The Royal Oak Foundation

Zoom Rental | Gardens of Glass
2025-08-28 12:00 - 2025-12-30 12:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
Trelissick Garden, Cornwall
With the global expansion of 17th-century European trade networks, plant collecting became a matter of both economic and intellectual interest in Britain. Exotic fruits and flowers were prized as prestigious displays of wealth and refinement, fueling an obsession with horticulture among the elite. The fascination began with pineapples and soon extended to citrus trees; a trend particularly championed by King William III. By the late 18th century, a glass house or ‘greenhouse’ was an architectural mark of a gentleman’s garden, even if it was only to grow delicate fruits such as apricots or peaches. John Goodall, Architectural Editor at Country Life, will trace the rise, fall, and revival of Britain’s historic glasshouses, exploring their cultural significance and the renewed interest in their restoration today.
John Goodall – Architectural Editor – Country Life
John Goodall has been architectural editor at Country Life since 2007 and has contributed to CL since 1994. He is the author of several books, including English House Style: From the Archives of Country Life and The English Castle (2011). English Castle received numerous accolades: the 2011 Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion and the 2013 Historians of British Art Book Prize (pre-1800). The work also received the G. T. Clark Prize for 2007–2012. He read history at Durham University and took an MA and Ph.D. in architectural history from the Courtauld Institute of Art. In 2003 he joined English Heritage as a senior properties historian. He had written several guidebooks for both English Heritage and the National Trust. He acted in 2007 as series consultant for the BBC 1 series How We Built Britain. Other projects include contributions to the photographic book The English Cathedral by Peter Marlow. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2001. Goodall is a patron of the Castle Studies Trust, a UK registered charity founded in 2012.
Tickets: $15 members*; $25 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | Gainsborough House & Exhibition: Masterpieces from Kenwood
2025-09-26 - 2025-12-31 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
Reopened in 2022 after a transformational refurbishment, Gainsborough House in Suffolk is the National Centre for the artist Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788). The house combines the artist’s childhood home—a Grade I, 18th-century merchant brick town house—with new exhibition galleries and facilities. The house holds the world’s largest single concentration of Gainsborough’s work and presents the artist’s life and legacy through dynamic exhibitions. Emma Boyd, the Keeper of Art and Place, will take us on a virtual tour, showing remaining parts of the old house including the hall and oak doorway dating back to the 16th century. She will describe the history of the house (which stayed in the artist’s family until 1792) and illustrate the current exhibition, Masterpieces from Kenwood: The Splendour of British and French Painting (May 9–October 19, 2025). The show features 18th-century masterpieces by both British and French artists, including Sir Joshua Reynolds, George Romney, Angelica Kauffmann, and François Boucher. These masterpieces, on loan from Kenwood House and collected by Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh (1847–1927), are displayed alongside the work by Gainsborough. Ms. Boyd will show these outstanding paintings and reveal how Gainsborough’s art fits within the broader context of the artistic work created by his British and French contemporaries.
Tickets: $25 members*; $35 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | Feeding the City: London’s Iconic Food and Drink Factories
2025-09-30 - 2025-12-31 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
London was the largest city in the world during the 19th century, with an appetite to match. As the city’s population exploded, food and drink needed to be produced on an unprecedented industrial scale. In response, sprawling factories sprang up across the capital, churning out everything from biscuits to gin. Some of these London historic food sites remain active today, while others have been repurposed, leaving behind only traces of their industrial legacy. Through this fascinating virtual tour, Rob Smith will take us back to London’s flavorful past as he explores the food factories that helped feed the population of the metropolis. We will explore the story of the Lyle’s Golden Syrup factory in Silvertown—founded in the 1880s and operating today—producing its famous syrup in the world’s oldest branded packaging. We will learn about McVities in Harlesden, home to beloved British biscuits like the Digestive and Jaffa Cakes, and we will explore what became of Gordon’s Gin distillery, once a powerhouse in Clerkenwell. We will also virtually visit the former Sarsons’ vinegar works in Bermondsey, whose towering vats now house creative studios. Rob will reveal what life was like for the factory workers, the production innovations that shaped their industries, and the legacy left by these factories that shaped London’s culinary and urban history.
