Queen Mary- part 4

[tom_romanov]

I thought that we should open up another topic on one of my favorite royals - Queen Mary.

I'll start it off with a few of my favorite photos-

- "http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/tom_romanov/img114.jpg"

- "http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/tom_romanov/img120.jpg"

- "http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/tom_romanov/img118.jpg"

tom

[betty87]

Fantastic...Queen Mary is my absolute favourite royal! Those pictues are great!

[betty87]

Her relationship with her husband and children has always interested me as I think she was far more human than biographers state. The letters she exchanged with GV are very touching...

'You cannot think how terribly I miss you here, your rooms seem so empty and desolate and make me feel quite sad and lonely.' QM wrote to GV from Sandringham

[tom_romanov]

i agree with you betty87 many tv drama's about ( e.g the lost prince) show her as a cold heatred woman 

[betty87]

I know it really is sad! I just feel that she has been given a hard time, perhaps mainly due to her shyness and the whole Duke of Windsor saga. Its important to look at the evidence left by those closest to her. They all say that she was a strong woman, perhaps a little stiff, but very kind hearted. The countess of Airlie especially talks of May as a very human person. The fact that Mabell wrote that May cried often after the death of GV shows that biographers have ignored certain deatails.

Does anyone have any information on May's relationship with her husband? Any pictures?

[Alexandre64]

[Marie-Mathilde]

I do get confused by the conflicting reports on George and Mary's relationship. Having read some of the notes mentioned I do believe they love each other dearly and came to rely upon one another, but then you here what a strange man George was, his son the Duke of Windsor wrote of him, something along the lines of "sometimes I hardly believe he is a man, he is queer in so many ways". And of course I did find Miranda Richardson's portrayal of Mary in "The Lost Prince" very believable at the time, although now I am quite torn. Her diary entries regarding John's death, whilst sad are not devastated. Perhaps she was trying to conceal her grief, even to her own diary, but it breaks my heart to think that not even his mother was torn to pieces by his death. I wouldn't wish it upon her to feel that way but I felt so sorry for that poor boy that no one showed hardly any emotion at his passing and how it was forgotten so quickly. None of his brothers or his sister named any of there children after him, some say "John" to be an unlucky name within the family but they didn't even include it in the middle names; I thought George, his closest brother might have done, but alas he named his first son after the brother who was so horrid and disgusting when poor John died (I'm talking of Edward, Duke of Windsor, of course). Sorry for getting so off-topic but does anyone agree or disagree with me about Mary, George or the others?

[Emperor of the Dominions]

IMHO Queen Mary has laid the foundations of Britians monarchy today. One of the last true Queen Consorts, who knew what was expected, and how to set prescendent. She bridged the gap between the Victorian and modern era, showing how it should be done. I expect our current Queen has learnt a lot from her example. I fear we shall not witness the selfless devotion to duty and the country in future, that these two Queens have shown.

R.I.

[Grace]

I do get confused by the conflicting reports on George and Mary's relationship. Having read some of the notes mentioned I do believe they love each other dearly and came to rely upon one another, but then you here what a strange man George was, his son the Duke of Windsor wrote of him, something along the lines of "sometimes I hardly believe he is a man, he is queer in so many ways". And of course I did find Miranda Richardson's portrayal of Mary in "The Lost Prince" very believable at the time, although now I am quite torn. Her diary entries regarding John's death, whilst sad are not devastated. Perhaps she was trying to conceal her grief, even to her own diary, but it breaks my heart to think that not even his mother was torn to pieces by his death. I wouldn't wish it upon her to feel that way but I felt so sorry for that poor boy that no one showed hardly any emotion at his passing and how it was forgotten so quickly. None of his brothers or his sister named any of there children after him, some say "John" to be an unlucky name within the family but they didn't even include it in the middle names; I thought George, his closest brother might have done, but alas he named his first son after the brother who was so horrid and disgusting when poor John died (I'm talking of Edward, Duke of Windsor, of course). Sorry for getting so off-topic but does anyone agree or disagree with me about Mary, George or the others?

