For many people, the royal Christmas broadcast is a festive tradition that brings comfort, reassurance and a connection to the past.
The Christmas pudding, a legacy of the British Empire, is enjoyed around the world – including in former British colonies.
esp_imaging/iStock via Getty Images Plus
The Christmas pudding, once known as the ‘Empire Pudding,’ reflects the lasting legacy of the British Empire.
Men and boys, many dressed as women, attacking a turnpike gate in protest at charges at tollgates on public roads in west Wales. The Illustrated London News, 1843.
World History Archive/Alamy
The Rebecca riots saw Welsh farmers disguised as women destroy tollgates as a way of challenging what they believed was an oppressive taxation system.
The practice of putting images of only deceased or allegorical people on U.S. stamps dates back to 1847.
Schulte Productions/iStock via Getty Images Plus
A cartoon commemorating the death of King William IV in 1837 would have been unthinkable; by the time Queen Victoria died in 1901, newspapers had changed.
The screen in Piccadilly Circus is lit to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s accession to the throne.
(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
This year’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations will draw on traditions that have bolstered support for monarchs since the early 1800s — it could help this year’s celebrations succeed again.
HRH The Princess Mary in 1912, aged 15. She was was the third child of King George V and Queen Mary.
Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo
A Protestant tradition with pagan roots, the Christmas tree is now a global phenomenon. It also reveals much about market economics, so let’s climb on the sleigh and take a ride around this holiday item…
George Eliot (1819-1880), aged 30.
Alexandre-Louis-François d'Albert-Durade/National Portrait Gallery