It was February 6, 1952, when Prince Philip told his wife, who we now know as Queen Elizabeth, that her father King George VI had died. Although the King had suffered from a prolonged illness, the moment still came as a profound shock to the 25-year-old Princess, who had to mourn her dear ‘Papa’ while facing the realization that she was now Queen.
To make matters more complicated, the royal couple were in Kenya at the time. Just a week earlier, King George VI had bid daughter and son-in-law farewell for what was intended to be a six-month tour of the Commonwealth. The King himself had been due to undertake the international journey but had to withdraw due to ill health; he was suffering from lung cancer.
Father and daughter: King George VI and the then Princess Elizabeth in 1946
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The first stop of the tour was Kenya. After three days in Nairobi, the couple drove up to Sagana Lodge, a property in the foothills of Mount Kenya that was given to them as a wedding present. After lunch on February 5, Philip and Elizabeth ventured out 20 miles to Treetops, a game-viewing lodge overlooking an elephant waterhole where they planned to spend the night before continuing with the duties of their tour.
It was while the couple were there, soaking up the majesty of the African wildlife, that King George VI took his final breath at Sandringham House, in Norfolk. Operation “Hyde Park Corner” whirred into action, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill was immediately informed. However, it took hours for the news to reach the Princess, who only found out after returning to Sagana.
Before donning the institutional Olympic robes, Anna wore those of an assiduous supporter and professional athlete of the equestrian discipline of “full riding,” in which the rider must compete in three tests: dressage, show jumping and cross-country. It is a sport that requires technique, readiness, steadiness, but also style, which the princess has not failed to show off in all the Olympic occasions she has participated in over the years, both from the stands and as an athlete.
Princess Anne, Montreal Olympics, 1976.
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That’s why, on the occasion of her presence in Milan-Cortina 2026 and as a tribute to her fervent passion for sports disciplines and her participation, five decades ago, in Olympic competitions, we went over some of Princess Anne’s most beautiful five-ringed looks.
The sporty-chic look at the Munich Olympics, 1972
Princess Anne inherited her passion for the equestrian world from her mother Elizabeth II, and then passed that love down to her daughter Zara, whose father is Anne’s ex-husband Mark Phillips. He competed during the 1972 Olympics in the all-around competition, winning a team gold medal. Princess Anne was there supporting him from the stands.
Sofia also participated in the 1960 Rome Olympics, at only 21 years of age, as a crew member of her brother, the late King Constantine II of Greece, also in the Dragon class of sailing. As a reserve at the Olympic Games, however, Sofia could not share in the gold medal victory won by the team.
It was Felipe who managed to achieve the best sporting achievement in the family. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the then-Prince of Asturias finished sixth in the Soling class, earning the Olympic diploma. On that same occasion he was also Spain’s flag-bearer, receiving one of the most heartfelt ovations at the opening ceremony; his older sister, Infanta Elena, was in tears.
The current ruler wore the regulation uniform of white pants, a dark jacket, a tie in the national colors, and a white hat. Felipe, also fond of squash and skiing, has accompanied Spanish athletes in numerous competitions and participated in several editions of the Olympics, including the 2004 Athens Olympics alongside his future wife, Queen Letizia.
The then Prince Felipe of Spain and Princess Letizia at the Turin Olympics.
Photo by Michael Kappeler/AFP via Getty Images.
Felipe and Letizia distinguished themselves during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin by cheering on the Spanish alpine skiing team in the official uniform despite the intense cold and copious snowfall. In his commentary on the race, Felipe pointed out the difficult weather conditions and the differences between an Olympic competition and the World Cup, highlighting the complexity of a one-run race versus a circuit that rewards consistency over time. Despite some poor final results, the prince remained optimistic about the athletes’ chances in subsequent competitions.
This week, Prince Harry traveled to the UK without his wife, Meghan Markle, or their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, to launch another front in his long-running war against the British press. He made an appearance in a London courtroom for his privacy-invasion trial against Associated Newspapers, one of Britain’s largest newspaper companies, and on Wednesday, he took to the witness stand to discuss the case.
The royal family spent most of the 20th century largely avoiding public litigation. Harry, though, has spent years aggressively challenging both the press and the government of his native country, ever since he stopped getting legal advice from Queen Elizabeth II’s lawyers and instead hired his own legal representation.
