Moniek Bloks's Blog, page 108

Queen Sirikit at 90: A life in the shadows

The future Queen Sirikit was born on 12 August 1932 as the daughter of Prince Nakkhatra Mangkala Kitiyakara and Mom Luang Bua Snidvongs at the home of her maternal grandfather. She had two elder brothers, Mom Rajawongse Kalyanakit Kitiyakara (1929-1987) and Mom Rajawongse Adulakit Kitiyakara (1930-2004) and a younger sister, Mom Rajawongse Busba Kitiyakara (1934). The title of Mom Rajawongse is translated as The Honourable and is granted to children of a male carrying the Mom Chao style, meaning Serene Highness. Her grandfather Kitiyakara Voralaksana, Prince of Chanthaburi I, was the 12th son of King Chulalongkorn, also known as King Rama V. Sirikit grew up in the Deves Palace, near the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok.

From the age of four, she attended the Kindergarten College at Rajini School. During the Pacific War, she moved to the Saint Francis Xavier Convent School, which was nearer to the palace. At the end of the war, she and her family moved to the United Kingdom because her father was appointed ambassador. As a result, Sirikit became fluent in England and French. Because of her father’s work, they moved around a lot, and it was in France that she met her future husband, the young King Bhumibol Adulyadej (also known as King Rama IX) of Thailand. Sirikit was studying to become a pianist in France, and she was still only 15 years old. Nevertheless, Sirikit accompanied Bhumibol as he visited tourist attractions in Paris.

Sirikit later recalled their first meeting for the BBC: “It was hate at first sight… because he said he would arrive at four o’clock in the afternoon. He arrived at seven o’clock, kept me standing there, practising curtsey and curtsey. But the next time, it was love…” They were married the following year, on 28 April 1950, at the Srapathum Palace. Sirikit was not yet 18 years old, and her parents also signed the marriage certificate. On 5 May 1950, her husband had his coronation, and Sirikit received the title of Somdet Phra Borommarachini. Following a short honeymoon at Hua Hin, the newlyweds returned to Switzerland to continue their education.

Their first child was born in Lausanne on 5 April 1951, and she was named Princess Ubol Ratana. By the time of the birth of their second child, they were back in Thailand. The future King Maha Vajiralongkorn (or King Rama X) was born on 28 July 1952. Their popularity increased without them even trying. Two more daughters followed, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn was born in 1955, and Princess Chulabhorn Walailak was born in 1957. In 1956, King Bhumibol became a monk for a short period, and during this time, Sirikit acted as regent.

By the early 1970s, the prestige of the dynasty itself was at stake. Their only son Vajiralongkorn had not inherited his parents’ charm and diplomatic skills and was disliked, but the Palace Law of Succession 1924 allowed only male descendants of King Chulalongkorn by his official Queens to ascend the throne. When Bhumibol fell ill in 1975, combined with an insurgency, worries about the succession and frustration with capitalism, things all fell apart. He and Sirikit turned to a violent conservatism that ultimately led to the Thammasat massacre.

Sirikit had been a celebrated Queen for the first 20 years, but she began to fight the ageing process. She began taking diet and energy pills, and she said, “My husband says he hates me to be fat.” When she became smitten with a Colonel Narongdej, people presumed they had an intimate relationship, and it became a scandal. When he died in 1985, her mourning for him was ridiculed. Her image suffered further damage when a rumoured account of a trip to the United States detailed how she had plastic surgery, collected money supposedly for her charities and how she stashed money just in case the monarchy went belly up.

Sirikit remained preoccupied with her rogue son, and at the end of 1985, she suffered a breakdown and disappeared from the public view for six months. Princess Chulabhorn came to her mother’s defence, “If the people are going to get angry because of her disappearance from the public view, it is us (her children) who should be blamed since we always insist that she rests instead of making appearances… Normally everybody has holidays, but her majesty never had one.”

In a further attempt for Sirikit to establish her legacy, she pushed for the production of an epic movie about the legendary Queen Suriyothai and even selected the leading actress herself. The film cost over 10 million dollars and was at the time the most expensive Thai film ever made.

For Sirikit, this last decade has been challenging. In 2012, she suffered a stroke, and she has since refrained from public appearances. Bhumibol passed away on 13 October 2016, leaving the throne to their controversial son Vajiralongkorn.1 Queen Sirikit reportedly suffers from dementia and can no longer communicate.2 In 2020, an art exhibition was held in honour of mother’s day and Queen Sirikit’s 88th birthday.

