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In A Glimpse of Empire, the artist and writer Jessica Douglas-Home's book on the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to India, the so-called Delhi Durbar held in honour of the coronation, and based on her grandmother's diaries, there is…

King George, who attached little importance to appearances and their effects, was dressed in a military uniform and helmet, and rode on horseback. The Queen followed behind him in sumptuous attire, drawing the attention of the gawping crowds. George simply got lost among the generals, and, looking at the magnificently

Aristocracy · Archive · Monarchies · Observations

Princess Feodora Romanova proved a distant relative of the Nazi Ernst Reventlow

Leafing through old newspapers, I came across a mention of Princess Theodora Romanov, widow of Prince Dmitri Romanovich, head of the House of Romanov and great-great-grandson of Nicholas I. A most attractive woman who looks wonderful for her 78 years, the Princess was born Dorrit Reventlow, of an

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Mores · Society Pages

After the wedding ceremony on 14 May 1962, the Greek princess Sophia and the Spanish prince Juan Carlos (the future King and Queen of Spain) set off for the royal palace in Athens in a carriage drawn by six horses

After the wedding ceremony on 14 May 1962, the Greek princess Sophia and the Spanish prince Juan Carlos (the future King and Queen of Spain) set off for the royal palace in Athens in a carriage drawn by six horses. The carriage is a far from ordinary one: it was

Cinema · Monarchies · Mores · People

Death of maître d'hôtel François Vatel at Chantilly on 24 April 1671

On 24 April 1671 the outstanding French maître d'hôtel, restaurateur, impresario and founder of catering, François Vatel, brought his life's journey to an end. Vatel's name has become a byword for restaurateurs and chefs the world over: the man was so devoted to his

Books · Monarchies · Observations · Paris · Nature

Long-lived fish in the ponds of Petit Trianon, Fontainebleau and Chantilly

The British writer Barbara Pym, in her ironic novel Crampton Hodnet, written in the 1930s and 1940s, observes that the fish in the ponds of the Petit Trianon are so old that they must have seen Marie Antoinette. In principle, some freshwater fish really do live for more than a

Architecture · Monarchies · Museums · Heritage · Paris

The Petit Trianon, built by Louis XV, blossomed under Louis XVI, when the palace passed into the ownership of Marie Antoinette, who made its interiors, poised between rococo and neoclassicism, her private retreat, where one could come only by her invitati

The Petit Trianon, built by Louis XV, blossomed under Louis XVI, when the palace passed into the ownership of Marie Antoinette, who made its interiors, poised in style between rococo and neoclassicism, her private retreat, where one could come only by her invitation. After the Revolution the palace was abandoned

Monarchies · Society · People · Humour

Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and the 1979 law on absolute primogeniture

While Europe is in quarantine, His Royal Highness Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, aged forty, is on manoeuvres. Sweden has not introduced a quarantine, although against the background of the other Scandinavian countries the situation does not look entirely cloudless. Let me clarify at once: Carl Philip is married to

London · Monarchies · Society · People

Elizabeth II's green outfit in her addresses to the nation from 1991 to 2020

Elizabeth II addressed the nation in the same outfit she wore for her first broadcast of this kind in 1991, after the outbreak of the Gulf War. Green is Elizabeth's favourite colour, and was the favourite colour of her father, George VI. The Queen spoke to the people

Aristocracy · Faith · Monarchies · Mores

In the late eighteenth century, marriages to foreigners were all the rage among the Russian nobility, and the foreign partners were at times not representatives of the hereditary aristocracy at all, neither counts nor even barons, but merely French…

In the late eighteenth century, marriages to foreigners, male and female, were all the rage among the Russian nobility, and the partners from abroad were at times not representatives of the hereditary aristocracy at all, neither counts nor even barons, but merely French émigrés or Italian singers. With the marriage

Monarchies · Mores · People

The Prussian King Frederick William I Recruited the Tallest Men to Be Found into His Regiment, Known as the King's Own

The Prussian King Frederick William I recruited the tallest men to be found into his regiment, known as His Majesty's Regiment. The minimum height of the soldiers in this regiment was 1 metre 88 centimetres, which is why the formation became known as the Potsdam Giants. One of

NB! · Monarchies · Humour

Only this king stood 160

NB! · Archaeology · Art · Monarchies · Museums · Rome · Humour

Overdosing on fillers: when the Emperor Trajan cannot be told from the Emperor Vespasian

Overdosing on fillers: when the Emperor Trajan cannot be told from the Emperor Vespasian. The large marble so-called Bosham Head of AD 121 was found in West Sussex in 1800 and is on display at the Chichester District Museum.