1.
Kensington
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Kensington is an affluent district within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London. Its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, the affluent and densely populated area contains the major museum district of South Kensington, which has the Royal Albert Hall for music and nearby Royal College of Music. The area is home to many of Londons European embassies, the first mention of the area is in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was written in Latin as Chenesitone, which has been interpreted to have originally been Kenesignetun in Anglo-Saxon. A variation may be Kesyngton, in 1396 and he in turn granted the tenancy of Kensington to his vassal Aubrey de Vere I, who was holding the manor in 1086, according to Domesday Book. The bishops heir, Robert de Mowbray, rebelled against William Rufus, Aubrey de Vere I had his tenure converted to a tenancy in-chief, holding Kensington after 1095 directly of the crown. He granted land and church there to Abingdon Abbey at the deathbed request of his young eldest son, Geoffrey. As the Veres became the earls of Oxford, their estate at Kensington came to be known as Earls Court, while the Abingdon lands were called Abbots Kensington and the church St Mary Abbots. The original Kensington Barracks, built at Kensington Gate in the late 18th century, were demolished in 1858, the focus of the area is Kensington High Street, a busy commercial centre with many shops, typically upmarket. The street was declared Londons second best shopping street in February 2005 thanks to its range, however, since October 2008 the street has faced competition from the Westfield shopping centre in nearby White City. Kensingtons second group of buildings is at South Kensington, where several streets of small to medium-sized shops. This is also the end of Exhibition Road, the thoroughfare that serves the areas museums. To the west, a border is kept along the line of the Counter Creek marked by the West London railway line, in the north east, the large Royal Park of Kensington Gardens is a green buffer. The other main area in Kensington is Holland Park, just north of Kensington High Street. Kensington is, in general, an affluent area, a trait that it now shares with its neighbour to the south. In early 2007, houses sold in Upper Phillimore Gardens for in excess of £20 million, Kensington is also very densely populated, it forms part of the most densely populated local government district in the United Kingdom. This high density is not formed from high-rise buildings, instead, unlike northern extremities of the Borough, Kensington lacks high-rise buildings except for the Holiday Inns London Kensington Forum Hotel in Cromwell Road, which is a 27-storey building. The Olympia exhibition hall is just over the border in West Kensington. Kensington is part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the head office of newspaper group DMGT is located in Northcliffe House in Kensington, which is the office part of the large Barkers building
2.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Elizabeth II
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Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake duties during the Second World War. Elizabeths many historic visits and meetings include a visit to the Republic of Ireland. She has seen major changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation. She has reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of her realms and she is the worlds oldest reigning monarch as well as Britains longest-lived. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch, in 2017 she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and press criticism of the family, however, support for the monarchy remains high. Elizabeth was born at 02,40 on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather and her father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, was the second son of the King. Her mother, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and she was delivered by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfathers London house,17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. Elizabeths only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930, the two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as Crawfie. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music, Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margarets childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeths love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, others echoed such observations, Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant and her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved. During her grandfathers reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father, the Duke of York. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, many people believed that he would marry and have children of his own. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeths father became king, and she became heir presumptive, if her parents had had a later son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession
5.
Kensington Gardens
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Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde Park, the gardens cover an area of 270 acres. The open spaces of Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park, Kensington Gardens are Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The Gardens are fenced and more formal than Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens are open only during the hours of daylight, whereas Hyde Park is open from 5 am until midnight all year round. Kensington Gardens has been regarded as smart because of its more private character around Kensington Palace. However, in the late 1800s, Hyde Park was considered fashionable, because of its location nearer to Park Lane. Kensington Gardens was originally the section of Hyde Park, which had been created by Henry VIII in 1536 to use as a hunting ground. Bridgeman created the Serpentine between 1726 and 1731 by damming the outflow of the River Westbourne from Hyde Park. The part of the Serpentine that lies within Kensington Gardens is known as The Long Water, at its north-western end in an area known as The Italian Garden, there are four fountains and a number of classical sculptures. At the foot of the Italian Gardens is a boundary marker. The land surrounding Kensington Gardens was predominantly rural and remained undeveloped until the Great Exhibition in 1851. Many of the original features survive along with the Palace, and now there are public buildings such as the Albert Memorial, the Serpentine Gallery. The park also contains the Elfin Oak, an elaborately carved 900-year-old tree stump, the park is the setting of J. M. Barries book Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, a prelude to the characters famous adventures in Neverland. The fairies of the gardens are first described in Thomas Tickells 1722 poem Kensington Gardens, both the book and the character are honoured with the Peter Pan statue by George Frampton located in the park. Rodrigo Fresáns novel Kensington Gardens concerns in part the life of J. M. Barrie and of his creation Peter Pan, the Infocom interactive fiction game Trinity begins in the Kensington Gardens. The player can walk around many sections of the gardens, which are described in moderate detail, list of public art in Kensington Gardens Citations Bibliography Official website The Garden a poem by Ezra Pound set in Kensington Gardens
6.
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
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The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an inner London borough of Royal borough status, to the west of the centre. As the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England, the borough is immediately to the west of the City of Westminster and to the east of London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It contains major museums and universities in Albertopolis, department stores such as Harrods, Peter Jones and Harvey Nichols and it is home to the Notting Hill Carnival, Europes largest. It contains many of the most expensive places in the world. The local authority is Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council, the boroughs motto is Quam Bonum in Unum Habitare, which can be roughly translated as How good to dwell in unity. The borough was created in 1965 from the boroughs of Kensington. Kensingtons Royal Borough status was inherited by the new borough, the new borough was originally to be called just Kensington – the inclusion of Chelsea was locally supported. Due to its high French population it has held the unofficial title of the 21st arrondissement of Paris. In 2005, the borough had more of its covered by domestic buildings than anywhere else in England at 19%. It also had the fifth highest proportion of land covered by buildings at 12%. As of 2010, statistics released by the Office for National Statistics showed that life expectancy at birth for females was 89.8 years in 2008–2010, male life expectancy at birth for the same period was 85.1 years. The figures in 1991–1993 were significantly lower,73.0 years for males and 80.0 for females, the borough has a higher proportion of high earners than any other local government district in the country. It has the highest proportion of workers in the financial sector, in December 2006, Sport England published a survey which showed that the boroughs residents were the fourth most active in England in sports and other fitness activities. 27. 9% of the population participate at least three times a week for 30 minutes, the top quarter earn at least £41 per hour, three and a half times the level of the lowest quarter at £12 per hour or less. Two of its more notable leaders were Nicholas Freeman, from 1977 until 1989. The Council has 42 Conservative,9 Labour and 3 Liberal Democrat councillors, the borough has combined a number of services and departments with its neighbours, Hammersmith & Fulham and Westminster City Council. Chelsea has less Underground access than Kensington, the station within Chelsea being Sloane Square. There are long-term plans for the Chelsea-Hackney line, with a station in the Kings Road near Chelsea Old Town Hall, buses Many London bus routes pass through the borough, most of them along Kings Road, Fulham Road, Kensington High Street and Ladbroke Grove
7.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
8.
British royal family
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The British royal family comprises the monarch of the United Kingdom and her close relations. There is no legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member of the British royal family. Different terms may be applied to the same or similar group of relatives of the monarch in his or her role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, for example, in Canada, the family is known as the Canadian royal family. Some members of the family have official residences named as the places from which announcements are made in the Court Circular about official engagements they have carried out. The state duties and staff of some members of the family are funded from a parliamentary annuity. Since 1917, when King George V changed the name of the house from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, members of the royal family belong, either by birth or by marriage. In 2014, the family were regarded as British cultural icons. Today, they often perform ceremonial and social duties throughout the United Kingdom, in the other countries of the Commonwealth royalty do not serve as Counsellors of State, although they may perform ceremonial and social duties on behalf of individual states or the organisation. Wives of the said enjoy their husbands precedence, and husbands of princesses are unofficially but habitually placed with their wives as well and she did not alter the relative precedence of other born-princesses, such as the daughters of her younger sons. The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy and they Serve the Queen, A New and Authoritative Account of the Royal Household. The Lives of the Kings & Queens of England, symbol and Privilege, The Ritual Context of British Royalty. Britains Royal Families, The Complete Genealogy, Royal Family is a celebrated and reverential BBC documentary made by Richard Cawston to accompany the investiture of the current Prince of Wales. The documentary is frequently responsible for the greater press intrusion into the royal familys private life since its first broadcast. Official website of the royal family Official YouTube Channel House of Windsor Family Tree, archived from the original on 2010-12-02
9.
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
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Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, KG, KT, PC, ADC is the elder son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales. He is second in line to succeed his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, William was educated at four schools in the United Kingdom and obtained a degree from the University of St Andrews. He spent parts of a gap year in Chile, Belize, in December 2006, he completed 44 weeks of training as an officer cadet and was commissioned in the Blues and Royals regiment. In April 2008, he qualified as a pilot by completing training at Royal Air Force College Cranwell. He then underwent helicopter flying training in order to become a pilot with the RAF Search. His service with the British Armed Forces ended in September 2013, William married Catherine Middleton, on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey. Hours before the wedding, he was created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, the couples first child, Prince George, was born on 22 July 2013, and their second, Princess Charlotte, was born on 2 May 2015. William, the first child of the Prince and Princess of Wales, was born at St Marys Hospital and his names, William Arthur Philip Louis, were announced by Buckingham Palace a week later on 28 June. He was baptised in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on 4 August by the Archbishop of Canterbury and he was the first child born to a Prince and Princess of Wales since Prince John in 1905. William was affectionately called Wombat by his parents or Wills, Williams first public appearance was on 1 March 1991, during an official visit of his parents to Cardiff, Wales. After arriving by aeroplane, William was taken to Llandaff Cathedral where he signed the visitors book, 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 fracture of the skull and was operated on at Great Ormond Street Hospital. In a 2009 interview, he dubbed this scar a Harry Potter scar and he was reported to have said, I call it that because it glows sometimes and some people notice it—other times they dont notice it at all. His mother wanted him and his younger brother Harry to have wider experiences than are usual for royal children and she took them to Walt Disney World and McDonalds as well as AIDS clinics and shelters for the homeless. She bought them typical teenage items, such as video games, Diana, who was by then divorced from the Prince of Wales, died in a car accident in the early hours of 31 August 1997. William, then aged 15, along with his brother who was 12, the Prince of Wales waited until his sons woke the following morning to tell them about their mothers death. At his mothers funeral, William accompanied his father, brother, paternal grandfather, William began to accompany his parents on official visits at an early age. William was educated at independent schools, starting at Jane Mynors nursery school, following this, he attended Ludgrove School near Wokingham, Berkshire, and was privately tutored during summers by Rory Stewart
10.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
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Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is the wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. Following his father Charles, Prince of Wales, William is second in line to succeed his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, the duchess grew up in Chapel Row, a village near Newbury, Berkshire, England. She studied art history in Scotland at the University of St Andrews and their engagement was announced on 16 November 2010 before they married on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey. The duke and duchess have two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, who are third and fourth in line to the British throne. Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on 9 January 1982 to an upper-middle-class family and she was christened at St Andrews Bradfield, Berkshire, on 20 June 1982. The family of her father Michael has ties to British aristocracy and her Middleton relatives were reported as having played host to British royalty as long ago as 1926. She has a sister, Philippa Pippa, and a younger brother. The family lived in Amman, Jordan, from May 1984 to September 1986, her father worked for British Airways, following her return to Berkshire in 1986, she was enrolled aged four at St Andrews School, a private school near the village of Pangbourne in Berkshire. She boarded part-weekly at St Andrews in her later years and she then studied briefly at Downe House. In November 2006, Middleton accepted a position as a buyer with the clothing chain Jigsaw. She also worked until January 2011 at Party Pieces, her role within the business included catalogue design and production, marketing. In 2001, Middleton met Prince William while they were students in residence at St Salvators Hall at the University of St Andrews. The couple began dating in 2003, although their relationship remained unconfirmed, on 17 October 2005, Middleton complained through her lawyer about harassment from the media, stating that she had done nothing significant to warrant publicity. Middleton attended Prince Williams Passing Out Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 15 December 2006, on 17 May 2008, Middleton attended the wedding of Prince Williams cousin Peter Phillips to Autumn Kelly, which the prince did not attend. On 19 July 2008, she was a guest at the wedding of Lady Rose Windsor, Prince William was away on military operations in the Caribbean, serving aboard HMS Iron Duke. In 2010, Middleton pursued an invasion of privacy claim against two agencies and photographer Niraj Tanna, who took photographs of her over Christmas 2009 and she obtained a public apology, £5,000 in damages, and legal costs. In April 2007, Prince William and Middleton split up, the couple decided to break up during a holiday in the Swiss resort of Zermatt. Newspapers speculated about the reasons for the split, although these reports relied on anonymous sources, Middleton and her family attended the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium, where she and Prince William sat two rows apart
11.