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Book review: Becoming Queen Mary: Volume I: Birth to First Engagement: 1867-1892 by Kori Roff-Lawrence

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The formidable Queen Mary was born Princess Mary of Teck on 26 May 1867 as the eldest child of Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge and Prince Francis of Teck, later Duke of Teck, at Kensington Palace. She would be known as May in the family, and after a tragic engagement with Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, that ended with his death, Mary ended up marrying his younger brother, the future King George V.

As the title suggests, Becoming Queen Mary: Volume I: Birth to First Engagement: 1867-1892 covers the future Queen Mary’s early years up to Prince Albert Victor’s death. The book is a rather large paperback, and the size makes it difficult to hold. I am guessing this size was chosen to accommodate the huge amount of photos the book also holds. While these are absolutely wonderful to look at, I wish these would have been put in the centre of the book. The placement of the photos is often awkward and shifts the entire text. The text itself is factual and easy to read, despite quite a few spelling errors. You can clearly see the intense research that has gone into this book, and Queen Mary before she was Queen truly comes alive for you. Despite these criticisms, I do look forward to the next volume(s) as this is truly an excellent addition to any royal library.

Becoming Queen Mary: Volume I: Birth to First Engagement: 1867-1892 by Kori Roff-Lawrence is available now in the US and the UK.

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Relics of a saint – Elizabeth of Hungary’s wedding dress

Elizabeth of Hungary was born on 7 July 1207, possible in Sárospatak in Hungary. Her parents were King Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania, and she was their third surviving child.

She would only spend the first four years of her life in Hungary, and it was at this tender age that she was betrothed to Hermann, the eldest son of Hermann I, Landgrave of Thuringia. She was then moved to Thuringia, where she would grow up alongside her future husband. Upon arrival, she was immediately placed in young Hermann’s bed to consummate the marriage symbolically. Unfortunately, Hermann died in childhood, so the actual wedding never took place.

Elizabeth was known to be devoted to religion from an early age and even kissed the door handles of churches which were closed. She was also known for her love of John the Apostle. As a young woman, she became an excellent horsewoman, and she liked to ride no matter the weather. However, her position at the Thuringian court was unstable at best. Her groom had died, and after her mother’s murder, the payments of her dowry had stopped. Her only hope was a marriage to the next heir – her groom’s younger brother Louis. They had grown up together and got along well.

Louis became the new Landgrave upon his father’s death in 1217, and just three years later, the 20-year-old Louis married the 13-year-old Elizabeth. It appears to have been a loving marriage which produced three children: Hermann (his father’s successor), Sophie and Gertrude. However, Elizabeth could not bear to be parted from her husband for long periods and went with him as often as she could.

In 1226, Louis took up the cross and embarked on the Sixth Crusade the following year. Elizabeth, pregnant with her third child, accompanied her husband initially to the border of Thuringia, but she felt unable to say goodbye to him. She accompanied him for another day until one of the knights pointed out the dangers. A tearful goodbye followed, and Elizabeth made her way home to Wartburg. There she dressed in widow’s clothes, as she always did when Louis was away. Louis died of the plague on 11 September 1227, without having seen the Holy Land. He was still only 26 years old.

Elizabeth received the news from her mother-in-law Sophia, and she reportedly exclaimed, “He is dead. He is dead. It is to me as if the whole world died today.”1 Elizabeth became enraged, screamed and banged her head against the wall. Her confessor was shocked and asked her, “Is this your piety, Lady Elizabeth? Can you not surrender to the will of the creator?”2 Elizabeth calmed down but refused to eat or drink at first. Louis’s body was returned to Germany, and a crying Elizabeth murmured her thanks for the return of his body.

Elizabeth’s brother-in-law Henry assumed the regency of his young nephew Hermann and Elizabeth left the court at Wartburg and moved to Marburg. It is not very clear if she did this voluntarily or if she was driven out. Elizabeth had always been known for her charitable works, even opening up the supply chambers of grain during the famine of 1225. She was especially drawn to the common people and often had people address her by her first name.

Elizabeth soon wished to follow a religious life and made vows to her confessor similar to those of a nun. He ordered her to separate from her three children, as they took over much of her life. It was reported that”he commanded Elizabeth to renounce the one-and-half-year-old Gertrude; she wasn’t to get too attached so that the child did not hinder her service to God.”3 Though she considered it to be the hardest sacrifice she had to make, Elizabeth decided to renounce her children. She took them to a convent and entrusted their education to the nuns. Elizabeth had begged God to free her of her “excessive love for the children” and later said, “I have given them into God’s hands, let Him treat them according to his pleasure.”4

Her family was appalled by her wish to follow a religious life, and her uncle tried to arrange a new marriage for her with Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, who had recently been widowed. Elizabeth threatened to cut off her nose so that “no man will want me.”5 Elizabeth founded a hospital in Marburg, where she cared for the poor and the sick. She was never afraid to do the dirty work and cared for everyone equally. She gave to charity everything she could miss, to the horror of her confessor, who was afraid she would spend her entire dowry.

