Category Archives: British Royals

Lady Anne FitzRoy, Illegitimate Daughter of King Charles II of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Lady Anne FitzRoy; Credit – www.wikidata.org

Despite fathering many illegitimate children with his mistresses, King Charles II of England had no children with his wife Catherine of Braganza. Charles II is an ancestor through his mistresses of many British aristocrats and of several women who married into the British Royal Family. Lucy Walter and Charles II are ancestors of Sarah, Duchess of York and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland and Charles II are ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York. Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth and Charles II are ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales, Queen Camilla, and Sarah, Duchess of York.

Lady Anne FitzRoy circa 1665 by court painter Sir Peter Lely; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on February 25, 1661, in Westminster, London, England, Anne was known by three names during her life: her name at birth, Lady Anne Palmer, her name after King Charles II of England recognized her, Lady Anne FitzRoy, and her married name Anne Lennard, Countess of Sussex. The surname FitzRoy comes from the Anglo-Norman Fitz, meaning “son of” and Roy, meaning “king”, implying the original bearer of the surname was a child of a king. Anne was the illegitimate daughter of King Charles II of England and one of his mistresses Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland in her own right. Anne’s paternal grandparents were King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France (the daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second wife Marie de’ Medici). Her maternal grandparents were William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison and Mary Bayning.

In 1642, the English Civil War broke out between King Charles I and the Parliamentarian and Puritan forces. When the situation deteriorated in the spring of 1646, the future King Charles II, then Prince of Wales, was sent out of England. The execution of King Charles I on January 30, 1649, made his son Charles the de jure King of England. Until the Stuart Restoration in 1660, when the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland was restored and King Charles II returned to England, he lived in exile in various places.

Anne’s mother Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland; Credit – Wikipedia

Anne’s mother was born in 1640 as Barbara Villiers, the only child of William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison and Mary Bayning. In 1643, Barbara’s father died in the First English Civil War, leaving his 18-year-old widow and his three-year-old daughter in financial difficulty. Barbara’s mother soon married Charles Villiers, 2nd Earl of Anglesey, her late husband’s cousin. The marriage was childless and Barbara’s stepfather died from smallpox in 1661.

Barbara was considered one of the most beautiful of the young Royalist women but her lack of a dowry did not help her marriage prospects. In 1659, Barbara married the Roman Catholic Roger Palmer, later 1st Earl of Castlemaine, against his family’s wishes. At the end of 1659, Roger and his new wife left with other supporters of the exiled Charles, Prince of Wales (the future King Charles II) joining him in the Spanish Netherlands. In 1660, Barbara became King Charles II’s mistress. After years of exile during the Commonwealth, on May 1, 1660, Parliament formally invited Charles, as King Charles II, to be the English monarch in what has become known as the Restoration. On May 23, 1660, Charles landed in Dover, England, and on his 30th birthday, May 29, 1660, King Charles II entered London in a procession.

King Charles II of England; Credit – Wikipedia

On February 25, 1661, Barbara gave birth to Anne, her first child. Anne was probably the daughter of King Charles II, although some people believed she resembled Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield. a lover of Anne’s mother but he was in France when Anne was conceived. Barbara did not doubt that King Charles II was Anne’s father. As a reward for Barbara’s services, Charles II created Roger Palmer Earl of Castlemaine in 1661. Despite not being Anne’s father, Roger Palmer always held her in high affection and made her his trustee and the chief beneficiary in his will.

Besides Anne, Barbara gave birth to five other children and it is surmised that they were all the children of King Charles II. Through their children, Barbara Palmer and King Charles II are the ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York, and their children Prince William, Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice, and Princess Eugenie.

The children of Barbara Palmer, probably the children of King Charles II, and therefore, probably the full siblings of Lady Anne FitzRoy:

In 1668, Anne’s mother sent her to be educated at the Visitation Convent in Chaillot, France, founded in 1651 by Anne’s paternal grandmother Queen Henrietta Maria who had returned to live in her native France. Anne was to be supervised by her grandmother but when Queen Henrietta Maria died the following year, Anne returned to England. Anne was again sent to France in 1671, to the Convent of English Benedictines in Pontoise, France where Lady Anne Neville was the Abbess. She returned to England after spending nearly two years at the convent.

Anne’s husband Thomas Dacre, 1st Earl of Sussex; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 11, 1674, at Hampton Court Palace, thirteen-year-old Anne was married to twenty-year-old Thomas Lennard, 15th Baron Dacre, a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Anne’s father King Charles II and the first cousin of Anne’s mother Barbara Palmer. Thomas was created Earl of Sussex upon his marriage to Anne.

Anne and Thomas had four children. Only their two daughters survived childhood. When Thomas died in 1715, his earldom became extinct because he had no sons but his daughter Anne succeeded to his baroncy.

  • Barbara Lennard (1676 – 1741), married Charles Skelton, a Lieutenant-General in the French army, no children
  • Charles Lennard (1682 – 1684), died in early childhood
  • Henry Lennard (born and died circa 1683), died in infancy
  • Anne Lennard, 16th Baroness Dacre in her own right (1684 – 1755), married (1) Richard Barrett-Lennard, died a few months after their marriage, had one son Thomas Barrett-Lennard, 17th Baron Dacre (2) Henry Roper, 8th Baron Teynham, had two sons and one daughter (3) The Honorable Robert Moore, had one son (4) Joseph Williams, had one son

Anne’s husband Thomas was considered a “popular but extravagant man” who lost money gambling. In 1688, after the Glorious Revolution forced Anne’s paternal uncle King James II of England to vacate the throne in favor of his daughter (and Anne’s first cousin) Queen Mary II and her husband and first cousin (also Anne’s first cousin) King William III, Anne and Thomas separated and it seems their marriage was dissolved. Anne and her two daughters joined the former King James II in exile at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris, France.

St. Peter and St. Paul New Church in Lyynsted, Swale Borough, Kent, England where Anne is buried in the churchyard; Credit – By pam fray, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13214529

Anne eventually returned to England where she died on May 16, 1721, at the age of 60, and was buried in the churchyard at St. Peter and St. Paul New Church in Lyynsted, Swale Borough, Kent, England. As for her former husband Thomas, due to his debts, he was forced to sell his 15th-century estate Herstmonceux Castle in Herstmonceux, East Sussex, England in 1708, and died in 1715.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Beauclerk-Dewar, Peter & Powell, Roger. (2006). Right Royal Bastards – The Fruits of Passion. Burke’s Peerage & Gentry LLC.
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020). Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Mistress of King Charles II of England. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/barbara-palmer-1st-duchess-of-cleveland-mistress-of-king-charles-ii-of-england/
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2016). King Charles II of England. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-charles-ii-of-england/
  • Fraser, Antonia. (2002). King Charles II. Phoenix.
  • Weir, Alison. (2008). Britain’s Royal Families – The Complete Genealogy. Vintage Books.
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2024). Anne Lennard, Countess of Sussex. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Lennard,_Countess_of_Sussex
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2024). Thomas Lennard, 1st Earl of Sussex. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Lennard,_1st_Earl_of_Sussex

Investitures – United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

The Princess Royal conducting an Investiture in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace in 2023; Credit – By Fcandice – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=135463762

Each year around 2,600 people are personally invested with their honours by the Monarch or another senior member of the British Royal Family. Twice a year, in the New Year Honours and the June Birthday Honours, a list of the honour recipients is published. Most honours are awarded on the advice of the Cabinet Office, and anybody can make a recommendation if they know someone they believe to be worthy. To find out more visit https://www.gov.uk/honours

Investitures for those honours are held throughout the year usually in either the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace or the Grand Reception Room at Windsor Castle. Sometimes Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland, and other sites are used, even the field of battle as in the photo below.

