Zoom | Bath Assembly Rooms
2026-03-02 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom Webinar, Virtual, United States
Join Bath Assembly Room curators, Tatjana LeBoff and Emily Roy, online for a talk which will reveal the fascinating story of Bath Assembly Rooms, from their glittering eighteenth-century heyday as a venue which hosted Jane Austen, through the many challenges they have faced across the centuries. In preparation our curators have conducted extensive research into the lives of Georgians in Bath from all walks of life, uncovering stories to be shared. Join them as they unveil the changing fortunes of the building, shedding light on the fascinating group of people who first funded its construction, and go on to explore how the Rooms have survived fire and war, as well as shifting fashions to remain one of Bath’s most iconic landmarks. And then what about its twenty-first century future? This talk will provide the ‘inside track’ on the current project to restore the building.

Tatjana LeBoff is a Project Curator for the Bath Assembly Rooms (National Trust), having previously worked for the National Trust at Petworth House, as well as holding contemporary curatorial positions at the Barbican, London, and Pembroke College, Oxford. Having received a BA in History of Art and an MA in Architectural History from UCL she has developed her curatorial skills through research and hands-on experiences. Her interests lie in the interplay between art, design, fashion, architecture, society, food, and the lived environment, exploring how social and individual identities are constructed, conveyed, and reformed. With a focus on how complex concepts can be communicated to a wide audience through curation, dynamic displays, diverse narratives, participatory activity and multidisciplinary collaboration, the experiential and emotive value of art and heritage is paramount to her curatorial practice. She holds expertise in the social history of the long eighteenth-century, alongside that of curating contemporary and site-specific art. She seeks to combine these two areas of experience to create new ways of sharing history with a wider public. Additionally, she is a co-editor on the publication Bath and Beyond: The Social and Cultural World of the Georgian Assembly Room, published by Routledge as part of their Studies in Eighteenth-Century Cultures and Societies series in 2025.
Emily Roy, research includes how health, wellness and disability in Georgian Bath intersected with leisure and entertainment. Emily is leading on the historical basis of the narrative content within the experience and the creation of new displays of historic objects, including loans from other National Trust properties, local Bath collections and UK museums. Before this role, Emily was Project Curator for Applied Arts at Bristol Museums, working with collections including textiles, metalwork, ceramics and glass. She completed her PhD in 2022, which was a Collaborative Doctoral Award between the University of Cambridge and the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. Her thesis titled ‘City of Stone: The Materiality of St Petersburg in Print, c.1703-1830’ explored print culture and urban development in long-18th-century Russia. Before beginning her PhD, Emily was Curator at Waddesdon Manor (National Trust, Rothschild Collections), with a special focus on furniture and decorative arts. She has also completed research and cataloguing projects at the Ashmolean Museum and British Library.
Tickets: Free for members and non-members, registration is required

Zoom Rental | Bath Assembly Rooms
2026-03-03 12:00 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States