Harry’s quest began in 2019, shortly after his wife launched her own battle against Associated Newspapers and The Mail on Sunday, alleging that the publisher breached her privacy and copyright. (Meghan would eventually emerge victorious in that lawsuit.) At the tail end of a trip to South Africa, Harry announced that he was suing News Group Newspapers and the Mirror Group, and the following spring, he added that he and Meghan would no longer be cooperating with reporters from many tabloids. His announcement shocked the global media—and would play a pivotal role in the dissolution of Harry’s relationship with his family, which would culminate in Meghan and Harry’s 2020 decision to step back from senior royal duties and move to North America. In June 2023, Harry became the first senior royal to testify in High Court since 1891, when his great-great-great-grandfather Edward VII testified for 20 minutes during a trial.
After more than six years of courtroom struggles, Harry may be getting ready to bury the hatchet. “It’s not a nice experience for anyone to find themselves in court,” a source close to the prince told the Times earlier this month. “But he sees it as a necessary thing to do for a lot of reasons, a continuation of an ongoing mission, and he’s feeling confident going into it. He just wants to get through it and move on.” In the meantime, though, he’s currently involved in two major cases—with four more in the rearview mirror. Here’s a guide to each one.
Harry vs. Mirror Group Newspapers
At issue: Alleged illegal information gathering and phone hacking at The Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, and Sunday People.
Outcome: Harry won on 15 of the 33 claims he had made and was awarded a modest penalty payment of 140,600 British pounds.
Harry signed on to this case in 2019, joining with other British celebrities like former soccer player Ian Wright and the estate of George Michael. Harry’s lawyers alleged that unlawfully gathered information was used in dozens of articles about the prince that had been published between 1996 and 2010. The prince appeared in court for the suit in June 2023 and ultimately testified for two days, describing how the disclosure of private information affected his mental health and his relationship with his then girlfriend, Chelsy Davy. On the stand, Harry said that he joined the lawsuit in order to push back against the assumption that his personal life is open to media scrutiny by default. “There’s a difference between public interest and what interests the public,” he said.
Harry (and Meghan) vs. Paparazzi Agency X17
At issue: Photographs of Archie taken at the home the family borrowed from Tyler Perry.
The bride, now Lady Pamela Hicks, wore a white satin gown by Worth, which featured white fur as a nod to the winter wedding. Atop her head was the Mountbatten Pearl and Diamond tiara, loaned to her by her mother for the occasion. The provenance of the Belle Epoque style piece is unknown, but The Royal Watcher surmises that it must have originated around 1901, as a wedding gift for Countess Mountbatten’s own mother, Amalia Mary Maud Cassel, when she married Wilfried Ashley.
Lady Pamela wore a gown by Worth and a family heirloom tiara
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Lady Pamela wore the tiara for some of the nation’s most historic moments, including the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the following Commonwealth tour, which she recalled being a tiring experience, especially “donning an evening dress and tiara at 10 in the morning.”
On her wedding day, Pamela Hicks was accompanied by a host of royals–though her friend, Queen Elizabeth II, could not attend, as she was heavily pregnant with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor at the time. Queen Louise of Sweden and Prince Philip joined the congregation, as did the Queen Mother (who wore a brooch belonging to Queen Victoria), Princess Alice, Princess Marina, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Princess Sophie of Greece and Hanover, and Penelope Knatchbull. Alongside them were a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne, then aged just 11 and 10 respectively.
The newlyweds would go on to welcome three children–Edwina, a goddaughter of Queen Elizabeth; Ashley, a godson of Prince Philip, and India, a goddaughter of King Charles who served as a bridesmaid at his wedding to Princess Diana–and raised their family at home in the Chilterns. The Hickses continued to serve a crucial role as pillars of support for the late Queen and the royal family for decades to come, and David and Lady Pamela spent 38 years together before David passed away on March 29, 1998.
Prince William‘s finances are in good shape, it appears. According to the annual Integrated Impact Report for the prince’s Duchy of Cornwall, the estate has generated a distributable surplus of £22.9 million, which is equivalent to about $30.9 million US. That’s a slight decrease from last year, when the estate reported a distributable surplus of 23.6 million British pounds.
This year marks William’s second as head of the Duchy of Cornwall, which is typically passed on to the heir to the throne. King Charles III was the previous head of the estate, which, per People, includes houses, farms, land and other assets across 130,000 acres spanning 23 counties in England and Wales. The Duchy, which was established by King Edward III in 1337, is worth over $1 billion today, and was passed on to Prince William after Queen Elizabeth died in 2022 and Charles assumed the throne.
William doesn’t earn a traditional salary for his royal duties, so it’s up to the Duchy to cover the private, official, and charitable expenses for the prince, wife Kate Middleton, and children Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, and Prince George, the latter of whom is expected to inherit the Duchy when his father eventually becomes king.
According to its annual report, the past year was “one of both change and evolution for the Duchy, particularly in its organisational strategy to focus on positive impact for people, places and planet.”
