I apologize for the technical difficulties! The Royal Educational Society’s log in page is up and running now, so please join today and try out the Commonwealth quiz, leave feedback, and let me know how you do. Thanks, everyone! :D

Sign up here.

Mandy

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It’s a wonderful site whose profits go to funding further cancer research. Create your personalized gifts today and help a great cause. Click on the Queen to see more:

I have a video-heavy series of posts here at the top of the blog lately, so I apologize for any slow loading time. :)

If you wish to commission a drawing, please contact me any time.

Royal Updates for July 2010.

Prince Albert gets engaged to Charlene Wittstock, and Princess Victoria of Sweden marries her Daniel. What the heck would Diana be like today, had she lived? What’s up with Crown Princess Letizia of Spain? Welcome to the latest edition of RoyaltyNow! Click here to view the latest!

It’s that time – we need to start planning a party for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012. But where? When?

I am asking all of you who love the Queen as much as I do to start throwing around ideas for a celebration here in the U.S. Should we do regional parties (East/West) or try to meet up at one big party? I am open to suggestions.

The Queen is breaking a record with this jubilee; it is a landmark celebration claimed only by Queen Victoria thus far. We will celebrate the longest reign in British history in our own lifetime!

Any comments or thoughts, please send me an email using the contact form in the links above. Thanks, and God Save The Queen!!

- Mandy

While out and about in La Conner, Washington, I stumbled upon a little antique store. I had spotted a familiar photo in the window – it was King George VI with Queen Elizabeth and the little princesses. Intrigued, I went inside.

Due to the close proximity of Canada, the store had many small royal items, several of which were the Illustrated London News. I purchased three:

Cover: The informality of the Royal Family at Balmoral with a 7-month-old Prince Andrew

Cover: Prince Edward’s first official photo at three months (This was purchased June 19th, almost 46 years to the day it came out – off by only one day!)

Cover: The Queen’s First Ten Years

If you are ever in Washington, check out La Conner’s Nasty Jack Antiques. You won’t be disappointed!

As some of you may already know, the Ning network is now charging people to use their service. Cinderella’s World of Royalty Network recently moved from Ning because of the fee, opening a new message board at ProBoards.

My Ning network, The British American Group, is also leaving and has re-opened on Facebook. Click here to sign up. The B.A.G. blog remains the same.

This summer, I offer various royal history courses at the Royal Educational Society. I am also open to ideas about courses that could possibly be added later.

Please visit the site for more about course listings. If you would like to study, please sign up. If you would be interested in sharing your knowledge of royal history from any period, and would like to have your own course to teach, please email me using the form on the contact page. Select “Question” as your subject.

At this time, enrollment in the RES is free. This is subject to change.

Many thanks,

Mandy

Dear Royal Educational Society users,

The Moodle system, in which the RES is based, will be undergoing extensive updates. If you find that you are unable to log in, you may have to re-register. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Mandy

Coming soon: The Coburg Conspiracy: Victoria and Albert – Royal Plots and Manoeuvres

At the dawn of the nineteenth century, the Duchy of Coburg, ruled by the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield (later Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) family, was a small, impoverished German fiefdom with no political influence, and little prospect of improving its lot. Less than fifty years later, the family had transformed its position. Just how did they achieve this astonishing turnaround?

With Queen Victoria’s marriage to the Duchy’s Prince Albert, the formerly insignificant dukedom became intrinsically linked with the most powerful empire on earth. Victoria and Albert’s children were matched by Queen and Prince to the most eligible and politically viable royals throughout Europe. But who orchestrated Victoria and Albert’s marriage? Did those responsible realize what a royal powerhouse their matchingmaking would create?

Author Richard Sotnick was inspired to discover just that after a 1975 meeting with Lord Mountbatten. Sotnick studied German at the Goethe Institute and with a personal tutor so that he could understand crucial documents for his research for ‘The Coburg Conspiracy’. He will see the culmination of his work published May 20th.

Majesty Magazine says: ‘A fascinating, riveting tale based on ground-breaking research’.

Sarah Bradford, noted biographer of Queen Elizabeth II, writes: ‘Richard Sotnick’s book is an important addition to Victorian studies: illuminating the darker side of Prince Albert’s impoverished and ambitious family which Queen Victoria regarded as her own with the tragic tale of his rejected mother and the sexual intrigues of the Coburg court. Deploying new material from the Coburg archives, Sotnick convincingly explores the evidence for and against Albert’s illegitimacy. A fascinating book.’

Join me here for my review in May or early June.

“The Coburg Conspiracy” will also be reviewed by… http://ow.ly/1wJ8R