#regent of france

[roehenstart]

Marie de Médicis by Charles and Henri Beaubrun.

[acrossthewavesoftime]

...If there is one rule in British TV series of the late 1960s to early 1980s, it is that if your series contains a character by the illustrious appellation of "Prince George", that character must

be of noble stock, and foreign(-ish) parentage.

be distinguishable from the rest of the cast by his fashionable attire of pastel colours garnished with the star of the Garter.

wear a blond wig of essentially period-appropriate, yet somehow irritating proportions and (suspected) powers; it is left for the viewer to decide whether the wig long ago devoured the Prince's brains, being a sentient creature in its own right, or whether it insulates the Prince's brain so well against matters beyond the tip of his own nose that he speaks ineloquently to the point of being perceived as being not quite the brightest candle on the royal wedding cake by all around him.

for the above reason be somewhat annoying at all times when he opens his mouth.

...And for every Prince George, there is a somewhat less tall, soberly-attired dark-haired man in a black coat who, though inferior by birth, manages to obtain a certain standing in the world by way of a ruthless personality and razor-sharp wit, whom Prince George can turn to and accept as the actual brains of the operation.

The First Churchills aired in 1969, the third season of Blackadder in 1983. If this is a coincidence, I will tell you for the affordable price of one of Baldrick's turnips. ;-)

[histoireettralala]

Blanche and her image.

The image of Blanche in the hagiographies of her son is that of the mother of a saint. She is pious, severe, almost as austere as her son. Her wisdom, counsel, courage and political achievements are recognised, but not her vitality. But Blanche loved the things of this world too: music and song, rich colours in manuscripts, hunting, pomegranates, ginger and salmon, furs and silks and jewels. She loved and understood the workings of power. She loved the trappings of power, and knew how they should be used in the construction of a regal image. And she knew how important image was in the reality of power. Blanche has to be seen, not just as the mother of St Louis, but as the great-granddaughter of the empress Matilda, the granddaughter of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, the niece of Richard the Lionheart and the mother of Charles of Anjou. These were the rulers that she herself resembled. They, too, were profoundly pious, with a certain questioning intellectual seriousness. All were great founders and supporters of austerely reformist monasticism or religion. Inner conflict there must have been, but all were strong enough in personality to contain thar conflict. So Blanche ate her pomegranates, chose her jewelled gifts for friends and relations, listened to Melana and Passerele, laughed at the courtly romantic songs of Theobald of Champagne, discussed the new books from Toledo with the urbane Romanus, kept abreast of plots through her agents in La Rochelle and Carcassonne; but she prayed devoutly too, absorbing the meaning of the texts on the sacred pages of her psalters and bibles with her chaplains and religious advisers, planned her abbeys with meticulous care, built hospitals, released prisoners and scartered alms to the poor with lavish abandon. For she knew always that, at the End of Time, someone might point to her and say ‘Look — that was once the queen of France’.

Lindy Grant- Blanche of Castile, Queen of France

[ask-nicaise-anything]

if you could live anywhere in the world, where would you?

If we’re including fictional places, I’d say wherever Howl’s Moving Castle is set

If we’re not, probably back in rural France

[resplendentmackerelsky]

When are we gonna get an "outlaw king"-esq telling of the Anarchy? I need this. I want to watch Empress Matilda escape in the middle of a snow storm by wearing white. I want to see Tumblr lesbians fawn over certified-milf Eleanore of Aquitaine.

[kitaston]

Regent's Park | London

ph. Frances Hardie

[don-lichterman]

Music and dental hygiene instructors at UH Maui College awarded for excellence

Music and dental hygiene instructors at UH Maui College awarded for excellence

UH Maui College’s faculty members Joseph Keola Donaghy (left) and Kevin Omuro received top teaching awards. Photos Courtesy: UH Twenty-three faculty members at the University of Hawaiʻi have received top awards for their inspirational teaching and world-class research, including two teachers from UH Maui College. “Our world-class faculty are the heart of UH,” said UH President David Lassner.…

[nobrashfestivity]

