C2206

On July 4, 1973, inside the Guards Chapel at Wellington Barracks, a cavalry officer in full dress uniform stood at the altar waiting for a bride whom half of fashionable London was discussing in whispers. The organ sounded, the aristocracy took their seats, and summer light flooded one of the grandest upper-class weddings Britain had … Read more

Prince Philip attended roughly 22,000 solo engagements during 65 years as consort to Queen Elizabeth II. He gave speeches to engineering societies, opened hospitals, chaired committees, and walked two paces behind his wife at every state occasion from her coronation in 1953 until his retirement at 96. That is the official record. Alongside it was … Read more

Wendy Williams was born on July 18, 1964, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. She was the middle child of Thomas Dellaroy Williams Sr. and Shirley Mae Williams, both educators. Her father was a teacher and guidance counselor, and her mother taught special education. The family lived in the Wayside section of Ocean Township, a quiet, … Read more

The public story of Ronald and Nancy Reagan was one of the great American love stories. He was the affable former actor turned conservative hero, famous for his ease and his timing. She was the elegant first lady, always immaculate, always just behind his shoulder, always watching him. That was the photograph. For millions of … Read more

On April 15, 1969, a Tuesday, a 33-year-old woman walked out of the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand in London. She wore a patterned coat and white gloves and carried a small handbag close to her body. Stone arches framed the entrance as she stepped into daylight. She passed through the iron gates … Read more

In the spring of 1930, a group of relatives bound a woman in her mid-forties inside a house on the outskirts of Paris, injected her with morphine and scopolamine, and put her on a train to a Swiss sanatorium. She had committed no crime. Born a princess by birth and marriage, and a granddaughter of … Read more

She did not break in at night. She did not pick locks, forge documents, or disguise herself as a cook to slip through the service entrance. She simply admired something beautiful. She made it clear that she admired it, and then she waited with the patience of a woman who knew that patience, combined with … Read more

In 1935, as Britain celebrated King George V's Silver Jubilee with bunting and street parties, the King reportedly confided something extraordinary to his prime minister. The old monarch told Stanley Baldwin that after his death, his son would ruin himself within twelve months. That son, the Prince of Wales, drew crowds larger than any film … Read more