Tickets: $30 members*; $40 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | British Abroad: The Grand Tour
2025-10-08 - 2025-12-31 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
For young men of the 18th-century English social elite, extended travel for pleasure on the Continent came to be seen as an essential component of a well-rounded education. The Grand Tour also served as an important social marker for noblemen and aristocratic gentlemen who had completed their English schooling but were not yet old enough to assume control of their estates. The conventional Grand Tour was generally limited to France and Italy, although some ventured further afield to Switzerland, Germany, or the Low Countries. In his lecture, historian Jeremy Black MBE will explore the experiences of those who undertook the Grand Tour. Using private diaries and personal letters, he will present a fresh perspective on how British aristocrats experienced their travels—from accommodations, transport, food, and souvenirs (such as artworks and sculptures brought back to fill country houses) to entertainment expenses, tipping, and gambling or drinking money. He will also address the hazards faced by travelers, including the dangers of war, illness (sometimes fatal), carriage accidents, and crime. Dr. Black will focus on the realities of the journey, moving beyond the idealized version often portrayed in literature and history. Finally, he will discuss how the Grand Tour shaped both its participants and broader British culture.
Jeremy Black MBE, is a renowned English historian and former Professor of History at the University of Exeter. He graduated from Cambridge and did postgraduate work at Oxford. A prolific author and lecturer, he has written over 100 books, with a particular focus on 18th-century British, European, and American political, diplomatic, and military history. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of America and the West at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Philadelphia.
Tickets: $15 members*; $25 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | Modern Aristocrats: Ancestral Houses and Their Stories
2025-10-23 12:00 - 2025-12-31 23:30 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
The history of England and the British people is inextricably linked with the stories of its leading aristocratic dynasties, and the seats they have occupied for centuries. These houses have survived great wars, economic upheavals, and at times scandal and tragedy. James Reginato, writer-at-large for Vanity Fair, will showcase several of his favorite British stately homes, in England, Ireland, Italy, and the Caribbean. He will tell the behind-the-scenes stories and also illustrate their interiors—such as Broughton Castle, home of the 21st Baron Saye and Sele and The Grove in Oxfordshire, home of Countess Mountbatten of Burma and Lady Pamela Hicks. Mr. Reginato will then join architectural historian and editor George McNeely to discuss the history of these aristocratic families and their country houses. They will also answer questions about how these modern stewards and new generation of aristocrats keep these stately homes going in high style.
James Reginato has been a writer-at-large for Vanity Fair since 2009. He has landed rare interviews with some of the world’s most elusive individuals in their extraordinary homes including Bunny Mellon, King Charles III (then Prince of Wales), Highness Prince Karim, the Aga Khan and others. A contributing editor of Sotheby’s Magazine he has also served as Editor-at-Large for Architectural Digest. His work appears in WSJ, Town & Country, The Financial Times and W Magazine where he was previously the Features Director. Mr. Reginato received a B.A. from Columbia University. He is the author of Growing up Getty: The Story of America’s Most Unconventional Dynasty. His first book, Great Houses, Modern Aristocrats, on which his lecture is based, presents an intimate look at some of Great Britain’s stateliest houses and the families who live inside them.
George McNeely is an architectural historian, editor, and charity auctioneer. He graduated from Princeton University and has an MBA from Columbia Business School. He was Vice President for Strategic & International Affairs at World Monuments Fund until 2016. Previously, he worked for 15 years at Christie’s Auction House as a Senior Vice President in Business Development. He regularly lectures about the history of art and architecture, the art and auction market, and cultural heritage preservation.
Tickets: $20 members*; $30 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | Meeting Churchill: Personal Encounters
2025-10-29 - 2025-12-31 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
The Churchills at breakfast at Chartwell, Kent ©NT/Anthony Lambert
In his ninety years of life – an incredible span reaching from the autumn of Queen Victoria’s reign in 1874 to the rise of the Rolling Stones in 1965 – Winston Churchill had encounters with the most extraordinary range of people. From Gandhi to Albert Einstein; HG Wells to Charlie Chaplin; Ethel Barrymore to Maria Callas; Harry S Truman to Joseph Stalin to Queen Elizabeth II. Churchill is remembered best as an inspirational war leader and a young army adventurer. But his vividly rich life also encompassed friendships with – among many others – a Bolshevik ambassador, artists like Walter Sickert, actors like Laurence Olivier and poets like Rupert Brooke. Through the eyes and recollections of all these people, one starts to glimpse and understand new depths in Churchill: his character, his passions, his follies –not to mention his amazing propensity for bursting into tears at the slightest provocation!
