royal wedding celebration

Alas! Dear Anne Bronte, like her sister Emily, was of a melancholy nature. Having grown up amid the freedom of the Moors, they found it so stifling to be torn from that childhood world and plunged into work that stifled their spirits. Anne's lovely poem, "The Bluebell" begins with such wonder but, sadly, as always, she slips into her sadness again.
Today I walked among bluebells (on the photo - at Temple Newsam) and had such a sense of being without the past, without the future, without anything but the glory of the woods. I think that the Brontes' yearning for freedom was so chained to that lost world of Angria and the Great Glass Town that they created as children - a fantasy world that was a reality to them. If only they had thought that perhaps it was possible to create and live their beautiful dream in this world, they might not have always been so melancholy and sad. It's a beautiful poem:

A fine and subtle spirit dwells
In every little flower,
Each one its own sweet feeling breathes
With more or less of power.
There is a silent eloquence
In every wild bluebell
That fills my softened heart with bliss
That words could never tell.

Yet I recall not long ago
A bright and sunny day,
'Twas when I led a toilsome life
So many leagues away;

That day along a sunny road
All carelessly I strayed,
Between two banks where smiling flowers
Their varied hues displayed.

Before me rose a lofty hill,
Behind me lay the sea,
My heart was not so heavy then
As it was wont to be.

Less harassed than at other times
I saw the scene was fair,
And spoke and laughed to those around,
As if I knew no care.

But when I looked upon the bank
My wandering glances fell
Upon a little trembling flower,
A single sweet bluebell.

Whence came that rising in my throat,
That dimness in my eye?
Why did those burning drops distil --
Those bitter feelings rise?

O, that lone flower recalled to me
My happy childhood's hours
When bluebells seemed like fairy gifts
A prize among the flowers,

Those sunny days of merriment
When heart and soul were free,
And when I dwelt with kindred hearts
That loved and cared for me.

I had not then mid heartless crowds
To spend a thankless life
In seeking after others' weal
With anxious toil and strife.

'Sad wanderer, weep those blissful times
That never may return!'
The lovely floweret seemed to say,
And thus it made me mourn.

You can see more of the egg and find out how Faberge made the gorgeous colour here: Princess Grace's Faberge Egg

Inspired by an 18th century French clock, Mikhael Perkhin crafted this beautiful translucent blue egg for Faberge. Tsar Alexander III gave the egg which features a serpent set with diamonds, a base of gold, and a working clock, to his Tsarina, Maria Feodorova, on Easter Day in 1887.

The enamelled egg was removed from the Anichkov Palace to the Armory in the Kremlin during the Russian Revolution. Michel Norman of the Australian Pearl Company then bought it. Eventually the shipping magnate, Niarchos, acquired it and gave it to Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

Princess Grace loved the splendid egg. Legend has it that she kept it on her desk in the Palace until she died.

Controversy About The Date

There is some controversy concerning whether this egg really was made in 1887. Lopato thinks that it is too sophisticated and elaborate to have been made at this early date. It was also supposed to have sapphires. But Tatiana Muntian argues that it was made at this early date.

A very lovely story about Princess Alice, who was born on April 25th 1843, is recounted in a letter from Lady Lyttleton and reproduced in the forward to the collection of Alice's letters, written by her sister, Lenchen. The letter describes Alice's fourth birthday:

"One present I think we all wish to live farther off: a live lamb, all over pink ribbons and bells. He is already the greatest pet, as one may suppose.
Princess Alice's pet lamb is the cause of many tears. He will not take to his mistress but runs away lustily, and will soon butt at her, though she is most coaxy, and said to him in her sweetest tones, after kissing his nose often: "Milly, dear Milly! Do you like me?" "

When Ella - Grand Duchess Elizabeth - went to the prison to forgive her husband's killer, he told her that on a previous occasion he could have killed her, too, but spared her life. Ella replied that in killing her husband, Serge, he had killed her, too.
Considering it was only three days since she had gathered Serge's bloody remains in her own hands, the shock and horror of what she had witnessed must have been so traumatic as to render her almost incapable of thinking straight but there was something in those words to which subsequent events bear testimony.
The Ella whom people had known as the 'most beautiful princess in Europe', the Ella who had stunned every man in every ballroom, who had disappeared partway through an evening to reappear in a completely different set of jewels and attire, who won the hearts of the same people who despised her husband, suddenly was no more.
Instead there was the real Ella: the person who had been raised in an atmosphere of beauty and service to the poor; the Ella who had 'longed since childhood to help those who suffer, especially those in moral suffering' - the Ella to whom beauty meant something more than superficial appearances.
It seems very much a visible example of 'unless a seed falls into the ground and dies...'
Ella's whole life changed through horror and tragedy but it wasn't destroyed - on the contrary, after twenty years as a stifled and passive wife, it returned her to herself.
Perhaps, had she not been raised in an atmosphere of tragedy and suffering, she might have learned that lesson in happier circumstances. It seems to me that when we believe suffering is necessary, we find it and it can change us for the better, if we so choose, but the greater lesson is to know that suffering isn't necessary and was never part of the Divine Plan. The only thing we die to is the false notion of the need to be anything other than our true selves. If we learn that lesson through suffering, good comes of it. If we learn that lesson through joy, so much the better!

