Here and There with Claire

2 February (Candlemas) marks the 400th anniversary of the coronation of King Charles I  at Westminster Abbey in London. The lavish ceremony was designed to emphasise royal power and splendour, reflecting Charles’s firm belief in the divine right of kings and absolute monarchy. The coronation was particularly notable because his wife, Queen Henrietta Maria, was not present . A devout Catholic, she refused to take part in a Protestant religious ceremony and is said to have wat

As we mark International Women’s Day today (8 March), it is an appropriate time to think of some of the pioneering women with Canterbury...