In 1944, during World War II, King George VI invested Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey with his knighthood as Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, on the field of battle; Credit – Wikipedia

What kind of honours are awarded?

The current honours system consists of six orders of chivalry and four orders of merit. Those who receive two orders of chivalry, the Most Noble Order of the Garter and the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, are invested with the order’s insignia at separate specific ceremonies just for those orders.

The following orders of chivalry and orders of merit are awarded at Investitures.

Orders of Chivalry

Orders of Merit

Unofficial Royalty: British Orders and Honours

What happens at an Investiture?

King Charles III while Prince of Wales conducting an Investiture in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace in 1986

An Investiture is a formal ceremony in which those awarded an honour personally receive their insignia from a member of the Royal Family. The recipient will visit a royal residence with their family and friends to receive their honour. Around 60 recipients attend each Investiture. When the recipients arrive at the Investiture site, they are given a special pin to wear so that their insignia can be easily attached to their clothing when their honour is awarded. On the day of the Investiture, the insignia are carefully checked and laid out in the room where the Investiture will be held. The sword used for knighting is checked and put in its place.

The Monarch or senior member of the Royal Family enters the room attended by two Gurkha orderly officers, a tradition begun by Queen Victoria in 1876. On the dais are five members of the Yeomen of the Guard. Three Lady or Gentleman Ushers are on duty to help look after the recipients and their guests. The National Anthem is played, and then the military band or orchestra plays a selection of music during the Investiture.

Each year around 2,600 people are personally invested with their honours by the Monarch or another senior member of the British Royal Family. Twice a year, in either the New Year Honours or the June Birthday Honours, a list of the honour recipients is published. Most honours are awarded on the advice of the Cabinet Office, and anybody can make a recommendation if they know someone they believe to be worthy. To find out more, or to nominate someone for an honour, visit https://www.gov.uk/honours

King Charles III while Prince of Wales conducting an Investiture in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace in 2019

Either the Lord Chamberlain or the Lord Steward stands to the right of the Monarch or senior member of the Royal Family and announces the name of each recipient and the achievement for which they are being honoured. Each insignia is placed on a cushion and is then passed to the Royal Family member awarding the honour. The Monarch or senior member of the Royal Family is provided with a brief background for each recipient by their equerry as each recipient approaches, and then places the insignia on the person and congratulates them on their honour.

Sir David Khalili is knighted by King Charles III at Windsor Castle in 2022; Credit – By Khalili Collections CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=144431171

Men receiving a knighthood kneel on an Investiture stool to be dubbed. The Monarch or senior member of the Royal Family lays the sword blade on the right and then the left shoulder. Only men are dubbed. Women receiving a damehood, the female counterpart to a knighthood, receive that honour in the same fashion as those receiving decorations or medals.

After the Investiture, recipients gather outside in the quadrangle with their families and friends, where they can take photographs to remember the moment.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Behind the Scenes: Investitures. The Royal Family. (n.d.). https://www.royal.uk/behind-the-scenes-investitures
  • Hardman, Robert. (2007). A Year With The Queen. Simon and Schuster.
  • Investiture. (2024). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investiture
  • Investitures. Royal Collection Trust. (n.d.). https://www.rct.uk/collection/exhibitions/a-royal-welcome-at-buckingham-palace/buckingham-palace/explore-the-exhibition/investitures
  • Investitures. The Royal Family. (n.d.-b). https://www.royal.uk/investitures
  • Mehl, Scott. (2012). British Orders and Honours. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/current-monarchies/british-royals/british-orders-and-honours/

Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth, Illegitimate Son of King Charles II of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth; Credit – Wikipedia

Despite fathering many illegitimate children with his mistresses, King Charles II of England had no children with his wife Catherine of Braganza. Charles II is an ancestor through his mistresses of many British aristocrats and of several women who married into the British Royal Family. Lucy Walter and Charles II are ancestors of Sarah, Duchess of York and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland and Charles II are ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York. Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth and Charles II are ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales, Queen Camilla, and Sarah, Duchess of York.

Born in 1657, in Bruges, now in Belgium, then part of the Spanish Netherlands, Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth was the illegitimate son of King Charles II of England and one of his mistresses, Catherine Pegge (1635 – 1678). His surname FitzCharles comes from the Anglo-Norman Fitz, meaning son of, and so FitzCharles means son of Charles. His paternal grandparents were King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France (the daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second wife Marie de’ Medici). Charles’ maternal grandparents were Thomas Pegge of Yeldersley, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, and Catherine Kniveton, daughter of Sir Gilbert Kniveton, Baronet.

In 1642, the English Civil War broke out between King Charles I and the Parliamentarian and Puritan forces. When the situation deteriorated in the spring of 1646, the future King Charles II, then Prince of Wales, was sent out of England. The execution of King Charles I on January 30, 1649, made his son Charles the de jure King of England. Until the Restoration in 1660, when the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland was restored and King Charles II returned to England, he lived in exile in various places. From 1656 – 1658, Bruges was the base for Charles II and his court in exile.

Catherine Pegge’s father Thomas Pegge was the squire of Yeldersley Hall in Yeldersley, Derbyshire, England, and a staunch royalist. Thomas and his family were exiled to Bruges during the English Civil War following his capture while serving in the Royalist Army. During the Pegge family’s exile in Bruges, Catherine and Charles met and had two illegitimate children.

Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth had one full sister, Catherine FitzCharles, born in 1658. Very little is known about Catherine. Although some think she became a nun and died in 1759 when she was 101, she probably died young. Catherine seems to be confused with Cecilia FitzRoy (1670 – 1759), another illegitimate child of King Charles II who did become a nun.

In 1660, Charles’ mother Catherine Pegge married Sir Edward Greene, Baronet of of Sampford. Catherine and Edward had one daughter, Charles’ half-sister Justinia Greene (1667 – 1717) who became a nun at the Convent of English Benedictines in Pontoise, France. This was the first of the English convents in exile, founded specifically for English women who, until then, had no choice but to join existing communities on the Continent and often did not speak their language.

In 1672, Charles FitzCharles made his first appearance in England. His mother wanted to remind King Charles II of their son’s existence and the need to make provisions for his education and future. King Charles II appointed Sydney Lodge as his tutor and Robert Cheeke as his governor. Charles progressed so quickly with his education that King Charles II considered sending him to Cambridge University but then changed his mind. In 1675, eighteen-year-old Charles was created Earl of Plymouth.

King Charles II took great care in selecting a wife for Charles. At St. Mary’s Church in Wimbledon, Surrey, England, on September 19, 1678, Charles married Lady Bridget Osborne, the daughter of Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, the Lord High Treasurer for King Charles II. Their marriage was childless.

