#miscellaneousroyalfacts

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Miscellaneous Royal Facts . The story of the Buckingham Palace garden . . The site where Buckingham Palace now stands was originally a mulberry garden planted by King James I in which to rear silkworms. . In 1608 the King, in an attempt to provide impetus to the British silk industry, issued an edict encouraging the cultivation of mulberry trees and paid £ 935 ‘for the charge of 4 acres of land taken for His Majesty’s use, near to the Palace of Westminster, for the planting of Mulberry trees…’ . Unfortunately James chose to grow the black, not the white mulberry, and silk production never took off in Britain, but one of the original trees still survives, and bears fruit, in the Palace garden. . The design of the modern garden dates from 1825, when George IV began the conversion of the former Buckingham House to a Palace. He appointed William Townsend Aiton, head of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, to oversee the remodelling of the grounds and the creation of the lake; many of the trees planted under Aiton’s supervision still form the structure of the garden today. . When her children were young, Queen Victoria would play skittles with them in the garden and take them into the kitchen garden where they were allowed to eat their fill of fruit. Later, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth cleared many of the dense Victorian shrubberies themselves and introduced a wide selection of decorative flowering trees and scented shrubs. . . . #Miscellaneousroyalfacts #RoyalFacts #Facts #buckinghampalace #Gardens #Garden #Palace #Royalty #Monarchy #HouseofWindsor #History #london #England #RoyalFamily #Royal #BritishMonarchy #QueenElizabethII #ElizabethII #HerMajesty #princephillip #dukeofedinburgh #Gardening #London #londonhistory #RoyalHistory #thequeen👑 #thequeen #Flowers #westminster #CityofLondon (at Buckingham Palace) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9_nuo5DnKS/?igshid=17teqjor7vmut

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Miscellaneous Royal Facts . . Inside the Royal Mews . . ◼ Queen Victoria described it as ‘a small village which belongs to Buckingham Palace’ and it was here at the Royal Mews, which during her reign was home to some 200 horses, that her children learned to ride and where she established a school for the children of Royal Mews workers. . ▪ The Mews, which date back to the reign of Richard II when they were based on the site of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, were originally used to house the monarch’s falcons, but from the 16th century became stabling for horses. . ▪ The present Royal Family have made good use of them, and as children Prince Charles and Princess Anne were taken there by the Queen to feed sugar lumps to the horses. . ▪ From 1969 the Mews was home to Burmese, a gift to Elizabeth II from the Canadian Mounted Police and her regular mount for the Trooping of the Colour until 1986. . ▪ Several weeks ahead of the ceremony the Queen would practise riding side-saddle at the Mews. Although she now attends the ceremony in an open carriage, she still knows the name of every horse in the Mews. . . . #Miscellaneousroyalfacts #RoyalFacts #Facts #Royal #Mews #Horses #RoyalMews #TheRoyalMews #RoyalFamily #Royalty #HouseofWindsor #History #Heritage #Monarchy #ElizabethII #QueenElizabethII #HerMajesty #Britishmonarchy #London #BuckinghamPalace (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsWJAPWl7hM/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=w6yy5rzah0l0

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Royal Facts . . Prince William's Scar . ⬛ On 3 June 1991, William was admitted to Royal Berkshire Hospital after being accidentally hit on the side of the forehead by a fellow student wielding a golf club. . ⬛ He did not lose consciousness, but suffered a depressed fracture of the skull and was operated on at Great Ormond Street Hospital, resulting in a permanent scar. . ⬛ In a 2009 interview, he dubbed this scar a "Harry Potter scar". He said, "I call it (the scar) that because it glows sometimes and some people notice it - other times they don't notice it at all". . . . #MiscellaneousRoyalFacts #RoyalFacts #PrinceWilliam #DukeofCambridge #PrinceWilliamDukeofCambridge  #HisRoyalHighness #Royalty #RoyalFamily #BritishRoyals #HouseofWindsor #Monarchy #BritishMonarchy  #GodSaveTheQueen #HarryPotterScar #London # (at United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsWWGYhl8bM/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1rmclhbo6lvoi