Prince William, Prince of Wales at The Duchy Of Cornwall Nursery on July 10, 2023.
Though King Charles III introduced a number of new traditions for this year’s royal Christmas celebration, one thing remained the same: The family’s morning walk to Norfolk’s St. Mary Magdalene Church continued as it has for years, with Charles and Queen Camilla leading the charge.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla attend the Christmas Morning Service at St Mary Magdalene Church on December 25, 2025 in Sandringham, Norfolk.
Mark Cuthbert/Getty Images
Kate Middleton, Prince William, and children Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte, and Prince George also enjoyed the walk, which was observed on both sides by ardent fans, many bearing gifts. One such offering, a giant Lindor chocolate egg, thrilled the 7-year-old Louis, who snatched it from his father’s hands.
But this year, Princess Anne has dropped to second place, Teble writes, though she was out and about even more in 2025. But though the 75-year-old had 478 engagements, she was outpaced by her brother, 77-year-old King Charles. He carried out 535 official acts, netting him this crown in addition to that other one.
That uptick in activity can be viewed as a sign that his health is indeed improving, a theory blostered by an announcement the king made earlier this month. “Thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention, and adherence to doctors’ orders, my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the new year,” the king said in a prerecorded message that aired as part of Stand Up to Cancer’s 2025 broadcast on the UK network Channel 4. “This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years.”
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh and Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh attend The Coral Gold Cup at Newbury Racecourse on November 29, 2025.
Mark Cuthbert/Getty Images
Taking third place is Charles and Anne’s 61-year-old younger brother, Prince Edward, with 313 acts. His wife, 60-year-old Duchess Sophie, is ranked fourth with 235 events in 2025. At age 78, Queen Camilla is the oldest royal on the list—but is also one of its busiest, with a fifth-place ranking for 228 official acts.
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, English royal holiday banquets were stacked with countless dishes, with a heavy emphasis on expensive meats. According to Louise Cooling’s A Royal Christmas, 30 oxen, 100 sheep, five boars, nine dozen fowls, salted venison, salmon, lampreys (an eel-like fish) and 19 large wine casks were procured for King Henry III of England’s Christmas at Woodstock Palace in 1264.
Mincemeat pies, crane, swan, brawn (terrine made with a pig’s head and served with mustard), goose and lamprey pie, and even porpoise (served dressed with vinegar and breadcrumbs) were all popular holiday fare. A boar’s head, presented on a platter, was often the first dish of the feast. “After a flourish of trumpets it was carried into the banqueting hall, by the server, on a gold or silver dish,” the Nottinghamshire Guardian reported in 1900. “A procession followed, consisting of nobles, knights, and ladies singing a joyous carol.”
Peacocks were also considered a delicacy in medieval feasts; their colorful feathers proudly displayed. “The bird was first skinned, and the feathered tail, head and neck were laid on a table, and sprinkled with cumin,” Sheila Hutchins writes in Royal Cookbook: Favorite Court Recipes from the World’s Royal Families. “The body was then roasted, glazed with raw egg yolks, cooled, sewn back into the skin, and served as the last course.”
Frumenty—a wholegrain porridge made with cream, honey, expensive spices like nutmeg and cinnamon, and dried fruit and nuts—was a popular dish (which later evolved into a Christmas pudding). There was also “Christmas Pottage,” a plum broth of beef or mutton, breadcrumbs, raisins, currants and spices. This recipe would evolve over the centuries, becoming even more decadent. The recipe preferred by 19th-century English monarch George IV included beef, veal, dried fruits, spices, ground cochineal (for a festive red pigment) and tons of booze including port, brandy, sherry, Madeira and claret.
It was during Queen Victoria’s long reign that many of the British royal family’s Christmas traditions were set. “At dinner there were all the Christmas dishes, of which we generally had to eat a little,” Queen Victoria recalled, per Cooling. “First the cold baron of beef which stood on the large sideboard all decked out – brawn – game pies from Ireland…stuffed turkey – wild boar’s head…mince pies etc. etc. – and all sorts of Bonbons and figures and toys were brought at dessert, many of which were given to the children; and there used to be such great excitement and delight.”
For the last 15 years, the royal formerly known as Prince Andrew has faced scrutiny over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, but as new emails and documents emerge, the fallout has intensified. King Charles III made the decision to strip his brother of his titles, honors, and style late last month, renaming him Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Now the institutions Andrew worked with during his decades as a senior royal are trying to figure out how to remove his ceremonial plaques from their walls.
From the large to the small, these organizations are doing their best to erase any trace of the disgraced royal from their public spaces.