NYC | Alice: An Extraordinary Princess
2026-03-11 18:15 - 20:00 | The General Society Library, 20 W. 44th Street, New York City, 10036, United States
Despite being Prince Philip’s mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was a little-known member of the British royal family who is often falsely portrayed in film and television. She lived a tumultuous life filled with tragedy but also hallmarked by charity work and incredible acts of bravery. Born congenitally deaf at Windsor Castle in 1885, a birth witnessed by her great-grandmother Queen Victoria, she married Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark in 1903. From then on, her life was overshadowed by wars, revolutions, and periods of exile. She suffered a nervous breakdown and was diagnosed with schizophrenia and transferred in 1930—against her will—to a sanatorium in Switzerland. Noted biographer Hugo Vickers will explore the Princess’s remarkable life and describe how she overcame seemingly unsurmountable difficulties devoting herself to charity work and helping the poor. Mr. Vickers will talk about her royal beginnings and her married and family life; explain about her hospitalization and escape; and detail her move to Athens in 1938. He will describe her charity work before and during World War II—including hiding a Jewish family at her home at great personal risk—and her foundation of the “Christian Brotherhood of Martha and Mary.” Finally, he will illustrate her 1967 move to live with her son and his family at Buckingham Palace and discuss how her incredible philanthropic work led posthumous honors in Britain and Israel—where she is buried at the Convent of Saint Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem. Join Royal Oak as we learn about a remarkable member of the Royal family whose life was as tumultuous and extraordinary as the times in which she lived.
Hugo Vickers is well known as a biographer, lecturer and broadcaster, and is an acknowledged expert on the Royal Family. He has covered events from the first wedding of the Prince of Wales and other royal weddings; the funerals of the Queen Mother, Prince Philip, the State Funeral and Committal of The Queen; and the Coronation of Charles III. The Financial Times recently described him as ‘the most knowledgeable royal biographer on the planet.’ He has written many biographies of 20th-century figures, including Cecil Beaton, Vivien Leigh, the Duchess of Windsor, Princess Andrew of Greece, and the Queen Mother. In 2022, he published a book with HRH The Duke of Kent, entitled A Royal Life. In 2024, Mr. Vickers published a novel – Pining in Paradise – and his biography of Clarissa, Countess of Avon (widow of PM Anthony Eden). When not writing, he travels through the Commonwealth and Overseas Territories, establishing Commonwealth Walkways. Mr. Vickers is a Deputy Lieutenant for the Royal County of Berkshire and Captain of the Lay Stewards of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. He has given too many lectures in too many places to keep track.
Wednesday, March 11| 6:15 p.m. (ET) Wine and Cheese Reception Following the Lecture
The General Society Library, 20 W. 44th Street, NYC (Bet. 5th and 6th)
In-Person:
$35 Members*; $45 Non-Members and Guests
*discount applied automatically when logged into your account

Zoom Rental | Alice: An Extraordinary Princess
2026-03-12 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
Despite being Prince Philip’s mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was a little-known member of the British royal family who is often falsely portrayed in film and television. She lived a tumultuous life filled with tragedy but also hallmarked by charity work and incredible acts of bravery. Born congenitally deaf at Windsor Castle in 1885, a birth witnessed by her great-grandmother Queen Victoria, she married Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark in 1903. From then on, her life was overshadowed by wars, revolutions, and periods of exile. She suffered a nervous breakdown and was diagnosed with schizophrenia and transferred in 1930—against her will—to a sanatorium in Switzerland. Noted biographer Hugo Vickers will explore the Princess’s remarkable life and describe how she overcame seemingly unsurmountable difficulties devoting herself to charity work and helping the poor. Mr. Vickers will talk about her royal beginnings and her married and family life; explain about her hospitalization and escape; and detail her move to Athens in 1938. He will describe her charity work before and during World War II—including hiding a Jewish family at her home at great personal risk—and her foundation of the “Christian Brotherhood of Martha and Mary.” Finally, he will illustrate her 1967 move to live with her son and his family at Buckingham Palace and discuss how her incredible philanthropic work led posthumous honors in Britain and Israel—where she is buried at the Convent of Saint Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem. Join Royal Oak as we learn about a remarkable member of the Royal family whose life was as tumultuous and extraordinary as the times in which she lived.
Hugo Vickers is well known as a biographer, lecturer and broadcaster, and is an acknowledged expert on the Royal Family. He has covered events from the first wedding of the Prince of Wales and other royal weddings; the funerals of the Queen Mother, Prince Philip, the State Funeral and Committal of The Queen; and the Coronation of Charles III. The Financial Times recently described him as ‘the most knowledgeable royal biographer on the planet.’ He has written many biographies of 20th-century figures, including Cecil Beaton, Vivien Leigh, the Duchess of Windsor, Princess Andrew of Greece, and the Queen Mother. In 2022, he published a book with HRH The Duke of Kent, entitled A Royal Life. In 2024, Mr. Vickers published a novel – Pining in Paradise – and his biography of Clarissa, Countess of Avon (widow of PM Anthony Eden). When not writing, he travels through the Commonwealth and Overseas Territories, establishing Commonwealth Walkways. Mr. Vickers is a Deputy Lieutenant for the Royal County of Berkshire and Captain of the Lay Stewards of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. He has given too many lectures in too many places to keep track.
Zoom Rental
Available Thursday, March 12 – Tuesday, June 30, 2026 | Sent out March 12 by 12:00 p.m. (ET)
$20 members*; $30 non-members and guests
*discount applied automatically when logged into account