[thebritishmonarchycouk]

Miscellaneous Royal Facts . . King George V was an avid stamp collector . . 👑 Even before he became King, George V, then Duke of York, was an avid stamp collector. . . ◼ The embryo collection, already of some value, was a gift from his father who had, in turn, bought it from his uncle, Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, as the clearance of a debt. All over the world, governors & high commissioners of British Colonies were instructed to look out for new issues & dispatch them to the monarch forthwith to augment his collection. . ◼ By 1904 the King had acquired both the Penny & Two Pence ‘Post Office’ Mauritius of 1847 – the world’s most prized stamps. The first of these was bought from the Earl of Kintore’s collection, while the second was acquired at auction in 1904 for a then record price of £ 1,450. . ◼ When a courtier asked the Prince if he had seen that ‘some damned fool had paid as much as £ 1,450 pounds for one stamp’, the reply from the Prince came: ‘I was that damned fool!.’ . ◼ When resident in London, the King would spent three afternoons a week with his stamp collection & was rarely interrupted. As well as collecting, he also took a great interest in stamp design. Stamp-sized artists’ sketches were submitted for his approval, & then returned to him for inclusion in the collection after the final versions had been printed. . ◼ When he died in 1936, the King’s collection consisted of some 250,000 stamps in 328 large red volumes, each of about 60 pages. The strength of the Royal collection lies in its completeness. Regardless of their attractiveness, George V never neglected any stamp issue with good provenance. . ◼ Later monarchs added their own albums to the Royal Philatelic Collection, & these include George VI’s Blue Albums & Elizabeth II’s Green Albums. . . . #Miscellaneousroyalfacts #RoyalFacts #StampCollecting #Stamps #PostageStamps . #HisMajesty #Emperor #TheKing #GeorgeV #KingGeorgeV #HouseofWindsor #Royalty #Royal #RoyalFamily #HeadofState #Sovereign #Monarch #Monarchy #BritishMonarchy #Britain #TheBritishMonarchy #GodSaveTheKing #History #Heritage (at United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsWXLH1l1py/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=t46mhst04ejb

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Miscellaneous Royal Facts . . Honeymoons onboard the Royal Yacht Britannia . . ◼ Britannia was used for four royal honeymoons, but sadly all four marriages ended unhappily. For Princess Margaret & Lord Snowdon; Princess Anne & Mark Phillips, Prince Andrew & Sarah Ferguson and Prince Charles & Diana their matches all ended in divorce. . . . #Miscellaneousroyalfacts #RoyalFacts #RoyalYachtBritannia #Yacht #Britannia #RoyalFamily #Royalty #Monarchy #HouseofWindsor #QueenElizabethII #ElizabethII #DianaPrincessofWales #CharlesPrinceofWales #PrinceWilliam #PrinceHarry #Princeandrew #PrincessMargaret #ZaraPhillips #princephillip (at The Royal Yacht BRITANNIA) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsWY9ynFi-h/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=akhrka4a89y0

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Miscellaneous Royal Facts . . Queen Victoria and her Border Collies . . . ◼ After her beloved Albert died in 1861, Queen Victoria took great solace in the companionship of her pet Border collies, who accompanied her everywhere. . ◼ First of her favourites was Sharp, acquired in 1866 & said to be ‘discriminating in his loyalty’ with allegiance to only a few people, including John Brown. . ◼ He also had a reputation for spoiling for fights with other dogs, but Victoria doted on him, had his portrait painted, his replica made in porcelain & silver statuettes &, after he died in 1879 at the age of 15, had a monument bearing his sculpture erected in the grounds of Windsor Castle. . ◼ Noble, another collie, was a member of the royal kennels from 1872 to 1887, & commemorated with a life-size bronze statue. He was a more docile character, described by Victoria as ‘the most “biddable” dog I ever saw & so affectionate & kind…’ When Noble became ill she even called on her personal physician, Sir James Reid, to administer medicine to the animal. When he died Victoria mourned Noble greatly, believing that he had a soul & a life after death. . ◼ Finally, Roy was the Queen’s companion Border collie, along with a fox terrier named Spot & a spitz named Marco, all three of them accompanying her on her donkey cart drives around Balmoral. . . . #Miscellaneousroyalfacts #RoyalFacts #Queen #QueenVictoria #Victorian #VictorianEra #HouseofHanover #HerMajesty #Empress #Royalty #Royal #HouseofSaxeCoburgandGotha #British #dogsofinstagram #Monarch #Monarchy #History #BritishMonarchy #GodSaveTheQueen #BorderCollie #BorderCollies (at United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/Brr38ZLl58E/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=q2ew8on0qpic