He Lost His Final Military Role
Despite losing most of his royal military titles in 2022, when he settled a lawsuit with accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre in which Andrew rejected any claim of wrongdoing and accepted no liability, news broke that Andrew still held on to one final role as honorary Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy. But on November 5, Secretary of Defence John Healey announced that the Royal Navy was trying to remove that title as well. “We’ve had Andrew surrender the honorary positions he’s had throughout the military, and—guided again by the king—we are working now to remove that last remaining title of Vice Admiral that he has,” Healey told the BBC. “This is a move that’s right, it’s a move the King has indicated we should take and we’re working on that at the moment.”
He Was Removed From Plaques on the Falkland Islands
Earlier this month, there was a reprieve when the Ministry of Defence announced that Andrew would be allowed to keep the medals he earned when he served in the Falklands War in 1982. But the Falkland Islands themselves are not so fond of the association. In the decades since he made his name as a military hero in the small territory off the coast of Argentina, he made multiple visits to celebrate the ties between the UK and the land it fought to defend. But in 2022, after Andrew settled out of court with Giuffre, his plaque was taken down from King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Stanley, the islands’ capital city.
According to the Daily Express, all signs of Andrew’s name have now been erased from the islands following this year’s developments. A plaque with his name was removed from the Mount Pleasant Airport, which he opened in 2002, and another was taken down from a wildlife center run by his former patronage, the Falklands Conservation trust. “He was removed as patron and the plaque at the field centre has gone,” a staff member said, as reported by the Daily Mirror. His plaque at the center was also scrapped, and a spokesperson confirmed that Andrew is “no longer connected to our school.”
Town Councils Across the UK Regret Their One-Time Exuberance
When the king announced that Andrew would no longer be a prince, town councils across the UK had to weigh what to do with the streets named in his honor. The New York Times documented the debate in Heldeson, a village in eastern England that adopted the street name “Prince Andrew” when he was born in 1960. (He was the first child born to a sitting monarch in more than 100 years, which caused a fair degree of media excitement at the time.)
According to one town councillor who spoke to the newspaper, the change wouldn’t be an easy one to accomplish in the small town of 11,000 residents. “It would be very difficult to obtain a consensus of all residents,” Shelagh Gurney told the Times. “My emails clearly indicate that this would not be achieved.”
For months, royal watchers have been fascinated by a tiny mystery: The small ring gleaming on Queen Camilla‘s left-hand pinky finger. It sits discreetly next to the precious Art Deco engagement ring given to her by husband King Charles III, and interested parties have found little information at hand about the jewelry and its history. It’s part of the Royal Collection, but further details are sparse. What, then, has made it so special to the queen?
Queen Camilla with the mystery ring on her little finger.
Tim Clayton/Getty Images
From photos, it appears that Queen Camilla began wearing the mystery ring in February 2025. It didn’t take long for royal enthusiasts to take notice. In pictures, not much could be seen of the piece, but it seemed to be made of gold, with several small circles in the design. It was noted that Charles, too, wears a ring on his own left pinky. His is a signet ring, and has been a constant for more than 50 years.
The Royal Collection described the piece as “a gold ring composed of seven circular plaques, each engraved with ancient symbols, plain gold shield in front.” Other pieces in the collection have more information, such as the piece’s provenance. When experts zoomed in on image of the ring, they identified some symbols related to the tradition of ancient Greece, including a boat, a lyre, an amphora, as well as Greek letters.
On the official Buckingham Palace website, the line of succession to the throne still shows the “Duke of York” in eighth place. Of course, this page is missing an update, considering that this noble title has been unclaimed for more than two weeks. In an October 17 statement, Prince Andrew publicly renounced it after a “discussion with the king and my immediate and wider family.” After the palace’s shocking announcement last week that King Charles was stripping his brother of his titles and honors, the lingering name is evidence of a strange truth: Though Queen Elizabeth II’s third child is no longer a prince, he could still become king.
To remove Andrew Mountbatten Windsor from the line of succession would require an act of parliament. That, in turn, would need approval from the commonwealth member states, since the British monarch is recognized as their head of state. And despite pressure from Westminster to look into permanently removing Andrew from the line, Keir Starmer’s government “has no plans” to do so, per the BBC.
Removing Andrew from the line of succession would primarily be a symbolic gesture, as the former prince’s chances of assuming the throne are almost nil. At birth, Andrew was second in line, but now his name falls after Prince William and his three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, followed by Prince Harry and his two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Little by little, Andrew has lost nearly all of the distinctions associated with royal status. In 2022 the queen revoked his honorary military ranks and he was denied the right to style himself “His Royal Highness” in an official capacity. Last month, Andrew gave up the Duchy of York. Now, the formal process of withdrawing his titles and honors is underway, including the appellation of “prince.” But if Andrew were to be removed from the line of succession, Parliament’s involvement would become necessary.
