Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
“What stands out to me about the investiture is how it resembled a medieval ceremony,” said Toronto-based royal historian and author Carolyn Harris. “But in fact, the investiture ceremony for the Prince of Wales was a 20th century invention.”
It was considerably more elaborate than previous investitures, and the first such ceremony to be broadcast via the increasingly popular medium of television.
My review of Queen of World by Robert Hardman is now available to read online in the latest issue of the Royal Studies Journal!
Click here to download the PDF of my book review of Queen of World in the Royal Studies Journal
Here is the introduction: “US President Donald Trump is expected to make an official state visit to the UK in June 2019, which will include a state banquet and ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day. But who was the first American leader to make a state visit to Britain? Which two monarchs wrestled one another during a state visit? And how has Queen Elizabeth II welcomed world leaders in the past? Dr Carolyn Harris takes a closer look at the pomp and history of the state visit to Britain, and those of British monarchs abroad… “
On May 18, 2019, Lady Gabriella Windsor (the daughter of Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin Prince Michael of Kent) married Thomas Kingston at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. Lady Gabriella is the third member of the royal family to be married at St. George’s Chapel in the past year. Senior members of the royal family attended the wedding including the Queen and Prince Harry. In an interview with Janet Davison at CBC News, I discussed Lady Gabriella, her branch of the royal family, and her wedding.
Click here to read “Another royal wedding — but not so much pomp” at CBC News
I wrote a short history of the name Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor for the BBC History Magazine. I discussed the long history of the name Archibald or Archie among the Scottish nobility including an ancestor of the new royal baby, how Harrison mirrors Norse and Anglo-Saxon patronymics from before the Norman Conquest and the emergence of the surname Mountbatten-Windsor for junior members of the royal family from 1960 to the present.
Click here to read Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor: the history behind the royal baby name
My latest article in the Canadian Encyclopedia is about Lady Lansdowne,
viceregal consort of Canada from 1883 to 1888 and Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Alexandra. Lady Lansdowne was an active and popular viceregal consort who became an accomplished figure skater during her time in Canada. Her eldest brother was an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales and Lady Lansdowne was therefore a great-great-great-great grand-aunt of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, the newborn son of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Click here to read my article about Lady Lansdowne in the Canadian Encyclopedia
I discussed The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s newborn son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor with Janet Davison for the CBC royal newsletter, The Royal Fascinator. The interview includes the birth announcement, first photographs and the name that was announced today.
I discussed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s newborn son in a series of interviews on the CBC News Channel and CBC Radio on the day of the royal baby’s arrival, May 6, 2019.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed a baby boy today. The newborn is 7th in line to the throne after his grandfather Prince Charles, uncle Prince William, cousins Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, and father Prince Harry. Just before the birth, I discussed the historical significance of the royal baby in an extended interview with Natalie Escobar at The Atlantic.
Click here to read The New Baby’s Historical Significance in The Atlantic
I discussed the history of speculation and rumours surrounding royal births from the seventeenth century to the present day with Janet Davison at CBC News. The article also discusses the reports that that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may live abroad at some point in the future. The royal couple’s first child is expected to arrive in the next few days, prompting widespread conjecture concerning the young family’s eventual plans for travel within the Commonwealth.