Given the chance, who would you want to meet?

[Sara W]

Elizabeth stated this question in another thread, so I thought I would give it its own thread because it was such an interesting idea. Who in the past would you want to meet and why? I guess in this thread, try to limit it to European royalty, aristocracy or people close to them. If you would like to list people from America or some where else, feel free to start a thread under the appropriate topic at the bottom of the group's main page.

I'll try to come up with an answer myself, but I need to think about it first!

[Donald]

For a start:

My MC in my historical novel.
Talleyrand.
Bodo, the Apostate.

Dinner with Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain together.

[Misfit]

Hmm, so many choices.

Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine

William Marshal, served Henry II, Eleanor, Henry the Younger, Richard, John and Henry III and regent of England during HIII's minority and the only many to unhorse Richard I.

Llewelyn Fahr of Wales, and his grandson Llewelyn The Last.

[Paula]

I would have to go with:

Edward I and Robert the Bruce

Edward III and Philipa of Hainault.

Followed by John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford

[Mandy]

I'll be boring and list some Tudors...

Catherine of Aragon
Arthur
Henry VIII
Mary and Anne Boleyn

OR

Charles II, Barbara Villiars and Nell Gwyn

[Sara W]

Oh, Katherine Swynford, that's a good one - I completely forgot about her.

I'd be interested in meeting Richard III to see which side is right - was he really "evil" or just a victim of Tudor propaganda?

I'd like to meet Anne Boleyn too. She's always fascinated me. I always read that she wasn't that attractive, so I'd be interested to see what it was about her that attracted so many men (and to see if the thing about a sixth finger is true).

[Lady of the Lake]

Oh that is a GREAT one Sara! I would Love to meet Richard III also and FINALLY put an end to the truth or rumor question! Definitely! I put him on my list of LOVE TO MEETS! I also think Elizabeth I and ask her the very personal question...Is she or isn't she the VIRGIN QUEEN?? I know it's a tad personal, but if I'm going to meet her, I think it's a must ask! LOL

[Sara W]

Oh yeah Elizabeth, I would definitely ask Elizabeth the same thing! I would ask the same question to Katherine of Aragon about her relationship with Arthur as well.

[Southernbelle0326]

If I could go back in time, I would have loved to have met Anne Boleyn.

[Manuel]

I would love to meet two women who were related to each other. Both known for making really really bad decisions and generating devastating consequences for their countries.


Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots and
Alexandra of Hesse, wife of Czar Nicholas II.


When I read about them, I still feel like grabbing them by the collar and shaking them and shouting "What the hell are you thinking!!!!????"

It just goes to show the absurdity of an inherited ruling class when you have fools running the show.

[Cat]

I would love to meet Richard III, he is by far the most interesting monarch in my eyes and it would be fascinating to see if the Tudors were actually prejudice or not in their depictions of him.

[Sara W]

lol, Manuel, your post is hilarious! I don't know enough about Mary Queen of Scots (yet) to have an opinion about her, but the whole Rasputin business with Alexandra was pretty creepy and absurd. Hhhmmm, makes me wonder what other royalty I'd like to ask that to (what the hell were you thinking??) - I'll have to think about it and post later. There has got to be some English monarch who should have left things alone in France instead of constantly trying to take over that country.

[[deleted user]]

I also like Manuel's post and agree with him. Of course Alexandra had a sick child and was totally obsessed with him. Per Purple Secret they both probably had porphyria which really messed with their brains! (think the Madness of King George) There were some interesting questions I ran across last night on this on the Neverending Quiz to which I am addicted. Often I get confused about who exactly was Bloody Mary????? Was this Mary Queen of Scots? I searched for my Monarchs of England book but failed to find it. HELP! Guess I should have googled it. (DUH)

[Patricia]

Hi - coming out of lurkdom because I too, agree wholeheartedly with Manuel! I've always wondered why people thought Mary Queen of Scots was so wonderful; I think she was completely unfit to rule (kind of Sarah Palinesque, now that I think of it! But I digress....). Oh, and Bloody Mary was Mary Tudor, known as such for her relentless persecution of Protestants. While I don't think much of her as a ruler I do feel sorry for her; brought up as a golden child then rudely thrust aside and taken away from her mother at the same time - enough to twist anyone's world view.

