The Principality of Monaco in World War II

During World War II, the Principality Monaco was a neutral state. It was fiercely contested by Germany and Italy who had mutually opposing and exclusive ideas as to its future. Prince Louis II had been brought up in Germany and was a general in the French army. He played his connections for all they were worth in trying to keep the country afloat.

The Duchess of Windsor Conspiracy

The Duchess of Windsor was a footnote in history. Despite that fact, publishers keep on inundating the market with books about her. This one looked interesting from the outside but proved one very, very long disappointment inside. Author Hugo Vickers produced the ultimate guide on how not to invent a conspiracy theory. 

William and Kate: Title History

Prince William got a bevy of titles as a gift from Queen Elizabeth II for his marriage to Catherine (or Kate) Middleton. Real titles come with quite a baggage of history, some quite recent, some more ancient. So William was saddled with the Duchy of Cambridge in England, the Earldom of Strathearn in Scotland, and the Barony of Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland.

A Desert Country by The Sea: Bohemia

Shakespeare gives the famous description of "Bohemia, a desert country by the sea" in his play A Winter’s Tale. Bohemia today is part of the Czech Republic and one of the greenest and most beautiful holidaying regions in Central Europe. But there was system to the madness of Shakespeare's description. 

Princes: Not All That Glitters

There are Princes and Princesses, and then there are Princes and Princesses. Some are Royal or more, some are not. The problem lies in geography. Depending on where the title came from, the title of Prince does not mean the same thing. The puzzle can be solved given some knowledge of geography and history, and quite some of the muddle derived from translating foreign titles into English.