Sinclair McKay writes for the Daily Telegraph, The Mail on Sunday and The Spectator. He is a literary critic for the Daily Telegraph and The Spectator. He has published extensively on Bletchley Park and codebreakers in his books, The Secret Life of Bletchley Park, The Secret Listeners, and Bletchley Park Brainteasers. Among his other books include Dresden: The Fire and the Darkness (2020) and Meeting Churchill: A Life in 90 Encounters (2023). His upcoming book St. Petersburg: Sacrifice and Redemption in the City That Defied Hitler, is due to be released in October 2025.
Tickets: $15 members*; $25 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | Gardens in Jane Austen's Works
2025-10-30 - 2025-12-31 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
This program will be rescheduled for a later date.
With the rise of the English landscape movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, gardens became a reflection of taste, fashion, and social ambition. The sweeping designs of Capability Brown and the picturesque visions of Humphry Repton reshaped the countryside, while at the same time, an expanding global plant trade introduced new flowers and shrubs into Regency gardens. These developments were more than aesthetic—they carried cultural, economic, and even political significance, shaping the very spaces Jane Austen and her contemporaries inhabited. Molly Williams, author of Jane Austen’s Garden: A Botanical Tour of the Classic Novels will trace the history of these gardens and the plants that filled them, revealing how horticulture and literature together illuminate Austen’s Regency world.

Molly Williams is the author of Jane Austen’s Garden: A Botanical Tour of the Classic Novels; The Junior Plant Lover’s Handbook: A Green-Thumb Guide for Kids; How to Speak Flower; Taming the Potted Beast: The Strange and Sensational History of the Not-So-Humble Houseplant; and Killer Plants: Growing and Caring for Flytraps, Pitcher Plants and Other Deadly Flora. Molly is a Gates Cambridge scholar and PhD student at the University of Cambridge, where she studies nineteenth century literature and horticulture. She is an avid houseplant collector, gardener, florist, and teacher of many things, including creative writing. If you would like to reach her, she’s probably in a greenhouse somewhere, or you can visit her Instagram — @theplantladi.

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Zoom Rental | Glassware, Stone and Beer: Lambeth’s Lost Industry
2025-10-31 12:00 - 2025-12-31 23:30 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
Delve into the rich but often overlooked industrial past of Lambeth, once a thriving hub of craftsmanship and production along the Thames. Guided by Richard Watkins, this virtual tour explores the legacy of the industries that once defined the South Bank—from the artistry of Coade Stone, a remarkable artificial stone used in architecture across London, to the decorative ceramics of Doulton’s, and the bustling activity of the Lion Brewery, where barrels of beer once flowed toward Westminster. Using historical images, maps, and surviving landmarks, we’ll trace how this stretch of riverfront evolved—from a landscape of workshops and kilns to one of cultural institutions and modern redevelopment.
Tickets: $30 members*; $40 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | 100 Things to Wear: Fashion from the Collections of the National Trust
2025-11-05 12:00 - 2025-12-31 23:30 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
©National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel
The National Trust looks after more than 40,000 pieces of dress or costume, including objects of national significance. Some pieces belonged to people who lived or worked in the Trust’s historic houses, while others belonged to unknown individuals. From luxurious attire to practical everyday working clothes, the NT’s assemblage contains examples of women and men’s fashions, children’s clothing, and accessories. While the collection represents 500 years of fashion trends and innovation, it also offers something more intimate than just evidence of material survival; it is a repository of the life traces of tens of thousands of people. Emma Slocomb, Senior National Curator of Dress and Textiles at the National Trust, will introduce her new co-authored book 100 Things to Wear: Fashion from the National Trust Collections (Fall 2025). Informed by new research and photography, she will share a selection of the most significant collection items—from the opulence of the Tudor period to the tailoring of the Windrush generation. She will explain how the way people dressed reflected their social power, political tastes, and personality. Finally, she will delve behind the scenes, illustrating the work of the Textile Conservation Studio team.