The Temple of the Echo

The Pavilllon of Gustaf III.

The Copper tents

The Entrance Gates to the Royal Burial Ground

On the Royal Burial Ground was first buired in 1920 Crown Princess Margaretthe first wife of the future King Gustaf VI. Adolf. Since then more members of the Royal Family have been buried there among them King Gustaf VI. Adolf and Queen Louise, Prine Gustaf Adolf andPrincess Sibylla, Prince Carl and Princess Ingeborg and in 1997 Prince Bertil.

Happy Birthday, Ma'am!

It was wonderful to see the 41-gun salutes to so devoted a Queen and I hope these were seen by those who would happily merge these little islands into Soviet-like state of nonentities!

God Bless the Queen on her 83rd birthday, with many thanks for the example she has always set of being true to herself, to her beliefs and to her country!

The young soldier fell in love with the beautiful fifteen year old at first sight. Sarah Churchill had hair 'washed with gold' and flashing blue eyes. She was impressed with handsome John Churchill, who was ten years older, but she didn't want to be his mistress. John, used to having his own way, found that Sarah led him a merry dance. She began to become panicky, however, when she knew that his parents wanted him to marry wealthy Catherine Sedley, formerly mistress of James II.

Luckily, John had no interest in Catherine and the young couple who didn't have much money got married. John and Sarah remained passionately in love - it was said that he was so anxious to race Sarah upstairs that he didn't even take off his boots when he came home after his military campaigns!

Sarah was a Maid of Honour to Mary of Modena, James II's wife. John originally served James II as well in military campaigns but as he and Sarah were Protestant and James II wanted a Catholic England he favoured the accession of William and Mary in 1688. John remained in contact with James, however, so William didn't give him any honours and even put him in the Tower at one stage.

Princess Anne, Mary's sister, was very friendly with Sarah. They shared a very close friendship even though Anne was married to George, Prince of Denmark and she was passionately in love with him. (NB: I've changed this sentence. Please see Hel's interesting comment about Princess Anne's marriage.) They called each other Mrs.Freeman (Sarah) and Mrs.Morley.

The Victor of Blenheim

When Anne became Queen she appointed John Captain-General of the British troops in the war against France. John began to win many victories. He was created Duke of Marlborough by the Queen. Sarah also gained many honours, including the Mistress of the Robes and the Comptroller of the Privy Purse.

His most famous victory was the Battle of Blenheim in 1704, which stopped the French advance to Austria. The French commander was captured and 13,000 of the French became prisoners. This stopped Louis XIV's plans to conquer England and make it a Catholic and absolutist country.

Sarah was always first in the Duke's thoughts. After the great battle John wrote a note to his beloved Sarah on the back of a bill of tavern expenses: "I have not time to say more but to beg you will give my duty to the Queen, and let her know her army has had a glorious victory..."

He and Sarah were given the old palace at Woodstock and a huge area of land as a reward. They commissioned the architect, Vanbrugh, to design the great palace of Blenheim and oversee its building.

Sarah's Quarrels With Anne

Sarah dominated most people she met and hated not getting her own way. She found the Queen rather too possessive and dull. She grew tired of bothering with her and hardly ever went to the Palace. She also favoured the Whigs who supported the wars with France while the Queen was a Tory. The Tories didn't like the expenses and the loss of life that these wars involved and started to think better of them. The Queen also hated to see so many of her subjects killed.

Sarah wanted her son-in-law, Sunderland, a Whig, to be admitted to the Privy Council.
She got her own way but the Queen resented it.

Abigail Masham

Sarah found out that her cousins, the Mashams, were very poor and rescued them by giving them positions at Court. A rather haughty woman, she looked down on them and may have helped them because she didn't want their poverty to affect her reputation.

