Monarchies · Heritage · Society · Paris
The Grand Collar of the Legion of Honour weighs 952 grams and is made of solid gold. It was first created in 1804 as a mark of distinction worn, among others, by Napoleon. It became the emblem of the President under the Third Republic. The example presented to Macron was
Art · Monarchies · Observations · People
Have you noticed that Napoleon, in his portraits from before the imperial period, looks like a completely different man? Take, for example, the portraits by Antoine-Jean Gros, Napoleon's official painter: "Napoleon on the Bridge at Arcole" of 1796 and "Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul"
Art · Monarchies · Observations · Paris · Humour
At the slightest indisposition I feel like Napoleon on Saint Helena in Vincenzo Vela's sculpture The Last Moments of Napoleon I. This sculptural portrait of the dying Bonaparte was a great success at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1867, and the statue was eventually acquired by Emperor
Architecture · Geography · London · Monarchies · Society
On 24 May London will launch an underground line named after Queen Elizabeth II, with 40 stations. The transit section of the Crossrail city railway has been called the largest construction project in Europe; work on it has been under way since 2009, and the total cost came to almost
Aristocracy · Books · Monarchies · Humour
What connects Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev and Boris Johnson, apart from perpetually dishevelled hair? To a certain extent, they may be called relations, by way of Tyutchev's second wife, the former Baroness Ernestine von Pfeffel. Ernestine's own brother, the Bavarian Baron Karl Maximilian von Pfeffel, who was
Archive · Monarchies · Nature
Nicholas II had two elephants: one Indian, one African. The Emperor liked to fuss over animals, bathed the elephants and fed them, and could watch the giants at play in their pool for a long time. The Indian elephant did not live long, having failed to adapt to the climate,
NB! · Faith · Monarchies · Moscow · Observations · Humour
Georgy Mikhailovich Romanov and his wife Victoria Romanovna at the Easter table. Judging by the economy-class bimetallic radiator, the cyan-style refurbishment of the flat and the restrained laying of the table, I would venture that the heir of the Romanovs and the Hohenzollerns has not, after all, left
Aristocracy · In the Press · Monarchies · Paris · Pop Culture
On the English-language Tatler website a long piece on the couture history of the House of Dior has appeared, written by Amelia Windsor, granddaughter of the Duke of Kent. Amelia is not merely forty-second in line to the English throne: she combines modelling with editorial work at Tatler,
Archive · London · Monarchies · Mores
The table is laid for a very small company: let us sup quietly, en famille. Banquet in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle in 1902
Art · Monarchies · Observations · Humour
Thanks are due to the sixteenth-century Flemish artist Cornelis Massys for capturing the loathsome Henry VIII
NB! · Archive · London · Monarchies · People
NB! · London · Monarchies · People
Elizabeth II turns 96 today. Many happy returns, and long may she reign!