Messages

151

The Tudors / Re: Questions re Jane Grey

« on: October 23, 2005, 11:42:34 PM »

I once had this Latin lover named Cesar (honestly!) and OMG was he gorgeous!!!! Ahem *Stacey trying to compose herself* Back to Jane Grey--I would seriously like to know a lot more about her. I don't know near enough about any of these Tudor people I am fast discovering--thought I was much more knowledgeable but you people are mentioning details I've never heard of before!   But I am fascinated. I do know that poor Jane led a wretched, short, miserable existence thanks to having as nasty a pair of parents as ever lived! Jane had so much potential, she was extraordinarily bright and loved learning and was very devout--but her hateful parents took an unholy joy in beating the stuffing out of her every chance they got and finally maneuvered the poor child into a totally unrighteous execution....poor little Jane! I'm getting mad just thinking about the abuse that poor child suffered at the hands of those two sociopaths....

152

The Tudors / Re: Katherine Parr?

« on: October 23, 2005, 11:27:03 PM »

I'll have to go hunt down all my Tudor books and search for portraits before I can give even a half-informed opinion here  :-/ . Only thing that caught my eye is that I thought Kate Parr had a thinner face than that (?) BUT the sitter does have sort of auburn hair it seems, and supposedly so did Katherine Parr--but then again for some odd reason an unusually high number of Tudor women apparently had reddish hair so that doesn't help much does it!!  

153

The Tudors / Re: Nov 2005: Masterpiece's The Virgin Queen

« on: October 23, 2005, 11:17:01 PM »

Thanks for telling us. I definitely want to see that, I am a huge admirer of Elizabeth 1!!!

154

Tatiana Nicholaievna / Re: Why Tatiana?

« on: October 23, 2005, 11:11:44 PM »

I began by being fascinated almost exclusively by Anastasia--first by the mysteries about her (did she survive etc) and she's maybe still my favorite--love her droll sense of humor!  --but as I began reading about the whole Romanov family I became really intrigued by Tatiana. First probably by the superficial--what I think is her extraordinary beauty and grace. I think perhaps Alixz captured my feelings about Tatiana best--that straightforward way of looking at life, coupled with that kind of "haunting, pensive" air about her--it's such a contradiction to me! And as Alixz said--I am ALWAYS wondering what on earth is going on in Tatiana's head! Oh, and another thing--thank you Georgiy for suggesting that that off-color joke may have upset Tatiana so much because it may have been something aimed directly at HER--that simply had not occurred to me but it does make perfect sense--of course she would have reacted like that to a direct and probably very crude insult!!

155

Tatiana Nicholaievna / Re: Tatiana & Cleopatra

« on: October 23, 2005, 07:43:35 PM »

I will! Thanks for reminding me--can't wait to see the "new and improved" Cleopatra!  

156

The Myth and Legends of Survivors / Re: Claimant of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna

« on: October 23, 2005, 05:37:53 PM »

I'm so glad someone brought this claimant up--I've only seen her mentioned VERY briefly in a couple of books on the Romanovs but these are the first pictures I've seen of her--and I have been dying to know more about this "mystery claimant"!! I agree that the pictures of the claimant don't exactly scream "Anastasia!!!" at me but who knows??--after years in some godforsaken Soviet "mental hospital/prison" I probably wouldn't look much like ME!!

157

Tatiana Nicholaievna / Re: Tatiana & Cleopatra

« on: October 23, 2005, 05:13:30 PM »

I do want to make it clear--I singled out Tatiana and Marie in particular, but Olga and Anastasia were also beautiful girls--and I agree, if they had not been so tragically murdered, I'm sure all 4 of them would have become really stunning beauties--they were certainly well on their way already!! And about Cleopatra--I agree we may never know her actual coloring, but as someone of mostly Greek ancestry she did indeed most likely have dark hair and eyes and olive skin (I went to the Greek Festival at the nearest Greek Orthodox Church a couple of weeks ago--I go every year altho I (regrettably!) have no Greek ancestry--and most of the hosts there are of Greek descent--and most of them are olive-complected brunettes--good-looking too I might add!!). I've also heard that Cleopatra likely had a few other bits of ancestry in addition to the (mostly) Greek-for example I believe she had a grandmother (?) who was a Syrian--and I would think a Syrian princess most likely would be a brunette! And as several have said--Cleopatra's main attraction was not a "perfect" face. The ancient (translated!!) descriptions I've read of Cleopatra emphasize her grace, her wonderful sense of style, a very lovely speaking voice, enormous charm and remarkable intelligence and education (she spoke for example numerous languages, fluently, including Egyptian--believe it or not, she was the first and only Ptolomaic ruler of Egypt who EVER BOTHERED to learn Egyptian!!!!) Cleo was not your classic beauty, but she was SMART and she had apparently an irresistible charm when she chose. Finally *pause for breath* I keep forgetting to watch HBO's "Rome" but what I've seen is good--would love to see their version of the Queen of the Nile!!!!  

158

Tatiana Nicholaievna / Re: Tatiana & Cleopatra

« on: October 23, 2005, 01:20:38 PM »

Engrossing discussion--er--debate--er fight--   Amazing but neat that after so many years people still get passionate about these poor souls long dead--happily history is alive and well!! A few thoughts: IMHO all four girls (OTMA) were lovely, esp. Tatiana and Marie; most early photos do NOT "reflect" well on their victims--sorry, I mean subjects; I doubt whether any of the girls would have deliberately set out sexually to seduce a guard in order to escape but I kind of wish they had, maybe they would have survived, and you gotta do what you gotta do in a world like that; and I am interested in hearing other people's thoughts on 2 subjects touched on here: First, the allegation that Olga was (sexually?) assaulted on the way to Ekaterinburg (perhaps her sisters too??)-they were heard crying and screaming apparently, and Second, the intriguing story that Marie had SOME kind of "forbidden" contact with a young guard in, I think, the Ipatiev House (could be wrong about location), which made her mother so angry that Alexandra would barely speak to her. VERY intriguing, at least to me--what is YOUR take on these stories???  :-/

159

Tatiana Nicholaievna / Re: How important is Tatiana to you?

« on: October 23, 2005, 12:41:07 PM »

I find Tatiana fascinating. I do NOT think she was cold and aloof, she just had a naturally dignified bearing and perhaps a little of her mother's reserve--but clearly she was a loving and lovable girl. Even her beauty may in a way cause a negative impression of her--"Anyone that beautiful has just GOT to be stuck-up!!" Which of course is nothing but a biased thing to think, and totally unfair to Tatiana. I'll bet she'd have made a wonderful, generous--and, yes, FUN friend!!

160

Tatiana Nicholaievna / Re: Tatiana's Name

« on: October 23, 2005, 12:12:54 PM »

I fully agree with Romanov_Fan--whatever the origin of her name, Tatiana is a gorgeous, feminine, almost ethereal name (you could easily believe it WAS the name of a fairy queen--or princess!!)--and certainly it suited Grand Duchess Tatiana, who was a girl of the most delicate, exquisite beauty. Grand Duchess Tatiana was one of the few royals in history (along with her beautiful sisters) to actually look like we expect real-life princesses to look--regal, graceful, exquisite, and with a truly haunting beauty. It's extremely interesting that Nicholas and Alexandra named their first two daughters after characters from Pushkin's play, I hadn't known that--I always figured that Olga was named for her father's younger sister, but I guess you can have more than one inspiration!!