Charlie Fenton > Recent Status Updates

‘The real Anne Boleyn might be elusive, lost to history and forever unknowable, but the literary Anne Boleyn has much to reveal to us about the still vexed intersection of ideologies of gender, sexuality and power.’

‘Because he lived so long, Philip saw so much. He knew the royal road had always been a rocky one. ‘My grandfather was assassinated,’ he reminded me, ‘my father was sent into exile, my parents separated, my sister was killed in that aeroplane crash, my uncle was murdered by the IRA … things happen, but life goes on.’’

‘Lord Charteris said to me, ‘Prince Philip is the only man in the world who treats the Queen simply as another human being. He’s the only man who can. Strange as it may seem, I believe she values that. And, of course, it’s not unknown for the Queen to tell Prince Philip to shut up. Because she’s Queen, that’s not something she can easily say to anybody else.’’

‘This book is the story of those hundreds of iterations of Anne Boleyn. It attempts to account for the myriad literary representations of Anne Boleyn that have appeared across the centuries in order to trace the way that she has become a symbol for a variety of conflicting ideas about women and power. This book takes as its focus literary and screen representations of Anne Boleyn’

‘Frances had seen such pamphlets before. They routinely appeared after a notable witchcraft trial, giving salacious details of the case, the heinous crimes of the accused. Always, there was a pact with the devil, the casting of spells, lives blighted by sorcery and wickedness.‘

‘more sensitive matter, the young Queen did as her private secretary and Prime Minister advised, rather than as her husband wished. She decided that her children – and her children’s children – should bear her family name rather than his. Philip was incandescent. ‘I am nothing but a bloody amoeba,’ he protested. ‘I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children.’’

‘Katherine had a conversion experience and embraced the teachings of the Lutheran Reformation, particularly the truth of justification by faith, between the time she published those two works. It probably took place sometime at the end of 1545 or the beginning of the tumultuous year of 1546. It was then that she began to discuss points of theology with her husband the king, since they had issues to debate.’

‘The King had given no indication of when or where this might take place; neither had he made any pronouncement about his wife’s passing. Upon hearing the news, he had retreated at once to his privy chamber, giving out that he was too grief-stricken to appear in public. Frances no more believed this than the rest of the court did.’

‘There is evidence to suggest that Katherine received a good education. She was proficient in French and Italian and perhaps even knew some Greek and Latin. She was also taught mathematics, which she would put to good use in her later capacity as Lady Latimer and Queen of England. In addition, she was schooled in manners and courtly etiquette, developing an easy conversation style.’

About George VI and the Queen Mother’s wedding: ‘The ceremony was filmed – in long-shot – for the cinema newsreels, but not broadcast on the fledgling BBC wireless. The Archbishop of Canterbury was concerned that ‘disrespectful people might hear the service, perhaps some of them sitting in public houses with their hats on’.’
I still find that really amusing.

‘What do I miss most?
I miss his energy.
Even in old age, Prince Philip crackled with energy. In 2011, the year he turned ninety, he undertook 330 official engagements. The following year he managed 347. In his prime, he was a dynamo. At sixty-five, the age at which most men retire, the Duke of Edinburgh was the active founder, fellow, patron, president, chairman, or member of at least 837 organisations’

Audiobook version, not on here.

‘’What’s the matter, Mr. Frodo?’ said Sam.
‘I am wounded,’ he answered, ‘wounded; it will never really heal.’
But then he got up, and the turn seemed to pass, and he was quite himself the next day. It was not until afterwards that Sam recalled that the date was October the sixth. Two years before on that day it was dark in the dell under Weathertop.’

‘Given her history of menstrual problems and the general ignorance of the age, her belief that she was pregnant is perfectly understandable. She was an anointed queen and there would have been no question of an internal examination. Even to mention the possibility might have been regarded as treason. Phantom pregnancies are a recognised medical condition and they were not uncommon in Mary’s time.’

‘It was easy to see why he had so intoxicated the King. He was tall and lithe, and moved with an easy grace that drew all eyes to him. The skin of his face and long, delicate fingers was so white that Frances wondered if he used the same paste her mother had applied to the old Queen’s skin every day. She peered closer, as if focusing on the trivial detail would distract her from the rising agitation’

‘Frances experienced a jolt of envy. Bacon was respected as a man of science, and his interest in the natural world was therefore accepted and encouraged. If she spoke so openly of such matters, or was seen to be gathering herbs and plants with which to make remedies, she would be hanged as a witch.’