Emma Slocombe is the National Trust’s Senior National Curator for Dress and Textiles and has been a curator at the National Trust since 2006. Her principal interests lie in early modern textiles, furnished interiors, and histories of textile recycling and repurposing – subjects on which she has published widely. She is currently leading projects that explore the manufacture, exchange and repurposing of a broad range of dress and textiles. Recent publications include ‘Textile Transmissions: Repurposing church vestments in the Reformation’ (National Trust Cultural Heritage Magazine, Autumn 2023) with Professor James Clarke (Exeter University). She also co-leads research into ‘Histories of Childhood’ with Professor Sian Pooley (Oxford University), and authored ‘Fashion at Play: An 18th century doll at Dudmaston Hall’ (National Trust Cultural Heritage Magazine, Spring 2024).
Tickets: FREE for members*; $15 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | Arts & Crafts Connections: The Yeats and Morris Families
2025-11-07 - 2025-12-31 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
Standen House, West Sussex ©National Trust Images/James Dobson
Two of the most influential artistic families of the late 19th and early 20th centuries—the Morris’ of England and the Yeats’ of Ireland have rich and fascinating connections. Their relationships offer a compelling window into the shared ideals of the Arts & Crafts movement. At one time the families were neighbours in London and their proximity created personal ties which helped shape Irish and British arts, design, and cultural identity. The earliest link between the families might have been when John Butler Yeats sketched William Morris during his lecture at Dublin’s Contemporary Club in 1886—a fleeting encounter that marked the beginning of deeper artistic and ideological connections. Lily Yeats learned embroidery under the tutelage of May Morris and went on to produce exquisite work for Morris & Co. The influence of Morris’ philosophy is especially evident in the founding of the Dun Emer Guild in 1902 by Elizabeth and Lily Yeats and Evelyn Gleeson. This women-led cooperative sought to revive traditional Irish handicrafts. The sisters’ later enterprise,Cuala Industries, further revived Irish culture through utilizing fine printing and embroidery. Jessica Fahy will trace this incredible creative legacy that bound the two families together. She will illustrate beautiful examples of the Yeats sisters’ works and examine how their collaboration with Morris’ ideals shaped an international vision of art that was both socially purposeful and aesthetically enduring.
Jessica Fahy is a freelance art historian. She sits on lecturer and guide panels for the National Gallery of Ireland, the Hugh Lane Gallery and UCD School of Access and Lifelong Learning. She gives both private and public talks and tours across Ireland and abroad. She is active online covering all areas of Western Art from the 14th century to the present day. She is a regular contributor to RTÉ Radio 1 arts show Arena. She has a MLitt in Art History from UCD where she also received her undergraduate degree. She completed her MA in Italian Renaissance Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London in 2007.
Tickets: $15 members*; $25 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom | From Castles and Cathedrals to Chalk Downs: West Sussex
2025-11-13 14:00 - 2026-02-26 15:00 | Zoom Meeting
The ruins at Nymans, West Sussex ©National Trust Images/Clive Nichols
West Sussex is a picturesque county, rich in historic towns, grand estates, and stunning National Trust properties. Stephen Benton will lead us on a captivating virtual journey through its varied landscapes and cultural landmarks. Our tour will include a “visit” to Chichester, a cathedral city, and continue to Arundel, known for the magnificent castle, owned by the Dukes of Norfolk, and charming streets. We will also explore West Dean, a historic estate with beautifully restored gardens nestled in the South Downs—formerly the home of poet and Surrealist artist Edward James. Throughout the tour, Stephen will highlight favorite National Trust sites including 17th-century Petworth House, containing a world-class art collection and a 700-acre park; and Uppark, a 17th-and 18th-century house remarkably restored after a 1989 devastating fire. We will also look at the atmospheric ruins and gardens at Nymans as well as the interiors and gardens at Standen, one of the finest examples of Arts & Crafts architecture and interiors. Finally, we will explore the dramatic landscapes of Devil’s Dyke and the rolling hills that provide West Sussex its timeless character.