Lace Book of Marie de' Medici, Transfiguration

This Prayerbook was made for Marie de' Medici in the second quarter of the seventeenth century. Beyond its provenance as a personal book owned by the famous queen, it is exceptional for its intricately cut borders, which transform the parchment margins into lace. This effect was created using a technique known as "canivet," in which a small knife was used to cut ornate patterns into paper or parchment. An art form that flourished originally among nuns in France, Germany, and the Netherlands beginning in the sixteenth century, it was employed to exceptional effect in several manuscripts connected with Marie de' Medici. The Walters manuscript, made for her while she was regent of France, and wife of King Henry IV, contains twenty-eight miniatures, including original religious imagery as well as several later additions: a gouache portrait of the elderly queen, and nine small miniatures produced in Bruges ca. 1450 by an artist influenced by the Eyckian and Gold Scrolls styles prevalent at the time; the coat-of-arms of Marie de Medici, as well as her monogram. The Walters manuscript retains its original binding composed of mosaic inlays in green and black leather, as well as fine gilt pointillé foliate tooling, and a replica of the binding was created by Léon Gruel for Henry Walters on one of his seventeenth-century printed books (92.467) that also connects to Marie de' Medici.

Walters Museum Manuscript Department

[charlotte-of-wales]

a summary of the Monaco Tea, creds to the lovely anon who sent me the article <3

btw most of the information on the family was in article one, the latter were more just info on real estate + off shore accounts

again, this info is all coming from the former accountant of the family:

Prince Rainier III was seriously considering changing succession laws so Caroline would be the head of the family and Monaco as he found Albert to be weak. Albert is said to be the "despised member of the clan" who would stutter while speaking to his father. Rainier even looked into what this would mean to the Grimaldi name since Andrea - at the time 17 - obviously carries his father's name (Casiraghi) and not his mother's (Grimaldi). Rainier told the ones carrying the investigation that this was done in case Albert died.

the funds from Albert's state endowment and his private funds would be mixed all the time.

Albert would say yes to essentially everything his family asked for, including a $30 million apartment for Stephanie

Palmero (the accountant) would frequently buy things for the family to keep "their privacy". He bought Charlene's engagement ring and multiple properties for the Grimaldi's in France. He would pay property taxes for those properties and have the family pay him back.

Caroline and Stephanie would frequently make use of and sell family property (Rainier's cars, family jewelry and art, etc) without letting him know, even though they technically belonged to Albert.

Caroline is in charge of the family's castle in Marchais, which he had an issue with as she would always go off budget.

he makes a note to pay attention to Pierre Casiraghi as he is very ambitious and his dealings in real estate could create problems (spoiler alert: it did)

Caroline is said to hate Charlene

the allowance that Charlene, Caroline and Stephanie receive increases constantly, which worried Palmero. As of late, they were: 1,5 million euros for Charlene, 900.000 for Caroline and 800.000 for Stephanie yearly. This follows the family hierarchy.

 Jazmin Grace receives 86,000 dollars per quarter. In February 2010, Palmero had to spend $5,000 “extra for her birthday”. Albert also bought her a $3 million apartment in New York City.

Albert spends almost a million a year funding Nicole Coste's (the mother of Albert's second illegimate child) fashion business. It's all in Alexandre Coste's name as Nicole fears that Charlene might create issues when Albert dies.

loots about Charlene. She frequently demands high sums in cash, her personal chef is $300 a day, she has multiple undocumented people from the Philippines working in her staff, the celebrations for the birth and baptism of the twins was well over half a million euros, in eight years Charlene spent around 15 million euros when she received 7.5 million euros in endowment (the Palace didn't deny this and said that the accountant was simply told to pay the difference with the family's personal funds), she spent 965,000 on a villa in two and a half months, her office decoration cost a million euros, she requested 3 x 300,000 for her brother's house.

Palmero made sure to change Monaco's regency laws so in case something happens to Albert while Jacques is underage Charlene won't be regent. Instead, the principality will be ruled by a regency council.

Albert has a secret apartment in Monaco, bought by one of Palmero's secret companies. He also got rid of problematic photographs of Albert (hinted at blackmail).

there was a whole system for hiding sums used on "special missions". They were labeled DS (for special destinations) and with time were used to pay for an informal intelligence unit that operated within the police force of the principality. They'd collect information on those close to the family and even on politians of the principality. He would also pay journalists to paint a good picture of Monaco while Hollande was president in France and was constantly criticizing tax-havens.

the DS accounts would be used to hide over-budget situations, including budget for the children's nannies and the budget for the wedding.

they were terrified of the Panama papers, as a lot of money laundering funds go through Monaco and the family had accounts on Panamanian banks.

a link between a Russian billionaire and the Monegasque Minister of Justice was revealed in 2017 and the Minister was forced to resign. An investigation was launched by a French judge and there was fears that the palace would be involved: jurisdictional immunity was granted to members of the sovereign family by order. There was rumours that the French judge wanted to hear the Prince as a witness......he was told to leave the principality. He was accused of having, through his “behavior perceived as authoritarian and vexatious”, “endangered the proper functioning of the criminal justice system”.