In 1231, Elizabeth fell ill with a fever while at Marburg. While she lay ailing, she had a vision of a singing bird, and she quietly and calmly passed away on 17 November 1231. She was still only 24 years old. Not long after her burial, miracles began to happen at her grave. Her confessor was soon hoping for canonization, and he sent a letter to Rome. Testimonies were gathered of the miracles, and just four years after her death, Elizabeth became Saint Elizabeth. Her bones were taken to the Elisabethkirche in Marburg, and her shrine became a place of pilgrimage. Subsequent wars and plunderings meant that her bones were scattered all over Europe, though it is said most if not all are now in the Primatial Cathedral of Bogotá.

Speyer Cathedral holds a piece of Elisabeth’s wedding dress as a relic, though it is unclear to me how they obtained it and if it has been authenticated. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting piece of history and part of a tragic tale of love and devotion.

Photo by Moniek BloksPhoto by Moniek Bloks

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Was Queen Alexandra a chilly beauty? (Part five)

Read part four here.

This is a guest post by Robert Sparkes. 1

Victoria commissioned the artist Laurits Regner Tuxen to make an oil painting of the Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on 28 June 1897. According to the artist’s notes, it was to be a faithful representation of the interesting occasion. The painting shows Queen Victoria and Alexandra, the Princess of Wales, leaving the party in a carriage pulled by two horses. It looks like a photo, but to be honest, it is a kind of “Erised painting”, somewhat like the Erised Mirror from the movie Harry Potter: The Sorcerer’s Stone, which according to Albus Dumbledore, shows the “deepest and most desperate desire of one’s heart.” In this case, the painting shows the deepest and most desperate desires of Queen Victoria about three years before her death.

Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2022 (click to enlarge)

The parade leaving the Queen’s Garden Party, on 28 June 1897, of the Royal Family was led by three men walking in a row, followed by a carriage pulled by two horses.

Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Lord Esher, known as the fixer, is at the top of the row. Lord Knollys, the Prince of Wales’s private secretary, is in the middle. Finally, Queen Victoria’s grandson, the future George V, is at the bottom. These men represented the future political side of the Royal Family, given their status in the picture.

Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In the carriage is Queen Victoria, with dark clothing shaded by a dark parasol. She is not looking forward but down to the side, perhaps suggesting that she is of the past. Beside her is the beautiful Princess of Wales in a bright white dress. She is looking out of the picture toward the viewer. Walking beside the carriage on Alexandra’s left appears to be Sir Henry Ponsonby, the Queen’s private secretary who died in 1895. Sitting beside the coachman appears to be John Brown, who died in 1883. He was one of Victoria’s favourites.

Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

At the back of the carriage with the highlighted parasol is May, the future Queen Mary. To her right is Victoria (Toria), Alexandra’s daughter, and on the left side of May is Sir Dighton Probyn. He was Secretary to the Prince of Wales and Comptroller of the Household.

Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In the forefront are two children highlighted by the sun. The small one in the centre is David, the future King Edward VIII. An almost identical picture of him is shown on page 77 of Dimond’s book, Developing the Picture: Queen Alexandra and the Art of Photography. Alexandra, May and David are all looking out of the picture.

Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Where is Bertie, the future King Edward VII? Both Victoria and Albert felt that he was unfit to be King. So she had placed him with Mrs Keppel, well away from the parade inside a circle at a constant distance from the crowd. On the left of this circle, they were being closely watched (or spied upon) by the Munshi, the Queen’s Indian attendant and his nephew. For Victoria, the Prince of Wales was not in the Royal Family. Alexandra was the heart of the family.

The post Was Queen Alexandra a chilly beauty? (Part five) appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Was Queen Alexandra a chilly beauty? (Part four)

Read part three here.

This is a guest post by Robert Sparkes. 1

Another story confirming her abilities at deep empathy was recounted by Lord Ormathwaite while he was in waiting at Windsor.2 I call this “empathy-from-a distance”. He was tired and weary and found standing for a long period very exhausting. Relying on the noise of the band and the fact that Alexandra was deaf, he asked someone standing near about when everyone was going to sit down? Ormathwaite, in his recounting of the incident, recorded that Alexandra “heard” him – she didn’t. She rushed across the room, and like a young child playing house, she grabbed a chair and pushed it towards him. She commanded him to sit. As a way to divert possible embarrassment from him, she spoke with a wry smile to the astonished assembly that he, the “poor thing,” was so tired. She was deaf and didn’t hear him. She sensed his feelings of being faint from across the room and responded. Here she showed great emotional intelligence by playing the part of the entertaining but simple-minded party hostess, which she often did.3