The city of Tangier, now in Morocco, had become part of the Portuguese colonial empire in 1471. When King Charles II married the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza he received Tangier as part of Catherine’s dowry. Sultan Moulay Ismail of Morocco unsuccessfully attempted to seize Tangier during the Great Siege of Tangier (March 25 – October 27, 1680). King Charles II allowed his son Charles FitzRoy to serve in Tangier. The King’s Own Royal Regiment was re-formed on July 13, 1680, as the 2nd Tangier, or Earl of Plymouth’s Regiment of Foot, with Charles FitzCharles as the founding Colonel. However, the decision to send him to Tangier was to have a fateful consequence. On October 17, 1680, 23-year-old Charles FitzCharles, Earl of Plymouth died from dysentery, a common killer of soldiers for centuries due to poor hygienic conditions in army camps.

Charles’ body was returned to England where he was buried in Westminster Abbey. In 1684, due to the cost of maintaining an army presence, Tangier was evacuated by the English. Charles’ widow Bridget, only sixteen when he died, remained unmarried until 1705 when she married Philip Bisse, a Church of England minister, and later a bishop.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Beauclerk-Dewar, Peter & Powell, Roger. (2006). Right Royal Bastards – The Fruits of Passion. Burke’s Peerage & Gentry LLC.
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2016). King Charles II of England. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-charles-ii-of-england/
  • Fraser, Antonia. (2002). King Charles II. Phoenix.
  • Weir, Alison. (2008). Britain’s Royal Families – The Complete Genealogy. Vintage Books.
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Catherine Pegge. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Pegge
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_FitzCharles,_1st_Earl_of_Plymouth

Chelsea Flower Show – United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Topiary elephants at the 2014 Chelsea Flower Show; Credit – By Eva Rahman Nishi – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32557857

In 2024, the Chelsea Flower Show will be held from May 21 to May 25. King Charles III and Queen Camilla along with The Duke of Gloucester and The Duchess of Gloucester will attend the preview show on May 20.

The Chelsea Flower Show, now held five days in May, is sponsored by the Royal Horticultural Society and held on the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, an Old Soldiers’ retirement home and nursing home in Chelsea, London. 157,000 people attend the Chelsea Flower Show each year. The number of visitors is limited by the capacity of the 11-acre/4.5-hectare grounds, and all tickets must be purchased in advance. Members of the British Royal Family attend the Chelsea Flower Show.

History

Chelsea Garden Show, May 19, 1914

Starting in 1833, the Royal Horticultural Society held flower shows at their gardens in Chiswick, a district in the London Borough of Hounslow, West London. In 1862, the flower show, called the Great Spring Show, was moved to Kensington Gardens in London and remained there until 1888 when the Royal Horticultural Society decided to move the flower show to Temple Gardens at The Temple, an area of the City of London surrounding Temple Church.

In 1912, the Great Spring Show was canceled at the Temple Gardens to allow an international horticultural exhibition to use the site. Instead, the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea were used for the 1912 Great Spring Show. It proved such a good site that the Great Spring Show was permanently moved there in 1913 and has taken place almost every year since, except for breaks during World War I and World War II. Eventually, the flower show came to be called the Chelsea Flower Show.

What Happens?

Visitors view the roses at the David Austin display stand at the 2023 Chelsea Flower Show

There are show gardens and competition gardens. Four grades of awards – gold, silver-gilt, silver, and bronze – are awarded for the competition gardens in the following categories: gardens and floral exhibits, exhibits of trees, exhibits of vegetables including herbs, exhibits of special educational or scientific interest and exhibits of pictures, photographs, floral arrangements, and floristry.

Sculptures made of wood at the 2023 Chelsea Garden Show

There are also special awards for best show garden, best courtyard garden, best chic garden, best city garden, sundries bowl, junior display trophy, floral arrangement trophies, floristry trophies, show certificates of merit, certificates for junior displays, Royal Horticultural Society President’s Award, Royal Horticultural Society Best Tradestand Award, and Royal Horticultural Society Director General’s Award for the Best Tradestand.

There have been several royalty-related show gardens including in 1937, the year of the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later The Queen Mother) – “Coronation Year: The Empire Exhibition”, with displays of ornamental and economic plants from around the British Empire.

A display created by Simon Lycett for the 2022 show in honor of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, featuring 70 terracotta pots – one for every year of The Queen’s reign – planted with Lily of the Valley

In 2022, the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee – 2022 – “The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Garden”, with laser-cut steel silhouettes of the Queen surrounded by 70 planted terracotta pots planted with Lily of the Valley, the Queen’s favorite flower.

The Back to Nature Garden

In 2019, Catherine, Princess of Wales, then Duchess of Cambridge, worked with the Royal Horticultural Society as one of the co-designers for a garden display “Back to Nature Garden”. The garden featured a tree house, a waterfall, a rustic den, and a campfire to emphasize the benefits the natural world brings to mental and physical well-being.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, then Duchess of Cambridge climbing up the ladder to the treehouse in the Back to Nature Garden

The Garden of Royal Reflection and Celebration, designed by Dave Green for the 2023 show, featuring a bust of King Charles III (on the right)

In 2023, the Garden of Royal Reflection and Celebration celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s life and King Charles III‘s coronation. The garden featured some of the favorite plants of both Queen Elizabeth and King Charles III.

The Princess of Wales having a picnic with students at the 2023 show

Also, in 2023, Catherine, Princess of Wales, hosted the first children’s picnic at a newly created garden at the show with students from ten schools from the Royal Horticultural Society’s school gardening campaign.

Royal Attendance

Queen Elizabeth II at the 2012 Chelsea Flower Show; Credit – By Guy Evans – https://www.flickr.com/photos/birminghamculture/7261536130/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33309054

In 1913, royal visits were yet to become a tradition. King George V and Queen Mary did not attend but the King’s mother Queen Alexandra did attend the 1913 show. Eventually, royalty became a significant presence at the Chelsea Flower Show. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later The Queen Mother) regularly attended the Chelsea Garden Show. Queen Elizabeth II visited fifty times during her seventy-year reign.

King Charles and Queen Camilla speak with Janet Fookes,  Judy Ling Wong, and Piet Oudolf after awarding them the Elizabeth Medal of Honour in the Garden of Royal Reflection and Celebration during the 2023 Chelsea Flower Show 

In 2023, King Charles III, accompanied by Queen Camilla, made his first visit as King. He presented the first-ever Elizabeth Medal of Honour given out to people who have had a “significant impact on the advancement of science, art, or the practice of horticulture for the benefit of all generations and the environment.” The Elizabeth Medal of Honour is limited to seventy recipients at any one time, in honor of Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign. The Elizabeth Medal of Honour may not be awarded every year, however, it may be awarded to multiple recipients in other years.

Today, just about any member of the British royal family could attend the Chelsea Garden Show. Usually, several members of the British royal family attend a preview of the show, as part of the royal patronage of the Royal Horticultural Society.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Piet Oudolf Receives Elizabeth Medal of Honour Presented by The King and Queen. Gardens Illustrated. (n.d.-a). https://www.gardensillustrated.com/chelsea/elizabeth-medal-honour-2023
  • RHS Chelsea Flower Show. RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024 / RHS Gardening. (n.d.). https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show
  • Royalty at Chelsea Flower Show Through the Years. Gardens Illustrated. (n.d.). https://www.gardensillustrated.com/chelsea/royals-at-chelsea-flower-show
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2024). Chelsea Flower Show. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Flower_Show

Charlotte FitzRoy (Charlotte Paston, Countess of Yarmouth), Illegitimate Daughter of King Charles II of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Charlotte Fitzroy; Credit – https://gw.geneanet.org

Despite fathering many illegitimate children with his mistresses, King Charles II of England had no children with his wife Catherine of Braganza. Charles II is an ancestor through his mistresses of many British aristocrats and of several women who married into the British Royal Family. Lucy Walter and Charles II are ancestors of Sarah, Duchess of York and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland and Charles II are ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York. Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth and Charles II are ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales, Queen Camilla, and Sarah, Duchess of York.