the real estate market is a big point of collision here and a big focus of article 3. Nothing too interesting to report - Palmero says he tried mingling in the market to break down the monopoly of real estate owners in Monaco (centered around a bestie of the Casiraghi brothers) while Albert claims Palmero had close ties with some of the developers and tried mingling with things that were of interest of the government in order to make money. The real estate issue was what eventually led Palmero to be fired. Palmero and a former laywer of Albert who was his childhood bestfriend and is also now a persona non grata claims that Albert is now fully under the influence of the bestie of the Casiraghi brothers who now controls the real estate in Monaco.

Palmaro is STILL paying property tax on properties he bought for the family!! crazy!!

Palmero detailed a number of off-shore accounts that hold about 250 million euros of the family's fortune including a company created specifically for Charlotte Casiraghi. He passed on the information from that account to Albert's new accountant at a monitored meeting.

Albert's explanation is lowkey....pathetic. He claims he told Palmero to move all of his family's assets from off-shore accounts to Monaco but Palmero never did it and that was that. He claims he was never able to obtain a precise statement on the family assets due to Palmero's secrecy and Albert just trusted him. He claims Palmero would act in his name and refuse to delay his decisions.

[unhonestlymirror]

Stamp series "Glorious women of Ukraine"

1. Duchess Olha (Olga)

The first, among the dukes of Kyivan Rus, accepted Christianity, although she was unable to make it the state religion. She was canonized by the Orthodox Church. Having a tough temper and a sharp mind, she harshly took revenge on the Drevlians for the murder of her husband, first killing the ambassadors, and then burning the city of Iskorosteń. At the same time, she managed to very delicately refuse the courtship of Emperor Constantine, making him her godfather. She organized the collection of tribute and is considered the founder of the city of Pskov.

2. Roksolana (Nastya Lysovśka)

A woman who needs no introduction. An example of a personal feat, when, despite difficult circumstances, a person was still able to find the strength to overcome them.

By the way, contrary to popular opinion, Roksolana in no way facilitated the fate of the the Ukraine, and in no way prevented further robberies. But it would be extremely unfair to condemn her for this.

3. Anna Yaroslavna

The middle daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, who later became the queen of France, is the author of the oldest examples of Ukrainian writing. Her signatures, which are on many state documents, are surrounded by countless crosses - marks of the highest vassals of France. The first of the queens of France who had regent power. She founded the St. Vincent Abbey, which still operates today and was purchased by the Ukrainian Catholic University in 2013.

4. Halshka Hulevychivna

With her donations, this woman started the Kyiv Brotherhood School, which later became part of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, sponsored the opening of a school and a hospital for the poor population.

5. Marusia Churai

A semi-legendary singer with an unfortunate fate. She inspired her contemporaries with her songs and has been inspiring poets and writers for many centuries who sing her tragic love story. He is considered the author of the songs "Winds are blowing", "Oh don't go, Hrytsya", "Hrytsya, Hrytsya, go to work", "The dove is sitting on the shore", "Zasvit vstaly kozacheńky"

[melanielocke]

Book recommendations: queer adult SFF

It's been a while since I did one of these posts but I'm thinking of doing more regularly. I have read a lot more new books that I hope some of you will pick up and I've made another selection. I'm reading more and more adult SFF lately because lots of YA is getting a little too young for me. But I also find that transitioning to reading more adult can be difficult, and it's not always easy to find what you're looking for. I found YA a far easier market to navigate, so I figured I'd make a post featuring some of my favorite adult SFF books.

The Unbroken & the Faithless I read recently.

This is a trilogy, with book 3 coming out most likely in 2025? Not sure actually. The series focuses on Touraine and Luca. Touraine is a conscript in the Balladaire army, stolen from her homeland and trained to fight from a young age. She is originally from Qazal, a country colonized by Balladaire, but doesn't speak their language or understand their customs. In the first book, she returns home for the first time since she was taken, to stop a Qazali rebellion.

Luca is the princess of Balladaire. Her parents both died when she was young, and her uncle is ruling as regent, refusing to allow her to be crowned Queen until she proves herself. She too is sent to deal with the Qazali rebellion. What makes Luca interesting is that she often means well and is definitely more benevolent towards the Qazali, but she's also very power hungry and wants her throne, and no matter how much she does to help the Qazali she is still the princess of the empire that colonized them, and the author continues to hold her accountable for her role in the empire and some of the choices she makes.