Other examples of deep empathy are when she entered the receiving room at a London hospital and immediately sensed at a distance that a man had a broken arm.4 Described in a TV drama, Bertie laughingly told a private joke putting down Bernstorff Palace. Alexandra, who was well across the room, sensed but not heard the laughter, also laughed, not knowing that Bertie was poking fun at her Danish family’s summer residence.5 When Alexandra met a blind Scottish vet at Ripley’s Hospital, they both spontaneously broke into tears, crying for more than 10 minutes.6

There were other ways in which Alexandra worked to overcome her hearing loss and to connect to people. In one example, Alexandra would bring her small camera to family get-togethers and photograph.7 On a sea cruise with the family, for example, she often approached small groups who were chattering away. With some, she would get them to pose, but for others, they would see her coming with her Kodak, visually acknowledged her and then continued without becoming self-conscious. Accepted as a passive observer, Alexandra did not disrupt the conversations, but she shared the feelings of her family and extended family while she photographed. Unlike those who primarily see Alexandra using her camera as a consolation, as a way to deal with her frustrations that came from poor hearing, the Queen used it as a tool to communicate, to re-connect.

In her publication of the Queen Alexandra’s Christmas Gift Book, Alexandra personally connected to the public with photos from her life at Sandringham, visits to Balmoral, Athens, and Hvidore, and cruises on the Victoria and Albert, among others. In return, the British public connected with her by buying more than five hundred thousand copies.

Summary

The 18th and 19th centuries were not good times for young men to sow their oats. The disease of syphilis damaged and destroyed the lives of many people and their children. It was so prolific. Anyone from a peasant to a King or Queen could be infected, including Alexandra and Bertie. The words used to describe these infected people need to be rich in sympathy and empathy.

Queen Alexandra responded by becoming celibate, redirecting her expression of love to the care of her children and those in distress. With her friends, she developed an emotional intimacy. As a way to connect to the Boer War veterans, she expanded her own natural ability for empathy, bringing them comfort and the royal acknowledgement of their plight. It was quite something for this woman to reach out and receive such painful feelings from so many vets. It was indeed a very mature love.

Her goal was to become Queen and keep her husband healthy. From about the time of Eddy’s death, through her reign and death, she battled the disease gradually eating her brain. One needs to keep this in mind when evaluating and judging her thinking, her speaking and her behaviour during this period. The language of the dumb-blonde stereotype, used either directly or indirectly, describing Alexandra is wrong. It lacks understanding.

Bertie, on the other hand, continued his sexual relationships while being infected. The argument that he needed mistresses as a way to find and express his love has its problems since he very likely knew that he might be infecting them with syphilis. What kind of love is that?

While not pretending to fulfil all of the roles of the monarchy and government, Alexandra’s hospital visits and her interview with Le Gaulois did show the need for at least one head of state or government head to respond to a national crisis or calamity a country may experience, by witnessing, or by expressing grief, or by giving national voice to the devastation of war. The British monarchy, with its family of a King, a Queen, princes and princesses, will usually have someone to step up to this function. One needs to be careful about belittling them.

The next and final section discusses a painting that Queen Victoria commissioned in 1897. For me, it shows Victoria’s feelings about the royal family, especially Bertie and Alexandra. I found looking at it a lot of fun.

Part five coming soon.

The post Was Queen Alexandra a chilly beauty? (Part four) appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Was Queen Alexandra a chilly beauty? (Part three)

Read part two here.

This is a guest post by Robert Sparkes. 1

But her hearing was not improved as Treves wrote. The blood infection during her third pregnancy destroyed the bones in both of her ears and left her hearing permanently diminished. It has become my belief that she increased her ability to communicate through sympathy and deep empathy. Through sympathy, she could be a witness and express sadness and sorrow, but through deep empathy, she actually connected to each man’s feelings. This would explain her miraculously improved hearing. As they told their stories about how they were injured, she could follow the time emotionally, from his good health to the period of anxiety, dread and fear before a battle to the terror of killing others or watching comrades being killed and blown up. And then there was the pain of being injured, burned, losing a limb or an eye. After the battle, many would sense abandonment from those who died, the army, the hospital and society. They may have thought that those who died were freed from this burden of having to live deplorable lives with mutilated bodies. Some suffered from shell shock and frequently had night terrors. The deaths, the pain and the feelings of abandonment are examples of broken connections.2

She herself had not experienced war, but during her pregnancies, she experienced the death of a child, the great pain from a seized knee cap and infected ear bones, and the abandonment by her husband to places of prostitution, all examples of
broken connections. So how did Alexandra emotionally connect? As each man told his story, Alexandra began to connect with him following his story. Since she was deaf but with some ability with lip reading, she likely also followed his body language and his facial expressions, especially his eyes, as a way to perceive his feelings. These feelings resonated with her own feelings, which she had experienced, but the intensity came from the vets.

