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Monarchies
Aristocracy · Monarchies · Heritage · Mores · People
Emperor Alexander III had a brother, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who was married to a German princess, Maria Pavlovna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Emperor Alexander III had a brother, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who was married to a German princess, Maria Pavlovna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The Grand Duchess was also known as Miechen. What a shrew she was! The whole life of the grand ducal couple was marked by bilious envy of the
NB! · Monarchies · Museums · Heritage
Tiara of Duchess Hilda of Luxembourg, set with 367 diamonds, stolen
The tiara of Duchess Hilda of Luxembourg, set with 367 diamonds, has been stolen. It was taken from the throne room of the museum in Karlsruhe Palace, straight out of its display case
NB! · Architecture · Monarchies · Heritage · Saint Petersburg
Figures from the Millennium of Russia: the first Romanov, Prince Pozharsky Mikhail with his sword drawn in defence of the fatherland amid our soldiers, and Vladimir Sviatoslavich with a cross raised to heaven, lying in the snow
NB! · Monarchies · Mores · Humour
Be that as it may, any picture of this throne is sure to be accompanied by a reminder that it once belonged to Catherine II, famed for her amorous adventures and free morals
Archive · Monarchies · Observations · Mores
The alleged erotic cabinet of an empress lacks any official confirmation
There is no official confirmation of this find, or indeed of the very possibility of such a cabinet. I have never come across a catalogue or a description of it either, nor even a printed mention in any serious source. Nevertheless, some of these objects have been photographed. Whether they
Monarchies · Observations · Mores · Saint Petersburg
Catherine the Great's erotic cabinet at Tsarskoye Selo and the inconsistencies of its legend
I came across a mention of Catherine II's erotic cabinet, supposedly discovered at Tsarskoye Selo by soldiers at the very start of the war. The story is murky and even contradictory, and there is a great deal of muddle in it. If soldiers found it, what were they
Monarchies · Observations · Rome
The Pythia's prophecy to Nero about 63 and versions of its interpretation
There is a legend that the Pythia told Nero to beware the year 63. He, so the story goes, took this as a reference to the age at which death threatened him. But the prophecy revealed itself where no one expected. It is said to have come true otherwise than
NB! · Monarchies · Museums · Heritage
Packaged like a good box of chocolates
Packaged like a good box of chocolates. The royal crown of France, made for the seven-year-old Louis XV, crowned in 1722. At the end of the nineteenth century some of its stones were replaced with bits of glass and sold
Monarchies · Mores · People · Humour
Queen Victoria and the Fashion for Jewellery Made from Teeth and Hair
Queen Victoria had a strange fondness for teeth. Whether it began when her mother commissioned a gold brooch containing a milk tooth of her eldest daughter, Princess Vicky, or earlier still, the passion grew into an impressive collection of jewellery set with teeth. Among Victoria's best-known pieces
NB! · Art · London · Monarchies · Mores · Humour
A necklace of the teeth of stags slain by Prince Albert, presented to Queen Victoria
NB! · Monarchies · Observations
Theories on the Origin of the Fleur-de-Lis from a Toad or Water Iris
There is a version that the king eventually tired of the toads and replaced them with the fleur-de-lis. The flower may be a heraldic adaptation of the shape of a frog, and its origin is sometimes linked to the water iris