Luca is also disabled, she injured her leg when she was young and uses a cane.

There is a sapphic romance between Luca and Touraine. It is not really the focus on the series but at the same time it is what shapes much of the negotiating between them since Luca has a very obvious soft spot for Touraine and Touraine has to use that to improve things for Qazal.

The world is inspired by North Africa and French colonialism (in Balladaire they speak French so I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be France), and the author themself is Black and North African. The series as a whole is very political.

Next is Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans

This is the first in a duology (I think?) with book 2 coming out this November.

This is set in a world where there are four different planes, and Siyon is a poor man who can delve into the different planes to get ingredients for wealthier alchemists. He wants to be an alchemist himself but can't afford the education. There's also the problem of magic being technically illegal, which means rich people can do alchemy but poor people can't.

Then one day Siyon accidently unleashes wild magic and is thrust into the world of alchemists where he wants to belong but doesn't. And there's also the matter of the four planes being instable and at risk of collapsing, and Siyon might be the only one capable of stopping it.

Siyon is bi/pan and his main love interest is a man, though this is not the main focus of the series.

Then Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

I think I had this one last time too, but not enough people are reading it so I'm going to discuss it again.

Check out the summary, but honestly not sure if that does it justice. Some Desperate Glory is the story of a girl who grew up in a fascist cult and was raised to believe in everything this cult stands for.

The earth was destroyed before she was born, and the Majo, aliens, were responsible. Kyr has been training her entire life for revenge. She wants nothing more than to be the perfect soldier for earth. As a result, she is a terrible person and everyone hates her.

Kyr first starts questioning Gaea station when she is assigned nursery to have babies even though she is the best fighter in her mess. When her brother disappears, she teams up with his friend Avi, a queer genius who works with the station's systems and was always aware of how fucked up Gaea station is. They discover Magnus has been sent on a suicide mission and go after him, and Kyr is confronted with the outside world, including a Majo she grows close to, and has to unlearn everything Gaea station taught her.

This book has a difficult to stomach mc at first, though it is very obvious what she believes is not what you as the reader are supposed to think. But there is some wonderful character development going on in here. It's hard for her to change, and she's thrown into lots of difficult situations before she gets there, but in the end you can see she's nothing like the person she was before.

There's an amazing cast of side characters, though not a very big cast. There's her twin brother Magnus who never wanted to be a soldier and is actually very depressed, which Kyr never noticed. Yiso, the cute non binary alien Kyr develops a weak spot for even before she comes to realize Majo are people. And my personal favorite, Avi, who is an unhinged little guy who is way too smart for his own good. He's a great example of how a cult can affect different people in different ways. He doesn't believe in Gaea station like Kyr does and is aware of how fucked up he is, he experienced that first hand as the only visible queer person on the station. But he did internalize their messages of revenge and violence which plays out in interesting ways.

This edition is the Illumicrate edition of the book from April's box, which has the UK cover.

Witch King by Martha Wells is next

This is a confusing book for people who do not have a lot of experience reading adult fantasy. It has a lot of world building that is explained gradually, the book doesn't really hold your hand, so be prepared for that.

Kai is a body hopping demon. He has been betrayed, killed and entombed under water. When he is freed by a lesser mage hoping to hone his power, he kills them and frees himself and his friend, the witch Ziede.

Together, they have to uncover what happened to them, who betrayed them and what is going on with the Rising World coalition. He's not going to like the answers.

Alternating is a past timeline in which Kai and his band of allies rebel against the tyrannical rule of the Hierophants, which happened decades before the present timeline.

The strenght of this book is really in the characters and how they grow and the bonds they have with each other. I loved the relationship between Kai and Bashasa, who is the rebel leader in the past timeline in particular. It's not quite clear what the nature of their relationship was, though it is implied to be romantic and I do think Kai is supposed to be queer. He is a body hopping demon after all, and spends his early life in the body of a girl. There's also a sapphic side pairing between Zieden and her wife Tahren, who they spent much of the present timeline looking for.

The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach

This is a science fantasy set in a world inspired by New Zealand and Maori (I think? The author is Maori and a trans woman herself)

The main character is a police officer from a poor background who believes she's making the world better for people like her. She's already been demoted for being queer but believes she can make the police force better from the inside.

Then she's murdered by fellow officers and thrown into the harbor. Unfortunately for them, she comes back from the dead with new magic powers.