Empathy has been compared to walking in another’s shoes – resulting in the appreciation of another person’s view or experience. For deep empathy, I think the mental image would be as if they were walking together “holding hands”, reliving his emotional story with her.3 I have chosen this image as this is the one which she had learned from Oliver Montagu. After the death of her son Eddy in 1893, Montagu held her hand as they walked into her deceased son’s bedroom.4 She was emotionally unable to do this alone. Holding hands gave Alexandra support, a witness to her feelings of dread, someone who shared her separation pain and finally, someone who acknowledged her experience. She needed to address a mother’s pain which came from the death of her eldest child. Together through the holding of hands, they shared each other’s feelings.

Her emotions resonated with some of these veterans, but not everyone. For those who did resonate with her way of sharing feelings, they experienced her compassion, and it was deeply comforting. Here I use the word compassion to mean suffering-with. However, they were still limbless or with mutilated features. Some were blind. These broken connections could not be easily repaired, and reintegration into society remained very difficult or impossible. The problem with the damage that came from shell shock was not easily healed. Alexandra took all of this to heart and was preoccupied with it for many years.

In response, Alexandra housed veterans at the Sandringham estate and tried to hire an “empathic nurse” to help care for them. The use of the nurse was vetoed by her husband. She started the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service.
She wanted to personally choose the nurses who had similar skills to hers, but the military overruled. She refurbished a hospital ship for the veterans. In a fun story, she hid money in a sofa to give to a hospital.

Battiscombe commented, based on her research, that Alexandra, in her hospital visits, would speak to all patients with a genuine concern taking much longer than its scheduled time.5 She goes on to write that with Alexandra’s visits to simple soldiers and sailors, her deafness seemed no hindrance, but on formal occasions and in dealings with more sophisticated people, it reared itself into a formidable barrier.6 Many doctors and nurses in the hospital supported her work.

In 1905, Queen Alexandra, in an interview with Monsieur Richet of the French Journal Le Gaulois, spoke of the duty of Queens to educate their children about mutual love and respect and the duty to bring aid to the distressed and the unfortunate. For her, this was the best and most pleasing of careers. Speaking outside of government protocol, she as Queen spoke against the preparations for war in which her husband as King and her nephew as Emperor were actively involved.7 These were very wise and intelligent comments of someone who was historically considered by some as a dull-witted woman with little brain.

Part four coming soon.

The post Was Queen Alexandra a chilly beauty? (Part three) appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Was Queen Alexandra a chilly beauty? (Part two)

Read part one here.

This is a guest post by Robert Sparkes. 1

I have a few points regarding Bertie and the possible infection of syphilis. In the 18th and 19th centuries, syphilis was widespread in London, Paris and other European cities. It was incurable. Wikipedia: History of Syphilis refers to studies in 2014 and 2020 estimated that in the 18th and 19th centuries that about 10-20% of the population of London had syphilis. If someone like Bertie had sex with about 25 people per year, and 5 of these were different prostitutes. If each of these prostitutes had 100 previous encounters, then the total pool of infected people that someone like Bertie encountered is over 500. This assumes that there was no overlap in counting, but my estimation is conservative. He did visit many cities, which increased the number of encounters and varieties of the disease.

Over the first eight years of his marriage, the total is roughly 4000. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that Bertie had syphilis. And it is also likely that he was an asymptomatic transmitter of the disease since he displayed no symptoms. His wife Alexandra had many symptoms of the disease not easily identified by doctors. Syphilis is often referred to as the “great pretender” for its variety of symptoms.2 For example, in one sufferer, the disease might attack the nose bone, while in another, it might attack the knee or the ankle, or the ears, or the skull. As a way to illustrate the extent of the disease, there was a no nose club for those who lost their nose.

On 10 April, Dr Author Farre, a nationally renowned obstetric physician3, had a long and serious talk with Bertie. Dimond writes that Dr Farre considered this was a very satisfactory conversation, and there were to be no more children.4 While the whole conversation is not known, Bertie would likely have been advised about the transmission of syphilis and the need to refrain. However, Bertie continued to engage in sexual relationships with others, but later, he would have minimized the problem by focusing on his three mistresses.

Alexandra was likely advised by her doctors to stop having children and remove herself from the marriage bed. She was also advised on how the disease is transmitted. And the doctors knew the end stages of the disease when the bacteria would come out of its dormancy in about 20 to 30 years. She would then have a period of personality changes, depression, dementia and finally, death.5 They would have advised her to keep one of her daughters at home to care for her.

