In June 1941 five of Queen Elizabeth II’s cousins, Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, and Idonea, Etheldreda, and Rosemary Fane were committed to The Royal Earlswood Institution for Mental Defectives. It had been renamed some years earlier from The Asylum for Idiots but both names give you some idea as to the colour of the place.… Read More The Queen’s Hidden Cousins
I recently wrote a piece about the history of the royal tiaras featured in the first two seasons of The Crown. It turned into one of my longer posts just because Claire Foy, as Queen Elizabeth II, was given a multitude of tiaras and ornaments to wear. By comparison, this will be much shorter, as… Read More ‘The Crown’s Crowns (Season 3 & 4)
During a recent re-watch of The Crown, I was struck by an exchange between Princess Margaret and her dresser. Princess Margaret is deputising for her sister, the queen, and is just about to put on her tiara when she has a thought: “What about the state diadem tiara or the Cambridge lover’s knot?” “Those are… Read More ‘The Crown’s Crowns (Seasons 1 & 2)
History in the (Re)Making 