Blog
Christmas at Sandringham 1984
I stumbled across an old guide book of Sandringham House at an antiques store in Norfolk with this photo of the royal family at Sandringham at Christmas 1984. In the last 36 years, like any family, the royal family has suffered its share of deaths and divorce, as well...
Happy Birthday Prince Harry
As Prince Harry marks his 37th birthday today I wonder if he wishes he was back in England and could throw a big party with his family and old friends. With his little daughter Lilibet in his arms, and Archie and Meghan too. Could this ever happen?I hope so, one day,...
The ‘Firm’ and Other Royal Nicknames
You may have heard the royal nickname, The Firm. But when was this phrase first used? Prince Philip often used the term, but its origins go back further. It is believed to have first been used by the Queen’s father, King George V1, alluding to the business-like...
The Royal Station Master’s Daughters Launched Today
I'm thrilled to say that The Royal Station Master's Daughters is available from today as an ebook. It is packed with royal stories set during WW1 and inspired by a real Royal Station Master called Harry Saward and his three daughters. Harry and his daughters regularly...
Sandringham’s Unique Tin Thatched Church
I really enjoyed my fascinating Land Rover Safari tour around the royal Sandringham estate. Thank you Geoff for being a fantastic guide, steering us through tracks that are off the beaten track to the public, for your wonderful royal anecdotes and your endless...
Toby the Tortoise Goes to War
How many living creatures have experienced the horrors of the battlefields in Gallipoli during WW1 and are still alive today? Let me introduce you to Toby the tortoise who, incredibly, did just this. And he is still with us today. Now, at the ripe old age of...
Two Royal Anniversaries in 2022
Next year marks the momentous 70th anniversary of our Queen Elizabeth’s reign. She is the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee - and celebrations will be held the length and breadth of the country. Despite Her...
The day double agent Eddie Chapman handed himself in at a Littleport farm
I have been researching my next book which will have a WW2 background and this led me to meet Vivien Hawes, whose father George Convine was farm manager at Apes Hall, Littleport, Cambridgeshire when double agent Eddie Chapman turned up out of the blue in the middle of...
Alan Turing’s letter to a schoolboy defining linear algebra
Sorting through a box of papers recetly, "maths genius" Lionel March stumbled across a hidden treasure - a three page letter from Alan Turing written to him when he was a schoolboy. Lionel had created a new form of algebra which so impressed academics that it was...