Victorian Musings

By no means do I follow The Royal Family. However, I have always admired Princess Diana for her courage to stand her ground towards The Queen in regards to how she would raise William and Harry. She made sure her boys would be raised understanding that just because you are born into royalty not everyone has the same privileges and impressed upon them the importance of charity work. She was the first Princess of Wales to insist upon travelling with her boys on royal visits. Doing this was unheard of, against protocol, and would definitely upset The Queen. Diana did it anyway! So, the upcoming Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton has me 'unusually' enraptured! I love the fact that he fell in love with and is marrying a 'commoner' as did his father! As some of my readers may already know, I am an avid fan of Author and Historian Alison Weir. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that she and a group of women called, 'The History Girls' have a b

Although, today is officially the anniversary of the coronation of King Edward VI, I am honoring the brief but important fifteen year life of the only son of Henry VIII and his third wife Queen Jane Seymour. Jane's pregnancy was made known in February 1537, and in September she officially withdrew to her chamber at Hampton Court to await the birth of her child. After a long labour of two days and three nights, she gave birth to a healthy son at about 2am on 12 October 1537. Jane appeared to make a good recovery following the birth of Edward and was well enough to receive guests at Edward's christening on 15 October. The following day, however, her condition suddenly worsened. In a letter to Cromwell, her physicians, including the King's favourite, William Butt (1485-1545), report that 'all this night she hath bene very syck and doth rather appare (worsen) then amend'. The Queen's confessor, the Bishop of Carlisle, the letter continued, had been with her since

The above video is from The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, birthplace of William Shakespeare. It was recorded in 2009 when the Cobb Portrait (detailed below re: Morgan Exhibit) was discovered. I thought the video would be an interesting tie-in to the current exhibit. More details about this Cobbe Portrait taken from The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust: The Claims For The Cobbe Portrait: Copies of the painting we now refer to as the Cobbe portrait were identified as Shakespeare within living memory of the poet. The original was almost certainly owned by Shakespeare's only known literary patron, Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom the Cobbe family is distantly related. The sitter would appear to have been identified as a playwright in the 17th century. The Latin inscription along its top edge, 'Principum Amicitias!', is a quotation from an ode by the classical writer Horace (Book II, Ode I). In Horace's poem, the words--wh

Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until 1503, mother of King Henry VIII of England and Grandmother to Elizabeth I (daughter of King Henry VIII & Queen Anne Boleyn) as well as Edward VI of England (son of Henry VIII & Jane Seymour). In addition, Elizabeth of York is the only English queen to have been a daughter, sister, niece, wife and mother of English monarchs during her lifetime. She was born at Westminster, the eldest child of King Edward IV and his Queen consort, Elizabeth Woodville, the former Lady Grey. Her christening was celebrated at Westminster Abbey, her sponsors being her grandmothers Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Duchess of Bedford. She was named a Lady of the Garter in 1477, along with her mother and her paternal aunt Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk. At the age of 5, she was briefly betrothed to George Neville, son of John Neville, Earl of Northumberland, a supporter of

Today marks the anniversary of the execution of Mary Stuart Queen of Scotland (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587) known as Mary Queen of Scots. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King James V of Scotland. She was 6 days old when her father died and she was crowned nine months later. In 1558, she married Francis, Dauphin of France, who ascended the French throne as Francis II in 1559. Mary was not Queen of France for long; she was widowed on 5 December 1560. Mary then returned to Scotland, arriving in Leith on 19 August 1561. Four years later, she married her first cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Their union was unhappy and in February 1567, there was a huge explosion at their house, and Darnley was found dead, apparently strangled, in the garden. She soon married James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was generally believed to be Darnley's murderer. Following an uprising against the couple, Mary was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle on 15 June and forced to abdic

London National Portrait Gallery needs your help! As an avid Anne Boleyn fan and fan of the Tudor dynasty since childhood, I have been very blessed to have met many wonderful writers of historical fiction. One of whom runs On the Tudor Trail She has created a Facebook page to help raise awareness of the desperate plight of this famous portrait of Anne Boleyn. So I thought I would help spread the word.  The Facebook page can be found here: Save Anne Boleyn's Portrait This page has been officially endorsed by historian and author Alison Weir who wrote:   “I am delighted to endorse this page, and to lend my support to the fundraising for the restoration of this important – indeed, the definitive – portrait of Anne Boleyn. It has entranced and intrigued me since I was a young teenager and first became aware of Anne’s story. Even though it is only a copy of a lost original, it is the portrait by which most people identify Anne, and it captures the charm and wit of which conte