Duff6 notices that her attitude shifted from one of gaiety to being more cynical in 1893, then to periods of depression beginning in 18987, to periods of short-term memory loss8, and then to a major physical and mental breakdown in 1915.9 She did eventually die in 1925 of heart failure and dementia.10 Alexandra described the experience of the bacteria attacking her brain as an everlasting pain and noises in her “wretched” head.11

So, the arc of late-stage syphilis began in the early 1890s, became worse during her reign and brought her down in 1915 until her death in 1925. Dealing with her lameness in 1866, Alexandra learned to walk without walking sticks, dance with the support of a dance partner and skate. With Montagu, she found a dance partner and someone she could count on for emotional support. Her deafness was more of a problem. She could not follow the fast chatter in social conversations and would often misunderstand and confuse spoken words such as “car” with “cow”.12 This would leave observers with a negative view of her. She became isolated.

It is reasonable to believe in adapting from her hearing loss that she did find that with close observation of people’s faces, especially her children, she could pick up their feelings. She also found other ways to communicate, such as photography. But first, I turn to her use of deep empathy to expand her communication.

Alexandra’s deep empathy

Towards the end of July 1902, before her coronation, Alexandra visited Netley Military Hospital accompanied by Dr Frederick Treves, the medical doctor who treated King Edward VII for his appendicitis in the early part of July. They took the launch from the yacht Victoria and Albert, which was anchored in the Solent Strait and proceeded to the pier in front of the hospital about four miles from Southampton, England.

Bertie’s surgeon Dr Treves had persuaded the Queen to visit and inspect the hospital as he was angered with the poor treatment provided to the Boer War veterans. They walked together along the pier to the path leading to the front doors of the hospital. On each side of this path was a park with a lawn and trees. The trees gave the veterans some reprieve from the summer heat and humidity experienced in the wards of the hospital. Many of these were men who were limbless or dreadfully mutilated. As such, they were unlikely to be accepted back into society. The war that they experienced left them totally broken. They had nowhere to go. It was totally unfair. Alexandra turned off the path and walked towards them. She asked each of them his name, where he came from and how he was injured. She took the time and listened to each man’s story, and while she had very limited hearing in both of her ears, she paid close attention to each one. Hough, who documented this story, writes that Treves observed that Alexandra did this with consummate tack and gentleness and that her hearing appeared to have improved miraculously.13

This was not Alexandra’s first visit to a hospital, as by 1902 she had visited many. For me, this was the first story when I read of her skills as a special nurse witnessed by a medical doctor of high rank and reputation. It was an odd story that mentioned her miraculously improved hearing.

Part three coming soon.

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Was Queen Alexandra a chilly beauty? (Part one)

This is a guest post by Robert Sparkes. 1

In his book, Queen Alexandra, A Biography, dated 1919, David Williamson called Alexandra one of the best-known women in the world and certainly one of the most beloved.2 From this great height of praise to one who, as described by Lucy Worsley, was the real deal when it came to photography, but a frustrated person due to her deafness and beauty.3 Thus, in her view, many people didn’t take Alexandra seriously. For Worsley, photography was Alexandra’s consolation for being frustrated.4 Georgina Battiscombe described Alexandra’s inappropriate remarks that resulted from her poor hearing were used as proof by others of her stupidity.5

Battiscombe always admired Alexandra’s efforts to overcome her deafness and her apologies for the mistakes that she made. Theo Aronson referred to her as a dullwitted woman with very little brain, unable to keep the interest of her husband.6 He refers to Lady Antrim, who claimed that if Alexandra was more loving, her husband would have been more faithful. Portraying Alexandra this way strengthened part of his argument that Bertie, as Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, needed, like other young men, to sow his oats and because of his wife’s lack of intellectuality, he needed to find love with others, especially his three mistresses. Battiscombe, in referring to Lady Antrim’s comment, also asked the question if Alexandra was a chilly beauty, unable to develop a mature love for Bertie.7However, Aronson did acknowledge that Alexandra did bring to the monarchy a socially accomplished queen who had boundless sympathy for those who suffered.8

Well, why the confusion? Yes, her deafness represented a broken connection, a deep sense of isolation from others. It was one of the many causes of her inappropriate remarks. I shall explore her health problems during her pregnancies, the decisions she made afterwards and how her thinking and behaviours were changed. I shall also explore how these health problems became the basis for her development of deep empathy. This enhanced her communication skills which occasionally caused even more problems. Finally, I will give my interpretation of the Oil Painting: The Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, 28 June 1897. RCIN 405286. In this painting, Queen Victoria reflects her views of Bertie and Alexandra within the royal family. For Victoria, Alexandra was the emotional centre of the family.