Abigail was just as ambitious as Sarah, but quiet and submissive. The Queen found her friendship soothing and started to favour her above Sarah. This horrified Sarah who felt that she had rescued Abigail 'from a garret'. She also practically accused the Queen of lesbianism.

Harvey, another ambitious Tory, was another cousin who became friendly with the Queen. Together they worked against the Churchills and argued for the advancement of the Tories.

Falling Out

After John won another great victory at Oudenarde the Queen went to St.Paul's to give thanks. Sarah wanted her to wear some of her beautiful jewels but the Queen was shocked at the sacrifice of men and refused. They had a terrible argument and Sarah even hissed at her to 'Be Quiet' as they got out of the coach!

When the Prince died Sarah even wrote a note accusing the Queen of 'ill-using' her.

The Queen never forgave these insults and finally dismissed Sarah from all of her posts. Abigail's turn had come.

Exile

John was also sacked because he had demanded to be captain-general for life after his victory at Malplaquet. The Queen was shocked at the bloodshed - 6000 British died - and suspicious of John's desire for power.

When the government discovered that John had taken bribes and received much money from the Austrian emperor, he and Sarah were sent into exile. Sarah, understandably, hated being away from her beloved country.

John found favour once again under the Hanover reign, but he was getting old by then.
He and Sarah continued the building of Blenheim Palace, but Sarah quarelled with Vanbrugh incessantly.

Sadness

They suffered many trials during their marriage. Their only son died of smallpox. Later two daughters died - Anne and Elizabeth.

John died in 1722. Sarah lived on and adopted a grand-daughter, Diana. The Sixth Earl of Somerset, whose wife had been a Tory, asked her to marry him. She wrote to him that: "If I were young and handsome as I was, instead of old and faded as I am, and you could lay the empire of the world at my feet, you should never have the heart and hand that once belonged to John, Duke of Marlborough.

What is your current obsession? Sarah and John Churchill. I'm in love with the ravishing Duke of Marlborough, the victor of Blenheim. Sarah is almost more interesting. It's a great love story.

Good fika place? Not sure about this one.

Do you nap a lot? No-not a napper at all.

Who was the last person you hugged? My husband.

What’s for dinner? Lean pork chop, mashed potatoes and spinach.

What was the last thing you bought? Writing Magazine at the newsagent.

What are you listening to right now? The Duchess by Amanda Foreman.

What’s on your bedside table? Books-I just love them.

Say something to the person/s who tagged you. She didn't tag me, but Histatic is a wonderful blog!

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? I would have to say the Italian lakes. George Clooney can't be wrong. Stresa is the most beautiful town.

Favourite holiday (sorry) spot? The Italian lakes again. I'd love to go back to Belgirate on Lake Maggiore.

Name the things you can’t live without. I can not live without my husband, my close family and friends and my books.

What would you like to have in your hands right now? The book that I'm expecting about Anna Pavlova!.

What is your favourite tea flavour? At the risk of being boring, Twining's English Breakfast Tea. Yes, it has to be Twinings!

Which modern Royal would you most like to meet? Princess Mary. I like her grace and elegance. I also like her because she's Australian and has a Law degree.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Lake Louise in Canada. I went there when I was 11. We had lunch at the beautiful old hotel on the lake and walked in the garden. It was wonderful and I'd love to spend more time there.

What did you want to become as a child? I wanted one career after another! They included: actress, writer, English professor, teacher, botanist.. I'm what Barbara Sher calls a 'scanner'.

What do you miss? I agree with Histatic here: University-it was awesome. I miss doing my Arts degree.

What are you reading right now? I am about to read Becoming Queen, Kate Williams.

What do you fear the most? Things changing. (Histatic and I must be somewhat alike!)

What designer piece of clothing would you most like to own (new or vintage)? A Poiret gown.

If you could go back in time what period and where would you go to and why? (question added by TammiMagee of Histatic!) At the minute I would go to the mid to late 18th century in order to meet Sarah Churchill and Abigail Masham.

Last question, added by Sallymandy: How do you feel about the economy? I hope that it's looking up!

That’s all for me. If you’d like to do the meme, here’s how it works.

1. Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you dislike with a question of your own invention; add a question of your own.

2. Tag eight other un-tagged people. (I decided to open this up to anyone.)

Georgiana and Little G by Sir Joshua Reynolds

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and her husband had three children who lived to adulthood:

The Bachelor Duke

Georgiana's son, the bachelor duke, was a collector who became friendly with the sculptor, Canova, and attained many of his best sculptures. These sculptures and others were shown in the last movie version of Pride and Prejudice.

