Messages

4981

Scandanavian Royal Families / Re: Princess Madeline

« on: July 16, 2005, 05:34:15 PM »

Any one else agree with me that the Swedish royal family are without question the best looking royal family in Europe? Madeleine, Victoria and Carl Philip are all very attractive.

4982

The Hohenzollern / Re: Kaiserin Augusta Viktoria (Dona)

« on: July 16, 2005, 12:56:47 PM »

I was just wondering what you all thought of Dona. I've read conflicting things about her. Most sources state that she was a vacuous, stupid, jealous sort of woman, but if you look on page 95 (paperback) of Charlotte Zeepvat's Queen Victoria's Family, you can read about someone describing her daughter, Viktoria Luise: 'She possessed generous and kindly impulses and was an ardent champion of the distressed . . . following the example of her mother the Empress - one of the kindest hearted women I ever met.'

So Dona was kind??

Page 92 of the said book also mentions how her family 'worshipped her'. Any thoughts?

4983

The Tudors / Re: If Henry VIII had another child . . .

« on: July 15, 2005, 02:48:59 PM »

I think that if the child was Katherine Howards, it would have been brought up Catholic. Remember, Henry regarded himself as a Catholic his whole life. The Howards were the most powerful Catholic family in England. Supposing Catherine's aunt the Duchess of Norfolk, or her grandmother the Dowager Duchess had been appointed to oversee the child's upbringing, it is likely they would have turned out Catholic, or at least with Catholic sympathies.

4984

The Tudors / If Henry VIII had another child . . .

« on: July 15, 2005, 12:58:32 PM »

Imagine what would have happened if Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard or Catherine Parr had given Henry another child. How different would history be?

If another son had been born he probably would have been called Henry, or perhaps Thomas if Katherine Howard was his mother. If Anne of Cleves was his mother, he would have been born in 1540, and would have been seven when the King died (assuming everything happened as it really did). Thus he would have been 13 when Edward VI died. He then would have become King. Would he have been Protestant, or Catholic?

If the son was Katherine Howard's, and was born in 1541, he surely would have been brought up a Catholic, in the tradition of the Howards. However, if Katherine did what she did in reality and had an affair and was exevuted, would Henry have excluded his son from the succession in his will, or let him follow Elizabeth? Who knows?

Catherine Parr's son (born 1544, let us say) would certainly have been brought up Protestant. Henry certainly would have had no inhibitions about putting him directly behind Edward in the succession.

Now, if Anne of Cleve's gave Henry a daughter in 1540 (she would probably have been called Anne, Margaret or Katherine) Henry would most likely have placed in fourth in the succession, after Elizabeth (of course, if Anne had given him a child, he would not have divorced her). Unless, perhaps, he regarded Anne's child as his only LEGITIMATE daughter and put her ahead of both Elizabeth and Mary. She would have been 18 when Mary I died.

If the daughter was Katherine's, I think she would probably have been brought up Catholic. If Henry still divorced Katherine, she would likely have been placed fourth in the succession, behind Elizabeth (after all, he still reinstated Elizabeth and Mary).

Catherine Parr's daughter would have been Protestant, and still only 14 when Mary I died.

What do you all think?

4985

The Windsors / Queen Alexandra (1844-1925)

« on: July 15, 2005, 11:52:24 AM »

Like everyone, Alix had her ups and downs. I think she was a charming, beautiful woman, who always meant well, but treated her children like they were toddlers well into middle age! Her possessivness of Princess Victoria in particular is striking - author John Van Der Kiste says that Toria's cousins could remember many a time when Toria would have to leave them to rush urgently to her mother's side only to find that Mama had forgotten what she wanted in the first place. Whenever the topic of Victoria's marriage came up, Alix would use her deafness as a weapon. What do you all think of her as a person?

4986

The Hesse-Darmstadts (Hesse and by Rhine) / Re: Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Part II

« on: July 15, 2005, 11:46:49 AM »

Ironically, Ernie later remembered Alice for her sense of humour, though the camera lense only captured her melancholy side. I've never seen a picture of her smiling.

4987

Iberian Royal Families / Spanish Habsburg Infantas

« on: July 15, 2005, 10:17:52 AM »

I have a question. Anne of Austria, Queen consort of France, who lived from 1601 to 1666, was the daughter of a Spanish King, wasn't she? Then why is she always referred to as Anne of Austria. I know that the Spanish and Austrian royal families were very closely interelated but even so . . .