Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria Once there was Vicky, Alice, Helena, Louise, and Beatrice… Now with Marie, Maud, Ena, Alix, and Sophie, we see the face of Europe change once more. Julia Gelardi’s book is a fascinating study of the lives of Queen Victoria’s granddaughters. It gets slightly difficult to …
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A Book Review of “An Uncommon Woman – The Empress Frederick” Originally published on September 15, 2005 You will feel great sympathy towards Vicky, the Empress Frederick, who was an unfortunate hostage to the intrigues of the German court. Sympathy will soon give way to awe at her courage and determination to do her best …
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Dom Duarte Pio: Portugal’s King-In-Waiting By Harold Schmautz Portugal was the first country in the 20th century to lose her monarchy, yet the pretender to the Portuguese throne hopes the country will be the first in the 21st century to win back the Monarchy. Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Bragança, is confident of re-gaining the …
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A Treasury of Royal Scandals – The Shocking True Stories of History’s Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors By Michael Farquhar Part IX, Chapter 7: Death Be Not Dignified When a king of France died, he was subject to a fairly rigorous post-mortem. His body was sliced open from throat to …
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It Doesn’t Take An HRH To Be Prince of My Heart By Jerramy Fine, author of “Someday My Prince Will Come” I was only 6-years-old when I fell in love with Peter Phillips. Like always, I was up to my knees in royal library books (I was a royal-watcher from a very early age!) when …
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Diana – by Sarah Bradford Sarah Bradford is once again brilliantly articulate in her writing and is sensitive to Diana’s personal story. Diana wasn’t the nicest person in the world, but Bradford gently reminds us of the Princess’ unhappy childhood and how she became emotionally-stunted. It is a story that arouses deep pity for Diana …
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The First Queen of Hearts
Inspired by Robert Lacey’s Royal: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Commentary by M.L. Littlefield
The possibility of losing one’s monarch at the hands of a lunatic induces panic. So when a royal figure survives an attack, especially with sangfroid, there’s relief all around. There’s a surge of public sympathy and support for the royal family and people express amazement at how cool their monarch can be.
Then, there’s a bit too much of a good thing. The media and the public get bored with cool, steely resolve after a while and get cranky. Queen Elizabeth II has experienced both the praise and the pouts of the people because of her grace under fire. As it turns out, it’s an experience that’s all in the family….
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