To have a grandson heir to a dukedom is a greater distinction than to be President of the United States!
Among other pithy observations made by the Duke of Wellington, the most famous is the apocryphal boast that “The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.” Wellington attended the boys’ school during the late 18th century, and indeed, many of Britain’s most famous, most erudite, and most influential gentlemen passed through [...]
The “Irish Question” dominated British politics for the majority of the nineteenth century. No other issue tore families, friends, and otherwise friendly political opponents apart than “Home Rule.” The seeds for this conflict were sown long before the nineteenth century, stretching back to the 17th century, when Oliver Cromwell, who detested detested Roman Catholicism and [...]
Biographies on Edwardian aristocrats largely confine themselves to Jennie Jerome, Lillie Langtry, and Consuelo Vanderbilt, so it’s a treat to discover one written about one of the most famous women of the era who has since fallen into obscurity.
Born in 1867 and orphaned at three, Ettie Fane was brought up by a beloved grandmother and [...]
