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Monarchies
NB! · Monarchies · Science
The Horseless Carriage, 1649
The horseless carriage, 1649. England. A self-propelled machine driven by clockwork. Devices of this kind were known at the courts of many European monarchs; in his time Peter I used something akin to such a machine in his mock processions.
Monarchies · Observations · Humour
Origins of the words suede and zamsha, Swedish gloves and the chamois
Our good old acquaintance, Carl Philip, Prince of Suede, that is to say, of Sweden. This form of the word, suede, came into English from French, where it took hold thanks to the expression gants de Suède, "Swedish gloves", the name for articles made of the very soft,
London · Monarchies · Humour
Elizabeth II sets an example of proper social distancing
The English royal family has reunited at Windsor Castle. In the photograph: the Queen's youngest son and his wife, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Princess Anne
Aristocracy · Monarchies · Observations · Humour
Seven-month-old Prince Charles of Luxembourg prepares for his first Christmas
Seven-month-old Prince Charles of Luxembourg, the first child of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and his wife Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy, is preparing to celebrate his first Christmas. I look at this photograph and remember travelling to Luxembourg by bus with Auntie Nina to buy meat for borscht, because
NB! · Archaeology · Monarchies · Museums · Science · People · Rome
A reconstruction of Nero's appearance, based on his bust in the Capitoline Museums, lets us see with what expression on his face he made a hell on earth
Aristocracy · Art · Monarchies · Observations · Mores
Wedding banquet of Joseph and Isabella at the Hofburg, golden service and sugar sculptures
That very wedding banquet of Joseph and Isabella, open to the widest public, was held in the Hofburg, the winter palace of the Austrian Habsburgs. At the centre of a table that looks modest beside the expanse of the colossal hall sat the imperial couple, Francis I Stephen and Maria
Aristocracy · Art · Monarchies · Mores
Van Meytens depicts the wedding procession of Joseph and Isabella entering Vienna
Most of the festivities in honour of the wedding of Archduke Joseph and Infanta Isabella of Parma, naturally, took place in Vienna. One of Van Meytens's paintings captures the entry into the city of a ceremonial procession of 90 carriages. However, in those years Vienna had no square
Aristocracy · Art · Monarchies · Mores
When the heir of the Austrian Habsburgs, Archduke Joseph, married the Spanish Infanta Isabella of the Italian cadet branch of the French Bourbons, his formidable mother, Empress Maria Theresa, commissioned a series of paintings, a sort of reportage from…
When the heir of the Austrian Habsburgs, Archduke Joseph, married the Spanish Infanta Isabella of the Italian cadet branch of the French Bourbons, his formidable mother, Empress Maria Theresa, commissioned a series of paintings, a sort of reportage from the magnificent wedding festivities, from the court painter Martin van Meytens.
Art · Monarchies · Observations · People
Henry FitzRoy in a cap in his portrait and possible reasons for the image
I do not know why Henry FitzRoy, the illegitimate son of Henry VIII and yet his heir, came to be captured in a nightcap in this portrait. I think the version that he simply did not want to climb out of bed, even when the artist had already arrived, and
Aristocracy · Cinema · Monarchies · Mores · People
Three versions of how Queen Fabiola met King Baudouin of Belgium
The role of Queen Fabiola on screen could quite well have been played by Dame Angela Lansbury, who, incidentally, is three years older than Fabiola and is alive and well even now, at 95. As for how Fabiola and Baudouin met, there are three most popular versions of their encounter.
Aristocracy · Monarchies · Mores · People
Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, Spanish aristocrat who became Queen of Belgium
Sweet Fabiola was, perhaps, the most colourful member of the Belgian royal family. And this had nothing to do with her formal status: from her youth, when she was not yet especially titled, despite her closeness to the court of Alfonso XIII, the Spanish aristocrat Fabiola de Mora y Aragón