She teams up with a pirate crew with similar powers and has to stop a plague from being unleashed on her city.

This book focuses on how police functions in many modern societies to protect the wealthy and harm and restrict poorer, non white communities. The main character doesn't believe this at first but it's obvious to the reader that they're not helping anyone doing their job. Next book is coming out next year.

Last is the Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Two books are out and book 3 is coming sometime in 2024.

This series is set in a world inspired by India. Priya is a maidservant with a secret. She is one of the few surviving temple children and still has some powers from being once born.

Malini is the princess of Parijatdvipa, the empire that conquered Priya's land. Her religious zealot brother has taken the throne and imprisons Malini because she refuses to be burned alive.

Priya is one of the maidservants sent to take care of Malini in her prison, which is the old temple where Priya grew up. Together, they can change the fate of an empire, but they can never quite trust each other.

This is a sapphic fantasy with magic but also lots of politics and I think if you like this series you'd also like the Unbroken and vice versa. I've talked about this one before but it should definitely be included on a list for adult fantasy.

I hope you can find something you like on here. All these books are not super well known and deserve a bigger audience

@alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @life-through-the-eyes-of @astriefer @justanormaldemon @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @amchara @all-for-the-fanfiction @imsoftforthomastair @ddepressedbookworm @queenlilith43 @wagner-fell @cant-think-of-anything @laylax13s @tessherongraystairs @boredfangirl16 @artist-in-soul @aliandtommy @ikissedsmithparker

[roehenstart]

Presumed portrait of Philippe, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France (1674-1723). Unknown artist.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

The DM's Excerpts - Charles III: New King, New Court

Robert Hardman (who also wrote Queen of Our Times, published 2022) has written a new book about the British Royal Family. The Daily Mail is serializing parts of the book over four days, from 12 - 15 January 2024. Here are the links. If anyone has any others, feel free to share them in the comments.

If you don't want to give the DM clicks, I've included highlights below. (My browser doesn't recognize archive.vn or archive.ph as a valid domain so I can't create or access those links.)

TL;DR--

The day the Queen died, 12 Jan 2024

Secret summits over making Charles regent in Queen's last years, 13 Jan 2024

How the royals have dealt with a torrent of allegations from Harry and Meghan, 14 Jan 2024

Harmdan's intimate portrait of a woman who dances at Abba concerts, jabs the King with her handbag and 'knows when to wink at a bishop,' 15 Jan 2024

Excerpt #1, 12 Jan 2024

Highlights:

The last time most of her staff saw The Queen was at the pre-dinner cocktails the evening of September 6th. She was happy, chatty, and in a good mood. (September 6th was the Boris Johnson-Liz Truss transition.)

It was sheer luck that Anne and Peter were at Balmoral during this time. Anne was passing through for work, Peter was preparing for a shooting party he was going to host over the weekend (which ended up cancelled). Also Sarah Chatto was nearby.

On September 7th, The Queen planned to attend the Privy Council meeting as it involved new Cabinet officials being installed. She eventually cancelled on medical advice. This was the first signal to many that she wasn't doing well.

Charles and Camilla were on the western side of Scotland for a series of engagements September 7 - September 8. The morning of September 8, Anne called Charles to come to Balmoral at once. On the helicopter to Balmoral, everyone was reviewing the Operation London Bridge papers. They arrived at Birkhall around 10:30am and traveled to Balmoral in a borrowed car.

William was called around breakfast time and informed of the situation, including that was on his way to Balmoral. Charles himself called William (and Andrew, Edward, and Harry) that they should also come. After Charles's calls, Kensington Palace began coordinating with Royal Lodge (Andrew's office*) and Bagshot Park (Edward's office*) on travel to Scotland. William and KP did not reach out to the Sussexes because betrayal, and they felt the responsibility should have been on the Sussexes to make contact. (*Not really their offices, but it's the easiest way to keep them separate so you know who I'm talking about.)

Everyone was disturbed by Harry's inclusion of these events, especially the "Meghan's not coming/she's my wife/Kate's not coming either/that's all you had to say" bit, in his memoir. Harry's recollection of how he was notified of The Queen's death isn't true - he claims no one was talking to him but actually Charles and the palace had been trying to reach him repeatedly. The calls weren't going through because he was in the air. (Interesting that he'd check the BBC first as opposed to calling back after seeing a dozen of missed calls...or not springing for the wifi package...)