Prince Harry
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Prince Henry of Wales, KCVO, familiarly known as Prince Harry, is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales. After an education at schools in the United Kingdom and spending parts of his gap year in Australia and Lesotho, Harry chose a military career, undergoing officer training at RMA Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a cornet into the Blues and Royals, serving temporarily with his brother, in 2007–2008, he served for 77 days in Helmand, Afghanistan, but was pulled out following publication of his presence there by an Australian magazine. He returned to Afghanistan for a 20-week deployment in 2012–2013 with the Army Air Corps and he left the army in June 2015. Harry launched the Invictus Games in 2014, and remains patron of its Foundation and he also gives patronage to several other organisations, including the HALO Trust, the London Marathon Charitable Trust, and Walking With The Wounded. Harry was born at St Marys Hospital in Paddington, London, on 15 September 1984 at 4,20 pm and he was baptised on 21 December 1984 at St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie. His godparents are Prince Andrew, Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, Carolyn Bartholomew, Bryan Organ, Gerald Ward and Celia, Harry began to accompany his parents on official visits at an early age, his first overseas tour was with his parents to Italy in 1985. Harrys parents divorced in 1996, and his mother died following a car accident in Paris the following year, Harry and William were staying with their father at Balmoral at the time, and the Prince of Wales told his sons about their mothers death. Like his father and brother, Harry was educated at independent schools and he started at Jane Mynors nursery school and the pre-preparatory Wetherby School, both in London. Following this, he attended Ludgrove School, and, after passing the exams, was admitted to Eton College. In June 2003, Harry completed his education at Eton with two A-Levels, having decided to drop history of art after AS level and he excelled in sports, particularly polo and rugby union. Passing two A-levels, Harry was eligible to apply for a commission in the British Army. One of Harrys former teachers, Sarah Forsyth, has assessed that Harry was a weak student, both Eton and Harry denied the claims. While a tribunal made no ruling on the claim, it accepted the prince had received help in preparing his A-level expressive project. After school, Harry took a gap year, during which he spent time in Australia, working on a cattle station and he also travelled to Lesotho, where he worked with orphaned children and produced the documentary film The Forgotten Kingdom. Harry entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 8 May 2005, where he was known as Officer Cadet Wales, and joined the Alamein Company. Within a year, in April 2006, Harry completed his training and was commissioned as a Cornet in the Blues and Royals. He was given the service number 564673, on 13 April 2008, when he reached two years seniority, Harry was promoted to lieutenant
12.
Meghan Markle
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Rachel Meghan Markle is an American actress. Since 2011, she has portrayed Rachel Zane on the legal drama Suits and is known for her work as FBI special agent Amy Jessup in the sci-fi thriller Fringe. Markle was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Markle is of mixed race, and self-identifies as such, My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I have come to embrace to say who I am, to share where Im from, to voice my pride in being a strong and her father is of Dutch and Irish descent. Her mother, Doria Radlan, has a degree in social work and works as a yoga instructor. Her father is Emmy Award winner Thomas W. Markle, whose profession—director of photography—resulted in his daughter spending many years as a child visiting the set of Married. At age 11, she wrote a letter to then First Lady Hillary Clinton, the soaps manufacturer was forced to alter the advertisement after Markles complaint. She then graduated in 2003 with a major in theater. To support herself between early acting jobs, Markle worked as a freelance calligrapher and she appeared in Foxs series Fringe as Junior Agent Amy Jessup in the first two episodes of its second season. Since July 2011 she has played paralegal Rachel Zane, on the USA Network show Suits, Markle appeared in two 2010 films, Get Him to the Greek and Remember Me and one 2011 film, Horrible Bosses. She appeared in the short film The Candidate as a secretary in 2012, in 2002, Markle appeared in an episode of the daytime soap opera, General Hospital. She has also appeared in episodes of Century City, Cuts, Love, the War at Home,90210, Knight Rider, Without a Trace, The Apostles, CSI, NY, The League and Castle. Markle is the founder and editor-in-chief of lifestyle site The Tig, in November 2016, Markle and Canadian clothing company Reitmans released a line of reasonably priced womens fashion workwear. In 2016 Markle became the Global Ambassador for World Vision Canada and she has also worked with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women as an Advocate. Markle was a Counselor for international charity One Young World, speaking at the summit in Dublin on the topics of gender equality. She also attended the Ottawa summit in 2016, Markle is a self-proclaimed foodie, which was incorporated into her Suits character, Rachel Zane. Markle married Trevor Engelson on September 10,2011, after having dated since 2004, the couple split in May 2013, divorcing in August 2013. It was reported in November 2016 that Markle had waived her right to support from Engelson
13.
Princess Eugenie of York
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Princess Eugenie of York is the younger daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and of Sarah, Duchess of York. She is eighth, and the female, in line to succeed her grandmother. In 2015, she started working for the Hauser & Wirth art gallery in London as an associate director, on 30 March, the seventh day after her birth, it was announced that the Duke and Duchess of York had named her Eugenie Victoria Helena. She was baptised at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Sandringham, by the Bishop of Norwich and she was the first royal baby to have a public christening, and the only one of the Queens grandchildren not to be baptised in the Lily font. Her godparents were James Ogilvy, Captain Alastair Ross, Susan Ferguson, Julia Dodd-Noble and she was named after Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg and after Princess Helena, Queen Victorias granddaughter and daughter respectively. Eugenie is the first British princess since her grandmothers aunt, Princess Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary, Eugenie is the only one of the Queens granddaughters without Elizabeth as a middle name. Eugenies parents divorced when she was six years old, when she was not at school, she spent her time with her family, as the divorce had been amicable. The Duke and Duchess of York had agreed to joint custody of the girls, Eugenie and her sister frequently travel abroad with one or both of their parents. In the April 2008 issue of Tatler, Eugenie described her grandmother as one of the most amazing women ever and she made a full recovery and is not expected to undergo any further surgery for the condition. Eugenie began her schooling at Winkfield Montessori from 1992 to 1993, from there she joined her sister at Upton House School in Windsor until 1995. She attended Coworth Park School from 1995 to 2001, and then St Georges School, for the next five years, Eugenie boarded at Marlborough College in Wiltshire. She undertook a gap year before continuing her education in 2009, Eugenie began studying Combined Honours BA at Newcastle University in September 2009, combining Art History, English Literature and Politics. She completed her studies in 2012, earning a 2,1 in English literature, in 2013, she moved to New York City for one year to work for the online auction firm Paddle8 as a benefit auctions manager. In July 2015, she moved back to London to work for the Hauser & Wirth art gallery as an associate director, Princess Eugenie does not carry out public duties and receives no allowance from the Privy Purse. She has undertaken limited public engagements, such as connected with charities her mother supports, including the Teenage Cancer Trust, Children in Crisis. She also attends receptions and garden parties at Buckingham Palace, Eugenie and her sister represented their father at a service of thanksgiving for her aunt, Diana, Princess of Wales, in 2007. In 2008, she opened a Teenage Cancer Trusts unit for young patients in Leeds. On 2 June 2011, Eugenie visited the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital with her father as one of her first official engagements, in April 2012 she agreed to be patron for the Hospitals Redevelopment Appeal, this was her first patronage
14.
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
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Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, KG, GCVO, SSI, GCStJ is the youngest grandchild of King George V and Queen Mary. He trained and practiced as an architect until the death of his brother placed him in direct line to inherit his fathers dukedom of Gloucester. He is currently 24th in the line of succession to the British throne, and he is also the senior male line descendant of three British monarchs, Victoria, Edward VII and George V. Prince Richard was born on 26 August 1944 and his father was Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of King George V and Queen Mary. His mother was Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, a daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch and he was baptised at the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Great Park on 20 October 1944 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang. When Richard was four months old, he accompanied his parents to Australia, the family returned to Barnwell Manor in 1947, where Richard was largely raised. At the time of his birth, he was fifth in the line of succession to the throne and second in line to his fathers dukedom, behind his brother, William died in 1972 when the plane he was piloting crashed at Halfpenny Green near Wolverhampton. Richard then became apparent to his fathers dukedom and inherited it two years later upon the death of the first duke. Prince Richards early education took place at home, later, he attended Wellesley House School at Broadstairs and Eton College. In 1963, he matriculated at Magdalene College, Cambridge where he studied Architecture, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in June 1966, he proceeded as MA in 1971. Later in 1966, straight after university, Prince Richard joined the Offices Development Group in the Ministry of Public Building and he returned to Cambridge in 1967, completing both parts of the Diploma in Architecture degree in June 1969. Upon passing his exams, he became a partner in Hunt Thompson Associates in London. Richard became first in line to his fathers dukedom and had to take on additional family obligations and he resigned his partnership and began representing his cousin, Queen Elizabeth II on royal duties. On 10 June 1974, Prince Richard succeeded to his fathers titles as Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Ulster, the Duke remains particularly interested in architecture and conservation. He was elected as a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1972. He is President of the Society of Architect Artists and he serves as a Commissioner of the Historic Building and Monuments Commission for England. The Duke has been Patron of construction charity Construction Youth Trust for many years and has a set of charitable interests. He is Royal Patron of the UK branch of the charity Habitat for Humanity, Royal Patron of the St. Georges Society of New York, and President of The London Society
15.
Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester
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Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester, GCVO, is the wife of Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who is a grandson of King George V and Queen Mary, and first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Birgitte was born Birgitte Eva Henriksen, in Odense, Denmark, the daughter of Asger Preben Knud Wissing Henriksen, a lawyer, and his wife, Vivian van Deurs. After her divorce, her father married Emma Neergaard Rasmussen, the wife of magnate Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller. She took her mothers name van Deurs on 15 January 1966. She moved to Cambridge, England, and also worked at the Danish Embassy in London, in February 1972, Birgitte became engaged to Prince Richard of Gloucester, the younger son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. The groom designed her coral and silver engagement ring and their marriage took place on 8 July 1972 at St Andrews Church, Barnwell, Northamptonshire. The brides wedding dress was designed by Norman Hartnell, at that time, she was styled Her Royal Highness Princess Richard of Gloucester. Six weeks after their wedding, Prince Richards elder brother, Prince William, was killed in a flying accident, Prince Richard unexpectedly became heir apparent to the dukedom and upon his fathers death in 1974, the couple became the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. The couple have three children and six grandchildren, Alexander Patrick Gregers Richard Windsor, Earl of Ulster, born 24 October 1974 and he married Claire Alexandra Windsor, Countess of Ulster on 22 June 2002. The couple have two children, Xan Richard Anders Windsor, Lord Culloden Lady Cosima Rose Alexandra Windsor Lady Davina Elizabeth Alice Benedikte Lewis and she married Gary Christie Lewis on 31 July 2004. The couple have two children, Senna Kowhai Lewis Tāne Mahuta Lewis Lady Rose Victoria Birgitte Louise Gilman, born 1 March 1980 and she married George Gilman on 19 July 2008. Birgitte has also travelled overseas in support of her own patronages and military units and she and her husband represented the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at the state funeral of King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV of Tonga on 19 September 2006. They also represented the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at the coronation of King George Tupou V of Tonga on 1 August 2008 in Nukuʻalofa, Birgitte is sponsor of two Royal Navy ships, HMS Gloucester and HMS Sandown. She is also the Royal Patron of the Bermuda Regiment, after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, Birgitte became President of the Royal Academy of Music. She is also the patron of Prostate Cancer UK, in March 2006, she opened the Prostate Centre. The Duchess lives in London at Kensington Palace, her royal residence
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Prince Edward, Duke of Kent
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Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, KG, GCMG, GCVO, ADC is a grandchild of King George V and Queen Mary. He has held the title of Duke of Kent since the death of his father in 1942, the Duke of Kent carries out engagements on behalf of his first cousin, Elizabeth II. He is perhaps best known as president of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, presenting the trophies to the Wimbledon champion and he also served as the United Kingdoms Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, retiring in 2001. He is also the president of The Scout Association, the Royal United Services Institute, and the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and since 1967 Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England. The Duke of Kent is also patron of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, as of the birth of the Duke of Cambridges second child, the Queens fifth great-grandchild, on 2 May 2015, the Duke of Kent was 34th in line. As of the death of the 7th Earl of Harewood in 2011, he became the Queens oldest living paternal cousin, since his mother was a cousin of Prince Philip, he is also a second cousin to Prince Charles and his siblings. Prince Edward was born on 9 October 1935, at No.3 Belgrave Square, home Secretary Sir John Simon was present to verify the birth. Prince Edwards father was Prince George, Duke of Kent, the son of George V. His mother was Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, the daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and he was baptised in the Private Chapel of Buckingham Palace on 20 November 1935 by the Archbishop of Canterbury Cosmo Lang. Prince Edward began his schooling at Ludgrove, a school in Berkshire, before going on to Eton College. After school he entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where he won the Sir James Moncrieff Grierson prize for foreign languages, on 25 August 1942, Prince Edwards father, the Duke of Kent, was killed when his plane crashed in bad weather in Caithness. Prince Edward, who was almost 7, succeeded his father as Duke of Kent, Earl of St Andrews and he later took his seat in the House of Lords in 1959. As a member of the family, he began performing engagements at an early age. In 1953, he attended the coronation of his cousin, Elizabeth II, the Duke of Kent graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 29 July 1955 as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Scots Greys, the beginning of a military career that would last over 20 years. He was promoted to captain on 29 July 1961, the Duke of Kent saw service in Hong Kong from 1962–63 and later served on the staff in Eastern Command. He was promoted to Major on 31 December 1967, during the early 70s, the Duke also served in Northern Ireland with his Regiment. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on 30 June 1973, the Duke retired from the Army on 15 April 1976. He was subsequently promoted Major-General on 11 June 1983 and Field Marshal on 11 June 1993, the Duke of Kent married Katharine Worsley at York Minster on 8 June 1961
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Katharine, Duchess of Kent
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Katharine, Duchess of Kent, GCVO, is the wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, who is a grandson of King George V and Queen Mary, and first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. The Duchess of Kent gained attention for her conversion to Catholicism in 1994, the Duchess of Kent is strongly associated with the world of music, and has performed as a member of several choirs. She is also known as the presenter of trophies at the annual Wimbledon lawn tennis championships — a role she inherited from her mother-in-law, Princess Marina. As a known fan, she also has attended —. She prefers to be known in her life as Katharine Kent. However, her formal title remains Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent and she is a descendant of Oliver Cromwell. Worsley was christened at All Saints Church, Hovingham, on 2 April 1933 and her godparents were, Sir Felix Brunner, 3rd Baronet, Major Sir Digby Lawson, 2nd Baronet, Mrs Arthur Colegate, and Mrs Ronald Fife. She was educated at Queen Margarets School, York, and at Runton Hill School in North Norfolk, at school she was introduced to music, and was taught to play the piano, organ and violin, which she still plays today. The Duchess has stated her admiration for the late cellist Jacqueline du Pré in the documentary by Christopher Nupen called Who is Jacqueline du Pré and she later worked for some time in a childrens home in York and worked at a nursery school in London. On 8 June 1961, she married Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the eldest son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, at York Minster. Guests included actors Noël Coward and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. as well as members of the British, Greek, Danish, Norwegian, Yugoslavian, Romanian, the brides gown was designed by John Cavanagh, and she wore a diamond bandeau tiara lent by her mother-in-law. After her marriage she was styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent, the Duke and Duchess of Kent have three children, George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews, Lady Helen Taylor, Lord Nicholas Windsor. It had the most devastating effect on me, she told The Daily Telegraph in 1997, I had no idea how devastating such a thing could be to any woman. It has made me extremely understanding of others who suffer a stillbirth, the Duchess of Kent was received into the Catholic Church in 1994. This was a decision, and she received the approval of The Queen. As she explained in an interview on BBC, I do love guidelines, I have always wanted that in my life. I like to know whats expected of me, I like being told, You shall go to church on Sunday and if you dont youre in for it. Basil Hume, then Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster and thus leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales
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Prince Michael of Kent
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Prince Michael of Kent, GCVO CD is a paternal first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, being a grandson of King George V and Queen Mary. Prince Michael occasionally represents the Queen at some functions in Commonwealth realms outside the United Kingdom, otherwise, he manages his own consultancy business and undertakes various commercial work around the world. He has also presented some television documentaries on the families of Europe. He is named after Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, the brother of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Since his mother was a cousin of Prince Philip, he is also a cousin to Prince Charles. Prince Michael was born on 4 July 1942, at Coppins, Iver, at the time of his birth Prince Michael was seventh in the line of succession to his uncle, King George VI. His mother was Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, Duchess of Kent, roosevelt, the Hereditary Princess of Greece, the wife of Paul of Greece, his first cousin-once-removed, the Duke of Gloucester, the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, and Lady Patricia Ramsay. Because of the war, newspaper reports did not identify the location of the christening, at the age of five, Prince Michael was a page boy at the wedding of his cousins, Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. Educated at Sunningdale School and Eton College, Prince Michael entered the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in January 1961, from where he was commissioned into the 11th Hussars, in 1963. He saw service in Germany, Hong Kong, and Cyprus, subsequent tours of duty, during a military career that spanned twenty years, included a number of appointments on the Defence Intelligence Staff. He retired from the Army with the rank of Major in 1981, in 1994, Prince Michael was made Honorary Commodore of the Royal Naval Reserve, and in 2002 he was made Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Benson. From 2009 to 2012 he was Regimental Colonel of the Honourable Artillery Company and has been, since 31 January 2012 and he is also Colonel-in-Chief of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment in Canada. He has performed duties in the Commonwealth realms other than the United Kingdom and has represented the Queen abroad. The Prince was given a grace and favour apartment at Kensington Palace upon his marriage in 1978, Prince Michael supports a large number of charities and organisations. Prince Michael manages his own business, and undertakes business throughout the world. He is also an interpreter of Russian. Prince Michael is an active Freemason and he is the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons, and Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex. At the time of the marriage, Marie Christine von Reibnitz was not only a Roman Catholic, under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, Prince Michael forfeited his place in the line of succession to the throne through his marriage to a Roman Catholic
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Princess Michael of Kent
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Princess Michael of Kent is a member of the British Royal Family of German and Hungarian descent. She is married to Prince Michael of Kent, a grandson of King George V, Princess Michael was an interior designer before becoming an authoress, she has written several books on European royalty. She also undertakes lecture tours as well as supporting her husband in his public duties, Princess Michael of Kent was born on 15 January 1945, in Karlsbad, a town then in German-populated Sudetenland and now known as Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. Princess Michaels elder sister was Margarita by her fathers first marriage to Margherita, through her mother, Princess Michael is descended from Diane de Poitiers, Henry II of Frances mistress, and Catherine, Queen of France, as well as from the celebrated painter Peter Paul Rubens. Her father was a Nazi party member serving as a Sturmbannführer in the SS during the Second World War, he settled at Maforga and her first husband was the English banker Thomas Troubridge, younger brother of Sir Peter Troubridge, 6th Baronet. They met at a hunt in Germany and were married on 14 September 1971 at Chelsea Old Church. The couple separated in 1973 and were divorced in 1977, Prince Michael is a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. After receiving Pope John Paul IIs permission, the couple received a blessing of their marriage in a Roman Catholic ceremony on 29 June 1983 at Archbishops House. Since the Act of Settlement 1701 prohibited anyone who married a Roman Catholic from succeeding to the throne, Prince Michael was reinstated to the line of succession on 26 March 2015 with the successful passing of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 and is now 45th in line. Their children are members of the Church of England and have retained their rights of succession since birth, lady Gabriella Windsor, born 23 April 1981 at St Marys Hospital, London. Prince Michael has never received an annuity or an allowance from the Privy Purse. Nevertheless, Prince and Princess Michael represented The Queen at the Belize independence celebrations, Prince Michael also supports a large number of different charities and organisations, and Princess Michael supports him in his work. The couple have had the use of a five-bedroom, five-reception grace, the Queen had paid the rent for the apartment at a market rate of £120,000 annually from her own private funds with the couple paying the nominal amount of £70 per week. The rent goes to the Grant-in-aid, provided by the Government for the maintenance of the Occupied Royal Palaces, the rent is based on the current rate for commercially rented properties at Kensington Palace, and is recorded in the overall figures for commercial rents in the Grant-in-aid annual report. In 2008, it was announced Prince and Princess Michael would be required to begin paying rent of £120,000 a year, members of Parliament on the palaces committee had demanded the change after the Kents rent had come to light. The Kents have lived in the apartment since 1979, paying only their utility bills prior to 2002, Princess Michael of Kent observes the Roman Catholic faith and attended several events during the historic Pope Benedict XVIs state visit to the United Kingdom in September 2010. On the last day of the Popes visit,19 September, she attended the open-air Mass of beatification for Cardinal John Henry Newman at Cofton Park and she also attended a civic dinner with invited dignitaries and bishops in Birmingham, before attending the Mass and meeting the Pope. After the Translation Mass, Princess Michael was shown round Cardinal Newmans Room and Chapel, another Catholic member of the Royal Family, Katharine, Duchess of Kent, did not attend
20.