[Sara W]

Hi Patricia! Ha ha, for some reason the term lurkers (and related terms) always makes me giggle - I never really heard that term much until I got onto goodreads. My mom's a lurker of this group - hi mom!

I feel sorry for Mary Tudor as well for the same reasons you brought up Patricia (although I certainly don't agree with her policies regarding the Protestants). It seems like she tried to form some sort of relationship with Elizabeth (at least when Elizabeth was younger) which is pretty surprising considering she was the daughter of Anne Boleyn. I don't know if I could do that even if the person was my half-sister.

[Manuel]

David Starkey says that the tragedy for Mary Tudor, was that she had known love from both parents at an early age, then had that love suddenly removed. Life for Mary turned out to be anti climatic.

Elizabeth on the other hand, grew up never knowing where she stood. Princess? Bastard? Heretic?

[Misfit]

Sorry, but I find Mary QOS quite boring and bordering into the TSTL category. As well written as Margaret George's take on her was, but the time she was Elizabeth's captive things were quite dull and Mary quite quite irritating. I couldn't believe Philippa Gregory not only did a book on her, but focused on her captivity which is the most boring part of the story. What hay PG might have made with Darnley and his kilt we'll now never know. She's off to write about the Plantagenets next (God help us all).

Sorry, I'm in a sarcastic mood tonight :)

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

I've always called Mary Queen of Scots the "notorious bad picker." Because if there was an unfortunate decision to make, she made it. I don't find her romantic or a heroine, and hence am not interested in the new Philiipa Gregory about her.

Philippa Gregory is going to write about the Plantagenets? Goodness gracious! (To quote John Wooden.)

[Misfit]

Susanna, can you just imagine what she's going to do with them? From what I've read, she's going to do at least three based on the War of the Roses period, and not necessarily in chronological order. I think the first book, The White Queen, is about Elizabeth Woodville.

[Jamie]

I dread seeing Philippa Gregory dig her creepy little fingers into the Plantagenets. Can she not just invent some more fictional characters to malign?

[Sara W]

OMG, this thread has become SO entertaining! Creepy little fingers - I love it! I have to agree with you guys that it's more than a little scary to imagine what she'll come up with. I don't blame people for reading and enjoying her books (which I know a lot of people in this group fall into this category), but I personally can't stand how she manipulates these historical figures to suit her purposes (i.e. sell more books with outrageous stories). I really wish she would just stick to completely fictional characters with the real people in the background; at least then I wouldn't get so fired up about her books.

[Mandy]

LOL, Sara! "at least then I wouldn't get so fired up about her books"
I think that's part of PG's goal!

I have to admit, I've enjoyed a number of her books, but one definitely has to seperate fact from fiction with her - she's certainly not going to do it for you!

[Misfit]

Can you imagine what she would do with Elizabeth's mother? Let alone the "crush" Elizabeth had on Richard III? Ewwwwwwwww.

As for diddling with history, try googling PG and find some of her recent online interviews where she carries on about being a historian and insisting on accuracy.

As for The Other Queen, the last time I looked at Amazon UK there was no one single five star review for that book and not too many four stars. Not so good coming it's from her homeland.

[Sara W]

Oh yeah, you know she would have Elizabeth sleeping with Richard! Doesn't she have Anne sleeping with George in The Other Boleyn Girl (I haven't gotten beyond the first 25 pages, so I don't personally know, but I thought I read that somewhere)? Ha ha, Mandy, you're right - I'm sure Gregory enjoys the notoriety! It certainly keeps people talking about her between books. I'll have to look for some of those interviews. I didn't realize she was from the UK. Do people there love her as much as Americans seem to?

[Manuel]

I would love to meet Rasputin.
I have always been curious why he was so attractive to St Petersburg society in the years preceding WWI.

From what I've read he was a thoroughly disgusting individual on a hygenic level as well as morally. Yet he had St Petersburg society fawning at his feet and taking several prominant ladies to bed.

I suppose the Empress's attraction to him might be explained by his ability to calm down her son during his episodes of hemophilatic bleeding. Supposedly his eyes were very mesmerizing on Alexei. The empress probably saw him as an answer to her desperate prayers.

But I cant understand his hold on the rest of society.