Books · Monarchies · People

The small stature of Marina Mnishek and Tsar Dmitry and the story of the 1606 conspiracy

Aleksey Tolstoy has lines about how the pretender (False Dmitry) climbed onto the throne with his bride (Marina Mniszech) and dangled his legs with her. Marina Mniszech, the first crowned Russian tsaritsa, and her husband were indeed of very small stature. And if Tsar Dmitry was simply described as "

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Mores · People

Napoleon's mother explained her thriftiness by the prospect of having to support kings

Napoleon's mother once flatly refused to live at the Trianon; court life held no interest for her, and she kept fairly much to herself, even declining to attend her son's coronation. Of all her many original traits of character, what most bewildered the courtiers was the

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Mores · Saint Petersburg

"It is remarkable that in a country where white lead and rouge were in universal use among ladies, where a woman will not approach a window to beg alms without rouge, where in the very language the word red is an expression of outstanding beauty and where

Mademoiselle Vorontsova, known in marriage as Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, was the closest friend of Catherine the Great, director of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences and one of the best-educated women of her time. Among the unofficial recollections of Dashkova there is an episode about her marriage that

Art · London · Monarchies · Society

Naked Charles II and a seven-headed hydra with the heads of the conspirators on a medal commemorating the discovery of the Rye House Plot of 1683, a conspiracy to murder the King and his brother

The plot was to have been carried out while the King was away from London, but he returned from the races considerably earlier than planned and so saved himself. The conspirators were executed, as were many influential Whigs who had no direct part in the attempt on the King'

NB! · Aristocracy · Archive · Monarchies · Mores

When the ladies of the court, wearied by the unending ball that was the brief reign of Peter III, complained to him that in the tobacco haze of the boisterous public festivities they were obliged to rub shoulders with comic actresses and dancers, the Empe

A Christmas tree ornament shaped like a figure in a crown and a white fur-trimmed cape hangs on a branch beside a red toy bird.

NB! · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

King Charles III and Queen Camilla as Christmas tree ornaments

How do you like this Father Frost and Snow Maiden? King Charles III and Queen Camilla as Christmas tree ornaments

A young man in a green uniform with a red sash and order stars sits beside a table with decanters and glasses.

Cinema · Monarchies · People

Actor Edouard Philipponnat, aged 24, in the role of Emperor Alexander I

The Only Frenchman Cast in Ridley Scott's Epic "Napoleon" Plays the Russian Tsar. The role of Alexander I is played by the 24-year-old Édouard Philipponna

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Society Pages

The Yugoslav prince and member of the Serbian royal house Philip Karageorgevich and his wife Princess Danica present their newborn daughter, Princess Maria, to the world

Also in the photograph: Philip's firstborn, Prince Stefan; Danica's parents, the Impressionist painter Milan Marinkovic and Bepa Marinkovic; and Prince Philip's mother, Princess Maria da Gloria of Orléans-Braganza, in her second marriage Duchess of Segorbe

Art · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

Portrait of Charles IV of Spain from behind, painted from memory by Jean Bozil in 1820

A portrait of King Charles IV of Spain from behind, painted by the court miniaturist Jean Bozil in 1820, twelve years after his abdication, from memory. Apparently all that he could recall. Charles IV is that very King of Spain in whose stead the country came to be set to

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Mores · People

Napoleon's illegitimate sons Charles Denuelle and Alexandre Walewski and the Bonaparte name

Napoleon's illegitimate sons: Charles Denuelle, called the infernal bastard, Count Léon (1806-1881), and Alexandre, Count Colonna-Walewski (1810-1868). Each left numerous descendants, but none of the offspring of Napoleon's illegitimate sons had the right to bear the surname Bonaparte, although Count Léon pressed the

A child in a pink dress with silver patterns and a white cap holds a spear, with a dog standing on its hind legs beside.

Aristocracy · Art · Monarchies

Giuseppe Duprà painted a portrait of a child with a spear and a dog in 1766

Prince Maurizio Giuseppe of Savoy at the Age of 4. Portrait with a spear. Italian artist Giuseppe Duprà, 1766

NB! · Monarchies · Pop Culture

Napoleon's felt hat, allegedly worn by him in 1815, sold for €1,932,000

Napoleon's felt hat, allegedly worn by him in 1815, sold for €1,932,000. It is the highest price ever fetched at auction by any of Napoleon's hats