Prince William and Kate Middleton have moved into what they hope will be their “home for life.” The couple and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, have bid farewell to Adelaide Cottage, where they had been living since late summer 2022, to take up discreet residence at Forest Lodge, a magnificent 19th-century manor house, also located on Windsor’s Great Park. The move took place during the All Saints’ vacation, which ended on Sunday, November 2, according to the Telegraph.
The couple’s move was confirmed by Kensington Palace last August. It was scheduled to take place “before Christmas,” but some renovation and modernization work, both inside and out, was reportedly completed ahead of schedule, allowing the timeline to shift. The necessary renovations, as well as the installation of privacy measures, are said to have been financed by the future king, William, himself. The family’s belongings were gradually moved from one house to another so that the move could be completed before the end of the school holidays, the Telegraph reported.
The red-brick mansion offers more space than the Prince and Princess of Wales’s previous home. Adelaide Cottage has four bedrooms, while Forest Lodge has twice as many. There’s also plenty of green space, including a pond and tennis court. By moving into Forest Lodge, the Waleses are staying in Windsor’s Great Park, where they love the peace and tranquillity of the green expanses, while remaining close to Windsor Castle and London—a good hour’s drive away—where they regularly travel on official business. As the old and new houses are only a 10 minute drive apart, the family will be able to maintain their usual routines. The children will continue to attend Lambrook School.
At the direction of King Charles, Buckingham Palace made a near unprecedented announcement on Thursday evening. Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II, will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the House of Windsor’s official family name, and will lose his home and surrender the lease on Royal Lodge.
“His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew,” read a statement from Buckingham Palace. “His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.”
The announcement comes nearly six years after Andrew stepped back from his official duties as a senior royal due to the controversy over his relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Though Andrew’s involvement in the scandal has been a matter of public debate since 2011, new developments have made his presence at family events with fellow royals a continued problem for the king and his son Prince William.
The palace statement acknowledged that allegations have continued to cause controversy for years, despite Andrew’s denials. “These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the statement continued. “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
The palace confirmed to Vanity Fair that Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie will retain their titles. In addition to the princely title, which was his right at birth, Andrew will also lose his dukedom. As such, he may no longer style himself “Duke of York,” “Earl of Inverness,” “Baron Killyleagh,” or “His Royal Highness.” He will also be stripped of his honors, including Order of the Garter and Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order.
One palace source said that the king initiated the process to strip his brother of his HRH status and titles, and Andrew has not objected. The king has the backing of the Prince of Wales, and other members of the family agree that Andrew should be stripped of his titles.
Two weeks ago, Andrew said in a statement issued through Buckingham Palace that he would entirely forgo the use of his “Duke of York” title. “I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life,” it read. “With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honors which have been conferred upon me.” But the public outcry continued, and there have been calls within parliament to formally strip Andrew of his titles.
Since joining the British royal family, Kate Middleton has only worn tiaras on a few occasions. Those appearances have been scrutinized highlights of the royal calendar, but one banquet in November 2023 stands out as the most spectacular. During a state dinner given at Buckingham Palace in honor of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, a rare diadem called the Strathmore tiara was threaded into the hair of Prince William’s wife.
Queen Elizabeth wearing the Strathmore tiara with King George VI on her wedding day.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The tiara, composed of diamonds arranged to form a delicate garland of wild roses, had not been worn in public since the 1930s. Purchased from London jewelers Catchpole & Williams, it was presented to the Queen Mother, Elisabeth Bowes-Lyon, by her father, the Earl of Strathmore, on the occasion of her marriage to the Duke of York in 1923. The jewel has an ingenious design; it can be worn as a tiara, but can also be disassembled to form five independent brooches.
Elizabeth wore it as a tiara for a series of portraits taken shortly after her wedding; according Lauren Kiehna of jewelry website The Court Jeweller, she was last photographed wearing this piece in the 1930s. Upon her death in 2002, the jewel passed into the hands of her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II—who chose never to wear it. The piece was kept in a vault until it was brought out again in 2023 to adorn Kate Middleton’s head at the State Dinner, at a time when many thought it too fragile or damaged to be worn again.
Prince Andrew has agreed to give up his royal titles to save the royal family from further embarrassment over his connections with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Though he took a “step back” from his role as a senior royal in November 2019, he has continued to use the “Duke of York” title that was conferred by Queen Elizabeth II on his wedding day in 1986.
The prince shared the news in a statement issued through Buckingham Palace on Friday, adding that he consulted King Charles III in the course of making his decision. “I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life,” it read. “With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me.”