Tickets: $30 members*; $40 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | From Castles and Cathedrals to Chalk Downs: West Sussex
2025-11-14 - 2025-12-31 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States

Zoom Rental | Extravagant to Elegant: Dining at the English Table (1900-1938)
2025-11-18 - 2025-12-31 | Zoom Webinar, Virtual, United States
©National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel
King Edward VII was on the British throne as the 20th century swept into England. Already 59 years old, the new monarch continued the late Victorian fashion for considerable material consumption and fine dining. Faster modes of transport, along with the spread of the British Empire, gave rise to the availability of exotic foods served at the English table. Transatlantic marriages also brought American wealth into the dining rooms of aristocratic households. The result was a decade of lavish dining on a grand scale, with a complex series of courses using specialized tableware and expensive decorations. In this lecture, Sarah Coffin will explain how this elaborate dining method was expressed in the fashionable hotel restaurants in London, as well as in the country houses of the Edwardian elite. She will mark the transformation of British dining culture from the Edwardian era through the interwar years—when the table became both a canvas for creativity and a symbol of changing times. She will discuss how WWI brought about dining changes as well as the introduction of new materials—such as stainless steel. She will illustrate how the increased use of the motor car led to fancy picnic baskets for fashionable feasting outside. Finally, she will discuss the changes in the 1930s that brought modern dining elegance outside the dining room.
Sarah Coffin is a decorative arts and design consultant, curator, and lecturer. She has extensively researched and explored the interaction of culinary design and history. From 2003-2018, Coffin was Senior Curator and Head of the Product Design and Decorative Arts Department, at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Museum. Previously she worked at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and the Metropolitan Museum, NYC prior to becoming a Vice President and Decorative Arts Representative at Sotheby’s. Her tenure at Cooper Hewitt included her curation of the exhibition Feeding Desire: Design and Tools of the Table, 1500-2005, which explored the significant role of flatware and cutlery as design objects that impacted social mores and cuisine. Her other curated exhibitions (and authorship of exhibition catalogues) include The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s; Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels; and Rococo: The Continuing Curve, 1730-2008 among others. She has taught and/or lectured at NYU, George Washington University, Yale, Bard Graduate Center, and Parsons School of Design, as well as to numerous museum and private groups.
Tickets: $20 members*; $30 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | Burghley House: 500 years of History, Art, & Family
2025-11-19 12:00 - 2025-12-31 23:30 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
©Ashley Hicks
Burghley House in Stamford, Lincolnshire, is one of England’s greatest country houses and a remarkable testament to the ambition and vision of William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I. The most powerful courtier of the Elizabethan age, Cecil designed the house with Dutch Renaissance architect Hans Vredeman de Vries. Constructed between 1555 and 1587, Burghley’s exterior reflects a striking blend of 16th-century architectural influences, incorporating fashionable French and Italian styles. Inside, the opulent State Rooms house one of the finest privately owned collections of Old Master paintings in England. Over the centuries, the Cecil family also acquired an exceptional range of fine English and Continental furniture, rare 17th-century tapestries, English portrait miniatures, Chinese snuff bottles, over 800 pieces of Asian and European ceramics among other notable works of art. The interiors also showcase dramatic Baroque decorative painting, most famously the Heaven Room and the Hell Staircase, both painted by Antonio Verrio. Burghley has remained the seat of the Cecil family for over 16 generations and is currently home to Miranda Rock and her family. Join Royal Oak members and supporters for a special digital tour, presented by the guardian of Burghley. Ms. Rock will highlight the house’s extraordinary interiors, explore the family’s collections, and share stories about the family’s long history and their role as stewards. She will also discuss the ongoing work of preserving and maintaining Burghley House for future generations.
Miranda Rock is a direct descendant of William Cecil. Her grandfather, the sixth Marquess, set up the Burghley House Preservation Trust. Her mother, Lady Victoria, was the first director of until 2007. Together with her husband, Orlando, and four young children, Miranda lives at Burghley House—something she considers both a privilege and a passion. She has said that she feels that Burghley is not a museum, but a home housing a historical collection, formed of items that the owners have collected over the years. “That is the value of this house, it’s a record of taste. It’s the sort of thing that sends a chill down your spine, knowing that the ninth Earl went to Naples, chose a picture, and you can see where he hung it.”