Liz Truss, the new PM, was in a G7 conference call on September 8th when she was notified of the situation in Scotland. She bowed out of the call early and quickly. The G7 leaders knew what was happening.

Charles was rather close to Balmoral when he received the call that The Queen had passed. William, Andrew, Edward, and Sophie were on the way to Balmoral from the Aberdeen airport. Charles called them himself to let them know.

The Archbishop of Canterbury was in France on a personal holiday. He and his wife began preparing to return home after seeing the palace's first statement about The Queen's health. They drove home overnight so Welby could make an address in the morning.

Excerpt #2, 13 Jan 2024

Highlights:

The Queen had been quite ill in her final year. She knew and was aware her time was ending that summer.

A regency would have been created had she lived as long as The Queen Mother because everyone was fearful of a health condition flaring up in public.

Planning for Charles's accession and coronation began in 2015. Sir Alderton, his private secretary, created a "training video" of the accession/transition then that Charles, Camilla, and William watched in the evening of September 8th during their private dinner at Birkhall, while Princess Anne hosted the rest of the family at Balmoral. If Harry wasn't such a dick (my word, not Hardman's), he'd have been part of the Birkhall dinner but he wasn't and there were very serious concerns he would write about it in Spare.

The announcement of The Queen's death was delayed because family members hadn't been informed yet. (I think it was Harry they were waiting on, per the events in the first article.)

The royals were very touched by the outpouring of public affection for The Queen, themselves, and their family. Camilla was struck by how supportive the crowd was of her. Anne was touched by the tractors, horses, and the crowds that lined the roads in Scotland. It was a six hour drive, and she and Tim had had snacks in their car but they both felt it would have been rude to everyone that came to see the procession and pay their respects to be seen eating.

Camilla sobbed through Charles's first speech.

The Privy Council were concerned that the political upheaval in the government would cause problems for the accession, transition, and royal mourning.

It was William's idea for him, Kate, and the Sussexes to do the Windsor walkabout together. He organized it in two hours. No one found it easy or enjoyable.

Excerpt #3, 14 Jan 2024

Highlights:

The Queen felt she had to say 'yes' when Harry contacted her about naming his daughter Lilibet and she was very angry with him for it. (Reading between the lines, it sounds like the decision was presented by the Sussexes as "fait accompli" and The Queen took offense.)

The Sussexes tried to force the palace to go along with their version (that they had asked The Queen for permission) but the palace refused to play. They also tried to intimidate the press with legal action if anyone didn't report "their" version of events, even going so far as threatening the BBC with a lawsuit.

Everyone at the palace rolled their eyes about the Sussexes getting the RFK "Ripple of Hope Award." They felt that the "legacy" the Sussexes were being rewarded for was laughable, especially when compared to Charles's work.

The Caribbean gets its news through the US media. (I believe this confirms the theory that Sussex PR influenced the Caribbean's coverage of the Royal Family)

William saw Harry's comments in the Netflix documentary that they're expected to marry someone who fits the mold as an attack on Kate and he's been furious since. He feels betrayed by Harry having discussed their relationship so freely, thinks it's an intrusion of privacy.

Neither William nor Kate have read Spare but they are aware of what's being said and their staffs have briefed them.

Harry's version of events when The Queen Mother died is totally made up. (In Spare, Harry says he was alone, it was springtime just before Easter, and he took the call himself, but actually he was in Switzerland skiing with Charles and William and all three were told together by an aide.)

It's very suspicious that Spare largely skips May 2018 - March 2020. The palace thinks it'll be covered in the second version or Meghan's memoir.

The door is open for Harry and Meghan to return but they'll have to make the first steps since Charles has given up.

Anne's seat the coronation in front of Harry was a last-minute change so she could leave more quickly after the service in the procssion. She was concerned about keeping her hat on since it was "decent-sized" but she was told to keep it on.

Excerpt #4, 15 Jan 2024 - TBD

Highlights

It's been a difficult transition to Queen for Camilla, but everyone believes she handled it well. Her family finds it surreal.

Camilla doesn't mind being second fiddle to Charles.

She still has her Wiltshire home, Ray Mill, which she bought after divorcing Andrew PB. She still visits and stays there to this day.

Everyone walks a bit on eggshells around Charles because he's a bit temperamental, but Camilla steadies him.

Camilla likes her rooms hot. Charles like his rooms cold and windows open.

Charles skips lunch. Camilla does not.

Camilla keeps Charles running on time when he gets chatty.

Camilla is hands-on with her charities and patronage.