(Not to be confused with her half-sister Lady Charlotte Fitzroy, Charlotte Lee, Countess of Lichfield, illegitimate daughter of King Charles II and his mistress Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland.)

Born in 1650 in Paris, France, Charlotte Jemima Henrietta Maria FitzRoy was the illegitimate daughter of the future King Charles II of England and Elizabeth Killigrew. Her surname FitzRoy comes from the Anglo-Norman Fitz, meaning “son of” and Roy, meaning “king”, implying the original bearer of the surname was a child of a king. Charlotte’s paternal grandparents were King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France (the daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second wife Marie de’ Medici). Her maternal grandparents were Sir Robert Killigrew, the Vice Chamberlain to Queen Henrietta Maria, and Mary Woodhouse.

On October 24, 1638, at the King’s Chapel in the Palace of Whitehall in London, Charlotte’s mother Elizabeth Killigrew married Francis Boyle, the fourth surviving son of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork. For his military services in support of King Charles II, Francis was created Viscount Shannon in 1660.

Elizabeth and Francis had five children, Charlotte’s half-siblings. Her half-siblings Francis, Charles, and Elizabeth probably died young.

In 1642, the English Civil War broke out between King Charles I and the Parliamentarian and Puritan forces. When the situation deteriorated in the spring of 1646, the future King Charles II, then Prince of Wales, was sent out of England and eventually settled in France, where his mother Queen Henrietta Maria already lived in exile with his sister Princess Henriette and where his young first cousin King Louis XIV was on the French throne. The execution of King Charles I on January 30, 1649, made his son Charles the de jure King of England. Elizabeth Killigrew joined the royalist court-in-exile of Queen Henrietta Maria in France where she became one of the many mistresses of the queen’s son, the future King Charles II.

At the time of Charlotte FitzRoy’s birth in 1650, Elizabeth Killigrew was twenty-eight years old and the future King Charles II was only twenty. Elizabeth was the only mistress of Charles II who was older than him. King Charles II never publicly acknowledged Charlotte as his child. The reason for this may have been her mother’s desire to hide her affair. Charlotte was legally the daughter of her mother’s husband Francis Boyle, 1st Viscount Shannon.

When she was thirteen years old, Charlotte married James Howard, the son of Thomas Howard (son of Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk) and Werburga van der Kerchove. James was a playwright, and two of his comedies, All Mistaken, or the Mad Couple and The English Monsieur starred Nell Gwynn, a mistress of King Charles II. James Howard died in July 1669, aged about 29.

Charlotte and James had one daughter:

  • Stuarta Werburge Howard (1668 – 1706), unmarried, was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Mary II

Oxnead Hall, the home of Charlotte and her second husband after 1683; Credit – By Glen Denny, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79121974

In 1671, Charlotte married for a second time to William Paston, the son of Robert Paston, 1st Earl of Yarmouth. In 1683, William became the 2nd Earl of Yarmouth upon the death of his father. Charlotte was then Countess of Yarmouth. William inherited Oxnead Hall in Oxnead, Norfolk, England which became the home of Charlotte and William. William’s sons, brothers, and their male heirs predeceased him and his titles became extinct when he died in 1732. The Paston family is famous for the Paston Letters, a collection of letters between members of the Paston family and others written between 1422 and 1509. The letters are an important primary source of information about life in England during the Wars of the Roses and the early Tudor period.

Charlotte and William had four children:

Charlotte died suddenly, aged thirty-four, on July 28, 1684, at her home in London and was buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Beauclerk-Dewar, Peter & Powell, Roger. (2006). Right Royal Bastards – The Fruits of Passion. Burke’s Peerage & Gentry LLC.
  • Elizabeth Boyle, Lady Shannon. geni_family_tree. (2022). https://www.geni.com/people/Elizabeth-Boyle-Lady-Shannon/6000000000769939241
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2016). King Charles II of England. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-charles-ii-of-england/
  • Fraser, Antonia. (2002). King Charles II. Phoenix.
  • Weir, Alison. (2008). Britain’s Royal Families – The Complete Genealogy. Vintage Books.
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Charlotte Paston, Countess of Yarmouth. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Paston,_Countess_of_Yarmouth
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Elizabeth Killigrew, Viscountess Shannon. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Killigrew,_Viscountess_Shannon
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023a). William Paston, 2nd Earl of Yarmouth. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Paston,_2nd_Earl_of_Yarmouth

The King’s Guard and The Changing of the Guard – United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Soldiers of the Household Division on parade; Credit – By Photo: Sergeant Steven Hughes, RLC/MOD, OGL v1.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26910653

Guarding the British Monarch is the responsibility of seven army regiments called The Household Division. The Household Division is responsible for Mounting The King’s Guard (or The Queen’s Guard if the Monarch is female) – guarding the Monarch – at Buckingham Palace, St. James’s Palace, Windsor Castle,  the Tower of London, Horse Guards, Clarence House, the London home of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, adjacent to St. James’s Palace, and sometimes Holyrood Palace, the Monarch’s official residence when in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The regiments of the Household Division also participate in State Ceremonial events including The King’s Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour), the State Opening of Parliament, State Visits, the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph, and other events of national importance such as royal weddings and royal funerals. When some members of The Household Division are on their ceremonial duty rotation, the other members serve as active-duty soldiers. The Monarch is Colonel-in-Chief of all seven regiments in the Household Division.

Two regiments, known as the Household Cavalry, are on horses. The remaining five regiments, who wear the scarlet tunics and the bearskins, are the Foot Guards, infantry soldiers. The five Regiments of Foot Guards in the Household Division perform the mounting of the guard at Buckingham Palace, St. James’s Palace, Windsor Castle, the Tower of London, and Clarence House. The two regiments of the Household Cavalry mount the guard while mounted on horses outside of Horse Guards.

Regiments of the Household Cavalry

The Life Guards

A mounted Life Guard at Horse Guards; Credit – Wikipedia

The Life Guards is the most senior regiment of the British Army. They wear a scarlet tunic, a metal cuirass (a piece of armor covering the torso), and a matching helmet with a white plume on the top in an onion shape. The Life Guards wear their chin strap below their lower lip.

The Blues and Royals

A member of The Blues and Royals in uniform; Credit- Wikipedia

The Blues and Royals is the second-most senior regiment in the British Army. They wear a blue tunic, a metal cuirass, and a helmet with red plumes. The Blues and Royals wear their chin strap under their chin.

Regiments of the Foot Guards

(And how to tell them apart. It’s the buttons.)

Grenadier Guards

A member of the Grenadier Guards in uniform; Credit – Wikipedia

The Grenadier Guards have single buttons on their tunics and their collar badge is a grenade. The most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, the Grenadier Guards is the premier ceremonial regiment. It traditionally provides the pallbearers for deceased monarchs, most recently for Queen Elizabeth II. At the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, a color party from the Grenadier Guards was present in Westminster Abbey.