Personally I wouldn't put much credence on the Duke of Windsor's opinions on ANYONE, particularly at this time when he was openly rebelling against everything his father stood for and that included many long held royal duties which didn't take his fancy.

I also wouldn't put much faith in the character portrayals in "The Lost Prince" either.  There were things in that which were not factual as the writers have admitted - it was a docu-drama which contained both factual and fictional elements.

I think Queen Mary was deeply saddened by Prince John's death but perhaps not in the way a mother today would be losing a child.  To begin with, she grew up in an era where it was not a rare occurrence to lose a child to illness.  Secondly, her position meant that her children were raised by nannies and it's well known that although she cared very much for her children, she was not a particularly maternal woman.  Thirdly, she was a very dignified royal lady who never would have broken down in front of anyone if she could help it.  She also truly believed it was a blessed release for John, as the symptoms he had suffered for so long appeared to be getting even worse as he got older.

Just my opinions of course.

[grandduchessella]

I agree wholeheartedly with what Grace wrote. Queen Mary was seen to cry in public only once that I've read of (her brother Frank's funeral) but who is to know what went on behind closed doors. And John's funeral was very private.

[mcdnab]

I've actually always thought that Miranda Richardson portrayal was rather good. A cauldron of restrained emotions and I don't think in that portrayal she is cold at all. The Lost Prince is largely about John and his nanny and their relationship so the portrayals of George V, Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary are not as central to the story.

She herself denied she was shy after George V became Prince of Wales and then King. She wasn't conventionally maternal and clearly found the whole business of pregnancy and childbirth distasteful which is partly why she was labelled as distant or cold by biographers and some members of her own family. However I don't believe that in an age of infant mortality parents somehow viewed the death of a child any differently to how we would today her diary entries about John's death I find quite touching and it is clear that she found the Duke of Windsor's comments at the time of John's death deeply hurtful.

The Countess of Airlie who knew her and George V well thought they were far more interested in their children than many of their contemporaries but just lacked that understanding.  To be fair the Duke of Windsor himself said that when the children were alone with Queen Mary she was a very different person.

She certainly allowed her husbands like and dislikes to dominate her home and family - but in that she wasn't that different to many other wives of her period, her own deep interest in family history and her devotion to the ideals of monarchy certainly meant that she saw her husband as a monarch first and put him first perhaps to the detriment of her children.

I've always thought that the biggest "victims" if you like of George and Mary's parental errors were actually their three eldest children - David, Bertie and Mary.

[Romanov_fan]

I agree about their parenting errors with David, for sure. I can see your point about the ones with Bertie. I don't know much about Mary, the only daughter. Why do you see her as a victim of her parent's early parenting mistakes? I thought she turned out very well. I think all parents are inexperienced with the first children or child, and they generally are more lax with the youngest child or youngest children.

[OctoberLily]

I've read that this photograph was taken in 1911 while QM was in mourning for EVII, but that's all the information I have on it.  Can anyone elaborate on this for me?   IMO this is one of the most stunning photos of QM. He regal bearing and dedication to the monarchy is written all over her face!

http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2352361620094285158yPNbqw


BTW, thank you to gogm for the marvelous webshots collections!

[Alexander1917]

I've read that this photograph was taken in 1911 while QM was in mourning for EVII, but that's all the information I have on it.  Can anyone elaborate on this for me?   IMO this is one of the most stunning photos of QM. He regal bearing and dedication to the monarchy is written all over her face!

http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2352361620094285158yPNbqw


BTW, thank you to gogm for the marvelous webshots collections!

It's taken during to mark the first Opening of Parliament of the new reign (George V)

[Emperor of the Dominions]

I've read that this photograph was taken in 1911 while QM was in mourning for EVII, but that's all the information I have on it.  Can anyone elaborate on this for me?   IMO this is one of the most stunning photos of QM. He regal bearing and dedication to the monarchy is written all over her face!

http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2352361620094285158yPNbqw


BTW, thank you to gogm for the marvelous webshots collections!

A truly regal photograph of Queen Mary, but mis-titled. It should read 'Queen Mary wearing her own crown without the arches'.

R.I.