Shakespearean Objects in the Royal Collection, 1714-1939: From National Treasure to Family Heirloom

The British royal collection includes nearly 2,000 objects with a connection to Shakespeare. What stories do these objects tell of the relationship between the man often described as Britain's 'national poet' and Britain's royal family? Royal collecting of Shakespeare did not really begin until 1714, and has therefore broadly tracked the development, and entrenchment, of the Hanoverian—and latterly the Saxe-Coburg Gotha—royal family. Not entirely coincidentally, this period also saw a gener...