Though his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, died by suicide earlier this year, her allegations have resurfaced in a memoir that is due to be published on October 21. In his statement, Andrew continued to deny all claims of impropriety. “As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me,” the statement read. “In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family. I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first.”
It is understood that the prince agreed to give up his remaining royal titles amid mounting pressure over his links with Epstein and an alleged Chinese spy. The king, who has been at a loss over how to deal with what is known as the “Andrew problem” at the palace, is said to be “glad” about the outcome.
Along with other members of the royal family, Prince William, who has privately been concerned about the optics of Prince Andrew retaining his titles and being seen as close to the royal family, was consulted.
Sources say the decision for Andrew to give up his titles was taken in close deliberation with the king and in recognition of the fact that the prince’s personal issues continue to distract from the work of the wider royal family. It is understood that the king appealed to Prince Andrew, who still lives at Royal Lodge on the Windsor Estate, to do the right thing and give up his titles in order to preserve the reputation of the monarchy.
Buckingham Palace is arguably the most famous home in the world. When the sovereign is in residence, the royal standard flies high over the stately palace. The site of countless royal births, deaths, christenings and familial balcony appearances, it has been the official London home of the monarch since 1837. But in the past few years, the only residents appear to be one royal couple, some staff, and a handful of ghosts.
One person currently not living at “Buck House” is King Charles III, but he has a good excuse: The palace is currently undergoing a massive $466 million renovation. However, this is probably a relief. “I know he is no fan of ‘the big house,’ as he calls the palace,” an insider told The Sunday Times. “He doesn’t see it as a viable future home or a house that’s fit for purpose in the modern world. He feels its upkeep, both from a cost and environmental perspective, is not sustainable.”
Royal historian Ingrid Seward agrees. “They [Charles and Camilla] would much rather stay at Clarence House,” she toldNewsweek in 2023. “None of the royals liked living at BP. It’s vast and impersonal. It is an official residence, not a home.”
Boasting 775 rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms and 188 staff bedrooms, living in Buckingham Palace has been likened to “living above the shop,” staying in a giant hotel or “camping in a museum.” According to Andrew Morton’sInside Buckingham Palace, Queen Mary herself got lost for three hours while exploring all the nooks and crannies of her new home. It is so vast, intruders have been a problem since Queen Victoria’s day, culminating in Michael Fagan accosting Queen Elizabeth II in her bedroom in 1982.
While the private royal apartments run along the northwest flank of the building, the rest of Buckingham Palace is a giant office building, seasonal museum, and events space. According to the official royal website, 50,000 people visit each year, enjoying state banquets, receptions, and garden parties. Outside the gates, the Mall is packed with tourists. “I should put a dummy of myself inside my windows,” Prince Andrewonce said, reportedly.
“What happens on the other side of a wall is always an intriguing question, and when the wall is in the middle of London and encloses the garden of Buckingham Palace, it is positively tantalizing,” the late Prince Philip once noted, per Morton.
Britton, Jr.’s story of Montford Point is only a fraction of the accomplishments and lives he has touched in more than 36,000 days of living. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Seated in a meeting room at the Montford Convention, his back sinks into the chair like an emperor settling onto his throne. No cane or no walker in sight for walking assistance, the man’s calm expression says more than words ever could. Before he even has a chance to introduce himself, the sergeant speaks for him. The weight of history seems to hover around him, a presence that makes a formal introduction almost unnecessary.
“Meet General Britton,” the sergeant says, and Britton’s smile matches the warmth of the greeting. Theodore Britton Jr., 99, is what some might call a pioneer, a harbinger, a vanguard, a man who has shaken hands with presidents and politicians, and acknowledged by Queen Elizabeth. Yet despite all that, Britton carries himself with humility. He downplays accomplishments that others would broadcast, though his intelligence is impossible to hide. Over lunch, he might casually order a tuna sandwich while giving an intellectual breakdown of a polymath, or mention a book you’ve never heard of but immediately want to Google.
Some might claim to be the first. But Britton—he truly was one of the first. Before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, before Black and white Americans could sit together on the same bus, Britton had already etched his name into history as one of the first Black United States Marines. For him and thousands of other Black Marines in the 1940s, Montford Point was where their Marine story began—a chapter that, decades later, would earn him the nation’s Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of that service.
As he nears his centennial, his story of Montford Point is only a fraction of the accomplishments and lives he has touched in more than 36,000 days of living.