Coldstream Guards

A member of the Coldstream Guards in uniform; Credit – Wikipedia

The Coldstream Guards have buttons in groups of two on their tunics and their collar badge is the Garter Star and is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. In addition to other public and ceremonial duties, the band of the Coldstream Guards plays at the Changing of The Guard, state visits, and many other events.

Scots Guards

A member of the Scots Guard in uniform; Credit – Wikipedia

The Scots Guards have buttons in groups of three on their tunics and their collar badge is a thistle. They were the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland.

Irish Guards

A member of the Irish Guard in uniform; Credit – Wikipedia

The Irish Guards have buttons in groups of four on their tunics and their collar badge is a shamrock. They were formed in 1900 by order of Queen Victoria to commemorate the Irishmen who fought in the Second Boer War for the British Empire.

Welsh Guards

A member of the Welsh guard in uniform; Credit – Wikipedia

The Welsh Guards have buttons in groups of five on their tunics and their collar badge is a leek. They were formed in 1915, during the First World War, by the Royal Warrant of King George V.

The Sentry

For some reason, the gates of Buckingham Palace were open and this writer was able to take photos. Besides the sentries at their posts in the background, there were some heavily armed police officers. It appears that the sentry on the left is being changed. Credit – © Susan Flantzer, October 2018.

A sentry will be on duty at their post for two hours. There is a sentry box for the sentry to use in inclement weather. Every ten minutes, he/she comes to attention, slopes the rifle, and does a march of fifteen paces across the area of the post. The sentry does this four to five times. He/she then shoulders the rifle and stands at ease.

The sentry at Windsor Castle, directly across from the steps of St. George’s Chapel, July 17, 2015. Notice how close the people are to the sentry; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Sentries receive instructions on how to deal with nuisances or possibilities of threats from the public. The protocol begins with the sentry stamping and coming sharply to attention. He/she shouts: “Stand back from the King’s Guard!” If a person steps in front of a sentry while he/she is marching, the sentry will shout: “Make way for the King’s Guard.” If the initial protocols do not eliminate the nuisance or threat, the sentry repeats the protocol. If the nuisance or threat continues, the sentry will assume the position of port arms (holding the rifle diagonally in front of the body with the muzzle pointing upward to the left) and then point his/her rifle at the person, and shout, “Stand back from the King’s Guard!” If the warnings are not heeded the sentry then has the choice of detaining the person(s) himself or pressing the button in his sentry box to summon assistance.

At Buckingham Palace, the sentry on duty stands behind the gates so there is no direct contact with the public. However, at other sites, the public can get quite close to the sentry and sometimes become a nuisance. While at Windsor Castle on July 17, 2015, this writer witnessed such a nuisance from a young man (from a country whose young people were observed by my husband and me to be rude and disrespectful during our visit to England). As the sentry walked back and forth, this young man walked next to the sentry. This writer witnessed all the protocols in the above paragraph except for detaining the person or summoning assistance, so, yes, I did see the sentry in the photo above point his gun at the young man and shout, “Stand back from the Queen’s Guard!” This short video taken at Windsor Castle shows a similar situation: YouTube: Why you don’t harass the Queen’s Guard. Soon after this incident, ropes were installed between the sentry posts at Windsor Castle and the public to keep the public away from the sentry.

Changing The Guard

At Buckingham Palace, St. James’s Palace, and Clarence House

 

The King’s Guard at Buckingham Palace, St. James’s Palace, and Clarence House is provided by one of the five regiments of the Foot Guards – Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards, and Welsh Guards. The Changing of the Guard occurs behind the palace gates in the Buckingham Palace forecourt at 11:00 AM usually every day during the summer and on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday during the rest of the year. The public can observe the ceremony by standing outside Buckingham Palace gates.

The New Guard forming up on the parade square at Wellington Barracks before taking part in Changing the Guard in Buckingham Palace

The St. James’s Palace detachment of the King’s Guard, including the guard at Clarence House, the London residence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, adjacent to St. James’s Palace, is also changed during this ceremony. They march the short distance along The Mall to Buckingham Palace, where the Buckingham Palace detachment has formed up to await their arrival. These two detachments are the Old Guard. At the same time, the New Guard is forming on the parade square at Wellington Barracks located about 300 yards/270 meters from Buckingham Palace. When the New Guard is formed, it marches across into the forecourt of Buckingham Palace, advances toward the Old Guard in slow time, and halts. The Old Guard presents arms and then the New Guard presents arms. The captains of the guards march towards each other for the handing over of the palace keys. The new relief guards are marched to the guardrooms of Buckingham Palace and St. James’s Palace to await their sentry duty rotation.

The band by the center gate, in a half-circle, and playing music

Meanwhile, the band has taken its place by the center gate, in a half-circle, and plays music. The two regimental colors are paraded up and down by the junior officers. With the Old Guards and New Guards formed once again, the Old Guard marches out through the center gates in slow time to a regimental slow march played by the band. At the end of the slow march, the captain of the Old Guard gives the word of command to “Break into quick time” and with a brisk five-pace roll from the drums, the band leads the way back to Wellington Barracks.

The Old Guard leaving Buckingham Palace and returning to Wellington Barracks

At Windsor Castle

The New Guard marching from Victoria Barracks to Windsor Castle; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

A similar Changing of the Guard ceremony occurs at Windsor Castle. However, the ceremony takes place inside the Windsor Castle precincts, so a castle ticket is needed to watch the ceremony. The King’s Guard at Windsor Castle is provided by one of the five regiments of the Foot Guards – Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards, and Welsh Guards. The guards march from Victoria Barracks on Sheet Street, up the High Street, and into Windsor Castle, and the public gathers along the streets to see them marching to Windsor Castle.

A sentry on duty at Windsor Castle; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

At The Tower of London

The King’s Guard at the Tower of London

The King’s Guard, at the Tower of London is provided by one of the five regiments of the Foot Guards – Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards, and Welsh Guards, consists of one officer, six non-commissioned officers, and fifteen soldiers. A sentry is posted outside the Jewel House, where the Crown Jewels are kept, and outside The Queen’s House. Protecting the Tower of London is a joint effort of the King’s Guard, the Yeomen Warders, and the Jewel House Wardens.

The Ceremonial Opening at the Tower of London

Three main military ceremonies take place at The Tower of London. At 9:00 AM, during The Ceremonial Opening, a military escort and the Duty Yeoman Warder open the Middle and Byward Towers after which the public is allowed to enter. At 3:00 PM, The Officer of The Guard and an Escort, march to the Byward Tower to collect the Word. The Word is the daily changing password for after-hours entry to the Tower of London, used by Tower staff, residents, and the soldiers on duty.

The Ceremony of the Keys during the reign of Queen Victoria; Credit – Wikipedia

Filming is not allowed during the Ceremony of the Keys. C-SPAN was permitted to film the Ceremony of the Keys during the 1991 Economic Summit of the United Nations and the summit participants attended.

The third ceremony starts at exactly 9:52 PM every night, when the Chief Yeoman Warder with a military escort, secures the Tower in the centuries-old custom of the Ceremony of The Keys, during which the main gates are locked. Between 40 and 50 visitors can see the ceremony each night but tickets must be purchased in advance. The Chief Yeoman Warder, carrying a lantern, leaves the Byward Tower and falls in with the military escort.