Alexandria, VA | Alice: An Extraordinary Princess
2026-03-12 18:15 - 20:00 | The General Society Library, 20 W. 44th Street, New York City, 10036, United States
Despite being Prince Philip’s mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was a little-known member of the British royal family who is often falsely portrayed in film and television. She lived a tumultuous life filled with tragedy but also hallmarked by charity work and incredible acts of bravery. Born congenitally deaf at Windsor Castle in 1885, a birth witnessed by her great-grandmother Queen Victoria, she married Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark in 1903. From then on, her life was overshadowed by wars, revolutions, and periods of exile. She suffered a nervous breakdown and was diagnosed with schizophrenia and transferred in 1930—against her will—to a sanatorium in Switzerland. Noted biographer Hugo Vickers will explore the Princess’s remarkable life and describe how she overcame seemingly unsurmountable difficulties devoting herself to charity work and helping the poor. Mr. Vickers will talk about her royal beginnings and her married and family life; explain about her hospitalization and escape; and detail her move to Athens in 1938. He will describe her charity work before and during World War II—including hiding a Jewish family at her home at great personal risk—and her foundation of the “Christian Brotherhood of Martha and Mary.” Finally, he will illustrate her 1967 move to live with her son and his family at Buckingham Palace and discuss how her incredible philanthropic work led posthumous honors in Britain and Israel—where she is buried at the Convent of Saint Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem. Join Royal Oak as we learn about a remarkable member of the Royal family whose life was as tumultuous and extraordinary as the times in which she lived.
Hugo Vickers is well known as a biographer, lecturer and broadcaster, and is an acknowledged expert on the Royal Family. He has covered events from the first wedding of the Prince of Wales and other royal weddings; the funerals of the Queen Mother, Prince Philip, the State Funeral and Committal of The Queen; and the Coronation of Charles III. The Financial Times recently described him as ‘the most knowledgeable royal biographer on the planet.’ He has written many biographies of 20th-century figures, including Cecil Beaton, Vivien Leigh, the Duchess of Windsor, Princess Andrew of Greece, and the Queen Mother. In 2022, he published a book with HRH The Duke of Kent, entitled A Royal Life. In 2024, Mr. Vickers published a novel – Pining in Paradise – and his biography of Clarissa, Countess of Avon (widow of PM Anthony Eden). When not writing, he travels through the Commonwealth and Overseas Territories, establishing Commonwealth Walkways. Mr. Vickers is a Deputy Lieutenant for the Royal County of Berkshire and Captain of the Lay Stewards of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. He has given too many lectures in too many places to keep track.
Thursday, March 12 | 6:45 p.m. (ET)
Wine Reception Preceding the Lecture at 6:15 p.m.
Location: Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum
201 S. Washington Street, Alexandria, Virginia
In-Person:
$35 Members*; $45 Non-Members and Guests
*discount applied automatically when logged into your account

NYC | Beautifully British Interiors
2026-03-25 18:15 - 20:00 | The General Society Library, 20 W. 44th Street, New York City, 10036, United States
When people picture English country house interiors, they often imagine warm, inviting rooms where no detail is too small: spaces that layer antiques and heirlooms with functional family pieces; soft furnishings in colorful florals and damasks textiles; restored mouldings and traditional materials; all complemented by a thoughtful touch of contemporary art. Sims Hilditch creates interiors that epitomize the English country house look for today, while placing equal emphasis on the functional purpose of every space.
Founder and designer Emma Sims-Hilditch will present a selection of her firm’s recent projects, which breathe new life into the classic English style. From a Victorian townhouse in London to an eighteenth-century country house, a Jacobean manor, and an apartment in London’s Old War Office, her work demonstrates how new materials and technologies can be seamlessly combined with traditional decorative elements. The result is an accessible, comfortable style for modern living that remains quintessentially British.
Her latest book, Sims Hilditch: Beautifully British Interiors (Rizzoli, 2025), on which this lecture is based, was named House Beautiful’s Best New Design Book of 2025.
To Purchase the Book ahead of time Visit the Rizzoli Website.
IN-PERSON
Wednesday, March 25 | 6:15 p.m. ET
There will be a wine and cheese reception and book signing following the lecture. A limited number of books will be for sale at the event.
The General Society Library, 20 W 44th Street, New York NY 10036
$35 members or with code; $45 non-members

