Latest news with #BritishMonarchy
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle's explosive disagreement that saw the demise of the 'Fab Four', according to royal author
It's no secret that Prince William and Prince Harry no longer see eye to eye. But there was a time before their well-documented feud when the brothers, alongside their wives, were lovingly dubbed the 'Fab Four' by the press.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Queen Victoria and John Brown WERE lovers: Channel 4 says it has uncovered 'extraordinary' new evidence of monarch's secret affair
Queen Victoria and John Brown were lovers, according to Channel 4, which says it has uncovered 'extraordinary' new evidence of the monarch's secret affair. The British monarch of 63 years, from 1837 to 1901, was widely known to have been extremely fond of her Scottish servant. But revelations about long-held rumours they were more than just fast friends are now set to come out in a new documentary, due for release on July 31. They are based on work by cultural historian Dr Fern Riddell in her new book Victoria's Secret, set for publication on the same day as the new film. It has long been thought Victoria spent the years after her beloved husband Prince Albert's death in 1861, when they were both aged just 42, in deep mourning. But Dr Riddell has now suggested the mother-of-nine's midlife was instead deeply passionate - and marked by a full-blown intimate relationship with John. In fact, sources have said her 'staggering' new evidence proves this 'beyond all doubt', The Mirror reports. She will present the hour-long special Queen Victoria's Secret: The New Evidence alongside TV lawyer Rob Rinder, who will act as 'a sceptical eye'. But revelations about long-held rumours they were more than just fast friends are now set to come out in a new documentary, due for release on July 31. Pictured: Judi Dench and Billy Connolly as Victoria and John in 1997 film Mrs Brown Adam Luria, head of documentary at production company Impossible Factual, said: 'This story has been keep secret for over 160 years, and Fern's book will shake the very foundations of the British monarchy and rewrite the history of our country.' Born in 1819, Victoria reigned for 63 years until her death in 1901 aged 81 - making her the longest-serving British monarch at that point, before the late Queen. She married her German first cousin Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. Victoria first grew close to John Brown after she took over the lease to the Balmoral estate in 1848, her beloved Scottish residence, Tatler reports. Local boy John, then 21, was working as a gillie on the estate, a type of servant who attends on hunting and fishing outings. Albert also made him leader of the queen's pony, which saw him accompany her on rides - and the two soon became friends. But Albert's death from typhoid in 1861 left Victoria distraught, withdrawing to another of her favourite residences, Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Seeing her mother's distress, her second eldest daughter Princess Alice, then 18, suggested John travel to the estate with her pony to cheer her up. His arrival massively helped the widowed queen and the pair started to spend more and more time together, with John joining her everywhere she went. Described as 'large taciturn Highlander with watchful eyes and a face apparently hewn from granite' by the queen's private secretary, many said he began to saw himself as her bodyguard. He was by her side when an assassination attempt was made on her at Buckingham Palace in 1872. She referred to him as 'darling' in letters and were even said to have slept in adjoining rooms - which foreign secretary Earl of Derby called 'contrary to etiquette and even decency'. Victoria's children and servants were unhappy about their close companionship - while the press mockingly nicknamed her 'Mrs Brown'. But he sadly died from an infection in 1883, with Victoria commissioning her favourite poet Alfred Lord Tennyson to write the inscription on his tomb. Her close companion of more than 20 years was buried in Crathie Kirkyard at the Royal Family's favoured church. She wrote to former home secretary Viscount Cranbrook mourning him as 'one of the most remarkable men'. 'Perhaps never in history was there so strong and true an attachment, so warm and loving a friendship between the sovereign and servant…', she penned. After his death, she is said to have started work on a biography of him. But her advisors, fearing speculation about a romance between the pair, expressed their disapproval and it is thought the manuscript was destroyed. It has also been claimed John's diaries and a memoir by Victoria about their relationship were destroyed too. And indeed, a priest named Norman Macleod claimed, on his deathbed in 1885, to have presided over a wedding between Victoria and John at Crathie Kirk. Victoria was buried with his mother's wedding ring on her right hand and a photograph of him in her left. Also in her coffin were a lock of his hair and several of his letters. Their rumoured romance has been the subject of contention and controversy for years - and Dr Riddell's work purports to put an end to the debate once and for all. Channel 4 commissioning editor Emily Shields said: 'It's so rare to find brand new evidence relating to well-known figures in history but Dr Fern Riddell's research into the relationship between Queen Victoria and John Brown is extraordinary. 'It will be thrilling to see Rob Rinder interrogate the details and ask if it's time for the history of The Widow of Windsor to be re-written.' Steve Maher, executive producer on the new documentary, said: 'This is a project that we've been developing with Fern for some time, and we are really excited to be working with Channel 4 to explore this compelling new take on the life and loves of Queen Victoria.' Dr Riddell's other works include The Victorian Guide to Sex: Desire and Deviance in the 19th Century and Sex: Lessons From History.