For Britton, Jr. (above) and thousands of other Black Marines in the 1940s, Montford Point, in North Carolina, was where their Marine story began. Britton, Jr. has many fond memories of those times. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Life in Blue Heaven
The middle child of parents, Bessie Britton, and property manager, Theodore R. Britton Sr., Britton spent his earliest years in a small community just outside North Augusta, South Carolina. “We called it Blue Heaven because it was composed of something like eight or ten houses, and they were all painted blue,” said Mr. Britton.
For a young boy growing up in the segregated South, separation from white neighbors never felt like a burden. “The fact that I was living in a separate area didn’t bother me. I never assumed it meant anything was wrong or that I was inferior,” he said. Blue Heaven shaped his childhood—from walking to the corner store with his sisters for peanut butter or fresh sugar water, to discovering the joy of learning in the classroom. It was there he met a teacher named Ms. Lina Key, despite juggling four different grade levels, made a lasting impression with her dedication and care.
Teachers gravitated toward him, drawn to his curiosity and erudition. Even as a child, his head was rarely out of a book. “‘I’ve read over a thousand books,’” he said, glancing at the shelves surrounding his Atlanta apartment today.
At ten, his father moved the family to New York City, as he found a job building the subway systems. They first settled in Harlem, but after his father lost his job during the Great Depression, they relocated to downtown Manhattan. The move opened young Britton’s eyes to a new world. The North was no utopia, but its racial lines were often more complex than those of the South.
He recalls seeing a white man in a restaurant collecting scraps of food, a sight that challenged the racial assumptions he’d grown up with. “It made me think that maybe equality or inequality has more to do with circumstances than just race,” he reflected. School introduced him to new experiences, including choir, which led to the glee club, and an early understanding of stocks, which would prove useful later in life. He attended the New York School of Commerce, one of the country’s first trade-focused high schools, planning a future in bookkeeping.
Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Pioneer Spirit to Pioneer
By 18, the world demanded adult responsibilities of him. In January 1944, Britton, his parents’ only son, was drafted into the military during World War II. Britton reflects that his parents didn’t think much of it at the time.
Like many Black draftees, he was initially offered only the Navy or the Army, options he declined. “I just rejected the fact that I was only given two choices. Maybe it was part of my heritage. My father left South Carolina to go north into the unknown for his family. Maybe that pioneer spirit runs in me,” he said.
Unbeknownst to him, Britton was about to make a choice that would etch his name into history. In 1941, after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the Fair Employment Practices Commission, Black men were allowed to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. But like most progress of that era, it came with its conditions. They couldn’t train at Parris Island with their white counterparts. Instead, they were sent to a place carved out just for them, a new camp in North Carolina called Montford Point. From 1942 to 1949, every man who passed through those gates carried more than a rifle; he carried the weight of being among the first. They were the Montford Point Marines—the first Black Marines to wear and embrace the uniform, their footsteps marking the start of something larger than themselves.
Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Arriving at Montford Point in January 1944, Britton, standing 5’8”, brought a keen intellect that served him well. While Marine boot camp today lasts 13 weeks, he spent five months in training. Some of the first graduates returned as instructors, and Britton recalls, “The Black trainers were convinced we should be better, and they trained us harder.” Montford Point was meant as an experiment. “They expected us to fail. If we failed, the Marines could remain all white. Knowing that pushed us to work even harder.” The Marines who trained there didn’t just meet expectations—they surpassed new standards that reshaped the Corps to this day.
After graduation, Britton boarded a ship in Norfolk, Virginia, on a 33-day voyage into the Pacific. The first place he docked was Guadalcanal, a place he later reflected on as one that broadened his horizons. Britton worked as a clerk, keeping count of the enlisted soldiers overseas. By April 1945, just months before the bombing of Hiroshima, he and other Marines were sent to Hawaii.
Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
However, despite the respect and emerging recognition the Montford Point Marines receive today, the regard they earned from their white counterparts back home was nearly nonexistent during the time. “The ones overseas learned to appreciate us, but the ones back home didn’t even know we existed because they had never heard of Montford Point,” Britton said. Many Marines overseas became aware of the accomplishments of Montford Point graduates—sometimes called “Black Angels,” as some described them- as they would serve as backup countless times in WWII and during the Korean War. Despite their omission from many history books, Montford Point graduates stood in the same trenches as the white Marines remembered in history. Some 2,000 Black Marines took part in the bloodiest battles of World War II, including Okinawa.
In the spring of 1946, Britton returned to the United States with his mind, unsurprisingly, set on educational advancement. After completing his remaining high school credits, he enrolled at one of the country’s highest-ranking schools, on 4th Street in New York City: New York University. He chose to major in banking and finance, which might surprise those aware of his immense vocabulary. Why not English? “I wanted to do something that would be related to diplomacy,” he said. “I first thought about accounting, then I got interested in international trade and foreign exchange, and that’s what drew me to study finance.”