‘’Bravo, Steenie!’ the King cried, then strode forward to embrace the young man.
Frances had soon heard about the affectionate name James had bestowed upon Villiers. It was derived from St Stephen, who had the face of an angel. She and her companion watched as the King kissed his favourite on both cheeks, then whispered something in his ear.’

‘’Stand away! Don’t touch me!’ he cried. ‘It is mine, I say. Be off!’ His hand strayed to his sword-hilt. But then quickly his voice changed. ‘No, no, Sam,’ he said sadly. ‘But you must understand. It is my burden, and no one else can bear it. It is too late now, Sam dear. You can’t help me in that way again. I am almost in its power now. I could not give it up’’

‘’But you’re in the land of Mordor now, sir; and when you get out, you’ll see the Fiery Mountain and all. You’ll find the Ring very dangerous now, and very hard to bear. If it’s too hard a job, I could share it with you, maybe?’
‘No, no!’ cried Frodo, snatching the Ring and chain from Sam’s hands. ‘No you won’t, you thief!’ He panted, staring at Sam with eyes wide with fear and enmity.‘

‘No action was taken in the first nine months of the reign, but in March 1554 Mary issued an instruction ordering every bishop ‘to deprive or declare deprived, and remove according to their learning and discretion, all such persons from their benefices or ecclesiastical promotions, who contrary to the... laudable custom of the church, have married and used women as their wives’.’

‘He was merely the latest in a long line of young men to bask in the King’s fleeting favour. Somerset had far more cause to feel uneasy than she did. But she had seen how Villiers eyed those he regarded as rivals - her husband among them. She had her suspicions, too, that it was he who had poisoned the King’s favourite buckhound. What better way to sever James’s trust in the man who cared for them?’

‘A special dinner to mark the betrothal has been hastily arranged at Buckingham Palace for that night. It is going to be a glittering affair and afterwards he and Elizabeth will make an appearance on the balcony to wave at the anticipated crowds. It will just be the start, Philip knows. His life will never be the same again.
But there is no going back now.’

‘there is a pervasive air of sadness about Mary in her twenties. This is a very apparent in the 1544 portrait, which shows a woman still youthful for 28. The eyes, though, lack sparkle and the downcast mouth betrays what she has suffered. It is still possible to see the attractive princess she once was, but she is visibly fading. She knows that life is passing her by.’

‘He has lost a title but gained a name: Mountbatten. Philip is ambivalent about that. On the one hand, he needs to be practical and it is just a name. On the other, it is not his father’s name. It is his uncle’s. Philip doesn’t begrudge Uncle Dickie that small victory but the knowledge that once again his father has been written out of his history niggles like a small stone in his shoe.’

“‘I cannot answer that now,’ said Gandalf. ‘Yet my heart guessed that Frodo and Gollum would meet before the end. For good, or for evil. But of Cirith Ungol I will not speak tonight. Treachery, treachery I fear; treachery of that miserable creature. But so it must be. Let us remember that a traitor may betray himself and do good that he does not intend. It can be so, sometimes. Good night!’”

‘At social occasions, the onus is on her to put people at their ease, but there is never anyone to put her at her ease. They treat her like a princess.
Philip treats her as Elizabeth.
It is not just that he is handsome. It is more that his vitality seems to suck the oxygen greedily from the room, leaving her short of breath. The very air seems to crisp when he walks through it.‘

“And she answered: ‘All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of the House of Eorl and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death.’”

‘What are you up to?’
‘Nothing, nothing,’ said Gollum softly. ‘Nice Master!’
‘I daresay,’ said Sam. ‘But where have you been to – sneaking off and sneaking back, you old villain?’
Gollum withdrew himself, and a green glint flickered under his heavy lids. Almost spider-like he looked now, crouched back on his bent limbs, with his protruding eyes. The fleeting moment had passed, beyond recall.

‘The uniform is horrid but at least it means Margaret isn’t jealous. She can get very sulky if she thinks I’m doing something she wants to do, but she says she has no desire to slide underneath a truck or get her hands filthy changing a tyre. I don’t know why I enjoy it so much. I think it’s because it’s about doing something and not just talking about it.’

‘his miserable enemy lay grovelling on the stones whimpering.
‘Don’t hurt us! Don’t let them hurt us, precious! They won’t hurt us will they, nice little hobbitses? We didn’t mean no harm, but they jumps on us like cats on poor mices, they did, precious. And we’re so lonely, gollum. We’ll be nice to them, very nice, if they’ll be nice to us, won’t we, yes, yess.”’