Bloomberg
02-07-2025
- Bloomberg
UK Royals Can Sacrifice More Than Queen Victoria's Train
When Queen Victoria first traveled by train in 1842 she marveled at its speed and comfort, describing the journey in her diary as 'delightful and so quick.' By 1869, she was enamored enough by rail travel to order her very own royal train on which to tour the country. A century and a half on, Victoria's great-great-great grandson King Charles III has announced plans to mothball the royal choo-choo, after using it just twice in the last 12 months, at an average cost per trip of nearly £39,000 ($53,570). If the monarch regrets the loss of the train, elsewhere in the official royal accounts, published Tuesday, there's news to put a smile on his face.
Irish Times
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Like him or loathe all he stands for, there's no denying King Charles is a climate visionary
Whatever your view of the British monarchy, King Charles III 's lifelong commitment to environmental causes looks increasingly prophetic, rather than the eccentricity it was once derided as. Never the empire-building, warmongering type of monarch, Charles spent most of his adult life cutting ribbons and hosting tea parties while vocally pursuing his personal interest in nature and conservation. Since his first big speech about pollution and over-consumption in 1970, he has championed environmental causes, long before such activity was popular or mainstream. He was ridiculed by the British tabloid press throughout the 1980s for converting his farm to organic methods when that was considered a cultish practice; for talking to plants, railing against modern architecture, and banning hairspray in his home to save the ozone layer. In advance of the Cop26 conference in 2021 , hosted by the UK in Glasgow, he converted his Aston Martin to run on a fuel blend made from surplus English white wine and whey from the cheese process. While hardly a scalable solution for transport fuel, he used the opportunity to highlight the importance of concrete actions rather than words. Mostly, Charles's views (and his aesthetics) have aged rather well. Since first reading EF Schumacher's groundbreaking 1973 book, Small is Beautiful: a Study of Economics as if People Mattered, the British monarch communicates a modern environmentalism that incorporates nature restoration, sustainable living and prudent resource management that has a broad appeal to both the horsey Tory conservationists and youthful climate strikers alike. READ MORE Of course, no amount of rewilding projects or climate initiatives can mask the reality that a monarchy is an institution that is fundamentally at odds with any egalitarian society. Nor is it a blueprint for a sustainable future in which, as Schumacher would have argued, decisions are best made at the lowest possible level. While he has certainly promoted a sustainable lifestyle, Charles's values of responsible and prudent property ownership are not in vogue with most of his fellow super-rich, who according to Oxfam burned through their share of the carbon budget in the first ten days of 2025 . Yet I'm betting that Charles's vision for stewardship and respect for nature will endure. It certainly helps that the Crown Estate, which is not directly managed by the British royals but influenced by them, owns so much land. The Crown Estate consists of 185,000 acres in England and Wales and a further 87,000 acres in Scotland, and nearly half of the foreshore around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and virtually all the seabed out to 12 nautical miles around Scotland. It also helps that its mandate is to create lasting and shared prosperity, and not a quick return. While most of the land is leased rather than managed directly, the Crown Estate has become a leading example of a portfolio managed for long-term impact and with future generations in mind. It netted nearly half a billion pounds in revenues from its offshore wind leases in 2024 alone, and manages its land holdings with a view to creating financial, environmental and social value now and for future generations. The Crown Estate is not the only good model of corporate sustainability and stewardship by any means. But if the King were toppled by his subjects tomorrow, it is hard to see the Crown Estate, which is supported by Acts of Parliament going back hundreds of years, tumbling with him. Some institutions are built – and designed – to last. At the root of the British monarchy's continuous power and enduring influence is land ownership. At present in Ireland, land is being accumulated by non-traditional, non-farming owners, mostly under the guise of stud farming and to exploit a tax loophole that has little to do with intergenerational equity outside of individual