Historic Royal Palaces
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Historic Royal Palaces is an independent charity that manages some of the United Kingdoms unoccupied royal palaces. In 1998 it became an independent charity, which is contracted by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and it receives no funding from the Government or the Crown, depending on the support of visitors, members, donors, volunteers and sponsors. 4.25 million people visited the palaces in the 2014–15 financial year, occupied royal palaces, such as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, are maintained by the Royal Household Property Section, and some are open to the public. The organisation is jointly curated by Lucy Worsley and Tracy Borman, list of British royal residences Tales from the Palaces
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Royal Collection
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The Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family and the largest private art collection in the world. The Queen owns some objects in the collection in right of the Crown, the Queens Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London was built specially to exhibit pieces from the collection on a rotating basis. There is an art gallery next to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The Crown Jewels are on display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London. About 3,000 objects are on loan to museums throughout the world, few items from before King Henry VIII survive. The most important additions to the collection were made by Charles I, a collector of Italian paintings. Many works have been given from the collection to museums, especially by George III and Victoria, in particular, most of the then royal library was given by George III to the British Museum, now the British Library, where many books are still catalogued as Royal. The core of this collection was the purchase by James I of the collections of Humphrey Llwyd, Lord Lumley. Throughout the reign of Elizabeth II, there have been significant additions to the collection through purchases, bequests and through gifts from nation states. Numbering over 7,000 works, spread across the Royal Residences, numbering over 300 items, the Royal Collection holds one of the greatest and most important collections of French furniture ever assembled. The collection is noted for its range as well as counting the greatest cabinet-makers of the Ancien Régime. The Royal Collection is privately owned, although some of the works are displayed in areas of palaces, some of the collection is owned by the monarch personally, and everything else is described as being held in trust by the monarch in right of the Crown. All works of art acquired by monarchs up to the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 are heirlooms which fall into the latter category. Items the British royal family acquired later, including official gifts, ambiguity surrounds the status of objects that have come into Queen Elizabeth IIs possession during her reign. The Royal Collection Trust has confirmed that all pieces left to the Queen by the Queen Mother belong to her personally, non-personal items are said to be inalienable as they can only be willed to the monarchs successor. The legal accuracy of this claim has never been substantiated in court, in a 2000 television interview, the Duke of Edinburgh said that the Queen was technically, perfectly at liberty to sell them. In 1995, Iain Sproat, then Secretary of State for National Heritage, a registered charity, the Royal Collection Trust was set up in 1993 after the Windsor Castle fire with a mandate to conserve the works and enhance the publics appreciation and understanding of art. It employs around 500 staff and is one of the five departments of the Royal Household, buildings do not come under its remit
22.
Parterre
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A parterre is a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of plant beds, typically in symmetrical patterns, which are separated and connected by paths. The borders of the plant beds may be formed with stone or tightly pruned hedging, the paths are constituted with gravel or turf grass. French parterres originated in the gardens of the French Renaissance of the 15th century, later, during the 17th century Baroque era, they became more elaborate and stylised. The French parterre reached its greatest development at the Palace of Versailles, claude Mollet, the founder of a dynasty of nurserymen-designers that lasted into the 18th century, developed the parterre in France. His inspiration in developing the 16th-century patterned compartimens, i. e. C, clipped boxwood met with resistance from horticultural patrons for its naughtie smell as the herbalist Gervase Markham described it. By the 1630s, elaborate parterres de broderie appeared at Wilton House in Wilton, England that were so magnificent that they were engraved, which engraving is the only remaining trace of them. Parterres de pelouse or parterres de gazon denominate cutwork parterres of low growing herbs, e. g. camomile, the separation of plant beds of a pareterre is denominated an alley of compartiment. Parterre gardens lost favour in the 18th century and were superseded by naturalistic English landscape gardens, level substrates and a raised vantage point from which to view the design were required, and so the parterre was revived in a modified style. At Kensington Palace the planting of the parterres was by Henry Wise, whose nursery was nearby at Brompton, subsidiary wings have subsidiary parterres, with no attempt at overall integration. To either side, walls with busts on herm pedestals backed by young trees screen the parterre from the garden spaces. Formal baroque patterns have given way to symmetrical paired free scrolling rococo arabesques, little attempt seems to have been made to fit the framework to the shape of the parterre. Beyond paired basins have central jets of water, in the UK, modern parterres exist at Trereife Park in Penzance, at Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfriesshire and at Bodysgallen Hall near Llandudno. Examples can also be found in the Republic of Ireland, such as at Birr Castle, sentinel pyramids of yew stand at the corners. Some early knot gardens have been covered over by lawn or other landscaping, an example of this phenomenon is the early 17th-century garden of Muchalls Castle in Scotland. At Charlecote Park in Warwickshire the original parterre from the 1700s has been recreated on the terrace overlooking the river, making of a modern parterre This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chambers, Ephraim, ed. article name needed. Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, james and John Knapton, et al
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Jan Kip
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Johannes Jan Kip was a Dutch draftsman, engraver and print dealer. Together with Leonard Knyff, he made a speciality of engraved views of English country houses, Kip was a pupil of Bastiaen Stopendaal, from 1668 to 1670, before setting up on his own, his earliest dated engravings are from 1672. In April 1680, at the age of 27, he married Elisabeth Breda in Amsterdam and he also worked for various London publishers producing engravings after such artists as Francis Barlow and Caius Gabriel Cibber, largely for book illustrations. He made several engraved plates for Awnsham & John Churchills A Collection of Voyages & Travels and he signed the African scenes in volume V of the 1732 edition as J. Kip. The linked careers of Jan Kip and Leonard Knyff made a specialty of engraved views of English country houses, represented in detail from the birds-eye view, the volume is among the most important English topographical publications of the 18th century. Architecture is rendered with care, and the settings of parterres and radiating avenues driven through woods or planted across fields, garden paths, gates and toolsheds are illustrated in detail. The images are staffed with figures and horses, coaches pulling into forecourts, water-craft on rivers, some of the plates are in the Siennese map perspective. The history of nature, in two parts, Britannia Illustrata and short biogs of Kip and Knyff Prints from Britannia Illustrata Johannes Kip - Biography Johannes Kip onlin
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Jacobean architecture
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The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated, at the start of James reign there was little stylistic break in architecture, as Elizabethan trends continued their development. Courtiers continued to build prodigy houses, even though James spent less time on summer progresses round his realm than Elizabeth had. The influence of Flemish and German Northern Mannerism increased, now often executed by immigrant craftsmen and artists, there continued to be very little building of new churches, though a considerable amount of modifications to old ones, but a great deal of secular building. Although the general lines of Elizabethan design remained, there was a consistent and unified application of formal design. Much use was made of columns and pilasters, round-arch arcades and these and other classical elements appeared in a free and fanciful vernacular rather than with any true classical purity. With them were mixed the prismatic rustications and ornamental detail of scrolls, straps, the style influenced furniture design and other decorative arts. In 1577, three years before the commencement of Wollaton Hall, a copybook of the orders was out in Antwerp by Hans Vredeman de Vries. Inside the house, the elaborately carved staircase demonstrates the Renaissance influence on English ornament, in 1607 and 1620, England founded her first successful colonies, Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts. This concurs with the dimensions of houses that would have been found amongst the English commoner classes as evidenced by the tax rolls of the Jacobean era. Examples of original Jacobean architecture in the Americas include Drax Hall Great House and St. Nicholas Abbey, Jacobean era Jacobean revival M. Whiffen, An Introduction to Elizabethan and Jacobean Architecture. J. Summerson, Architecture in Britain, 1530–1830 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Spiers, R. Phene
25.
Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham
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In the register of Oxford University he is entered as born in Kent, and probably his native place was Eastwell in that county. He was educated at Westminster and at Christ Church, Oxford and he was called to the bar in 1645, and soon obtained a lucrative practice. He married Elizabeth Harvey, daughter of William Harveys younger brother Daniel, in April 1660, he was elected Member of Parliament for Canterbury and Mitchell in the Convention Parliament and chose to sit for Canterbury. Shortly afterwards was appointed Solicitor General, being created a baronet the day after he was knighted, in May 1661 he was elected MP for Oxford University in the Cavalier Parliament. In 1665 the university created him a D. C. L, in 1670 he became Attorney General, and in 1675 Lord Chancellor. He was created Baron Finch in January 1673 and Earl of Nottingham in May 1681, during the Popish Plot, he played an active part in the interrogation of witnesses and preparation of the Crowns evidence. He is said to have been sceptical about much of the evidence. In general he behaved with moderation and restraint during the Plot, as shown most notably in his conduct, as Lord High Steward, of the trial of William Howard. The original early 17th-century building was constructed in the village of Kensington as Nottingham House for the Earl of Nottingham, at that time Kensington was a suburban village location outside London, but more accessible than Hampton Court, a water journey on the Thames. A private road was out from the Palace to Hyde Park Corner, broad enough for several carriages to travel abreast. Nevertheless, as a private retreat, it was referred to as Kensington House. The walled kitchen gardens at Kensington House supplied fruits and vegetables for the Court of St. Jamess and he died in Great Queen Street, London one year later, and was buried in the church of Ravenstone in Buckinghamshire. His son Daniel inherited his earldom, and would also inherit the Earldom of Winchelsea. His younger son Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford, also had a career as a lawyer. His daughter Elizabeth married Sir Samuel Grimston, 3rd Baronet and his most important contribution to the statute book is The Statute of Frauds. While attorney-general he superintended the edition of Sir Henry Hobarts Reports and he also published Several Speeches and Discourses in the Tryal of the Judges of King Charles 1. Speeches to both Houses of Parliament, Speech at the Sentence of Viscount Stafford and he left Chancery Reports in MS. and notes on Cokes Institutes. Archives and papers This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
26.
William III of England
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It is a coincidence that his regnal number was the same for both Orange and England. As King of Scotland, he is known as William II and he is informally known by sections of the population in Northern Ireland and Scotland as King Billy. William inherited the principality of Orange from his father, William II and his mother Mary, Princess Royal, was the daughter of King Charles I of England. In 1677, he married his fifteen-year-old first cousin, Mary, a Protestant, William participated in several wars against the powerful Catholic king of France, Louis XIV, in coalition with Protestant and Catholic powers in Europe. Many Protestants heralded him as a champion of their faith, in 1685, his Catholic father-in-law, James, Duke of York, became king of England, Ireland and Scotland. Jamess reign was unpopular with the Protestant majority in Britain, William, supported by a group of influential British political and religious leaders, invaded England in what became known as the Glorious Revolution. On 5 November 1688, he landed at the southern English port of Brixham, James was deposed and William and Mary became joint sovereigns in his place. They reigned together until her death on 28 December 1694, after which William ruled as sole monarch, Williams reputation as a staunch Protestant enabled him to take the British crowns when many were fearful of a revival of Catholicism under James. Williams victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 is still commemorated by the Orange Order and his reign in Britain marked the beginning of the transition from the personal rule of the Stuarts to the more Parliament-centred rule of the House of Hanover. William III was born in The Hague in the Dutch Republic on 4 November 1650, baptised William Henry, he was the only child of stadtholder William II, Prince of Orange, and Mary, Princess Royal. Mary was the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland, eight days before William was born, his father died of smallpox, thus William was the Sovereign Prince of Orange from the moment of his birth. Immediately, a conflict ensued between his mother the Princess Royal and William IIs mother, Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, over the name to be given to the infant. Mary wanted to name him Charles after her brother, but her mother-in-law insisted on giving him the name William or Willem to bolster his prospects of becoming stadtholder. William II had appointed his wife as his sons guardian in his will, however, Williams mother showed little personal interest in her son, sometimes being absent for years, and had always deliberately kept herself apart from Dutch society. Williams education was first laid in the hands of several Dutch governesses, some of English descent, including Walburg Howard, from April 1656, the prince received daily instruction in the Reformed religion from the Calvinist preacher Cornelis Trigland, a follower of the Contra-Remonstrant theologian Gisbertus Voetius. The ideal education for William was described in Discours sur la nourriture de S. H. Monseigneur le Prince dOrange, in these lessons, the prince was taught that he was predestined to become an instrument of Divine Providence, fulfilling the historical destiny of the House of Orange. From early 1659, William spent seven years at the University of Leiden for a formal education, under the guidance of ethics professor Hendrik Bornius. While residing in the Prinsenhof at Delft, William had a personal retinue including Hans Willem Bentinck, and a new governor, Frederick Nassau de Zuylenstein
27.
Mary II of England
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Mary II was joint monarch of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William of Orange, from 1689 until her death. William became sole ruler upon her death in 1694, popular histories usually refer to their joint reign as that of William and Mary. Mary wielded less power than William when he was in England, ceding most of her authority to him and she did, however, act alone when William was engaged in military campaigns abroad, proving herself to be a powerful, firm, and effective ruler. Mary, born at St Jamess Palace in London on 30 April 1662, was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife, Anne Hyde. She was baptised into the Anglican faith in the Chapel Royal at St Jamess and her godparents included her fathers cousin, Prince Rupert of the Rhine. Although her mother bore eight children, all except Mary and her younger sister Anne died very young, consequently, for most of her childhood, Mary was second in line to the throne after her father. The Duke of York converted to Roman Catholicism in 1668 or 1669, Marys education, from private tutors, was largely restricted to music, dance, drawing, French, and religious instruction. Her mother died in 1671, and her father remarried in 1673, taking as his second wife Mary of Modena, from about the age of nine until her marriage, Mary wrote passionate letters to an older girl, Frances Apsley, the daughter of courtier Sir Allen Apsley. In time, Frances became uncomfortable with the correspondence, and replied more formally, at the age of fifteen, Mary became betrothed to her cousin, the Protestant Stadtholder of Holland, William of Orange. William was the son of the Kings late sister, Mary, Princess Royal, and thus fourth in the line of succession after James, Mary, and Anne. The Duke of York agreed to the marriage, after pressure from chief minister Lord Danby and the King, when James told Mary that she was to marry her cousin, she wept all that afternoon and all the following day. William and a tearful Mary were married in St Jamess Palace by Bishop Henry Compton on 4 November 1677, Mary accompanied her husband on a rough sea crossing back to the Netherlands later that month, after a delay of two weeks caused by bad weather. On 14 December, they made an entry to The Hague in a grand procession. Marys animated and personable nature made her popular with the Dutch people and she was devoted to her husband, but he was often away on campaigns, which led to Marys family supposing him to be cold and neglectful. She suffered further bouts of illness that may have been miscarriages in mid-1678, early 1679 and her childlessness would be the greatest source of unhappiness in her life. From May 1684, the Kings illegitimate son, James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, lived in the Netherlands, Monmouth was viewed as a rival to the Duke of York, and as a potential Protestant heir who could supplant James in the line of succession. William, however, did not consider him a viable alternative, upon the death of Charles II without legitimate issue in February 1685, the Duke of York became king as James II in England and Ireland and James VII in Scotland. Mary was playing cards when her husband informed her of her fathers accession, to Williams relief, Monmouth was defeated, captured and executed, but both he and Mary were dismayed by Jamess subsequent actions
28.
Palace of Whitehall
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Before then, it had grown to be the largest palace in Europe with more than 1,500 rooms, overtaking the Vatican and Versailles. The palace gives its name, Whitehall, to the road on many of the current administrative buildings of the UK government are situated. It is about 650 metres from Westminster Abbey, by the 13th century the Palace of Westminster had become the centre of government in England, and had been the main London residence of the king since 1049. The surrounding area became a popular and expensive location, the Archbishop of York Walter de Grey bought a nearby property as his London residence soon after 1240, calling it York Place. King Edward I stayed at York Place on several occasions while work was carried out at Westminster, and enlarged it to accommodate his entourage. York Place was rebuilt during the 15th century and expanded so much by Cardinal Wolsey that it was rivalled by only Lambeth Palace as the greatest house in London, the Kings London palaces included. The name Whitehall or White Hall was first recorded in 1532, Henry VIII hired Flemish artist Anthony van den Wyngaerde to redesign York Place, and he extended it during his lifetime. Inspired by Richmond Palace, he included a centre with a bowling green, indoor tennis court, a pit for cock fighting. It is estimated more than £30,000 were spent during the 1540s. Henry VIII married two of his wives at the palace—Anne Boleyn in 1533 and Jane Seymour in 1536, Henry died at the palace in January 1547. In 1611 the palace hosted the first known performance of William Shakespeares play The Tempest and its decoration was finished in 1634 with the completion of a ceiling by Sir Peter Paul Rubens, commissioned by Charles I. By 1650 Whitehall Palace was the largest complex of buildings in England. Its layout was irregular, and its constituent parts were of different sizes and in several different architectural styles. Like his father, he died at the palace—but from a stroke, james II ordered various changes by Sir Christopher Wren, including a chapel finished in 1687, rebuilding of the queens apartments, and the queens private lodgings. By 1691 the palace had become the largest and most complex in Europe, on 10 April a fire broke out in the much-renovated apartment previously used by the Duchess of Portsmouth that damaged the older palace structures, though apparently not the state apartments. This actually gave a greater cohesiveness to the remaining complex, however a second fire on 4 January 1698 destroyed most of the remaining residential and government buildings, the diarist John Evelyn noted succinctly the next day, Whitehall burnt. Nothing but walls and ruins left, beside the Banqueting House, some buildings survived in Scotland Yard and some facing the park, along with the so-called Holbein Gate, eventually demolished in 1769. Despite some rebuilding, financial constraints prevented large scale reconstruction, in the second half of the 18th century, much of the site was leased for the construction of town houses
29.
River Thames
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The River Thames is a river that flows through southern England, most notably through London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and it also flows through Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. It rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary, the Thames drains the whole of Greater London. Its tidal section, reaching up to Teddington Lock, includes most of its London stretch and has a rise, in Scotland, the Tay achieves more than double the average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs and its catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and a small part of Western England and the river is fed by 38 named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands, in 2010, the Thames won the largest environmental award in the world – the $350,000 International Riverprize. The Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the river, Tamesas, recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys Thames. It has also suggested that it is not of Celtic origin. A place by the river, rather than the river itself, indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name Thames is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit. It is believed that Tamesubugus name was derived from that of the river, tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography. The rivers name has always pronounced with a simple t /t/, the Middle English spelling was typically Temese. A similar spelling from 1210, Tamisiam, is found in the Magna Carta, the Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis. Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as River Thames or Isis down to Dorchester, richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *lowonida. An alternative, and simpler proposal, is that London may also be a Germanic word, for merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just the London River. Londoners often refer to it simply as the river in such as south of the river. Thames Valley Police is a body that takes its name from the river. The marks of human activity, in cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain, are visible at various points along the river
30.
Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham
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Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, 7th Earl of Winchilsea PC, was an English Tory statesman during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Daniel Finch was born on 2 July 1647 and was the son of Heneage Finch and Elizabeth Harvey, little is known about his upbringing. He entered the Inner Temple and Westminster School in 1658, where he boarded for three years at the house of Dr. Richard Busby, the headmaster and his fathers tutor at Christ Church, Oxford. Finch went to Christ Church too and the excellence of his studies made his father doubt their authenticity and he matriculated at Christ Church as a Gentleman Commoner on 26 July 1662. In April 1663 his father wrote to him, advising that he not the reputation which I am told you have gaynd of diligence. However Finch suffered from illness and it may be due to this that he left Oxford without graduating, Finch went on his Grand Tour from 1665 to 1668, visiting Frankfurt, Munich, Venice, Florence, Naples, Rome, and Paris. Daniel Finch entered parliament for Lichfield in 1679 and he was one of the privy councillors who in 1685 signed the order for the proclamation of the Duke of York, but during the whole of the reign of James II, he kept away from the court. He declined the office of Lord Chancellor under William and Mary, under Anne in 1702, he again accepted the same office in the ministry of Lord Godolphin, but finally retired in 1704. In 1711, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the Tory ministry of Robert Harley, on the accession of George I, he was made Lord President of the Council, but in 1716 he finally withdrew from office. He succeeded to the Earldom of Winchilsea on 9 September 1729, Finch first married on 16 June 1674 Lady Essex Rich, a daughter of Robert Rich, 3rd Earl of Warwick and Anne Cheeke. They had a daughter, Mary Finch, later married to John Ker. Mary was also a lover of William Savile, 2nd Marquess of Halifax, finchs second marriage, on 29 December 1685, was to Anne Hatton, daughter of Christopher Hatton, Viscount Hatton. Lady Nottingham was appointed a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Mary II in 1691, the couple had at least eleven surviving children, Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea. He was first married to Lady Frances Feilding, daughter of Basil Feilding, 4th Earl of Denbigh and he was secondly married to Mary Palmer, daughter of Sir Thomas Palmer, 1st Baronet Palmer. He married Charlotte Fermor, daughter of Thomas Fermor, 1st Earl of Pomfret and they were parents of Sophia Finch and her younger brother George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea. John Finch, who left a daughter, hon. Henry Finch, whose illegitimate daughter, Charlotte, married Thomas Raikes, Governor of the Bank of England Edward Finch. He was married to Elizabeth Palmer, another daughter of Thomas Palmer and he later took the surname Finch-Hatton, and was the grandfather of George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea. She was married to Sir Roger Mostyn, 3rd Baronet of Mostyn and they were parents to Sir Thomas Mostyn, 4th Baronet of Mostyn and two other children
31.
Christopher Wren
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Sir Christopher Wren PRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history. The principal creative responsibility for a number of the churches is now commonly attributed to others in his office. Other notable buildings by Wren include the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, the Wren Building, the main building at the College of William and Mary, Virginia, is attributed to Wren. Educated in Latin and Aristotelian physics at the University of Oxford, Wren was a notable anatomist, astronomer, geometer and he was a founder of the Royal Society, and his scientific work was highly regarded by Isaac Newton and Blaise Pascal. Wren was born in East Knoyle in Wiltshire, the surviving son of Christopher Wren Sr. and Mary Cox. Christopher Sr. was at time the rector of East Knoyle. Their son Christopher was born in 1632 then, two later, another daughter named Elizabeth was born. Mary must have died shortly after the birth of Elizabeth, although there does not appear to be any surviving record of the date, through Mary Cox, however, the family became well off financially for, as the only heir, she had inherited her fathers estate. As a child Wren seemd consumptive, although a sickly child, he would survive into robust old age. He was first taught at home by a tutor and his father. After his fathers appointment as Dean of Windsor in March 1635, his family spent part of each year there. He spent his first eight years at East Knoyle and was educated by the Rev. William Shepherd and it was a tough time in his life, but one which would go on to have a significant impact upon his later works. Some of Wrens youthful exercises preserved or recorded showed that he received a grounding in Latin. According to Parentalia, he was initiated in the principles of mathematics by Dr William Holder, who married Wrens elder sister Susan in 1643. His drawing was put to use in providing many of the anatomical drawings for the anatomy textbook of the brain, Cerebri Anatome, published by Thomas Willis. During this time period, Wren manifested an interest in the design and it was probably through Holder that Wren met Sir Charles Scarburgh whom Wren assisted in his anatomical studies. On 25 June 1650, Wren entered Wadham College, Oxford, where he studied Latin and it is anachronistic to imagine that he received scientific training in the modern sense. However, Wren became closely associated with John Wilkins, the Warden of Wadham, the Wilkins circle was a group whose activities led to the formation of the Royal Society, comprising a number of distinguished mathematicians, creative workers and experimental philosophers
32.
Cour d'honneur
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The Palace of Versailles and Blenheim Palace both feature such entrance courts. Its open courtyard is presented like the permanent theatre set of a proscenium stage. Like the theatre set the environment is defined and enclosed from the more public space by ornate wrought iron gilded railings. Other 16th century urban palazzi remained resolutely enclosed, like Palazzo Farnese, in Rome, the wings of Carlo Madernos Palazzo Barberini design, were the first that reached forward from a central block to create a cour dhonneur floorplan. On a condensed, urban scale the formula is expressed in Parisian private houses, hôtels particuliers built entre cour et jardin, between court and garden. Nearby, the Tuileries Palace is gone, but the cour dhonneur with its Arc du Carrousel remains, vanderbilt House on the Plaza were the rare exceptions. The much-photographed front façade of Buckingham Palace was refashioned by Sir Aston Webb in 1913, the cour dhonneur, now known as The Quadrangle, still retains the principal entrance to the palace however
33.
St James's Palace
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St Jamess Palace is the most senior royal palace in the United Kingdom. Built by King Henry VIII on the site of a hospital dedicated to Saint James the Less. The palace increased in importance during the reigns of the early Georgian monarchy, after decades of being used increasingly for only formal occasions, the move was formalised by Queen Victoria in 1837. Today the palace houses a number of offices, societies and collections and all ambassadors. Mainly built between 1531 and 1536 in red-brick, the architecture is primarily Tudor in style. A fire in 1809 destroyed parts of the structure, including the private apartments. Some 17th-century interiors survive, but most were remodelled in the 19th century, the palace was commissioned by Henry VIII, on the site of a former leper hospital dedicated to Saint James the Less. The new palace, secondary in the kings interest to Henrys Whitehall Palace, was constructed between 1531 and 1536 as a residence to escape formal court life. Much smaller than the nearby Whitehall, St Jamess was arranged around a number of courtyards, including the Colour Court, the Ambassadors Court and it is decorated with the initials H. A. for Henry and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Henry constructed the palace in red brick, with picked out in darker brick. The palace was remodelled in 1544, with ceilings painted by Hans Holbein, two of Henry VIIIs children died at Saint Jamess, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset and Mary I. Elizabeth I often resided at the palace, and is said to have spent the night there while waiting for the Spanish Armada to sail up the Channel, in 1638, Charles I gave the palace to Marie de Medici, the mother of his wife Henrietta Maria. Marie remained in the palace for three years, but the residence of a Catholic former queen of France proved unpopular with parliament, Charles I spent his final night at St Jamess before his execution. Oliver Cromwell then took it over, and turned it into barracks during the English Commonwealth period, Charles II, James II, Mary II and Anne were all born at the palace. The palace was restored by Charles II following the demise of the Commonwealth, the first two monarchs of the House of Hanover used St Jamess Palace as their principal London residence. George I and George II both housed their mistresses, the Duchess of Kendal and the Countess of Suffolk respectively, at the palace. In 1757, George II donated the Palace library to the British Museum, in 1809, a fire destroyed part of the palace, including the monarchs private apartments at the south east corner. These apartments were not replaced, leaving the Queens Chapel in isolation, George III found St Jamess increasingly unsuitable
34.
Nicholas Hawksmoor
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Nicholas Hawksmoor was an English architect. He was a figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Part of his work has been attributed to him only relatively recently. Hawksmoor was born in Nottinghamshire in 1661, into a farming family, almost certainly in East Drayton or Ragnall. On his death he was to property at nearby Ragnall, Dunham. It is not known where he received his schooling, but it was probably in more than basic literacy, haukesmore came to London, became clerk to Sr. Christopher Wren & thence became an Architect. Wren, hearing of his skill and genius for architecture. A surviving early sketch-book contains sketches and notes, some dated 1680 and 1683, of buildings in Nottingham, Coventry, Warwick, Bath, Bristol, Oxford and Northampton. These somewhat amateur drawings, now in the Royal Institute of British Architects Drawings Collection and his first official post was as Deputy Surveyor to Wren at Winchester Palace from 1683 until February 1685. Hawksmoors signature appears on a contract for Winchester Palace in November 1684. Wren was paying him 2 shillings a day in 1685 as assistant in his office in Whitehall, from about 1684 to about 1700, Hawksmoor worked with Christopher Wren on projects including Chelsea Hospital, St. Pauls Cathedral, Hampton Court Palace and Greenwich Hospital. Thanks to Wrens influence as Surveyor-General, Hawksmoor was named Clerk of the Works at Kensington Palace, in 1718, when Wren was superseded by the new, amateur Surveyor, William Benson, Hawksmoor was deprived of his double post to provide places for Bensons brother. Poor Hawksmoor, wrote Vanbrugh in 1721, what a Barbarous Age have his fine, ingenious Parts fallen into. What woud Monsr, Colbert in France have given for such a man, only in 1726 after William Bensons successor Hewett died, was Hawksmoor restored to the secretaryship, though not the clerkship which was given to Filtcroft. In 1696, Hawksmoor was appointed surveyor to the Commissioners of Sewers for Westminster, in July 1721, John Vanbrugh made Hawksmoor his deputy as Comptroller of the Works. By 1700 Hawksmoor had emerged as a major architectural personality, and his baroque, but somewhat classical and gothic architectural form was derived from his exploration of Antiquity, the Renaissance, the English Middle Ages and contemporary Italian baroque. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Hawksmoor never travelled to Italy on a Grand Tour. Instead he studied engravings especially monuments of ancient Rome and reconstructions of the Temple of Solomon, in 1702, Hawksmoor designed the baroque country house of Easton Neston in Northamptonshire for Sir William Fermor
35.