Tickets: $15 members*; $25 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | English Cottage Gardens
2025-11-21 - 2025-12-31 | CA
Hardy’s Cottage, Dorset ©National Trust Images/Robert Morris
Featuring an abundant yet modest jumble of colorful flowers, the cottage
garden holds a special place in people’s hearts. The characteristic mix of flowers, vegetables, medicinal herbs, and fruit trees, has its roots in the medieval cottager’s plot. Over the centuries, however, the cottage garden evolved to represent a quintessentially English style. Gardener and author Claire Masset will explore the rich history of the British cottage garden, illustrating the evolution of this informal design style with its cheerful masses of flowers. She will showcase recreations of the 16th-century country housewife’s plot, the relaxed 18th-century writers’ gardens, the “picturesque” 18th-century cottages surrounded by old-fashioned blooms, and the romantic flower beds of the 19th-century Arts & Crafts movement. Even designed 20th-century gardens such as Hidcote and Sissinghurst incorporated informally styled cottage garden “rooms.” Masset will describe the building blocks of this cottage style, from popular flowers and trees to design principles. She will also explain how cottage gardens can be created in small, contemporary spaces. Finally, she will show how British cottage gardens came to embody a natural paradise still beloved by gardeners around the world.
Claire Masset has degrees in art and architectural history from St. Andress and Oxford. She is the publisher for the National Trust in charge of their gardening books and also writes for publications. Her journalism has appeared in Country Life, BBC Homes & Antiques, Period Living, Historic Gardens Review, Gardens Illustrated, Art Quarterly, and The English Garden magazine. Her books include the bestselling Secret Gardens of the National Trust, Roses and Rose Gardens, and Cottage Gardens. She recently won the Roger Deakin Award from the Society of Authors. She gardens in her spare time and lives in West Oxfordshire with her son and two cats.

Tickets: $15 members*; $25 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | Mistress of Hardwick: Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury
2025-12-04 - 2025-12-31 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
The Blue Room at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire. Hardwick Hall was built in the late 16th century for Bess of Hardwick.
Born in the quiet hills of Derbyshire, Elizabeth Hardwick—known to history as “Bess of Hardwick”—rose to become one of the wealthiest and most influential women in Elizabethan England. Through four strategic marriages, keen business sense, and sharp political instincts, Bess secured power and status in a world dominated by men. After marrying Sir William Cavendish, Bess acquired the Chatsworth estate and began a lifelong passion for building and property. Her later marriage to George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, placed her at the heart of national politics. The couple orchestrated dynastic marriages between their children and became embroiled in the imprisonment of Mary, Queen of Scots—an assignment that ultimately fractured their marriage. Defiant and independent, Bess returned to Derbyshire and constructed her crowning achievement: the magnificent Hardwick Hall, “more glass than wall.” From there, she championed her granddaughter Arbella Stuart as a potential heir to the English throne, navigating the dangerous politics of succession with remarkable skill. Carol Ann Lloyd will explore Bess’s extraordinary rise, her role in Tudor court life, and her enduring legacy as a masterful strategist, builder, and matriarch of a powerful dynasty.

Carol Ann Lloyd, is a popular speaker who shares the stories of Shakespeare and English history. She is the former Manager of Visitor Education at Folger Shakespeare Library, where she gave workshops and tours about Shakespeare and Early Modern England. Her podcast, British History: Royals, Rebels, and Romantics, explores the lives of famous and infamous characters in history. Her book Tudors by the Numbers was published in 2023, and her latest book is Courting the Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I and Her Suitors. Carol Ann has presented programs at the Smithsonian, Folger Shakespeare Library, Agecroft Hall, and TEDx, among other venues. Ms. Lloyd is a member of the National Speakers Association.

Tickets: $20 members*; $30 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | British Connections in the Gibbes Collection, Charleston S.C.
2025-12-09 - 2025-12-31 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
Thomas Middleton of The Oaks, 1770By Benjamin West (American, 1738–1820)
The Gibbes Museum of Art, located in the heart of Charleston, South Carolina, contains a premier collection of over 10,000 art objects. While its works primarily focus on American Southern art connected to Charleston, many objects have British connections. Housed in a stunning Beaux Arts-style building, the museum offers a rich window into the region’s history as a major British colony, where Charlestonians commissioned portraits and collected works painted by English artists. Becca Hiester, Gibbes Director of Education and Programs, will give a virtual tour exploring the museum’s transatlantic connections, with a special look at British-American artist Benjamin West. West, born in Pennsylvania, rose to prominence while in 18th-century London. He earned the nickname “American Raphael” and attracted the attention of patrons such as King George III. In 1772, he was appointed Historical Painter to the King, and later became President of the Royal Academy. Becca will explore West’s work and describe the artist’s connections to wealthy Charlestonians. Finally, she will explain how British art found its home in the Gibbes Collection.