I find her sister is overstaying her welcome. After her starring role in the coronation documentary and now her interviews with Hardman for the book, it's too much and feels like she's trying too hard.

Other stories by Hardman from his book:

Foreign Office officials 'ditched buses for dignitaries' at coronation after backlash at the Queen's funeral, 13 Jan 2024

Brigadier who helped carry Queen's coffin was at a wedding in Corfu, 13 Jan 2024

Queen's funeral rehearsal was a comedy of errors as even the band went AWOL, 13 Jan 2024

Prince Andrew could be 'far more damaging outside the loop,' 14 Jan 2024

The DM's other royal reporters - Martin Robinson, Rebecca English, Natasha Livingstone - are publishing "recaps" of Hardman's excerpts. Some of Rebecca English's stories are augmented by her own sources. Here are a few:

Insiders revewal how the Queen was so upset by Harry and Meghan's Lilibet decision that she told aides 'the only thing I own is my name. And now they've taken that': The royal row taht troubled Her Majesty in twilight of her reign, 15 Jan 2024

'For William, this was the lwoest of the low,' 15 Jan 2024

Camilla was given the affection nickname 'Lorraine' before seh became Queen, 14 Jan 2024

Harry and Meghan likely caused Queen 'distress' in her final years over naming of baby Lilibet, 15 Jan 2024

The Queen's final years were overshadowed by Harry and Meghan's hunger for publicity, 15 Jan 2024

Also, these are reminding me of some things Harry and Meghan (Harry mostly) have claimed and Hardman's articles are debunking them. I need to do a bit of research to check if the dates on what I'm remembering line up with the timeline Hardman is presenting. I'll do a separate post on that since this is already quite long.

[histoireettralala]

Anne de Beaujeu

Anne de Beaujeu (Anne de France, 1461-1522) Unofficial regent of France and duchess of Bourbon

Anne de Beaujeu provides an example of female political authority in a country where the Salic Law prevented women from assuming the crown. She also illustrates the tension between an increasingly centralized monarchy on the one hand and feudal independence on the other, having supported both causes at different times in her life. Probably born in 1461, Anne de Beaujeu was the oldest of the surviving children of Louis XI, king of France, and the one said to resemble him most intellectually and temperamentally. When this king died in 1483 leaving a thirteen-year-old Charles VIII on the throne, Anne and her husband, Pierre de Beaujeu, as his guardians, assumed control. In so doing, they resisted Louis d'Orléans, the next in line to the throne, who wished to be named regent. Louis and his supporters sought help from the estates-general who met in 1484 but who ultimately supported Anne's cause. Referred to as Madame la Grande (Grand Madam), Anne was recognized by the court and by foreign emissaries as the person actually ruling France during the early years of Charles's reign.

In 1488 she and Charles VIII squelched a noble uprising, the Guerre Folle (the Foolish War) led by Louis d'Orléans and Francis II duke of Brittany. Charles then married the new duchess of Brittany, Anne, to ensure the duchy's loyalty to France. Meanwhile Pierre de Beaujeu's two older brothers had died, leaving Pierre with the Bourbon inheritance. Anne and her husband were now the richest and most powerful nobles in France. In 1491, after the loss of one infant and fifteen years of childlessness, Anne gave birth to a daughter, Suzanne. As Charles VIII grew increasingly independent of his older sister, Anne redirected her attention to her own lands and feudal duties, though she remained his advisor while retaining her ties to the court. When Charles died suddenly in 1498 leaving no heirs, Louis d'Orléans became king of France. Neither his previous attacks on the crown nor his well-known personal vices inspired confidence in his subjects, so the support of Anne de Beaujeu and her husband were instrumental in a smooth accession to the throne. Anne agreed to overlook their antagonistic past and did not hinder the annulment Louis immediately requested from her physically disabled sister, Jeanne. In exchange, Louis XII waived the royal rights to the Bourbon inheritance in the case that Anne and Pierre did not have a male heir. Once all this had been established, the Bourbon's relationship with Louis XII and his new queen, Charles's widow Anne de Bretagne, became quite cordial. Anne de Beaujeu no longer held any direct influence, however, over the governance of the French state.

