Without this man my husband would never have existed.

This is the carriage of the King of Norway Haakon VII on a visit to Paris in 1907. His Queen, Maud, was one of Queen Victoria’s many granddaughters.

During World War II, the King refused to co-operate with the Nazis and send all of the young men to labour camps. Amongst those young men was my late father-in-law, who later escaped to Great Britain and joined the Air Force. He met a young lady who was later to become my Mother-in-law...

The unhappy princess

This is King Léopold II of Belgium with his daughter Clémentine. Before she came of age she suffered a lot because of her mother’s difficult temper. Her father gave her permission to travel without her mother which helped a lot.

The problem with being a princess is that you aren’t allowed to marry who you would like. Clémentine wanted to marry Napoléon Victor Bonaparte, who was descended from Napoléon and therefore not of royal blood. Her father threatened to disinherit her. She was already in her 30s and could feel her biological clock ticking away. Prince Napoléon and Clémentine decided to wait until her father died. She didn’t have to wait for much longer after this photograph was taken. Her father died in 1909 and when her cousin, Albert, became King, gave her permission to marry and she really did live happily ever after!

Princesse Alice

A few days ago we received a lot of 1000 cards from an auction house. They were really special and we’re rather pleased with them. If you read the post about the auction catalogue (a different auction to come), you will know that some of the pictures are of Prince Albert 1st of Monaco. The card above was also taken on his yacht "Princesse Alice". I think it’s a very interesting coincidence.

Here you see the launching of a weather kite for the exploration of the atmosphere. I’m not really sure but I think that the man standing on the left reaching up to the kite is the Prince.

Something different

For once I’m breaking my rules and not showing you a postcard. We received a catalogue
last week for an auction too far away for us to attend. This is the back cover. Two of the lots consist of photographs from the archives of the photographer and journalist Mr. Chusseau-Flaviens, he specialised in royalty.


First is The grand Duchess Irina Alexandrovna, then The Tzarevitch and The Grand Duchess Marie Nicolainna. Then there are two pictures of The Prince of Monaco; Prince Albert 1st, one in his laboratory on his yacht “Princess Alice and the other with his famous collection at the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco. The German Emperor Guillaume III is at the keel of his yacht. The last is the most interesting; An operation is being performed by the professor Jonesco. The patient , anaesthetized, has his stomach open and is looking at the photographer while smoking a cigarette. (To calm his nerves perhaps?)

(My spellings are taken from the French, I’m afraid, as usual click on the image to see in more detail)