The Royal Dispatch
A royal on a motorbike and King Charles' busy week
Happy Sunday, Royal Clubbers, it’s Millie here. Welcome back to the latest edition of The Royal Dispatch. If you missed the last one, you can read it here.
King Charles has had a very busy week. As well as meeting the King of Bahrain at Windsor Castle, he attended the premiere of Gladiator 2, turned 76 and marked the occasion by opening two food banks as part of a scheme to bridge the gap between food need and food waste.
Before we jump into the royal pictures of the week, it’s time for some royal history.
On this day in royal history, 17 November 1558, Princess Elizabeth Tudor ascended to the English throne upon the death of her half-sister, who was best known by her moniker ‘Bloody Mary’.
Her path to succession wasn’t always clear, as her father King Henry VIII had parliament annul his marriage to Elizabeth’s mother Anne Boleyn, making her an illegitimate child, a decision which was later reversed.
Elizabeth also had two half siblings between her and the monarchy: Edward and Mary, both of whom took the throne before her. During Mary’s five-year reign, Elizabeth had to tread very carefully to avoid execution by her suspicious sister. She was under near-constant surveillance; even imprisoned for a time in the Tower of London – the same location her mother had spent her final days in before her untimely death.
When Mary died at St James's Palace at 6am, parliament was assembled just two hours later. Sir William Cecil, who would be Elizabeth’s adviser for over forty years, had the correct paperwork to hand and the 25-year-old princess was proclaimed Queen Elizabeth I.
Take a look at the highlights from the week below and scroll to the end for next week’s royal diary…