In 1504 or 1505, after the death of her husband and before she arranged a marriage for her daughter, Anne wrote Suzanne a book of lessons, Les Enseignements d'Anne de France, duchesse de Bourbonnois et d'Auvergne, à sa fille Susanne de Bourbon, modeled on the book that Louis IX had written for his daughter, the one her own father had written for Charles, and the writings of Christine de Pizan. Anne's version contains conventional advice on the appropriate behavior for noblewomen. During her unofficial regency, Anne had overseen the education of many young noblewomen at court, including Louise de Savoie, Marguerite d'Autriche, and Diane de Poitiers. The humble feminine figure that emerges from the Enseignements, however, seems at odds with their independent author. More easily recognizable are the anxieties about life as an older widow distant from court. The Enseignements ends with a tale about a noblewoman who bravely sacrifices her only child for the honor of her family and the interests of the king. Suzanne was, in fact, married shortly thereafter to a cousin to protect the integrity of the Bourbon inheritance.

In contrast to the moral of her tale, however, the interests of a noble family and those of the crown did not always overlap. Before she died, Anne witnessed the opposition of two adults whom she had raised from childhood: her son-in-law, the connétable de Bourbon, and Louise de Savoie, mother of Francis I, successor to Louis XII. Louise and her son, suspicious of the wealth and power of the connétable, the Bourbon heir, challenged his inheritance. After losing the domain that Anne had so carefully built up and defended during her lifetime, the connétable, perhaps with Anne's bitter approval, responded by betraying the French king Francis I- the other cause that Anne had defended so staunchly during her brother's reign. Anne died in 1522, before this ultimate betrayal.

Emily Thompson in Encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance.

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MEN THINK ABOUT ROMAN EMPIRE. WOMEN THINK ABOUT HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

JUDITH OF BAVARIA (797-843) — Daughter of Count Welf I of Bavaria, Judith was a Carolingian Empress as the second wife of Louis I the Pious. Mother of Gisela and Charles the Bald, she foght for both her own influence at court and for the succession of her son over the claims of his elder half-brothers, the sons of Louis I from his first marriage. Charles became the Emperor in 875, after the death of Louis II, his nephew and a son of his half-brother Lothair / fancast: Annabel Scholey

MARIA OF AUSTRIA (1528-1603) — Daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Isabella of Portugal. She served as Regent of Spain both jointly with her husband, Maximilian (before their accession to the imperial throne), and in person, for her father, and brother, Philip II. Her children include two Holy Roman Emperors, Rudolf II and Matthias, over whom she held great influence, and queens consorts of Spain, and France / fancast: Olivia Cooke

EMPRESS MAUD (1102-1167) — Daughter of Henry I of England and Matilda of Scotland. Her first marriage to the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry V, gave her the title under which she came down into history, and was a source of great pride to Maud. Rightful heiress of Henry I, she confronted her cousin, King Stephen, in the civil war, known as the Anarchy, fighting ferociously for her rights. She failed in this for herself but won for her son Henry, who became king and established the Plantagenet dynasty in England / cast: Alison Pill in The Pillars of the Earth (2010)

MARIA THERESA (1717-1780) — She succeded her father Charles VI as the ruler of Habsburg monarchy in 1740, and devoutedly defended it against its enemies in the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Year's War. Wife of the Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I, she was a forceful personality and a competent ruler herself, reigning first in her own right, and later, jointly with her son Empreror Joseph II. Her children include two Holy Romam Emperors (Joseph II and Leopold II), queens consorts of Naples ans Sicily, and France / cast: Marie-Luise Stockinger in Maria Theresia (2017)

[english-history-trip]

I'm gonna do it. I'm literally gonna pit bad bitches against each other.

Most Girlboss™ moments:

Matilda: Fought her cousin Stephen for the throne for fifteen years; escaped imprisonment by dressing in white to blend in with the snow, later imprisoning Stephen himself

Eleanor: Left her husband, the king of France, for being too weak [citation needed] to marry the future King of England, a man eleven years her junior, later rebels against him for being too weak [citation needed]

Isabella: Forcing her husband, Edward II, to abdicate for putting his boyfriends in positions of power, so that she could put HER boyfriend in a position of power

Margaret: Defended her husband's throne personally when he was too mentally ill to do it himself, commanding armies in the Wars of the Roses

Katherine: Acted as Regent for Henry VIII, overseeing a war with Scotland that ended with the death of their king; refused to relinquish her title of queen until her death

Anne: Refused to become the mistress of Henry VIII, holding out to be his queen instead, precipitating and influencing the Protestant Reformation

Mary: Won a rebellion after being excluded from the line of succession, becoming the first English queen regnant to successfully hold the throne

Elizabeth: Survived bastardry and imprisonment to ascend the throne; refused to marry, maintaining absolute agency amd control over a bountiful forty+ year reign