 

The Warder gives his lantern to a soldier and marches with the escort to the outer gate. The sentries on duty salute the King’s Keys as they pass. The Warder first locks the outer gate and then the gates of the Middle and Byward Towers. (above photo)

 

The Warder and escort march to the Bloody Tower archway where a sentry challenges the party to identify themselves (above photo):

Sentry: “Halt! Who comes there?”
Chief Warder: “The keys.”
Sentry: “Whose keys?”
Chief Warder: “King Charles’s keys.”
Sentry: “Pass King Charles’s Keys. All’s well.”

 

The Warder and the military escort march down to the Broadwalk Steps where the main Tower Guard is in formation to meet them (above photo). The Warder’s party halts, and the officer in charge gives the command to present arms. The Chief Warder steps forward, doffs his bonnet, and proclaims: “God preserve King Charles!” and the Guard responds “Amen!”

On the answering “Amen!”, the clock of the Waterloo Barracks in the Tower of London strikes 10:00 PM, and the Last Post is sounded, marking the end of the Ceremony of the Keys. The escort is dismissed, and the Chief Warder takes the keys to the King’s House for safekeeping overnight

At Horse Guards

View of Horse Guards from Whitehall; Credit – Wikipedia

The King’s Life Guard is provided by the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, which consists of the Life Guards who wear red tunics and white helmet plumes, and the Blues and Royals who wear blue tunics and red helmet plumes. They serve as sentries, mounted on horses at the entrance to Horse Guards on Whitehall in London. Horse Guards, a building in between Whitehall and Horse Guards Parade, is still used for military purposes. Behind the Horse Guards building is the Horse Guards Parade. It was originally the courtyard in the middle of Whitehall Palace, built during the reign of King Henry VIII. Whitehall Palace was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, with the notable exception of the Banqueting House, were destroyed by fire. It is now the ceremonial parade ground used for royal and ceremonial events throughout the year.

 

Two mounted sentries guard the entrance to Horse Guards from 11:00 AM until 4:00 PM and are changed every hour. From 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM, a pair of dismounted sentries guard the entrance. At 8:00 PM, the gates of Horse Guards are locked, and a single sentry remains until 7:00 AM.

Horse Guards Parade; Credit – Wikipedia

The main ceremony occurs every morning. Every morning at 10:30 AM, the new mounted guard leaves the Hyde Park Barracks, and arrives at the Horse Guards Parade, behind the Horse Guards building, at 11:00 AM for the Changing of the Guard. When the Monarch is in residence in London, the guard consists of one officer and twelve other ranks including a trumpeter and standard bearer, known as a Long Guard. The Standard and trumpeters only parade with a Long Guard. When the monarch is not in London, the guard is reduced to two non-commissioned officers and ten troopers, known as a Short Guard.

The daily ceremony of Changing The King’s Life Guard on Horse Guards Parade; Credit – Wikipedia

The Old Guard forms up on the north side of Horse Guards Parade and the New Guard forms up on the south side. When both Guards have formed up, the Corporal Major, the senior non-commissioned officer, and the sentries of the first relief of the New Guard leave for the Guard Room which is then handed over. The sentries of the Old Guard, after being relieved, rejoin the remainder of the Old Guard on the North side of the enclosure. They then return to their barracks.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Changing the Guard. The Royal Family. (n.d.). https://www.royal.uk/changing-the-guard
  • Hardman, Robert. (2007). A Year With The Queen. Simon and Schuster.
  • The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace. (n.d.). https://www.buckinghampalace.co.uk/changing-the-guard.php
  • The Household Division – Official Site. (n.d.). https://www.householddivision.org.uk/
  • Wikimedia. (2024, February 19). Ceremony of the Keys (London). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceremony_of_the_Keys_(London)
  • Wikimedia. (2024, April 15). Guard Mounting. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guard_mounting#Unit Household Division ed_Kingdom
  • Wikimedia. (2024, April 19). King’s Guard. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Guard

Katherine Plantagenet, Countess of Huntingdon, Illegitimate Daughter of King Richard III of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Katherine Plantagenet’s father, King Richard III of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Katherine Plantagenet is one of the two recognized illegitimate children of King Richard III of England (reigned 1483 – 1485) and an unknown mother. Her date of birth is unknown but it is surmised that it was unlikely that Katherine was born before 1468, the year her father reached his sixteenth birthday. Some historians have suggested that Katherine’s mother may have been Katherine Haute who received an annual payment of five pounds from Richard and that Katherine Haute was the wife of James Haute, who was related by marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, the wife of Katherine Plantagent’s paternal uncle King Edward IV of England. Katherine’s paternal grandparents were Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, a claimant to the English throne and the Yorkist leader during the Wars of the Roses until he died in battle in 1460, and Cecily Neville. Both Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville were great-grandchildren of King Edward III of England. John’s paternal uncle was King Edward IV of England.

Katherine had one royal half-brother from his father’s marriage to Anne Neville:

Nothing is known of Katherine’s childhood. The earliest mention of Katherine in contemporary documents is her marriage contract, dated February 29, 1484. The groom, William Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon, agreed “ to take to wife Dame Katherine Plantagenet, daughter of the King before Michaelmas of that year”. William Herbert was the son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Anne Devereux. He had succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Pembroke in 1469. William was a staunch Yorkist, and his first wife was Mary Woodville, the sister of Elizabeth Woodville, the wife of the Yorkist King Edward IV. William and Mary had one daughter, Elizabeth Herbert, 3rd Baroness Herbert, her father’s only child and heir. The death of William’s wife Mary Woodville in 1481 weakened his links with the House of York and he was forced to give up the Earldom of Pembroke with its accompanying lands in Wales to King Edward IV’s son, the future King Edward V, then the Prince of Wales. In compensation, William was created Earl of Huntingdon with less valuable lands in Somerset and Dorset.

The marriage of Katherine Plantagenet and William Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon occurred between March and May 1484. In March 1484, there is documentation in contemporary records that Katherine and William were granted an annuity and land in Devon, Cornwall, and Somerset.

The corpse of Richard III, King of England, found on the battlefield of Bosworth; Credit – Wikipedia

The reign of Katherine’s father King Richard III was only two years. On August 22, 1485, at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the last king of the House of York and the Plantagenet dynasty, 32-year-old King Richard III of England, lost his life and his crown. The battle was a decisive victory for the House of Lancaster, whose leader 28-year-old Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, became King Henry VII, the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Katherine’s husband William Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon played no part in the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Katherine Plantagenet survived her father King Richard III but when she died is unknown. The last mention of her in contemporary records was in March 1485 when Katherine and her husband received an additional annuity from King Richard III. Katherine died before November 25, 1487, the date of the coronation of her first cousin Elizabeth of York, daughter of Katherine’s paternal uncle King Edward IV and the wife of King Henry VII, the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Katherine’s husband William Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon is on a list of nobility who attended the coronation as “a widower.” Katherine would have been around nineteen years old and possibly she died in childbirth along with her child. Katherine was buried at St. James Garlickhythe Church in London. Originally built in the 12th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and was rebuilt so all tombs were lost. Katherine’s husband William Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon survived her by nearly four years, dying at the age of forty, on July 16, 1491, in Troy Parva, Monmouthshire, Wales. He was buried with his first wife Mary Woodville at Tintern Abbey in Tintern in Monmouthshire, Wales, which now lies in ruins.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Beauclerk-Dewar, Peter & Powell, Roger. (2006). Right Royal Bastards – The Fruits of Passion. Burke’s Peerage & Gentry LLC.
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2015). King Richard III of England. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-richard-iii-of-england/
  • Higginbotham, Susan. (2013). Katherine Plantagenet, Richard III’s Illegitimate Daughter. History Refreshed: New Perspectives on Old Times. https://www.susanhigginbotham.com/posts/katherine-plantagenet-richard-iiis-illegitimate-daughter/
  • Weir, Alison. (2008). Britain’s Royal Families – The Complete Genealogy. Vintage Books.
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2024). Richard III of England. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_of_England#Issue
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2024). William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herbert,_2nd_Earl_of_Pembroke
  • Williamson, David. (1996). Brewer’s British Royalty. Cassell.