Alexandra’s early married life

I think the best way to understand Queen Alexandra’s health and how it affected her thinking and her behaviour is to examine her experiences in the first eight years of her marriage to Bertie, the future King Edward VII, especially her pregnancies. I have read a few books on her life by Duff, Hough, Aronson, Dimond and Battiscombe, and it is from their description of her early marriage that I have developed this view of her. Reading the stories of her sharing her dowry with soon-to-be brides in Denmark and her saving a horse who caught his leg in a carriage wheel demonstrated her empathy towards others.9

However, during her six pregnancies, she developed the foundations for deep empathy, which came from her own experience of extreme physical and mental pain. In these pregnancies, she suffered many infections that placed her health and her babies at risk. The first two children were born premature, and in her third pregnancy, she developed an infection that destroyed bone in her right knee and her ears (deafness). According to David Duff, her doctors were baffled, not
knowing the cause.10 She almost died.

During this third pregnancy and the infections that followed, Alexandra experienced a deep sense of abandonment as her husband would stay out until 3 AM. For many nights, she would stay awake waiting for him to come home.11 The fourth and fifth babies were also born premature.

The sixth baby was prematurely delivered on 6 April 1871, and he failed to live more than a day. Alexandra could not think of the cause. However, doctors were beginning to figure out what was really wrong. By 1871, the rumours that Bertie had been visiting many places of prostitution in London, St. Petersburg and Paris were becoming public news. In the Mordaunt story, Bertie was named initially by Lady Mordaunt as a participant and possibly the father of her child, thought to be blind.12 While he was legally cleared of any wrongdoing, it was with these stories that Alexandra’s doctors began to understand why Alexandra was giving birth to premature babies, why she had these infections that led to her lameness and hearing loss, the infection in her throat and why the sixth child died. It was syphilis that she very likely contracted from her husband.13

Part two coming soon.

The post Was Queen Alexandra a chilly beauty? (Part one) appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Princess Taiping – The most powerful Princess of the Tang Dynasty (Part three)

In my last article, I discussed the political struggle between Princess Taiping and Empress Wei. Princess Taiping had successfully prevented Empress Wei from becoming the next female Emperor of China. Upon the accession of Emperor Ruizong, Princess Taiping was the most powerful and richest woman in Tang China.[1] However, she made an enemy of her nephew, Prince Li Longji, the Crown Prince and future Emperor Xuanzong. In this article, I will describe the hostile relationship between Princess Taiping and her nephew. Princess Taiping would boldly try to usurp the throne from Emperor Xuanzong to become the next female Emperor of China, but she would ultimately lose.

On 25 July 713 C.E., Emperor Ruizong officially became Emperor of China. Emperor Ruizong recognized Princess Taiping’s role in restoring him to the throne and was immensely grateful to her.[2] Due to Princess Taiping’s “meritorious service” [3], he increased her fiefdom to ten thousand households.[4] Princess Taiping won her brother’s love and respect.[5] Princess Taiping became the most influential woman in court, and her brother often heeded her advice.[6] She would always have the final say on political issues.[7] She was also very rich. Her manor was on the most fruitful land in the capital, and she had thousands of servants.[8] Her wealth was so immense that her treasures rivalled the Emperor’s.[9] So vast was her wealth that after her death, it took over three years for the officials to document her properties.[10] 

It was said that the vast privileges and wealth that Emperor Ruizong bestowed on Princess Taiping made her more arrogant, corrupt, and power-hungry.[11] Many courtiers would bribe her in order to get promotions.[12] It was even said that she had an affair with a monk named Hui Fan.[13] This affair has proven to be false and has been debunked by many historians as a means to further debase her reputation.[14] She soon gained an enemy in Prince Li Longji. Prince Li Longji was disgusted by his aunt consorting in bribery and forming her own political faction.[15] He made no secret of his dislike of her.[16] 

Princess Taiping recognized Prince Li Longji as her enemy, and she tried to remove him as the heir apparent.[17] However, Prince Li Longji had many followers and pressured Emperor Ruizong to remove Princess Taiping from the court.[18] Reluctantly, Emperor Ruizong agreed.[19] He sent Princess Taiping and her husband, Wu Youji, to Puzhou (modern-day Yongji District in Shanxi Province).[20] Emperor Ruizong then began to rely on his son, Prince Li Longji, in political matters.[21] Eventually, Princess Taiping and Wu Youji were recalled back to Chang’an. In 712 C.E.,  Wu Youji died, and Emperor Ruizong made him the posthumous Prince of Ding. In that same year, Emperor Ruizong abdicated in favour of his son, Prince Li Longji. He became Emperor Xuanzong. 

