Show Posts

1

Nicholas II / Re: Personal Attributes of Nicholas II

« on: April 16, 2007, 07:52:59 AM »

And then the age and quality of the recording must be borne in mind.
What we have is a lifelong smoker shouting to the troops and being captured on sound equipment that was old-timey when talking pictures came into being.
It would be a miracle if Nicholas sounded anything like that in real life.

I do wish there had been more sound recordings of the family. That would be wonderful.

2

The Windsors / Re: Prince Albert Victor 'Eddy' Part 2

« on: January 16, 2007, 08:13:25 AM »

Thank you Granduchessella.
Conflicting reviews indeed. Oh well, I'm going to buy it anyway if only because I'm so happy to see that Eddy is being discussed as more than a footnote.
He was always rather a man of mystery. I'm doubt this book will solve the mystery, but it should be fun to learn a little more about our Eddy.

3

The Windsors / Re: Prince Albert Victor 'Eddy' Part 2

« on: January 15, 2007, 04:28:18 PM »

Are there any reviews on the AP of the book, The King Britain Never Had.

There are no reviews for it on Amazon and I'd be thankful if someone could pass on a link so that I can get some idea of the book's quality. Thanks.

4

BeNeLux Royalty / Re: The Daughters of Leopld II of Belgium

« on: June 28, 2006, 02:55:46 PM »

So you are married off to a chap who gives you VD (in the pre antibiotic era, no less) and suggests you commit suicide with him.

Short of grabbing your daughter, packing your bags, and heading for the hills while leaving no forwarding address---which you just can't manage to pull off since you are a royal, how could one deal with Rudolf?

5

The Windsors / Re: Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York

« on: June 21, 2006, 10:50:27 AM »

Run for pities sake, here come the "guardians of public opinion du jour" in force.
Yes, TV is bad BAD I tell you!

Oh let the family do as they will as long as they are not hurting anyone. Not everyone is meant to be a scholar, or a brain surgeon and not everyone WANTS to be.
The girls seem happy with their mother, and she seems very down to earth with them.

If she is straight with them and levels with them about things like the need for money and the special position they are in they will do a darned site better than having some pushy, Martha Stewart-esque mother who twists herself and her family to represent whatever the era in question presents as the "ideal"
Sarah's an individual and her kids will be too. With their background it doesn't matter one way or another whether they could read Jane Eyre backward at the age of three or can't read until they are thirty-three.

They don't really need to strive to impress and compete for a bit of medical insurance or the chance to live in a "gated community" like the middle classes or the Yanks. They are fine from day one.

So crack open a beer and pop the Bloodsport III into the old DVD, Sarah dear. Life's too short to live for a bunch of disapproving, sniffy strangers.

6

The Habsburgs / Re: Crown Prince Rudolph--controversies, affairs & his death

« on: June 16, 2006, 08:30:09 PM »

Rudolf seemed to have the deck stacked against him from birth. That poor family was screwed up eight ways from Sunday.
I've always been a fan of sweet, starry eyed Mary Vetsera, poor romantic little girl. She thought she'd copped the golden prize and ended up with a very troubled Prince Charming and a much too early death, bless her .

7

The Habsburgs / Re: Why do the people love Sissi??????

« on: June 16, 2006, 02:25:18 PM »

While I don't "dislike" Sissi I must say that were I her child I would probably kill myself!

(Whooops, Hello Rudolf!)

To be honest I just don't understand the woman. Her beauty was stunning, still is in the pictures that have come down to us, and beauty is an incredibly powerful thing, but the poor child seems to have been a case of arrested development.

She never did learn to see herself in other people it seems.
Considering that they shared many views and personality traits she could have been such a help and support for her son but no, she ignored the boy quite literally to death!
She sniped at her daughter-in-law when she might have shown support in that quarter.

Her relations with her daughters veered between indifference and smothering favoritism.

I have no doubt that court was stultifying and at a time when personal naturalness was held in such low esteem there would have been almost no place at all where Sissi could simply let her miles of hair down and be herself while in Vienna.

I guess my problem is that she was such a basically venal woman. Look at Alexandra of Russia, she was shy, she was overwhelmed by a backstabbing court and a mother in law who, given an inch could be assured to take a mile, yet Alexandra reacted in a grown up way.

She attacked her new role as a mother head on and hewed to the ideal of creating a close and warm place within her family. She strove to share her interior world with her loved ones.

Sissi froze those who most needed her out. I suppose the difference is that Alexandra married as a woman who had had experience of suffering and overcoming painful situations by searching within. Sissi was simply a child who developed a crush on a picture book emperor and went headlong into a hothouse atmosphere before she'd even developed a "within".

So, why do people love Sissi? Probably because the glamour of position and the image of eternal beauty give her the aura of a glorious cast out angel who floated a foot above the mire and tragedy that surrounded her. Unfortunately she was a human woman whose refusal to take an active role in the lives of those dependent upon her is what led to the tragedy.

That, no doubt has a certain glamour too.

8