Zoom Rental | Beautifully British Interiors
2026-03-26 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
When people picture English country house interiors, they often imagine warm, inviting rooms where no detail is too small: spaces that layer antiques and heirlooms with functional family pieces; soft furnishings in colorful florals and damasks textiles; restored mouldings and traditional materials; all complemented by a thoughtful touch of contemporary art. Sims Hilditch creates interiors that epitomize the English country house look for today, while placing equal emphasis on the functional purpose of every space.
Founder and designer Emma Sims-Hilditch will present a selection of her firm’s recent projects, which breathe new life into the classic English style. From a Victorian townhouse in London to an eighteenth-century country house, a Jacobean manor, and an apartment in London’s Old War Office, her work demonstrates how new materials and technologies can be seamlessly combined with traditional decorative elements. The result is an accessible, comfortable style for modern living that remains quintessentially British.
Her latest book, Sims Hilditch: Beautifully British Interiors (Rizzoli, 2025), on which this lecture is based, was named House Beautiful’s Best New Design Book of 2025.
To Purchase the Book Visit the Rizzoli Website.

Zoom Rental
Available Thursday, March 26 – Tuesday, June 30, 2026 | Sent out March 26 by 12:00 p.m. (ET)
$20 members or with code; $30 non-members and guests

Charleston | Malice in Wonderland: Hugo Vickers on Cecil Beaton
2026-03-31 17:30 - 19:30 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King St, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Visiting from the UK, author and renowned speaker Hugo Vickers brings us Malice in Wonderland, an investigation into the whirlwind life of the photographer, diarist, painter, interiors and costume designer that was Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton. Cecil Beaton invited Hugo Vickers to be his authorized biographer only days before his unexpected passing. Undeterred, Vickers used diaries, letters, and precious friendships and connections in Beaton’s circle to compose, in paper, the story of this life well-lived. For five years, Vickers travelled the world and talked to some of the most fascinating and important social and cultural figures of the time, including royalty such as the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, Lady Diana Cooper, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Truman Capote, Irving Penn and Diana Vreeland. As part of our ongoing partnership with The Royal Oaks Foundation, we look forward to this special reflection and a personal exploration of the a legacy of a man enveloped by a disappearing era of glamour.
If you are unable to attend the event, but would like to purchase one or more copies, please visit Buxton Books.
Hugo Vickers is well known as a biographer, lecturer and broadcaster, and is an acknowledged expert on the Royal Family. He has covered events from the first wedding of the Prince of Wales and other royal weddings; the funerals of the Queen Mother, Prince Philip, the State Funeral and Committal of The Queen; and the Coronation of Charles III. The Financial Times recently described him as ‘the most knowledgeable royal biographer on the planet.’ He has written many biographies of 20th-century figures, including Cecil Beaton, Vivien Leigh, the Duchess of Windsor, Princess Andrew of Greece, and the Queen Mother. In 2022, he published a book with HRH The Duke of Kent, entitled A Royal Life. In 2024, Mr. Vickers published a novel – Pining in Paradise – and his biography of Clarissa, Countess of Avon (widow of PM Anthony Eden). When not writing, he travels through the Commonwealth and Overseas Territories, establishing Commonwealth Walkways. Mr. Vickers is a Deputy Lieutenant for the Royal County of Berkshire and Captain of the Lay Stewards of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. He has given too many lectures in too many places to keep track.
Tuesday, March 31 | 6:00 p.m. (ET)
Lecture is preceded by 5:30 p.m. reception
Location: Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston
Lecture, Reception, & Book-signing:
$25 Members; $35 Non-Members and guests
Click here to register with the Charleston Library Society or go to:
https://charlestonlibrarysociety.org/event/malice-in-wonderland-hugo-vickers-on-cecil-beaton/

You may also call the Charleston Library Society at 843-723-9912 to register!
Since its founding in the Charleston Library Society has continued to strengthen the intellectual and cultural fabric of the Lowcountry as a private lending library and comfortable gathering spot for reading, exploration of treasured collections, scholarly research and lively programs on literature, history, world affairs, and music. After 275 years, the Charleston Library Society remains the oldest cultural institution in the South and second-oldest circulating library in the country.
