The two Duchesses of Aosta, the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law, the aunt and the niece. Helen of France, the Dowager, gives a rather fascist looking salute, while her daughter-in-law, Anne of France, salutes more discretely, like her opinions. Photograph signed by King Victor Emmanuel III. He is posing on the terrace of one of…
Umberto, the Prince of Piedmont, and Future King of Italy, with Mussolini. These two men did not like each other. The Crown Prince was deeply antifascist but he did what he had to do to keep up appearances, as this photograph shows. King Victor Emmanuel III visiting military installations. Behind him, with a white…
My grandfather, George I, shared a profound bond with his sister Alexandra, who became Queen of England upon marrying Edward VII. They wrote to each other at least once a week, and Queen Alexandra made frequent visits to Athens. Pictured are the brother and sister during an intimate walk in the gardens of the Royal…
It was during the time when Spain was still partially Muslim, when Arab sovereigns still ruled certain provinces, despite the Christian Reconquista which had begun centuries earlier. King Peter the Cruel, or the Just, was staying in Seville when he learned that an Arab emirs, one of his own allies, was in possession of the largest,…
Naser al-Din Shah belonged to the Qajar dynasty and ruled during the 19th century. Slowly, his country began to descend into chaos, caught between the competing pressures of England and Russia. He was a very open sovereign. He visited Europe and was well received, he knew how to please. Following the example of his predecessors, and…
Princess Alexandra was the eldest daughter of King George I and Queen Olga, and married Grand Duke Paul of Russia. She died at 22, during childbirth, leaving behind two children, Dimitri and the subject of this photograph, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna the Younger. Maria was partly raised by her grandparents in Russia. She is pictured…
After a dozen or so years in New York, we felt the time had come to make a choice between the United States and Europe. We chose our continent. Our decision was aided by an event that changed all the rule: the fall of the Soviet Union. Personally, I was shocked. I never thought the…
Currently, both India and Pakistan have requested that the English Crown return one of their most precious and famous treasures, the Koh-i-Noor. Its existence can be traced back to the 14th century, when it belonged to an Indian maharajah. It later appeared in the possession of the Grand Moguls of India, the rulers of Afghani…
Queen Marie-Christine, widow of Ferdinand VII Marie Christine of Bourbon-Two Sicilies married her uncle, King Ferdinand VII of Spain. She was his fourth wife. King Ferdinand died shortly after, and Marie Christine found herself the Regent of her young daughter, Isabella. Civil war soon broke out; coups were orchestrated constantly. The political situation was explosive….
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna as a child, the Future Duchess of Edinburgh Maria Alexandrovna was the daughter of Tsar Alexander II and his first wife. She married Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, the second son of Queen Victoria. The queen opposed the marriage. She hated the Russians, both for their status as international political rivals…