He was also friendly with Joseph Paxton, who built the Emperor Fountain which is the highest gravity-fed fountain in the world.

Some thought that the duke may have been gay because of his close friendships with men but there is no evidence for this.

Little G

Her daughter, Georgiana, married George Howard, Earl of Calisle and had twelve children. It was apparently a very happy marriage.

Harriet

Harriet, usually called Harryo, wrote very interesting letters. Some of these are quoted in Amanda Foreman's book.

She married the much older Lord Granville Leveson Gower, who had had an affair with her aunt, Harriet, and two illegitimate children with her! Leveson Gower (pronounced lesson gore, I think) was apparently considered the handsomest man in Regency England. He confessed everything to Harryo before their marriage and insisted on retaining his friendship with her aunt. Harryo loved her aunt, of course, and knew that the affair was over so she accepted these terms. She also brought up the illegitimate children, showing that she inherited her mother's generous nature.

There is more about the children at Georgiana's Guide to the Eighteenth Century

The endless fascination with the Romanovs and the glittering world prior to WWI, I think goes beyond the immediate draw of the tragic and beautiful family to something deep within us that harks back to another era - a Golden Age. Of course, that Golden Age never really was. In the late 19th Century, they dreamed of Camelot; and who knows what they dreamed in the Dark Ages, but undoubtedly, it was of a better time before that. Perhaps that longing is really a seeking for our true selves - that part of us, buried within us, which seems to come from a past, and that is at the very core of our being: the belief that the world can be kind, good, noble and all that is finest in us. We're so used to projecting our views of everything onto the world, that maybe we dream of an ideal past that is really a dream of a return to our own true nature.

That having been said, it seems often that the lure of the past is of an age of respect and chivalry and good manners; the age of people taking time over projects and producing beautiful results - not the rushed, busy-business, not the rat race, not the throw-away society that the Industrial Revolution spawned.

It seems to me that the most fascinating things are happening right now. Groaning from almost 2 centuries of industrialisation and people becoming little more than cogs in the wheel, there is a huge desire to return to Nature, to real values, to be free of the packaged fruits and perfect EU-acceptable bananas and the gloss and sham of music, literature and art of the past few decades. Without wishing to jump on the bandwagon of the hugely deserved success of Susan Boyle, who performed so genuinely and incredibly, hasn't she arrived at just the right time? Sick of the surfeit of counterfeit nonsense and hype and plastic and sham, people have been longing for reality again. Out steps a true talent - someone singing from the heart; no hype, no fake-tan, no million dollar dress or a host of sexy dancers - just a true talent, and it was as though everyone in that audience, and everyone watching at home gasped a great collective whoop of joy! At last, we are free of the superficiality. The fact that her performance coincides with loss of faith in hypocritical governments or greedy banks, is significant. People can only be conned so far before there is a backlash because we are all so much more wonderful than we are led to believe most of the time. We don't have to fit the bill, look a particular way, be controlled, be made-to-measure, be told how to live in order to succeed.

The Golden Age, is the age of people being true to themselves and therefore true to one another. I think Susan Boyle has succeeded in doing what that wonderful line from 'Sunset Boulevard' expresses, she has quite unintentionally 'taught the world new ways to dream.'

Heather Carroll has written a short post about this with beautiful pictures: The Picture Hat

Vivianna has written an interesting post about Georgiana's novel: World's Oldest Obsession I can't link to the actual post for some reason but there's a search button on the blog.

You can buy it here: The Sylph

I'm sorry about the bad link. I think that it's fixed now.

Wishing every blessing of Easter to everyone who visits this site!

May all that is finest and most joyful and lovely in you, bring you every happiness!

Thank you for stopping by!

Ms.Lucy has a lovely post about this daughter of Josephine Bonaparte who became Queen of Holland: Queen Hortense

Painting of Bess Foster by Sir Joshua Reynolds

Beautiful Georgiana,the Duchess of Devonshire, had many talents. She wrote novels and plays, held political salons and helped the Whigs win elections, and she was a fashion icon. However, this woman who could be quite forthright, also famously lived in a menage a trois with her husband and her friend, Lady Elizabeth Foster, for many years. Many people wondered why.

Georgiana's marriage was not a happy one. The Duke was a cold and very reserved man, who had a mistress when he and Georgiana married. The warm-hearted, friendly and much younger Georgiana found her husband difficult to understand. His family blamed Georgiana for not providing him with an heir until she eventually had one and constantly complained about her excessive gambling and debts.

