In the Press · Monarchies · Society

At the weekend in Edinburgh a woman was arrested for holding a placard that read: "Fuck imperialism, abolish the monarchy"

At the weekend in Edinburgh a woman was arrested for holding a placard that read: "Fuck imperialism, abolish the monarchy". In Oxford a man was arrested for walking out of a church during the proclamation of King Charles III and shouting: "Who elected him?" The police

NB! · Cinema · London · Humour

No, we are not changing our name: a notice on the door of the Prince Charles Cinema, London

Archaeology · The East · Observations · Science

A 1.8-Million-Year-Old Tooth Found in Excavations at Dmanisi in Georgia

Research team leader Georgy Bidzinashvili displays a human tooth 1.8 million years old, found during excavations at Dmanisi in Georgia. This and a number of other finds make the localities of Orozmani and Dmanisi the oldest sites of human settlement in the world outside Africa. But I think we

Art · Books · Museums

Viktor Vasnetsov, After Igor Svyatoslavich's Battle with the Polovtsians

Vasnetsov knew "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" by heart and often recited it. The first version of Vasnetsov's famous "Battle" is in the collection of the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve.

NB! · Archive · Monarchies · Humour

Prince Charles as Robin Hood

NB! · Observations

If Anyone Was Waiting for a Sign from Above, This Would Seem to Be It

Archive · In the Press · London · Monarchies · Observations · Mores

The other day I wrote about the Elle piece on Elizabeth's childhood

The other day I wrote about the piece in Elle on Elizabeth's childhood. The articles by the royal family's former governess appeared in various publications in Europe and the United States and astonished the public. The Windsors were astonished too, having given no permission for the

NB! · Observations

This Seems to Be Rather Too Much

NB! · Books · London · Monarchies

Camilla Parker Bowles's book blog is renamed The Royal Reading Room

Camilla's book blog, formerly the Duchess of Cornwall Reading Room, now goes by a far shorter name: The Royal Reading Room. The name of the website has also been promptly changed

Books · London · Monarchies · Mores · Nature · Ethnography

The Royal Bees at Clarence House and Buckingham Palace Were Informed of the Death of Queen Elizabeth II, Their Former Mistress, and That Their New Master Is King Charles III

I wrote in my book about the tradition of telling the bees important family news and notifying them of deaths. The English have long shared their joys and sorrows with their bees, and at moments of family bereavement the hives, too, are dressed in mourning. If the little bee houses

Archive · London · Monarchies · Mores

The mechanical horses of Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret and their nursery stable

The favourite amusement of Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret was mechanical horses. Not, of course, that the girls had not been riding since earliest childhood, and Elizabeth simply adored all horses, both her own and those passing by their house, and the Guards' chargers too. She even said that, were

In the Press · London · Monarchies · Mores

Governess Marion Crawford on the childhood of Lilibet and Margaret in the Duke of York's family

In 1950 the French weekly Elle ran a long feature on the childhood of Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, signed with the name of their governess, Marion Crawford. Marion relates how she came to meet the Duke and Duchess of York, son and daughter-in-law of King George VI, quite

Alexandr Radayev