Emperor Xuanzong kept his watch constantly on Princess Taiping.[22] She openly expressed her dislike of Emperor Xuanzong.[23] She secretly plotted a coup to dethrone Emperor Xuanzong and make herself the next female Emperor of China.[24] However, her plot was leaked to Emperor Xuanzong.[25] Emperor Xuanzong planned a surprise attack against her and her followers.

On 29 July 713 C.E., Emperor Xuanzong led a surprise attack against Princess Taiping.[26] Her followers were killed or committed suicide.[27] Princess Taiping managed to escape the attack and fled to a temple in the mountains.[28] She stayed there for three days.[29] Princess Taiping returned home because she believed the political tension between her and Emperor Xuanzong was over.[30] When she returned home, she found an imperial edict from Emperor Xuanzong ordering her to commit suicide.[31]  Therefore, on 2 August 713 C.E., Princess Taiping committed suicide. Princess Taiping’s first husband, Xue Shao’s grave was destroyed.[32] Only her son, Xue Chongjian, was spared because of his close friendship with Emperor Xuanzong.[33] Emperor Xuanzong granted Xue Chongjian the imperial surname of Li and let him keep his titles.[34] The rest of her sons were executed.

Princess Taiping was the most influential princess of the Tang dynasty. She played a key role in her mother’s abdication and the restoration of her brothers to the throne. However, she made two powerful enemies. She defeated her first enemy, Empress Wei, but she could not defeat her second enemy, Emperor Xuanzong. She tried to take the throne from Emperor Xuanzong but failed. Princess Taiping had her mother’s personality and political acumen, but she could not succeed in following her mother’s footsteps as the next female Emperor of China. It is no wonder why Tang China saw females like Princess Taiping as a threat.[35] She was the last woman of Tang China to ever wield immense political influence.[36] With the death of Princess Taiping, no woman had ever dominated the court of Tang China.[37] Emperor Xuanzong and his successors were to ensure that there would never be another woman as powerful as Princess Taiping.[38]

Sources:

Aiwen, L. (2015). “Princess Taiping”. Notable Women of China: Shang Dynasty to the Early Twentieth Century. (B. B. Peterson, Ed. Y. Jun, trans.). London: Routledge. pp. 206-209

McMahon, K. (2013). Women Shall Not Rule: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Han to Liao. NY: Rowman and Littlefield.

Lee, L. X.H. (2014). “Li, Princess Taiping.” Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Volume II: Tang Through Ming 618 – 1644. (L. X. H. Lee, Ed.; A. D. Stefanowska, Ed.; S. Wiles, Ed.). NY: Routledge. pp. 200-203.

[1] McMahon, 2013

[2] Lee, 2014

[3] Lee, 2014, p. 202

[4] Lee, 2014

[5] Lee, 2014

[6] Lee, 2014

[7] Lee, 2014

[8] Lee, 2014

[9] Lee, 2014

[10] Lee, 2014

[11] Aiwen, 2015

[12] Lee, 2014

[13] Aiwen, 2015

[14] McMahon, 2013; Lee, 2014

[15] Lee, 2014

[16] Lee, 2014

[17] Lee, 2014

[18] Lee, 2014

[19] Lee, 2014

[20] Lee, 2014

[21] Lee, 2014

[22] Lee, 2014

[23] Lee, 2014

[24] Lee, 2014

[25] Lee, 2014

[26] Aiwen, 2015

[27] Lee, 2014

[28] Aiwen, 2015

[29] Lee, 2014

[30] Lee, 2014

[31] McMahon, 2013

[32] Aiwen, 2015

[33] Lee, 2014

[34] Lee, 2014

[35] McMahon, 2013

[36] McMahon, 2013

[37] McMahon, 2013

[38] McMahon, 2013

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Royal Jewels – The Greville Bow Brooch

Like the Cartier Lily Brooch, the Greville Bow Brooch is unusually large. The brooch was probably commissioned in 1900 by Dame Margaret Greville, the wife of the Hon. Ronald Greville. The commission was given to Boucheron, a firm that Margaret patronised regularly.

This particular commission cost 3,000 francs and consisted of dismantling a knot-pattern diadem and the removal of 718 brilliant and 484 roses. These were used to make a new diadem and a “noeud Brillant faisant broche”, which was probably this brooch.1

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Margaret and her husband had had no children, and she bequeathed all her jewellery to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother upon her death in 1942. The most famous pieces include the Greville Tiara, which is now frequently worn by The Duchess of Cornwall, and the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara, which was worn by Princess Eugenie at her wedding to Jack Brooksbank. The brooch was inherited by Queen Elizabeth II upon her mother’s death in 2002, but the brooch hasn’t had a public outing in many years.

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