Tickets: $20 members*; $30 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Zoom Rental | Christmas in Georgian London
2025-12-10 - 2025-12-31 | Zoom Recording, Virtual, New York, NY, 10036, United States
At the start of the Georgian period, Christmas was a refined and relatively modest affair, especially among the upper classes. Gone were the Tudor boisterous revels. Instead, the holiday was marked by elegant entertainments, subdued gatherings, and traditional fares such as rosemary garlands, Christmas porridge, and the ever-popular buttock of beef. However, by the late Georgian period, shifting changes in custom led to a wave of nostalgia for the festive customs of “Old England.” This change brought renewed enthusiasm for traditional celebrations tied to St. Nicholas Day and Twelfth Night festivities, and the development of new foods and culinary treats. Accompanying the ascension of the new monarch in 1714, King George I, came the now popular custom of serving plum pudding as part of Christmas dinner. Join Rob Smith for a lively virtual tour of Christmas in Georgian London, as he unwraps the layers of tradition, transformation, and theatricality that shaped the holiday season.
©National Trust Images/William Shaw
From candlelit masked balls and extravagant feasts, to bustling frost fairs on the Thames, and raucous pantomimes on Drury Lane. Along the way, Rob will share stories of seasonal indulgence and holiday tales, including a tale of a highwayman who funded his Christmas celebrations through robbery. Join us as we explore how Georgian London celebrated the season and historically peer through the city windows lit by candlelight and alive with holiday cheer.
Tickets: $30 members*; $40 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

LA | Fred Astaire in London
2025-12-15 18:00 - 20:00 | The Ebell of Los Angeles, 743 S Lucerne Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90005
Fred Astaire, 1940s, Original publicity still from former Marilyn Blaisdell Collection
Though born in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in New York City, dancer Fred Astaire spent a significant portion of his early career in the United Kingdom. From 1922 to 1932, he and his sister Adele captivated London audiences in three wildly popular West End musicals, sparking a sensation so intense that critics dubbed it “Astairia.” During his time in London, Astaire immersed himself in British culture; he studied music theory at London’s Guildhall School of Music alongside Noël Coward and socialized with the aristocracy. After a decade in London, Adele retired from the stage to marry Lord Charles Cavendish, the second son of the Duke of Devonshire, and moved to Lismore Castle in Ireland. The pair’s decade of dancing and performing in London had an equally profound effect on Fred. With his new dance partner, Claire Luce, he expanded his repertoire, incorporating sweeping, romantic movements as well as an English sense of style. His impeccable fashion sense, effortless charm, and refined elegance—so central to his legendary dance films of the 1930s through the 1950s—were deeply influenced by the customs and style he observed while mingling with British high society and even the royal family. Victoria Kastner will explore the profound impact of Astaire’s years in the UK, revealing how his time on the London stage helped shape the dancer, actor, and icon the world came to adore.
Victoria Kastner is the leading scholar and author about the architect Julia Morgan as well as about Hearst Castle, where she worked for 30 years and was the historian. She is the author of Hearst Castle: The Biography of a Country House, with a foreword by George Plimpton, published by Harry N. Abrams in 2000; Hearst’s San Simeon: The Gardens and the Land, May 2009; and Hearst Ranch: Family, Land and Legacy. She co-authored The Beverly Hills Hotel: The First 100 years with Robert Anderson. In 2022, Victoria published; Julia Morgan: An Intimate Biography of the Trailblazing Architect. Ms. Kastner has lectured extensively on Julia Morgan, Hearst’s art collection, and the history of collection for many museums and groups: including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the American Museum in Britain in Bath; and the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. She has also written about Hearst, San Simeon, and Morgan for The London Telegraph, the American Institute of Architects, Oxford University’s Journal of the History of Collections, and The Magazine Antiques.
Tickets: $35 members*; $45 non-members
Reception at 6pm; Lecture at 6:30pm
741 S Lucerne Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90005

*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account