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Miscellaneous Royal Facts . . Golfing royals of Scotland . 👑 At first the monarchy was against it. Golf, decreed James II of Scotland, was interfering with archery practice & , on Sundays, taking precedence over church attendance. So in 1457 he banned it. . . 👑 But in 1501 James IV had his treasurer pay 14 shillings to a bowmaker in Perth to supply him with clubs. From then on a series of bills were paid on the King’s behalf – for golfing equipment & lost bets. James IV certainly played a game of golf with the Earl of Bothwell in 1504, & to ensure that golf ball manufacture remained local, he granted a monopoly to three Scotsmen with the proviso that the price of each ball should not exceed 4 shillings. . . 👑 Mary Queen of Scots became an avid golfer, kept a cottage at St Andrews, & is said to have presented her opponent, Mary Seton, with a necklace after losing to her. Mary later became the subject of great criticism when, in 1567, the Earl of Moray accused her of playing golf at Seton House, east of Musselburgh in East Lothian, only days after the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley – a murder in which she herself was implicated. Just 13 weeks later, on 15 May, Mary married the Earl of Bothwell – probably the murder culprit – & to appease his anger in their tempestuous relationship gave up not only golf but also other pleasures including hunting, playing cards & music. . . . #Miscellaneousroyalfacts #RoyalFacts #Golf #Royals #StAndrews #History #JamesIIofScotland #KingofScots #JamesIVofScotland #ScottishMonarchy #Scotland #MaryQueenofScots #QueenofScots #Royalty #Monarchy #Britishmonarchy (at Scotland) https://www.instagram.com/p/Brs6tJuFhuB/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ow5akjwe5wnj

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Miscellaneous Royal Facts . Queen Victoria’s love of donkeys . . 👑 Queen Victoria was so fond of her donkeys that one of them, named Jacquot, even travelled abroad with her to destinations such as Florence in her later years. . 👑 The duty of this intelligent creature, with a white nose & curiously knotted tail, was to pull ‘the Queen’s Chair’. . 👑 This was a little four-wheeled carriage rather like a sprung bath chair, with rubber tyres & a low step up to an interior upholstered in plain dark blue, with cushions in the same colour. . 👑 Jacquot was special for good reason. One day, whilst driving through the outskirts of Nice, Victoria saw a half starved & overworked donkey being ‘shamefully belaboured’ by two boys. . 👑 After making enquiries, she purchased the animal & had him shipped to England. Thereafter Jacquot accompanied her everywhere, with Her Majesty always at the reins – but with a ‘trusty groom’ at the head & ‘a Highland attendant’ at the rear to ensure her safety & security. . Victoria’s love of donkeys stemmed from her childhood. On 15 August 1823, aged four, she holidayed with her mother, the Duchess of Kent, at Townley House in Ramsgate, from where she was allowed to play on the beach with other children & enjoy donkey rides. . 👑 The future Queen also rode a donkey named Old Moses belonging to local woman, Betty Caley, up the track in the Malvern Hills leading to St Ann’s Well, a popular place for water cures. . . . #Miscellaneousroyalfacts #RoyalFacts #Queen #QueenVictoria #Victorian #VictorianEra #HouseofHanover #HerMajesty #Empress #Royalty #Royal #donkey #donkeys #isleofwight #HouseofSaxeCoburgandGotha #Monarch #Monarchy #History #BritishMonarchy #GodSaveTheQueen (at United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrqxNKkFBJQ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ft203tugzk4k