Wednesday Lecture, on Zoom and at the British Institute Library

by  Deirdre Pirro

Queen Victoria, who visited three times, between 1888 and 1894, was not the only royal personage drawn to Florence.  In Royals in Florence,  Dierdre Pirro tells the stories of numerous other regal figures who have resided or vacationed here from the eighteenth century onwards. 

There’s the young Rajaram Chuttraputti, the Maharaja of Kolhapur, who passed away in Florence and whose body was cremated and ashes scattered where the Arno and Mugnone rivers meet according to Brahmin tradition. We meet Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender best known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, in exile following the defat of the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745;  and the first king of unified Italy, Vittorio Emanuele, who reluctantly moved his court, including over 30,000 public servants, from Turin to Florence in 1865.

Then there were the ‘Royal Lovers’ with Rosina Vercellana, King Vittorio Emanuele’s long-term mistress; King Edward VII’s mistress, Alice Keppel, who sought solace in Bellosguardo, and whose portrait hangs in the British Institute Library; and ballerina and lover of Grand Duke of Tuscany Peter Leopold I, Livia Raimondi, who ruled the roost in her Palazzina della Livia, in piazza San Marco.

Please note, only people with confirmed registrations can attend the lecture in person. The registration fee is 10 Euro per person.

Please note that, following national regulations, all attendees will be required to show a Super Green Pass (or equivalent International certification) for entry and will have to wear a FFP2 mask throughout the event. 

To join this  lecture with Zoom (no reservation necessary), simply click on this link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85394158361?pwd=OWRwZGhMcldnMGJnMHZ5M29SYUF0QT09  at 18:00 on Wednesday 4th May.