One year into his studies at NYU, in 1948, he was called to active duty as tensions rose in Korea. During this time, he continued with part of his coursework at NYU. He left the Marines in 1951, a year into the Korean War, after being denied a commission due to his prior opposition to the Marine Corps’ segregation policy—a policy rarely mentioned in history. While Montford Point allowed Black recruits to serve, access to military jobs and resources remained far from equal compared with their white counterparts.
Around 1948–49, the Marine Corps proposed an all-Black volunteer trucking unit in Harlem. Britton opposed it, arguing that Black recruits deserved access to regular units, not segregation. Although his strong sentiment would later be used against him, it may have sparked a significant change in the racial construct of the Marines. With support from Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr., the objection reached the Secretary of Defense, prompting Major General O.P. Smith to declare that all Marine units would be open regardless of race. The decision marked a small but significant step toward integration.
Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Made His Parents Proud
After leaving the Marines, Britton obtained his degree from NYU, becoming the first in his family—siblings and parents included—to achieve higher education. “There were no two people more proud of that graduate than my parents,” he recalled. “On the day when 12,000 students graduated from NYU, their son was among them.”
Despite the rigor of NYU, Britton never felt the challenge was insurmountable. “Keep in mind that I had gone through so many difficult experiences before, so I only felt that I could do well, if not better,” he said.
After graduating, he worked as a mortgage officer at the Covington Savings and Loan Association in Harlem. Later, his reach expanded into housing development when he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary at HUD.
In 1974, President Gerald R. Ford nominated Theodore Britton Jr. to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and Grenada. The position gave him the chance to further broaden the list of countries he had visited. “I’ve probably been close to 170 countries at this point,” he said.
Nearing 36,525 Days
Now closing in on 100 years old, Britton shows no signs of slowing down.
“Nearing 100, and I am on the go,” Britton texted me from his Forida beach house. Time and again, people ask him the same question: “What’s the secret?” And his answer, surprisingly simple, reflects the wisdom of a man whose knowledge could fill several dissertations.
“There can’t be a secret because each person is unique, so what helps me might not help someone else,” Britton said.
As for turning 100 being a milestone—not for him. “I’ve had a lot of birthdays, so it doesn’t mean much.”
When asked what piece of wisdom everyone should carry with them, he offered this: “It is a small, small planet that we live on, and we can be of help to each other.”
Earlier this week, Queen Rania’s daughter-in-law also paid a visit to Princess Eugenie at the Springfield University Mental Health Hospital, where they were able to see the facilities designed by a group of international artists who collaborate with the public health system to provide patients with more welcoming spaces in which to recover.
Although her European tour had begun in Paris, there is no better place for Rajwa than the Windsors’ England to learn how to navigate the world of international relations.
Jordan and the United Kingdom have been linked by close diplomatic ties for decades, and so have their respective royal families, bound by a solid friendship that has lasted three generations. The grandparents of Prince William and Prince Hussein, Queen Elizabeth and King Hussein, ascended to the throne of their countries in the same year (1952) and met many times during their reigns until the latter’s death in 1999. King Abdullah did part of his studies in the United Kingdom, a country from which his mother, Princess Muna, also came, and the same can be said of Prince Hussein himself, who like many of the members of the British royal family (including William) trained at the Sandhurst military academy.
Auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull will offer the tiara as part of a collection of lots from the estate of Virginia Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie, who died last year. This particular piece is expected to sell for between $66.6K and $93.2K, as it boasts not just an incredible design, but a fascinating history that links back to the British royal family.
The tiara’s first recorded wearer was Lady Mabell Gore, who became the Countess of Airlie in 1886 when she married David Ogilvy, the 11th Earl. Lyon & Turnbull have speculated that the piece may have been a wedding present, given that daisies represent innocence and purity, while ivy has long been associated with love. Sadly, the Countess was widowed when her husband died in the Second Boer War in 1900, but one year later she was appointed as one of the Ladies of the Bedchamber to the Princess of Wales—later Queen Mary—and continued to serve in the role until the Queen’s death in 1953.
Another new bride had recently joined the Ogilvy family at that time, and would also go on to need a tiara: Virginia Fortune Ryan, the daughter of a wealthy American banking family, who was connected to the British upper classes by her father, a close friend of both Sir Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon. Her connections enabled her to marry Mabell’s grandson, Lord David Ogilvy, the heir to the earldom, in 1952—and their wedding was quite the society affair. Guests included Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret, as well as the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. The groom’s best man, meanwhile, was his younger brother, The Hon. Angus Ogilvy, who would go on to marry Princess Alexandra of Kent.
