Books · London · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

Queen Camilla's book blog grows into a festival at Hampton Court near London

Queen Camilla's modest, not especially talented book blog has grown into a book festival of its own at Hampton Court, the English kings' country palace on the outskirts of London. It stands on the left bank of the River Thames. The festival bears the name of the

Art · Monarchies · Museums · Nature

A Plant-Made Replica of Elizabeth II’s Coronation Robe Is on Show at Sandringham House

Sandringham House is displaying a replica of Elizabeth II's coronation robe made from plants. Twenty-four florists selected a variety of leaves and blooms so that they could be arranged into a robe and patterns closely resembling the royal originals. Pampas grass, a great many cereal grasses, ferns,

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Observations

Descendants of Montezuma II became Spanish grandees and Dukes of Tultengo

You may marvel along with me, if you too had no idea that the descendants of Montezuma Xocoyotzin, the last Aztec emperor, exist today as a European aristocratic family. They bear the title of Dukes of Montezuma de Tultengo. In all, Montezuma II had between 19 and 150 children by

NB! · Monarchies · People · Humour

Napoleon, at about 168 cm, was taller than the average Frenchman and the average soldier, taller than his marshal André Masséna, than Admiral Nelson, Beethoven, Robespierre and Nicolas Sarkozy, and yet he remains in history a ruler of diminutive stature

Art · Monarchies · Society · People

Napoleon's Height in English Caricature and in Data on the French of His Time

Napoleon thought highly of his own portrait by Jacques-Louis David, which commemorates his Alpine victory at the Battle of Marengo, and ordered three copies of the canvas. What could better serve to strengthen Bonaparte's reputation than the image of a dashing horseman, his hair streaming in the

NB! · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

Here's Paul I, and I have nothing to add

NB! · Aristocracy · Monarchies

The Habsburg Family Tree

NB! · Architecture · Monarchies · Observations · Heritage · Society

The Lenin Monument in Kostroma, Erected on the Pedestal of the Monument to the 300th Anniversary of the House of Romanov

The Lenin monument in Kostroma, erected on the pedestal of the monument to the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov. One might say that this monument reflects three milestones of Russian history: the Tsarist, the Soviet and the present day, to which the monument owes the gaping holes in

White frames on a wooden wall hold photographs of restaurant guests, including a man in a suit and a woman wearing pearls beside a man.

NB! · Monarchies · Observations · Mores

Photographs of Georgy and Maria Romanov on the wall of the Old Pier restaurant in Kostroma

I do love studying the boards of honoured guests in restaurants. In the Staraya Pristan in Kostroma I found a photograph of Georgy Mikhailovich Romanov and Maria Vladimirovna Romanova, which answered the question of whether the present representatives of the Russian Imperial House had ever visited the city that was

NB! · Books · Monarchies · Education

The Copybook from Which Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich Learned to Write

NB! · Archive · Books · Monarchies

Ex Libris of Nicholas II

Cinema · Monarchies · Mores

Maïwenn's film “Jeanne du Barry” with Johnny Depp as Louis XV

It has been a long time since such a handsome costume drama as Maïwenn's "Jeanne du Barry" came out. Johnny Depp plays Louis XV, and at precisely the age the actor himself is now. His influential 25-year-old favourite, however, is played by the 47-