Some new things...

Ha! My son just sent me this picture from his Apple computer and it's kind of cute with its scratchy drawing look--I wanted to see how this black and white would look on the blog!! But, I'll tell ya, since I'm not a queen, I shouldn't be on here. (At home they call me Drama Queen....LOL...I don't think I qualify, however...)

Some new things!

First off, there is another talented writer I know, who also loves royalty, the affluent life, peerages, country homes, manors, England, Scotland--all that stuff---and she is one of the only other writers I've found over the years who enjoys it as much as I do. She is thinking about blogging with me--and if she does, it will be nice and there will be lots more info on all kinds of Queeny and Royal stuff! It's not definite--we'll see.

I've been working on what I call R.E.--a novel about a Duke's family who is very close to Queen Victoria. I sent off part of it to England, and my critique partner was thrilled with it! She thought it was interesting and liked the pace and it seemed to keep her interest. She thinks its definitely of publishable quality as long as I keep the story line as interesting as it is now. I've been working on this a couple of days now. The characters are very real to me and in the beginning there is lots of drama, and different incidents unfolding at once.

The other thing is that my husband said that if I sell some of my work and I'm really into this, he'll try and get a housekeeper so that I can spend more time writing. I seem to do well when I know I have long stretches of time to work. I suppose he's been watching me lately and sees I'm serious about it...and perhaps he thinks I have a little talent. I hope so!!

This isn't going to be a long post at all...I really just wanted to see what my son's Apple can do (it's really an amazing computer!). In the next day or two I'll post something else that's a little more interesting, I hope.

The Princess of Wales...

This young lady is from Denmark, and she became the Princess of Wales when she married the son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Prince Albert had passed away before the marriage, but he had approved of it, and so Queen Victoria did everything she could to make sure the marriage happened. If her dear Albert thought that Princess Alexandra of Denmark would make a good Queen and a good wife, then it must be so!

In many ways she was a good wife to Bertie--and a wonderful mother. She had many children and loved them all to the depths of her soul. She loved to play and spoil them and was always happy to see them---sometimes too much so. And they adored her back.
She turned a blind eye to her husbands philandering and maintained her regal composure. She fulfilled her duties. While she was Princess of Wales, her sister Minnie was the Tsarina of all the Russia's. Some family, huh? Minnie's real name was Dagmar, and they were close in age, and if you put their sons together in a picture....well, you couldn't tell them apart. Seriously. (the future King of England and the future Tsar of Russia).
Alexandra had a hard time hearing and sometimes that gave her the appearance of being aloof. As she got older, her hearing got worse, and she was almost deaf towards the end of her life. Many happy years of her life were spent at Sandringham, their country estate. She furnished it beautifully, and her own personal rooms were warm and comfy and full of pictures and knick knacks. She and her prince entertained society in a manner that had not been seen in many years. They were both very popular--but Queen Victoria wouldn't give the Prince much to do. There were many reasons for that...one of which was a deep animosity that ran within her. In some ways she felt her son had killed his father. Yes, that's true. He had become very ill and the stress from Bertie's antics may not have helped. He fell very ill after returning home from seeing his son after Bertie had done something improper. The two had a long and serious talk. He never fully recovered. They say he had typhoid...and maybe so. But, Prince Albert had been careful and alert to the waste and the problems from it, and some people feel it may have been stomach cancer. He would get better and worse, and better and worse. In the end, when he died, Queen Victoria always felt that her son had added a burden to his already very taxed system.
As a married couple, Alexandra and Bertie had their share of heartbreak. Their eldest son--the young man who would be king---became very, very ill. They loved him dearly, but Eddy had some odd ways about him...and an odd look. He had a long neck and was very self conscious about it. Some feel that he wouldn't have made an acceptable King....and it's been said that one or two of the Dr's hastened his death. No one will ever know if that is true. There are many stories about Eddy that we will never know the truth about. His parents mourned his death and so did his siblings and dear Grandmama--Queen Victoria.
The next eldest son became King in his lifetime and one of their daughters became a Queen.
Princess Alexandra, the Princess of Wales was as popular in her day as Diana was in her day. And Alexandra did become Queen of England in 1901 and performed her duties very well. By that time her sister Minnie was the Dowager Empress in Russia---still beloved, still important. In later years the two comforted each other and spent time together. Neither was born to be a Queen or Empress but both did very well with the life that was handed to them, and personally, I don't think enough has been written about them. Two sisters, two Queens, mothers to two Kings...it doesn't get better than that. At least for me it doesn't!