Garden Parties at Buckingham Palace in London and Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

King Charles III and Queen Camilla stand at the top of the steps on the West Terrace before meeting guests attending a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on May 3, 2023

2024 Garden Parties – May 8, 2024 and May 21, 2024 at Buckingham Palace in London, England and September 5, 2024 at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Each year two, and sometimes three, garden parties are held at Buckingham Palace in London, England in the late spring or the early summer and one is held at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland during Holyrood Week when the Monarch spends a week in the summer visiting various parts in Scotland. About 8,000 guests attend each garden party. The garden parties are a way for the Monarch to recognize and reward public service. A network of sponsors is used to nominate guests including Lord-Lieutenants (the Monarch’s personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom), charities, various societies and associations, government departments, local government, the armed services, the Church of England, and other religions. It is not possible to obtain invitations to garden parties by contacting Buckingham Palace.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE GARDEN PARTY

History

The Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, 28 June 1897 by Laurits Regner Tuxen – Queen Victoria (in the carriage with Alexandra, The Princess of Wales); Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Although previous monarchs held entertainments in the Buckingham Palace garden, the tradition of large, formal, garden parties began during the reign of Queen Victoria when two garden parties were held at Buckingham Palace during her Golden Jubilee in 1887 and her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. King Edward VII, King George V, King Edward VIII, King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth II all held garden parties. Videos of past garden parties can be seen at  https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/170525/ King George V’s 1935 garden party is at the top of the page but more video clips can be seen by scrolling down.

Buckingham Palace Garden

Aerial view of Buckingham Palace showing just a part of the garden in the rear (Photo from Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday celebrations); Photo Credit – By Photo:SAC Matthew ‘Gerry’ Gerrard RAF/© MoD Crown Copyright 2016, OGL v1.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=91227401

Behind Buckingham Palace and the privacy wall bounded by Constitution Hill to the north, Hyde Park Corner to the west, Grosvenor Place to the south-west, and the Royal Mews, the King’s Gallery, and Buckingham Palace to the south and east, is a 42 acre park, the Buckingham Palace Garden, the setting for monarch’s annual London garden parties. This writer has had the good fortune of visiting Buckingham Palace Garden as it is included with the price of admission to Buckingham Palace. It was truly amazing. I had no idea that such a beautiful park lay hidden behind those walls.

Buckingham House, circa 1710; Credit – Wikipedia

The garden at Buckingham Palace had its beginning from the garden created at Buckingham House, a large townhouse built by John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham in 1703. The core of today’s Buckingham Palace is Buckingham House. King George III bought Buckingham House in 1761 as a private residence for his wife Queen Charlotte and became known as The Queen’s House. During the 19th century, it was enlarged by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, who constructed three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace became the official residence of the British monarch during the reign of Queen Victoria.

Western facade (rear) of Buckingham Palace with West Terrace overlooking the Main Lawn. Note the damage to the grass, probably caused by the refreshment marquees from the garden parties. This photo was taken in August after the garden parties.; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The garden forms a triangle with Buckingham Palace at the top. The western (rear) facade of Buckingham Palace opens to the West Terrace overlooking the Main Lawn. Beyond the Main Lawn is the lake. As stated above, the garden is surrounded by a wall.

The lake; Credit – By KJP1 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118644180

A view of the lake; Credit – By amandabhslater – https://www.flickr.com/photos/15181848@N02/51368646287/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113624942

Part of the gravel path can be seen in this photo; Credit – By KJP1 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118644175

A gravel path goes around the garden’s perimeter with paths branching out around the lawns, lake, and flowerbeds. The main trees in the garden are London Plane trees, similar to the American sycamore tree. There are many commemorative trees, planted to celebrate royal occasions, a tradition begun by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The garden is maintained by eight full-time gardeners and several part-time gardeners. Most of the statuary in the garden, including vases and urns on the West Terrace, was designed by architect John Nash.

The Waterloo Vase; Credit – By KJP1 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118644179

While strolling around the Buckingham Palace Garden, some architectural features can be seen. The Waterloo Vase, a 15-foot (4.6 m) stone urn made from a single piece of Carrara marble, was initially presented to Napoleon I, Emperor of France who intended to have it carved in celebration of his future military victories. After Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, the uncarved vase was given to The Prince Regent, later King George IV. The Prince Regent commissioned sculptor Richard Westmacott to decorate the vase with reliefs celebrating the victory of the British-led force of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick, and Nassau, under the command of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

The Summerhouse; Credit – By KJP1 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118644174

A summerhouse, previously at the old Admiralty Garden at the other end of The Mall, is opposite the Waterloo Vase and is attributed to architect William Kent.

What Happens at a Garden Party?

Guests walking through the gates of Buckingham Palace for a Garden Party on July 23, 1931

The guests, with gentlemen in morning dress or lounge suits and women in day dress, usually with hats or fascinators (national dress and uniform are also often worn), enter the Buckingham Palace gates or the Holyrood Palace gates at 3:00 PM. The guests take tea and sandwiches in marquees erected in the garden.

King Charles III, Queen Camilla, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester arrive to meet the guests attending the Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, in London, on May 3, 2023 

Members of the Royal Family enter the garden at 4:00 PM as the National Anthem is played by one of the two military bands present who also play music throughout the garden party. The Royal Family then walks through the ranks of assembled guests through ‘lanes’, with each Royal Family member taking a different route so that everyone has an equal chance of randomly speaking to a member of the Royal Family. The Royal Family arrives at the Royal Tea Tent, where they meet guests previously selected for the honor. Guests are free to eat, drink, and stroll around the garden.

The Duchess of Edinburgh speaks to guests during the Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on May 3, 2023

HOLYROOD PALACE GARDEN PARTY

Holyrood Palace Garden Party during the reign of King George V

The Holyrood Garden Party began during the reign of King George V (reigned 1910 – 1936). King George V and Queen Mary began the tradition of spending a week each year at Holyrood Palace and hosted the first garden party in the palace gardens in 1928. The guest selection process, the Buckingham Palace garden party program, and the dress requirements are also used for the Holyrood Palace garden party.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla pause for the National Anthem at a Garden Party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on July 4, 2023

Guests during a garden party at Holyrood Palace on June 29, 2022

The view of Holyrood Palace from Arthur’s Seat, an ancient volcano; Photo Credit – © Howard Flantzer

Holyrood Palace, which this writer has visited, is located at the end of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and is the British Monarch’s official residence in Scotland. The palace is adjacent to  Holyrood Abbey, now in ruins (behind and just to the right of Holyrood Palace in the above photo). The palace, the abbey, and the gardens (the grassy area on the right in the photo above) are set within Holyrood Park. Between 1501 – 1505, James IV, King of Scots constructed a Gothic palace adjacent to the Holyrood Abbey which was the residence of the Scots Monarch. James V, King of Scots added to the palace between 1528 – 1536. From 1671 – 1678, the palace was rebuilt and restored after years of neglect and several fires. However, some of the older palace was retained including the 16th-century historic apartments of Mary, Queen of Scots and the State Apartments.

