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Today’s recommendation: The Evil Style Queen – Misanthropic views on this and that from the deepest German backwaters.

To not do so would be a crime. Her wit and judgment of all things style, from clothes to furniture and more, is incandescent.

The ESQ’s clincher post, for me, was about the Queen (surprise). Entitled Style Is An Attitude, it conveys everything that I feel about Her Majesty, the perfect addendum to my sentiments on my previous post “Cool Queens”.

Enjoy The Evil Style Queen!

Image via Wikipedia

I was thinking back to the Trooping the Color ceremony in 1981, the day some brazen nut decided to shoot at the Queen. This particular event reinforces why I admire the Queen so much.

Her Majesty was still riding in the Trooping Ceremony at that time, and on this June day she cantered down The Mall atop her trusty horse, Burmese. Suddenly a young lad named Marcus Serjeant burst from the crowd and fired six shots at Elizabeth, causing Burmese to panic. It was just a starter pistol and the shots were blank, but the Queen didn’t know that and neither did anyone else. Regardless, Elizabeth calmed Burmese and rode on. Police grabbed Serjeant and hauled him off to jail. All Elizabeth knew was that she hadn’t been shot, so the show had to go on. One is the Queen, after all.

Whenever I see that footage, I get a chill down my spine. It’s fear, it’s amazement, and it’s admiration all at once. Her Majesty’s reaction kept public panic to a minimum, staving off a mass exodus from The Mall where people could have been trampled and killed. She is amazing.

Then I find out that Queen Victoria had a similar incident – once by accident, the second time by design. It seems that this royal sangfroid runs in the blood! While out for a drive in their carriage, the diminutive Queen and her husband, Prince Albert, were attacked by a youth firing a gun. The shots, thankfully, were blanks. He quickly removed himself from the scene, leaving the couple in shock. The next day, Albert and Victoria made a point to go out in their carriage along the same route to see if the person would attempt to shoot at them again. The royal couple were determined to catch a glimpse of their assailant. Nearing the same area along their route, out of the scenery burst the young man, brandishing a gun and firing like mad. Again, they were blanks. The prankster was caught in the act this time by a policeman. Both Queen and Consort were satisfied to learn his identity – twenty-two year old John Francis – and have him taken away.

Public emotion ran high over the incident, with tributes pouring in from every corner thanking God for sparing Her Majesty. People were also agog over the couple’s bravery, though some said their actions were foolhardy. It had been a close call.

The title of this post is “Cool Queens”, but I have got to give Albert credit, too. He was no shrinking violet! So in times of trouble, may we always remember the spine of steel exhibited by the Royal Family. God Bless them and their example.

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King Arthur’s Camelot discovered?

Camelot historian Chris Gidlow says he has finally discovered the location of King Arthur’s Round Table. Calling it a table, however, probably isn’t accurate.

“The first accounts of the Round Table show that it was nothing like a dining table but was a venue for upwards of 1,000 people at a time,” said Gidlow.

A team of specialists from various fields helped Gidlow uncover the evidence needed to find the legendary Round Table, the key being the location of a shrine. A recently discovered Roman amphitheatre with an execution stone and wooden memorial to Christian martyrs was, as Gidlow says, “the clincher”.

“In the 6th Century, a monk named Gildas, who wrote the earliest account of Arthur’s life, referred to both the City of Legions and to a martyr’s shrine within it. That is the clincher. [T]he shrine within the amphitheatre means that Chester was the site of Arthur’s court and his legendary Round Table.”

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Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber has his eye on Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England. He says he would love to buy it and house part of his extensive art collection there.

This isn’t good news for the castle’s owner, however. The estate has been the ancestral home of the Carnarvon clan for over 300 years, and the current Lord Carnarvon frowns upon selling it.

George Herbert, the 8th Earl of Carnarvon told the Daily Mail that the estate “[I]s absolutely a treasured, long-term family estate and I have never discussed selling it to anyone. It is not for sale. [Lord Lloyd-Webber] has not approached me directly and the first I knew about him expressing his interest in this letter was just before a recent council meeting.”

Maintenance has been a struggle for Carnarvon, and the cost of repairing the 150-room stately home is estimated at £12 million. He plans to raise the funds by allowing 15 houses to be built within the 4,000 acre estate. The money from the sales – or rent, should he choose – would go to the repairs. Lloyd-Webber, on the other hand, says if he owned the property he could restore it to its former splendor without having to develop the land.

In his letter to Basingstoke Council, Lord Lloyd-Webber said that he would like to combine his Sydmonton estate and Highclere in order to house his art collection.

I don’t know about everyone else, but I think that perhaps the two men could reach a compromise: Lord Carnarvon could rent part of the estate to Lord Lloyd-Webber so that he may house part of his art collection. The rent money could then be put towards the maintenance of the estate. Carnarvon would still own the property, it would get restored, and Lloyd-Webber would have his space for his artwork.

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Andrew Lloyd-Webber in Castle Row