Hampton Court Palace
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Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace in the town of East Molesey, Richmond upon Thames, Greater London, England,11.7 miles south west and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Redevelopment began to be carried out in 1515 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, in 1529, as Wolsey fell from favour, the King seized the palace for himself and later enlarged it. Along with St Jamess Palace, it is one of two surviving palaces out of the many owned by King Henry VIII. In the following century, King William IIIs massive rebuilding and expansion project, work ceased in 1694, leaving the palace in two distinct contrasting architectural styles, domestic Tudor and Baroque. While the palaces styles are an accident of fate, a unity exists due to the use of pink bricks, King George II was the last monarch to reside in the palace. In addition, London Buses routes 111,216,411, the structure and grounds are cared for by an independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces, which receives no funding from the Government or the Crown. In addition the palace continues to display a number of works of art from the Royal Collection. The palaces Home Park is the site of the annual Hampton Court Palace Festival, Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York, Chief Minister and favourite of Henry VIII, took over the site of Hampton Court Palace in 1514. It had previously been a property of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, over the following seven years, Wolsey spent lavishly to build the finest palace in England at Hampton Court. Wolsey rebuilt the manor house to form the nucleus of the present palace. Today, little of Wolseys building work remains unchanged, the first courtyard, the Base Court, was his creation, as was the second, inner gatehouse which leads to the Clock Court which contained his private rooms. The Base Court contained forty-four lodgings reserved for guests, while the court contained the very best rooms – the state apartments – reserved for the King. Henry VIII stayed in the apartments as Wolseys guest immediately after their completion in 1525. Perpendicular Gothic owed nothing historically to the Renaissance style, yet harmonised well with it and this blending of styles was realised by a small group of Italian craftsmen working at the English court in the second and third decades of the sixteenth century. They specialised in the adding of Renaissance ornament to otherwise straightforward Tudor buildings and it was one of these, Giovanni da Maiano who was responsible for the set of eight relief busts of Roman emperors which were set in the Tudor brickwork. Wolsey was only to enjoy his palace for a few years, in 1528, knowing that his enemies and the King were engineering his downfall, he passed the palace to the King as a gift. Wolsey died two years later in 1530, within six months of coming into ownership, the King began his own rebuilding and expansion. Henry VIIIs court consisted of one thousand people, while the King owned over sixty houses and palaces
36.
Anne, Queen of Great Britain
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Anne became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, two of her realms, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, united as a sovereign state known as Great Britain. She continued to reign as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death, Anne was born in the reign of her uncle Charles II, who had no legitimate children. Her father, James, was first in line to the throne and his suspected Roman Catholicism was unpopular in England, and on Charless instructions Anne was raised as an Anglican. Three years after he succeeded Charles, James was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Annes Dutch Protestant brother-in-law and cousin William III became joint monarch with his wife, Annes elder sister Mary II. Although the sisters had been close, disagreements over Annes finances, status and choice of acquaintances arose shortly after Marys accession, William and Mary had no children. After Marys death in 1694, William continued as sole monarch until he was succeeded by Anne upon his death in 1702, as queen, Anne favoured moderate Tory politicians, who were more likely to share her Anglican religious views than their opponents, the Whigs. The Whigs grew more powerful during the course of the War of the Spanish Succession and her close friendship with Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, turned sour as the result of political differences. Anne was plagued by ill health throughout her life, from her thirties onwards, she grew increasingly lame and obese. Despite seventeen pregnancies by her husband, Prince George of Denmark, she died without any surviving children and was the last monarch of the House of Stuart. Anne was born at 11,39 p. m. on 6 February 1665 at St Jamess Palace, London, the child and second daughter of James, Duke of York. At her Anglican baptism in the Chapel Royal at St Jamess, her sister, Mary, was one of her godparents, along with the Duchess of Monmouth. The Duke and Duchess of York had eight children, but Anne, as a child, Anne suffered from an eye condition, which manifested as excessive watering known as defluxion. For medical treatment, she was sent to France, where she lived with her grandmother, Queen Henrietta Maria. Following her grandmothers death in 1669, Anne lived with an aunt, Henrietta Anne, on the sudden death of her aunt in 1670, Anne returned to England. Her mother died the following year, as was traditional in the royal family, Anne and her sister were brought up separated from their father in their own establishment at Richmond, London. On the instructions of Charles II, they were raised as Protestants, placed in the care of Colonel Edward and Lady Frances Villiers, their education was focused on the teachings of the Anglican church. Henry Compton, Bishop of London, was appointed as Annes preceptor, around 1671, Anne first made the acquaintance of Sarah Jennings, who later became her close friend and one of her most influential advisors
37.
Orangery
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The orangery provided a luxurious extension of the normal range and season of woody plants, extending the protection which had long been afforded by the warmth offered from a masonry fruit wall. As imported citrus fruit, pineapples, and other tender fruit became generally available and much cheaper, the orangery originated from the Renaissance gardens of Italy, when glass-making technology enabled sufficient expanses of clear glass to be produced. This soon created a situation where orangeries became symbols of status among the wealthy, the glazed roof, which afforded sunlight to plants that were not dormant, was a development of the early 19th century. The 1617 Orangerie at the Palace of the Louvre inspired imitations that culminated in Europes largest orangery, notable for his 1851 design of the Crystal Palace, his great conservatory at Chatsworth House was an orangery and glass house of monumental proportions. The orangery, however, was not just a greenhouse but a symbol of prestige and wealth, owners would conduct their guests there on tours of the garden to admire not only the fruits within but also the architecture without. Often the orangery would contain fountains, grottos, and an area in which to entertain in inclement weather, as early as 1545, an orangery was built in Padua, Italy. The first orangeries were practical and not as ornamental as they later became, most had no heating other than open fires. In England, John Parkinson introduced the orangery to the readers of his Paradisus in Sole, the building of orangeries became most widely fashionable after the end of the Eighty Years War in 1648. Orangeries were generally built facing south to take advantage of the possible light, and were constructed using brick or stone bases, brick or stone pillars. Insulation at these times was one of the biggest concerns for the building of these orangeries, straw became the material used. An early example of the type of construction can be seen at Kensington Palace, domestic orangeries also typically feature a roof lantern. The first examples were basic constructions and could be removed during summer, notably not only noblemen but also wealthy merchants, e. g. those of Nuremberg, used to cultivate citrus plants in orangeries. This became further influenced by the demand for beautiful exotic plants in the garden. This created the demand in garden design for the wealthy to have their own exotic private gardens. This in turn created the need for orangeries to be constructed using even better techniques such as underfloor heating, creating microclimates for the propagation of more and more exotic plants for the private gardens that were becoming creations of beauty all around Europe. At a length of 28 metres, it was the largest glasshouse in Britain when it was built, although designed as an arcade with end pavilions to winter oranges, the light levels under its solid roof were too low for it to be successful. The orangery at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, was designed in 1761 by Sir William Chambers, the orangery at Margam Park, Wales, was built between 1787 and 1793 to house a large collection of orange, lemon, and citron trees inherited by Thomas Mansel Talbot. The original house has been razed, but the surviving orangery, an orangery dating from about 1700 is at Kenwood House in London, and a slightly earlier one at Montacute
38.
John Vanbrugh
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Sir John Vanbrugh was an English architect and dramatist, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The Relapse and The Provoked Wife, which have become enduring stage favourites, Vanbrugh was in many senses a radical throughout his life. He was attacked on both counts, and was one of the targets of Jeremy Colliers Short View of the Immorality. In his architectural career, he created what came to be known as English Baroque and his architectural work was as bold and daring as his early political activism and marriage-themed plays, and jarred conservative opinions on the subject. He grew up in Chester, where his family had driven by either the major outbreak of the plague in London in 1665. It is possible that he attended The Kings School in Chester, another candidate would have been the school at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, founded by Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon. It was also not uncommon for boys to be sent to study at school away from home, sugar-baker implies wealth, as the term refers not to a maker of sweets but to the owner of a sugar house, a factory for the refining of raw sugar from Barbados. Sugar refining would normally have been combined with sugar trading, which was a lucrative business, the complex web of kinship Downes research shows that Vanbrugh had ties to many of Englands leading mercantile, gentry, and noble families. These ties reveal the decidedly Protestant and sometimes radical milieu out of which Vanbrughs own political opinions came. They also gave him a wide social network that would play a role in all sections of his career, architectural, ceremonial, dramatic, military, political. In 1681 records name a John Vanbrugg working for William Matthews and it was not unusual for a merchants son to follow in his fathers trade and seek similar work in business, making use of family ties and connections. However, Vanbrugh never mentioned this experience in writing, scholars debate whether evidence of his exposure to Indian architecture can be detected in any of his architectural designs. The picture of a youth is reinforced by the fact that Vanbrugh in January 1686 took up an officers commission in his distant relative the Earl of Huntingdons foot regiment. Even so in August 1686 he left this position when the regiment was ordered to help garrison Guernsey. In spite of the distant noble relatives and the sugar trade, Vanbrugh never seemed to possess any capital for business ventures. The fact that Giles Vanbrugh had twelve children to support and set up in life may go some way towards explaining the debts that were to plague John all his life, some of Vanbrughs kinsmen – as he addressed them in his letters, The Earl of Arran. His wife was Vanbrughs first-cousin, Dorothy née Ferrers The 3rd Earl of Berkshire, frances née Harrison, Countess of Berkshire. Frances was second cousin to Vanbrughs mother, the 3rd Earl of Carlisle of Castle Howard
39.
Grinling Gibbons
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Gibbons was born and educated in Holland of English parents, his father being a merchant. He was a member of the Drapers Company of London and he is widely regarded as the finest wood carver working in England, and the only one whose name is widely known among the general public. He also worked in stone, mostly for churches, by the time he was established he led a large workshop, and the extent to which his personal hand appears in later work varies. Very little is known about his early life, the name Grinling is formed from sections of two family names. He moved to Deptford, England around 1667, and by 1693 had accepted commissions from the family and had been appointed as a master carver. By 1680 he was known as the Kings Carver, and carried out exquisite work for St Pauls Cathedral, Windsor Castle. His carving was so fine that it was said a pot of carved flowers above his house in London would tremble from the motion of passing coaches, the diarist Evelyn first discovered Gibbons talent by chance in 1671. Evelyn, from whom Gibbons rented a cottage near Evelyns home in Sayes Court, Deptford, wrote the following, I saw the man at his carving. I saw him to be engaged on a representation of Tintorettos Crucifixion. Later that same evening, Evelyn described what he had seen to Sir Christopher Wren, Wren and Evelyn then introduced him to King Charles II who gave him his first commission - still resting in the dining room of Windsor Castle. Gibbons is buried at St Pauls, Covent Garden, London, Gibbons was employed by Wren to work on St Pauls Cathedral and later was appointed as master carver to George I. He was also commissioned by King William III to create carvings, an example of his work can be seen in the Presence Chamber above the fireplace, which was originally intended to frame a portrait of Queen Mary II after her death in 1694. Also in the Orangery at Kensington, you can see some his pieces, many fine examples of his work can still be seen in the churches around London - particularly the choir stalls and organ case of St Pauls Cathedral. Some of the finest Gibbons carvings accessible to the public are those on display at the National Trusts Petworth House in West Sussex. At Petworth the Carved Room is host to a fine and extensive display of intricate carvings by Gibbons. His association with Deptford is commemorated locally, Grinling Gibbons Primary School is in Clyde Street, most of present day New Cross and Brockley wards were in 1978-1998 part of the Grinling Gibbons ward. His work can be seen in the London churches of St Michael Paternoster Royal and St James, Piccadilly, the Anglican dislike of painted altarpieces typically left a large space on the east wall that needed filling, which often gave Grinlings garlands a very prominent position, as here. The famous sculptor of Brussels Peter van Dievoet had collaborated with Grinling Gibbons, St Michael and All Angels Church, Badminton, has a monument by Gibbons to Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort
40.
