being built by Nicholas Litlyngton, who was Abbot from 1362-86 and whose initials feature in…
In addition to the six Tudor royal burials at Westminster Abbey, there are several more whose location is either unknown or well-hidden to the immediate eye. These royal children, whilst (almost) invisible in terms of a lack of memorial or a monument that is at best, unseen…
She was the first of The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s children to marry and her big day set the template for the royal celebrations that would follow in its wake. Princess Anne’s wedding to Mark Phillips, on 14 November 1973, was a huge state occasion with a massive…
Westminster Abbey to honour the late Professor Stephen Hawking
31st March 2018
On 20 March 2018, Westminster Abbey released a statement that the late Professor Stephen Hawking who passed away on 14 March 2018, would be honoured with a Special Thanksgiving Service, during which his ashes would be interred at the Abbey; a second statement was released on 28 March to confirm that this would now be scheduled to take place on Friday 15 June, with further details to be announced…
It’s perhaps the most famous and talked about royal wedding bouquet of all. The flowers carried by the Queen Mother, then Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, at her marriage in April 1923 have entered regal folklore after the bride used them to begin a royal wedding tradition known…
The second big royal wedding of the 1980s was, at the time, seen as a something of a turning point for the Windsors. When Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson in the summer of 1986, the bride was billed as a more relaxed royal who would bring a new outlook to the dynasty…
“Mary Queen of Scots”. These were the words I overheard from a visitor, passing their comment on the magnificent canopy tomb in the south aisle of the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey, erected on the orders of James I to house the remains of his mother, transferred from their first burial place of Peterborough Cathedral to the Abbey in 1612. However, tombs can tell only part of the truth…
