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Elena, Queen of Poland and daughter of the Russian Tsar Ivan III, wrote to her father in 1503 asking him to send her black sable pelts, and by all means with the fore and hind paws and claws attached. But by the custom of those years the hunters cut off
The East · Geography · Maps · Monarchies · Society
Out of the shards of the Ottoman possessions, Catherine planned to fashion a New Byzantine realm for her grandson Constantine, who was to be enthroned in Constantinople. On the map these lands are marked in red. Catherine is believed to have put faith in the Orthodox prophecy of Constantine, the
Monarchies · Science · Nature · Ethnography
In the West, wild carrot is called Queen Anne's Lace, in memory of the queen's love of needlework. It is held that Anne of Denmark, wife of the English king James I, brought to England a fashion for certain kinds of lace, together with splendour and
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This portrait of 1783 by the eighteenth-century Swedish painter Alexander Roslin is sometimes called a portrait of Marie Antoinette, more rarely of Madame de Lamballe; in catalogues the picture passes as a portrait of an unknown lady, which sounds closer to the truth. But what is interesting is not
London · Monarchies · Museums · People
Queen Victoria Stood Just 152 cm Tall. Look at this little black dress! The Queen wore this silk dress in mourning for her grandson Albert Victor, who died during the Russian flu pandemic in 1892. As the eldest son of Edward, Prince of Wales, Albert Victor was second in line
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Letter from Alexander Herzen to Alexander II, an Emperor Who Did Not Have to Cross a Square Drenched in Blood to Mount the Throne. Simple, clear and kind words. A cherished appeal. The request of a free Russian to grant the Russian people freedom, land and the spoken word. Much
Monarchies · People
The 85-year-old King Harald V of Norway takes part in the World Sailing Championship as skipper of the yacht Sira, with a crew of six. After a week's racing, the crew finished in tenth place. Harald V has a European Championship gold and five World Cup
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Tatler has published photographs of Princess Diana from her last summer holiday aboard the 64-metre yacht Jonikal, built at the Italian yard Codecasa in 1990 and owned by the Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed. On board this luxurious vessel Diana was spotted in the Mediterranean in 1997 with the
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Nicholas II and George V are such fun, swapping places in identical photographs to confuse everyone around them: the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen of their day. I just cannot decide whether this is already "Papasha from the Posters" or still "Two: Me and My Shadow"
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Prince Christian and Princess Alexandrine Augusta of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the future King Christian X of Denmark and Queen Alexandrine. The photograph was taken at Fredensborg Palace in 1903
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Tatler has taken note of gracefully greying celebrities, among them Princess Caroline of Hanover, Queen Letizia of Spain and, the most striking of all, Elizabeth McGovern. The steel-coloured locks swept back from the face of the 60-year-old American actress, who played the mistress of Downton Abbey, together