The young duchess needed a good friend and thought that she'd discovered one in Bess Foster. Georgiana felt very sorry for Bess. Bess's husband had an affair with a maid and retained custody of her two sons, Frederick and Augustus, after they separated. Bess took advantage of this and manipulated her way into the household, becoming very friendly with the Duke.

Georgiana's mother, Lady Spencer, was not impressed with Bess from the start. Bess came from the notorious, libertine Harvey family. Georgiana wrote to her, begging to bring Bess with them when they stayed at her place. Lady Spencer noticed that Bess and the Duke went out riding together alone every day.

Bess was a man-eater and had many affairs. Her lovers are said to have included Count Axel Fersen, the Earl of Dunraven (who was married), and even a man of the cloth, Ercole Cardinal Consalvi. She was also extremely good-looking and seemed to be able to handle the Duke. She had two children to him and eventually married him after Georgiana died, against the wishes of Georgiana's children.

Georgiana was not faithful to the Duke, understandably. Her most famous affair was with Charles Grey, the Second Earl Grey, who eventually became Prime Minister. They had an illegitimate child, Eliza, who the Greys adopted. When the Duke found out, he was quite cruel to Georgiana, forcing her to separate completely from Grey and give up the child.

Except for her affair with her husband, Bess actually was a good friend to Georgiana. She helped her persuade the Duke to forgive her large debts and she travelled abroad with her when she had Grey's child. It was a very big exception, however! Georgiana had her reasons for putting up with this situation, but people down the centuries have found it hard to understand.

What do you think about this odd situation?

(photograph courtesy of www.andrehilliard.com

"Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

In the grave they laid him, love whom men had slain,
Thinking that never he would wake again.
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green."

This lovely old hymn is so very beautiful, isn't it?

For the first four decades of my life, from as far back as I can remember, Good Friday moved me intensely. Growing through adolescence and early adulthood, it always seemed that the more deeply I felt the grief of that day, the more 'holy' I was, somehow. Weeping through "The Passion of the Christ" or the earlier (lovelier!) "Jesus of Nazareth" seemed the right thing to do. And it moved me intensely and on some level it felt 'good' to be so moved. Now I wonder...

Now, when we see everyone jumping on the bandwagon of other people's grief - a child is killed, a person is run over in the road, and flowers or teddy bears appear tied to railings, left there by well-meaning strangers; a 'celebrity' dies and there is a huge outpouring of tears as though somehow the world is less for their passing; and it seems sometimes that the words that Jesus spoke on the road to Golgotha, "Weep not for me but for yourselves and your children," were not, as I once thought, some kind of prophecy, but rather a statement of what was happening right there. Were they weeping for him, or for their own projected grief? For all the inner concealed crucifixions of the Christ within us all...If we are children of God, or children of Life, why do we crucify our dignity by having faith in sin, in evil, in sickness, in the belief that somehow we are at the mercy of fate? If we are Children of Life, then surely we the Kingdom of Heaven within us can shine forth and, without the need of projecting our grief, we face up to our own demons and walk on into our own Easter.

A constantly recurring question was always, "He died for my sins, so I am sorry and am born in debt to him, but what sin did I commit that deserved such a terrible end?" or, "Who demanded something so horrible? Could (the God of) Life demand death in recompense for some failure in His children? Or worse, could Life/Love demand the death of an innocent for the guilty?" No, it doesn't make sense at all. Nor does it fit with anything that this beautiful man actually said. His life and message was surely more important than his death, and yet we have filled churches and holy places with crucifixes - we have honoured the cross, when surely the whole meaning of his life is, "To have life more abundantly." If we believe we are created in the 'image and likeness' of God, and yet create a God who demands the death of an innocent, it is small wonder that religions have, over centuries, caused wars, murdered and massacred those who don't agree with our view of the world. If we believe in a God who is Life, who causes to sun to rise on the unjust as well as the just, who has no favourites and simply expresses Him (Her) Self in all that is - all people, all creatures, all creation - then there is no need for ideologies, theologies, 'isms' or any control or power-seeking.

No, none of the self-satisfied grieving, the sense of 'I've done my duty by honouring this death and feeling mauled by it...' No. The point of it all is surely to recognize where we crucify our own expression of Life. To grieve for a man who died horrifically 2000 years ago, is without purpose and self-indulgent. We're not here to mourn the past but to live as true expression of that Life, as, I believe, Jesus of Nazareth did.

It is spring. Love is really the foundation, source and life in everything and that is what Good Friday means to me.

Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain.
Quick from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
Then thy touch can call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.