families. Prudent land management for nature conservation, carbon storage and associated community benefits requires policy and tenure stability, and also transparency about who actually owns the land. We also lack a vision for State-owned land, most of which is owned by Coillte. Both Coillte and Bord na Móna – which together own nearly 8 per cent of the land of Ireland – are operating under arguably contradictory and outdated mandates to both return a profit and to manage land for the benefit of people and nature. Monarchy is an archaic and antiquated way to run a country. But in our own forthcoming presidential election, perhaps there is an opportunity to choose a figurehead who can convincingly articulate the case for respecting nature, for managing land for the benefit of all, and for uniting around a common vision for the future.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Charles Just Took a Side in Andrew & William's Feud Amid Reports His Son Wants His ‘Disgraced' Uncle to ‘Vanish' From the Family
King Charles is dealing with his family's public image. After the royals had a busy weekend, it's clear where the Monarch stands with his disgraced brother. Prince Andrew was excluded from the Garter Day ceremony, held on June 17, for the fourth consecutive year. The disgraced Prince also did not attend the 2025 Trooping the Colour. His daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, also did not attend. Andrew has been a Garter Night since 2008, and sources say that he attended an event behind closed doors. '[Andrew] won't participate in the procession but he has been invited to the lunch and investiture,' a source told the Express. The act was seen as a compromise by both the King and Andrew, the insider added. More from StyleCaster Princess Beatrice Seemingly Snubbed by Royal Family Amid Reports William Wants Her 'Disgraced' Dad Banished Princess Anne Is Making King Charles Face the 'Devastating Reality' of His 'Incurable' Cancer The Order of the Garter was founded by King Edward III in 1348 and is considered the most senior and the oldest British Order of Chivalry. Andrew's reputation suffered after his involvement with convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. he resigned from his public roles with the royal family in May 2020, and had his honorary military affiliations and royal charitable patronages removed by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in January 2022 The news comes after it was reported that Prince William will try to excommunicate Prince Andrew from the royal family all together once he's king. 'Prince William has long had a strained and distant relationship with Andrew,' British royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News in May 2025, adding that William has 'a grudge against his disgraced uncle.' Related: According to Fordwich, William is careful about his family's reputation and doesn't want Andrew in the way. '[William is] very in touch with the public,' Fordwich said. 'Every public opinion poll has Andrew at the bottom, reinforcing Prince William's stance. Once king, no doubt, Prince William will ensure Andrew is completely excluded from royal life, as well as all public appearances.' 'Andrew's future within the royal family is beyond bleak, since Prince William is firmly opposed to any public rehabilitation with no foreseeable path back,' Fordwich claimed. 'He wants Andrew to vanish from public view.' 'Prince William's role within the royal family is more prominent and influential than ever, as is his center stage position in diplomatic relations,' British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard added to Fox News. 'He recognizes the public animosity towards Andrew. He views him as a complete liability with his series of scandals, both past and present, shoveling shame on the family,' the expert continued. 'His stance towards his uncle is tough. He will not entertain anyone toxic to the brand. Andrew will not be part of the streamlined monarchy.' William's issues with his uncle don't extend to Princess Andrew's daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Instead, the two, who are not working royals, are expected to take on larger roles once Prince William becomes King. 'When William ascends the throne, Beatrice and Eugenie will be valuable assets, and I'm certain they will get involved with royal duties. It makes perfect sense, because he will need them,' Ingrid Seward, royal author and editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, told Hello!. Best of StyleCaster The 26 Best Romantic Comedies to Watch if You Want to Know What Love Feels Like These 'Bachelor' Secrets & Rules Prove What Happens Behind the Scenes Is So Much Juicier BTS's 7 Members Were Discovered in the Most Unconventional Ways