The Princess Royal greets guests during a Garden Party at Holyrood Palace on July 4, 2023

Holyrood Palace Garden

Holyrood Palace Garden; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Behind Holyrood Palace is a ten-acre garden set within the much larger Holyrood Park. Overlooking Holyrood Palace is Arthur’s Seat, an ancient volcano, the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland, which form most of Holyrood Park. Unlike the Buckingham Palace Garden, the Holyrood Gardens are not walled. It is mostly an open area with panoramic views of Arthur’s Seat and the surrounding hills, and views of the entire park.

A panoramic view from Holyrood Palace Garden; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The garden we see today was started by Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert. When Queen Victoria and Prince Albert first came to Holyrood Palace, the gardens were overgrown. Prince Albert established new planting areas. Since then, the gardens have been continually improved and updated, and seven greenhouses were built which supply Holyrood Palace with flowers throughout the year. Recent additions to the gardens include a physic garden containing medicinal and culinary plants that would have grown in the 17th-century garden, and a flowering meadow evoking the 15th-century monastic garden of Holyrood Abbey, the first recorded garden on the site.

Holyrood Palace Garden looking toward Arthur’s Seat; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Garden Parties 2023. The Royal Family. (2023). https://www.royal.uk/news-and-activity/2023-05-03/garden-parties-2023
  • Garden Parties. The Royal Family. (n.d.-a). https://www.royal.uk/garden-parties
  • Hardman, Robert. (2007). A Year With The Queen. Simon and Schuster.
  • Holyrood Week. The Royal Family. (2023). https://www.royal.uk/holyrood-week
  • Queen’s Garden Parties. (2019). https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/bazaar-art/g27554967/queen-royal-garden-parties-history/
  • Taylor, Elise. (2019). The Historic Evolution of the Royal Family’s Grand Garden Parties. Vogue. https://www.vogue.com/article/the-historic-evolution-of-the-royal-familys-grand-garden-parties
  • The Palace of Holyroodhouse Garden. Royal Collection Trust. (n.d.). https://www.rct.uk/visit/palace-of-holyroodhouse/the-palace-of-holyroodhouse-garden
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Buckingham Palace Garden. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckingham_Palace_Garden#Garden_parties

John of Gloucester, Illegitimate Son of King Richard III of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

John of Gloucester’s father, King Richard III of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Born circa 1468, John of Gloucester was an illegitimate son of King Richard III of England (reigned 1483 – 1485) and an unknown mother. He was called “of Gloucester” because his father was the Duke of Gloucester at the time of his birth. John was also called “of Pontefract” which may indicate that he was born at Pontefract Castle in the town of Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. John’s paternal grandparents were Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, a claimant to the English throne and the Yorkist leader during the Wars of the Roses until he died in battle in 1460, and Cecily Neville. Both Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville were great-grandchildren of King Edward III of England. John’s paternal uncle was King Edward IV of England.

John had one royal half-brother from his father’s marriage to Anne Neville:

There is little information about John’s childhood. He was one of two knighted on September 8, 1483, during the celebrations in York when his half-brother Edward of Middleham was invested as Prince of Wales. In 1485, King Richard III appointed his teenage son John to the position of Captain of Calais. Calais, now part of France, was an English possession from 1347 to 1558.

The corpse of Richard III, King of England, found on the battlefield of Bosworth; Credit – Wikipedia

The reign of John’s father King Richard III was only two years. On August 22, 1485, at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the last king of the House of York and the Plantagenet dynasty, 32-year-old King Richard III of England, lost his life and his crown. The battle was a decisive victory for the House of Lancaster, whose leader 28-year-old Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, became King Henry VII, the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Soon after the Battle of Bosworth Field, King Henry VII removed John from the position of Captain of Calais. On March 1, 1486, King Henry VII granted John an annual income of twenty pounds. There are no further mentions of John of Gloucester in contemporary records after 1486.

As the son of a king of the House of York, even though he was illegitimate, John would have been a threat to the House of Tudor. Sir George Buck (circa 1560 – 1622), an English antiquarian, historian, scholar, and author, alleges in his 1619 book The History of King Richard III that John was imprisoned for some years before his supposed death in 1499. Buck wrote that in 1499, the year of the executions of Perkin Warbeck (a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, the second son of King Edward IV and one of the “Princes in the Tower”) and Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick (a potential claimant to the English throne, the only son of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, the younger brother of King Edward IV), “there was a base son of King Richard III made away, and secretly, having been kept long before in prison.” Buck did not name the “base son of King Richard III” but he claimed that he was executed because an unspecified Irishman wanted to make him their ruler. John of Gloucester may have been held in prison for years and executed in 1499 but there are no other sources except Buck.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Beauclerk-Dewar, Peter & Powell, Roger. (2006). Right Royal Bastards – The Fruits of Passion. Burke’s Peerage & Gentry LLC.
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2015). King Richard III of England. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-richard-iii-of-england/
  • Weir, Alison. (2008). Britain’s Royal Families – The Complete Genealogy. Vintage Books.
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). John of Gloucester. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Gloucester
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2024). Richard III of England. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_of_England#Issue
  • Williamson, David. (1996). Brewer’s British Royalty. Cassell.

A View from a DKM: God Bless The Queen

“Princess Consort”

That was the anticipated title for Camilla due to the “complexities” surrounding her marriage to Prince Charles. The compromise was to designate her as Duchess of Cornwall instead of Princess of Wales and to refer to her as Princess Consort rather than Queen when Charles became King. This decision was influenced by concerns about her age, public opinion, and potential backlash. Despite this, Camilla’s motivations for marriage were not driven by titles or material gains but rather by love and support for Prince Charles. She acknowledged her limitations in keeping up with his duties and pace due to her age, revealing a genuine commitment to their relationship.

As time passed, Camilla gradually assumed increasing responsibilities within the royal family. She embraced a growing involvement with numerous charities, undertook additional public duties, and expanded her role in serving the public. As she dedicated herself to these endeavors, the public perception towards her began to shift positively. Over time, through her active participation and commitment to various causes and engagements, Camilla earned greater acceptance and respect from the public, solidifying her place within the royal circle.

Following Queen Elizabeth II’s statement on February 6, 2022, in which she expressed her wish for Camilla to be recognized as Queen Consort when her son Charles ascends to the throne, the debate surrounding Camilla’s future title was settled. The Queen’s heartfelt request for public support and acknowledgment of Camilla’s loyal service made it clear that when the time comes for Charles to become King, Camilla would indeed be known as Queen.

Some individuals were displeased when the palace transitioned from using “Queen Consort” to simply “Queen” after the coronation, which is the tradition (for instance, Queen Mary and Queen Alexandra). However, following the news of the King’s cancer treatment, Camilla has notably risen to the occasion, embodying the essence of the monarchy in a manner that surpasses what a Princess Consort could achieve. So, let us conclude with the sentiments: “God save the King and God bless the Queen.”