Earlier this month, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall visited London’s Swaminarayan School and Neasden Temple to mark the Hindu festival of Holi.
Mar 312009
Here’s something I found via The Raucous Royals: Kris Waldherr, author of Doomed Queens, has a new site, Ask the Queens, where you can seek advice from fifty of history’s unluckiest royal women.
I can’t decide what tag to use on this post, so I’ll ask the queens now…
ANSWER: Elisabeth of Bavaria says, “You can’t run away from destiny.”
I guess I can’t.
In Part 1 of this blog entry, I revealed my barbaric failure to be bothered by dangling prepositions, my past addiction to Nancy Drew books, and my shocking willingness to award Nobel Prizes “just to upset people.”
What deep, dark secrets will I reveal in Part 2? Read on, if you dare.
11. What book would you most like to see made into a movie? “Outlander,” directed by Peter Jackson.
12. What book would you least like to see made into a movie? “Dragonfly in Amber” by Diana Gabaldon. Outlander didn’t need a sequel.
13. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character. I wish I could think of a good answer.
14. What is the most lowbrow book you read as an adult? A lame unauthorized biography of unauthorized biographer Kitty Kelley.
15. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? I could not finish “Look Homeward, Angel,” but for months I amused myself by writing parodies of it in my head, so it wasn’t a total loss.
16. What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve ever seen? I suppose “Romeo and Juliet” doesn’t count.
17. Do you prefer the French or the Russians? I’ve read more French authors than Russian, so I’ll go with French.
18. Roth or Updike? Haven’t read them.
19. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers? I’ve never heard of David Sedaris, but I have read Eggers’s “Staggering Genius” book, so I guess he wins.
20. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer? I’ve only read two Shakespeare plays, excerpts from Chaucer, no Milton. When I’ve read more, Chaucer will probably be my favorite.
21. Austen or Eliot? Eliot, Eliot, Eliot, Eliot, GEORGE ELIOT. Can you tell I’m a George Eliot fan?
22. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading? Shakespeare, Milton, and Chaucer.
The third and final part of this blog entry will be published in a day or two. Stay tuned.
Ultimatum of the Week
Sarkozy to Andorra: Behave or I quit as co-prince
When Celebrity and Royalty Collide
Palace denies Prince Philip 'sponger' gaffe (link expired)
Royal Designer of the Week
A royal line of silver cutlery
Royal Disguise of the Week
Prince Harry is an undercover lothario
Royal History in the News This Week
Rome marks birth of emperor who built the Colosseum
That's not all! For a lot more royal news, along with videos and photos, visit the Royalty.nu Royal News page!
Mar 272009
I was looking for something to post today, and happily I found this meme on the Medieval Woman and Writing the Renaissance blogs.
1. What author do you own the most books by? Norah Lofts.
2. What book do you own the most copies of? I’ve been discarding duplicates due to lack of storage space, so I don’t have any now (or shouldn’t).
3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with a preposition? No… I am a barbarian.
4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with? Boromir as played by Sean Bean.
5. What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding children’s picture books)? “Little Women.”
6. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old? I think I was still in my Nancy Drew phase, so “The Crooked Bannister” by Carolyn Keene.
7. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year? There was one so boring that I didn’t finish it, but I can’t remember what it was.
8. What is the best book you’ve read in the last year? Possibly “The Golden Compass.”
9. If you could force everyone to read one book, what would it be? Um — Aesop’s Fables?
10. Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature? I’ll say Stephen King just to upset people.
…And there are more questions, but I’ll save them for the next time I need something to post. (Which will probably be soon.)
Here’s a quick look at some of the new books about royalty that are scheduled to be published next month. (Publication dates are subject to change.)
A Great and Terrible King by Marc Morris. Biography of English king Edward I, one of the most important rulers of the Middle Ages.
The Ends of Kings by Geoff Brown. The death and burial sites of all English kings and queens since William the Conqueror. Includes maps and photos.
Shah Jahan by Fergus Nicoll. Biography of the 17th century Mughal emperor who built the Taj Mahal.
Murder and Mayhem in Seventeenth-Century Cambodia by Alfon Van Der Kraan. About a dispute between a Dutch colonial governor, Anthony Van Diemen, and King Ramadhipati I.
Diana: The Ghost Biography by Emma Tennant and Hilary Bailey. Fiction. A mysterious new employee at Balmoral seems to know the royal estate well. Is she somehow connected to the late Princess Diana?
King’s Fool by Margaret Campbell Barnes. Fictional account of Henry VIII’s court jester, Will Somers, who sees the rise and fall of six queens. First published in 1959.
The King’s Confidante by Jean Plaidy. Novel about Margaret More, whose father was a friend of Henry VIII — and later became the king’s foe. First published in 1954 as “Saint Thomas’ Eve.”
The full list of new royalty books will be published on the Royalty.nu Royal Books page on April 1.
If I could only read one of these books, it would be “A Great and Terrible King.” Which book would you choose?
Mar 242009
Found via the Royal Twist blog: The U.S. Library of Congress is sharing some of its old photos on Flickr, including photos of royalty. Best of all, the Library says it “knows of no copyright restrictions on the publication, distribution, or re-use of these photos.” Now, that’s good news!
Here’s one of the first photos made available on Flickr (also available on the Library of Congress website). This is Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, who mysteriously died in 1889, at age 30, in an apparent suicide.
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Italian prince Emanuele Filiberto and his dance partner, Natalia Titova, were chosen as the winners of the TV show “Ballando Con Le Stelle” (Dancing With the Stars)! And in the clip below, you can see why. (This is for you, Lucy!)
The prince is the grandson of Italy’s last monarch, King Umberto II. I’ll post more videos and photos from the show’s finale on the Royalty.nu News page later today.
Mar 232009
If so, check out the Royal Intrigue blog, which is devoted to the prolific historical novelist (who also wrote under other pen names, including Victoria Holt).
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