Henry Wise (gardener)
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Henry Wise was an English gardener, designer, and nurseryman. He was apprenticed to George London, working at Brompton Nursery, on the present site of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Wise and London translated into English two well-known French texts on gardening. The resulting work was titled The Retird Gardner, in Two Volumes, the book was printed in London in 1706 and went through several printings thanks to its popularity. Kensington Gardens were laid out by Henry Wise and Charles Bridgeman with fashionable features including the Round Pond, formal avenues, Queen Anne of Great Britain and King George I both appointed him to the post of Royal Gardener. Although the Brompton nursery passed into hands, Wise retained the house. His will, in 1734, directed his heir to all the pictures remaining at Brompton to his house at Warwick. Wise became wealthy through his endeavours and purchased the manor of The Priory. He purchased the estate and the mansion and retired there as a squire in 1727. Henry Wise died at The Priory on 15 Dec 1738, said to be worth some £200,000 – far more, probably, the writer and garden designer Stephen Switzer trained with London and Wise. Gardener to Queen Anne, Henry Wise and the Formal Garden 1956, the English Garden, A Social History
41.
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
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Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough rose to be one of the most influential women of her time through her close friendship with Queen Anne of Great Britain. Sarahs friendship and influence with Princess Anne was widely known, as a result, by the time Anne became queen, Sarah’s knowledge of government, and intimacy with the Queen, had made her a powerful friend and a dangerous enemy. Sarah enjoyed a long and devoted relationship with her husband of more than 40 years, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. She acted as Annes agent after Annes father, James II, was deposed during the Glorious Revolution, Sarah tirelessly campaigned on behalf of the Whigs, while also devoting much of her time to building projects such as Blenheim Palace. She died in 1744 at the age of eighty-four, a strong-willed woman who liked to get her own way, Sarah tried the Queens patience whenever she disagreed with her on political, court or church appointments. After her final break with Anne in 1711, Sarah and her husband were dismissed from the court, the money she inherited from the Marlborough trust left her one of the richest women in Europe. Sarah Jennings was born on 5 June 1660, probably at Holywell House, St Albans and her uncle was a prominent naturalist. Richard Jennings came into contact with James, Duke of York, in 1663, during negotiations for the recovery of an estate in Kent that had been the property of his mother-in-law, Susan Lister. Jamess first impressions were favourable, and in 1664 Sarah’s sister, Frances, was appointed maid of honour to the Duchess of York, although James forced Frances to give up the post because of her marriage to a Catholic, James did not forget the family. In 1673, Sarah entered court as maid of honour to James’s second wife, Sarah became close to the young Princess Anne in about 1675, and the friendship grew stronger as the two grew older. In late 1675, when she was only fifteen, she met John Churchill,10 years her senior. Churchill, who had previously been a lover of Charles II’s mistress, Barbara Palmer, Duchess of Cleveland, had little to offer financially, as his estates were deeply in debt. Sarah had a rival for Churchill in Catherine Sedley, a mistress of James II and the choice of Churchills father, Sir Winston Churchill. In 1677, Sarahs brother Ralph died, and she and her sister, Frances, became co-heirs of the Jennings estates in Hertfordshire and Kent. John chose Sarah over Catherine Sedley, but both Johns and Sarahs families disapproved of the match, therefore they married secretly in the winter of 1677–78, John and Sarah were both Protestants in a predominantly Catholic court, a circumstance that would influence their political allegiances. Although no date was recorded, the marriage was announced only to the Duchess of York, when Sarah became pregnant, her marriage was announced publicly, and she retired from the court to give birth to her first child, Harriet, who died in infancy. The Duke of York returned to England after the tension had eased. The early reign of James II was relatively successful, it was not expected that a Catholic king could control in a fiercely Protestant
42.
Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham
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Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham was a favourite of Queen Anne and a cousin of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. Abigail Hill was the daughter of Francis Hill, a London merchant, her mother, Elizabeth Hill, being an aunt of Sarah Jennings, later Duchess of Marlborough. The family was reduced to poor circumstances through her fathers speculations, Lady Churchill, Lady of the Bedchamber to Princess Anne, befriended her cousin Abigail – possibly out of embarrassment that her cousin had fallen on such hard times rather than any genuine affection. Churchill took Abigail into her own household at St. Albans, after the accession of the Princess to the throne, she procured an appointment in the Queens Household about the year 1704. It was not long before Abigail Hill began to supplant her powerful, whether she was guilty of the deliberate ingratitude charged against her by the Duchess of Marlborough is uncertain. Churchill then found that Abigail had, for time, enjoyed considerable intimacy with her Royal mistress. The completeness of her ascendancy was seen in 1710 when the Queen compelled Marlborough, much against his will, to give an important command to Colonel John Hill, Abigails brother. Sunderland, Godolphin, and the other Whig ministers were dismissed from office, largely owing to her influence, to make way for Oxford. In the following year, the Duchess of Marlborough was also dismissed from her appointment at Court, Lady Masham soon quarrelled with Oxford, and set herself to foster by all the means in her power the Queens growing personal distaste for her minister. Anne died on 1 August, and Lady Masham then retired into private life, mistress Mashams Repose by T H White makes specific reference to Abigail, Baroness Masham. Unknown woman, formerly known as Abigail Hill, National Portrait Gallery Lady Masham – English School – identified by comparison with the NPG portrait
43.
Prince George of Denmark
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Prince George of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Cumberland, was the husband of Queen Anne, who reigned over Great Britain from 1702. His marriage to Anne was arranged in the early 1680s with a view to developing an Anglo-Danish alliance to contain Dutch maritime power, as a result, George was unpopular with his Dutch brother-in-law William of Orange, who was married to Annes elder sister, Mary. William and Mary became joint monarchs of Britain, with Anne as their heir presumptive, in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution deposed James II and VII, the father of both Anne and Mary. William excluded George from active service, and neither George nor Anne wielded any great influence until after the deaths of William and Mary. During his wifes reign, George occasionally used his influence in support of his wife and he had an easy-going manner and little interest in politics, his appointment as Lord High Admiral in 1702 was largely honorary. Annes seventeen pregnancies by George resulted in twelve miscarriages or stillbirths, four infant deaths, and a sick son, William. Despite the history of their children, George and Annes marriage was a strong one, George died aged 55 from a recurring and chronic lung disease, much to the devastation of his wife, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey. George was born in Copenhagen Castle, and was the son of King Frederick III of Denmark and Norway. His mother was the sister of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, from 1661, his governor was Otto Grote, later Hanoverian minister to Denmark. Grote was more courtier and statesman than educator and when he left for the Hanoverian court in 1665, George received military training, and undertook a Grand Tour of Europe, spending eight months in 1668–69 in France and mid-1669 in England. His father died in 1670, while George was in Italy and he travelled through Germany again in 1672–73, to visit two of his sisters, Anna Sophia and Wilhelmine Ernestine, who were married to the electoral princes of Saxony and the Palatinate. In 1674, George was a candidate for the Polish elective throne, Georges staunch Lutheranism was a barrier to election in Roman Catholic Poland, and John Sobieski was chosen instead. In 1677, George served with distinction with his elder brother Christian in the Scanian War against Sweden. His brother was captured by the Swedes at the Battle of Landskrona, and George cut his way through the enemies numbers, as a Protestant, George was considered a suitable partner for the niece of King Charles II of England, Lady Anne. Although they were related, they had never met. George was hosted by Charles II in London in 1669, both Denmark and Britain were Protestant countries, and Louis XIV was keen on an Anglo-Danish alliance to contain the power of the Dutch Republic. George and Anne were married on 28 July 1683 in the Chapel Royal at St Jamess Palace, London, by Henry Compton, the guests included King Charles II, Queen Catherine, and the Duke and Duchess of York. Anne was voted a parliamentary allowance of £20,000 a year, while George received £10,000 a year from his Danish estates, King Charles gave them a set of buildings in the Palace of Whitehall known as the Cockpit as their London residence
44.
George I of Great Britain
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George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698. George was born in Hanover and inherited the titles and lands of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg from his father, a succession of European wars expanded his German domains during his lifetime, and in 1708 he was ratified as prince-elector of Hanover. At the age of 54, after the death of his second cousin Queen Anne of Great Britain, in reaction, Jacobites attempted to depose George and replace him with Annes Catholic half-brother, James Francis Edward Stuart, but their attempts failed. During Georges reign, the powers of the monarchy diminished and Britain began a transition to the system of cabinet government led by a prime minister. Towards the end of his reign, actual power was held by Sir Robert Walpole. George died of a stroke on a trip to his native Hanover, George was born on 28 May 1660 in Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the eldest son of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Sophia was the granddaughter of King James I of England through her mother, Elizabeth of Bohemia. For the first year of his life, George was the heir to the German territories of his father. In 1661 Georges brother, Frederick Augustus, was born and the two boys were brought up together, after Sophias tour she bore Ernest Augustus another four sons and a daughter. In her letters, Sophia describes George as a responsible, conscientious child who set an example to his brothers and sisters. In 1679 another uncle died unexpectedly without sons and Ernest Augustus became reigning Duke of Calenberg-Göttingen, Georges surviving uncle, George William of Celle, had married his mistress in order to legitimise his only daughter, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, but looked unlikely to have any further children. Under Salic law, where inheritance of territory was restricted to the male line, in 1682, the family agreed to adopt the principle of primogeniture, meaning George would inherit all the territory and not have to share it with his brothers. The same year, George married his first cousin, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the marriage of state was arranged primarily as it ensured a healthy annual income and assisted the eventual unification of Hanover and Celle. His mother was at first against the marriage because she looked down on Sophia Dorotheas mother and she was eventually won over by the advantages inherent in the marriage. In 1683, George and his brother, Frederick Augustus, served in the Great Turkish War at the Battle of Vienna, and Sophia Dorothea bore George a son, George Augustus. The following year, Frederick Augustus was informed of the adoption of primogeniture and it led to a breach between father and son, and between the brothers, that lasted until Frederick Augustuss death in battle in 1690. With the imminent formation of a single Hanoverian state, and the Hanoverians continuing contributions to the Empires wars, Georges prospects were now better than ever as the sole heir to his fathers electorate and his uncles duchy. Sophia Dorothea had a child, a daughter named after her, in 1687
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