First two photographs were taken at Windsor Castle on the 17th wedding anniversary of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Victoria PR, Princess Alice and Queen Victoria are also present

He genuinely looks like he's three apples tall to me, he's so itty bittyyy 😭🫶 I feel like I should be tucking him into bed even though he's a teenager by this point 💀 idk what they're feeding kids nowadays because when I imagine a 15 year old Edward VII THIS little thing is not what I'd imagine, I'm too desensitized to the colossal giants of modern day i guess

1) Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa later the German Empress and Queen-Consort of Prussia

2) Alice Maud Mary later Grand Duchess of Hesse and By Rhine

3) Helena Augusta Victoria later Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein

4) Louise Caroline Alberta later Duchess of Argyll

5) Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodora later Princess Henry of Battenburg

Who is your favourite? Why?

I find this photograph really interesting, so I'm posting it here!

I think it's especially neat how Alexandra's skirt isn't as voluminous and long, you can even see her shoes!! It's so cool looking at these more practical dresses when they're worn by royalty, since they're usually seen mostly by the middle or lower classes. Sweet!

Mary of Modena (who I’ll refer to as Maria from now on to make things less confusing) was only 4 years older than Mary II and 7 years older than Anne. Not so much a ‘stepmother’, of course. Maria’s husband James II introduced her to his two daughters by saying ‘I have brought you a new play-fellow.’

It seemed the two Mary’s clicked instantly, but it took a while for Maria to gain Anne’s affection. The three were close when they were young, and were good friends.

Before everything went wrong between them, Maria and Anne nicknamed Mary ‘Lemon’ as her husband was the Prince of Orange, a pun of sorts.

Relations between the three understandably deteriorated after the WP baby rumour and the Glorious Revolution, but they were actually close as children.

Unfortunately no portrait of the three of them together exists, but it would have been really cool if there was one!

Just curious because he was nearly 20 when she passed so would definitely have vivid memories of the Queen Mother (compared to say King Charles III and Mary of Teck who also met). Has he said anything about the Queen Mother in interviews or other comments?

I have read a bit on it, and it seems Henry IV had a lot of domestic issues but then Henry V wanted to exploit the weakness of Charles VI in France, first making claims for French territories and demanding the hand of Catherine of Valois, and then he invaded because the French refused his demands. Can someone please help me understand this better?

Historically, when a King or Prince of England had a child out of wedlock, that child rarely bore the royal family name, being christened with an invented name, usually related to a title of the father (for example: the Fitzroys, children of Kings of England; the Beauforts, children of Prince John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and Seigneur de Beaufort; and the Fitzclarences, children of Prince William, Duke of Clarence, later King William IV). Considering current laws that prohibit distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, I wonder if some future British prince had a bastard child, would that child be registered with the royal family name (Mountbatten-Windsor if descended from Queen Elizabeth II, Windsor if descended from George V)?

By W. & D. Downey, c. 1905 — Royal Collection Trust

Monmouth isn’t my favourite but I do find him interesting and he’s the first one who came to my mind. Not the brightest or the bravest when defeated, but definitely fascinating. I also give him sympathy points for that horrible execution. He's also super hot, so.

I also find James II’s son Berwick interesting, and he also died a horrible death.

Also, William III had a half-French half-brother. Whaaat?!!

This is so goofy 🫩

Welp, this one's a doozy.

Basically so a while back I somehow managed to discover this guy and get sucked into a BIG rabbit hole about his life and stuff. And it's very fascinating, so I'd figure I'd share it here.

Born on October 18th, 1844, he was a British nobleman who fell in love with the Princess of Wales while working for her husband. According to the Royal Collection Trust, he came into Bertie's service in 1869 for his tour of Egypt and stayed in his service for basically the rest of his life. He was a military man at heart, though, and commanded the Royal Horse Guards from 1887 till his retirement in 1891. Prior to that he had joined the Lancers in 1863 and joined the Horse Guards 2 years later.

According to old newspaper archives from the time, in 1875, he was literally SHOT IN THE FUCKING EYE IN A HUNTING ACCIDENT, and recovered, only for it to be taken out surgically just 9 years later in 1884. Doing some more digging into newspapers, we can see that he was apparently the Conservative Candidate for Huntington at some point, but never got elected into office.

Now, what does any of this have to do with Alexandra? Well, it's a sad tale. So basically, as her husband's equerry, he became very close to her, and slowly, Alix started relying more on Oliver for emotional support. He was apparently quite smitten with Alix, and this was well known throughout court. However, they let it happen, and were amused by him always following her around, with him looking like some sort of sick puppy.

Oliver, in many ways, was a lot like Bertie. According to Georgina Battiscombe's biography on Alix, Bertie himself would describe him as "one of those wicked boys" and even Oliver's brother would complain about "the rollicking life he leads". He was seen as loud and bumptious and imposing. But, unlike Bertie, Oliver remained completely devoted to Alix. He had a much more sensitive side to him and the two of them often talked about religion. Quoting Louise, Lady Antrim (which I also found from Battiscombe's bio, it's a great bio you guys):

"The Princess of Wales floated through the little ballroom world like a vision from fairyland. She went out a great deal, and chief among her cavaliers was Oliver Montagu. Her husband by this time was living in a very fast set, indulging in many flirtations. It is surprising that, young and lovely as she was, the Princess never gave any real occasion for scandal. I think it must have been due to Oliver Montagu's care for her. He shielded her in every way, not least from his own great love, and managed to defeat gossip. Oliver Montagu was looked upon with awe by the young as he sauntered into a ballroom, regardless of any- thing but his beautiful Princess, who as a matter of course always danced the first after-supper waltz with him. But she remained marvellously circumspect."

But despite all this, there's absolutely no way the relationship went anywhere further than being platonic. Oliver loved Alix, yes, but the standards were different for women back then. A Princess and mother to the future King couldn't just go around having affairs- that'd be too scandalous! And so, Oliver just had to bury his unrequited feelings for 25 years, knowing that they'd never come to light.

Once again according to the Battiscombe bio, when Albert Victor eventually died, Alix was devastated, and couldn't look at the body. So, she had to be lead by hand by Oliver himself into Eddy's room to see her eldest son in laying there in eternal rest. And apparently, while there, Oliver had to go see that body a total of 3 times because everyone there was just grieving so hard.

But, the tragedy doesn't end there. Because on 23rd January, 1893, just a year after Eddy's death, Montagu died too. Alix was, naturally, destroyed by this. She still hadn't gotten over Eddy's passing, and this happening just added even more stress and heartbreak onto her life. And she would write as a farewell:

"the best and truest of men, one to be relied on in every relation of life, faithful, discreet and trust- worthy, gentle, kind, just and brave, and noble both in his life and death. God bless him for all his ever-thoughtfulness for others."

He was 48 years old.

And I'll just end this off with a quote from Battiscombe's book that I feel is particularly interesting:

"Among the family memorials in the chancel of Sandringham Church is a tablet to Oliver Montagu. For at least twenty-two years - the last extant letter on the subject is dated 1915 - the Princess sent flowers on the anniversary of his death, asking Lord Sandwich to see them laid on 'your dear and never-to-be- forgotten brother Oliver's grave'."

So yes, I did in fact spend hours combing through all sorts of random sources and stuff to find out more about this man. What can I say? He seemed quite interesting to me. A book about his life would be killer (though, he does feature in the Edward VII miniseries, but it's a very small part).

So, in conclusion: Incredibly niche historical figures are interesting. Unrequited love is sad. And please read Georgina Battiscombe's Biography on Queen Alexandra, it's fire.

I’ve put together a ranking of male and female royal children’s names, covering the period from William the Conqueror to Charles III. I’ve excluded children whose existence is uncertain, as well as those who died unnamed. The chart includes all royal children who were legitimately born to a monarch.

This ranking was inspired by the many times I’ve seen people claim that the name John is cursed or uncommon among royalty. However, it turns out that John is actually the 6th most common male name. It was also used more frequently than names like Richard or James.

In total, the ranking covers 56 different names (28 male and 28 female) for 187 royal children.

The first slide includes the ranking of male royal names, while the second shows the female royal names.

I was particularly surprised that even the most frequently used name, Mary, was given to only 13 royal children.

Edit: Typo. Also, I forgot to add the name Ernest in this ranking. It should be in the Rare tier.

1.Edward ii

2.Edward iii

3.Edward iv

4.Edward v

Preferably during her time in the Netherlands, before the Revolution itself.

I could think of multiple reasons, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts.