Carrying on

I am happy to report that I have discovered another opportunity to use the word recusant. You may recall I learned the word doing research for the unfortunate Guy Fawkes incident. I feel if one doesn't use new words, one quickly forgets them. Unfortunately, recusant isn't a word often used in my country, since people here could care less about someone's religion. Couldn't care less, I mean. Unless they are Muslim, I guess, but that is quite another story.

Recusant, I'm sure you remember, means Roman Catholic. Well, actually it means refusing to be Church of England, but Catholic is the main alternate choice that used to piss off Henry VIII, good queen Bess, James six-one (or is it one-six?), et al. Et tu. Et eggs.

"What did you have for breakfast, Tommy?"

"Teacher, I et six eggs for breakfast."

"Ate."

"Maybe it WAS eight I et."

Sigh.

It all started when I was doing research on the Order of the Garter. I think that part started when I Googled the Princess Royal by mistake, and I'm not sure the connection. I am even less sure how that led to another opportunity to use recusant. Wait... now I remember. That Parker-Bowes fellow was Anne's first boyfriend.

It's all rather circular: sir Humphrey de Trafford, millionaire multimillionaire racehorse owner, who came by his fortune through sacrifice and hard work and not through being connected to the right people, had a daughter who was the mother of the aforementioned Andrew Parker-Bowes, the guy who had the brief "relationship" with the Princess Royal whose brother quite liked one Camilla Rosemary Shand (whom I refuse to call Rosie) who later became the Dutchess of Cornwall (unless you are of the Scottish persuasion, then she's the Dutchess of Rothesay.) Well, Andrew didn't marry Anne, whom he was dating, and neither did her brother marry Camilla, whom he was more than infatuated with, so the sordid story goes. No, indeed. Andrew married Camilla right out from under him. In a manner of speaking. Then, though Andrew did marry Camilla, he, Andrew, took up with one Rosemary Pitman, descendent of the famous inventor of the Pitman system of shorthand writing, Andrew seemingly having a weakness for women named Rosemary, while the aforementioned brother of the Princess Royal never really let his affection for the Andrew-wife Camilla stay what you would call unrequited, if you get my drift. Now, if this slippery hole is still not quite deep enough for you, let me mention also that the aforementioned inventor of the famous shorthand system was a brother-in-law to an uncle of Diana, Princess of Wales. My GOD do these people have no shame!

And yet, I find I have drifted somewhat off the point in my righteous indignation. The de Traffords (racehorse guy, and so forth) are notable historical RECUSANTS. That means Andrew, who actually presumably TOUCHED the Princess Royal, was a gol-derned Catholic, same as Guy Fawkes. So was Camilla. JesusJosephandMary. And Diana? Who knows. She learned shorthand and took up with a Muslim, but she wasn't reCUsant by a long shot.

Just don't get me wound up about Camilla's ancestor, a mistress of Edward VII. Circular indeed. I know you won't.

Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Albert Edward.

By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the faith, Emperor of India.

Uncle Bertie.

As I research the last representative of the house of Saxe-Coberg and Gotha (which would soon be renamed Windsor by his son), I can't help drawing parallels between him and the current Prince of Wales. Albert Edward waited in the wings 60 years to become king, and then reigned for 9 years. Prince Charles has so far waited 57 years (he is now aged 61). British queens tend toward longevity.

Born November, 1841, at Buckingham Palace, grandson of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, christened Albert Edward after his father and maternal grandfather.

Unlike his elder sister, Edward did not excel in his studies. Instead, his talents were charm, sociability and tact. And, really, aren't those things more valuable to a constitutional monarch than a bagful of brains? I think so. This is not to say Edward was stupid by any means; he was just not what you would call a diligent student.

The Prince of Wales was largely excluded from any political power, and spent his life representing his mother at various functions for decades, pretty much the same as it is now. He wanted to join the army, but Mum said no since he was heir. I can picture him mentally shrugging as his thoughts turned to his next mistress. But no matter: mum gave him plenty of honorary military ranks and a trunk full of uniforms. (Incidentally, this diverged from the present Prince of Wales, who served honorably in the Royal Navy for 5 years.)

Edward was the first heir to the British throne to visit North America. He christened a bridge in Canada and laid a corner stone. He watched a tightrope walker make his way across Niagara Falls. He stayed a bit with President Buchanan and then went to Mount Vernon to honor the tomb of George Washington. Bet he was enthusiastic about that.

He met Longfellow, Emerson, Holmes. Not Thoreau.

In New York, at Trinity Church, prayers were said for the royal family for the first time since 1776. Surely that made his eyes water a bit. I think it was somewhere in this general time period that an American brand of pipe tobacco was named Prince Albert.

Edward gained a reputation for being a playboy. I guess that's the most diplomatic way of putting it. Once while playing army with his buddies in Ireland, the other officers hid an actress (Nellie Clifton) in the prince's tent. His ill father got wind of it and caught up with Edward at Cambridge to issue a personal reprimand. I sit here mentally watching Edward's eyes glaze over as Prince Albert laid it on him, expressing his profound disappointment. Jesus.

Unfortunately, Prince Albert died 2 weeks after the visit and Victoria went bananas, blaming Edward for his father's death. No guilt tripping in that family, no sir. And, boy, could she hold a grudge. She wore black for the rest of her life, and wrote to his older sister Vicky, "I never can, or shall, look at him without a shudder."

Before his death, Prince Albert had decided (and therefore so did the queen of course) that his son would marry Alexandra of Denmark. I am sitting here trying to conjure a mental image of the pleasant meeting when Victoria summoned Edward to tell him who his life-mate was going to be: "You've killed my man, you twit. Why cannot we keep our willy in our pants, then? You shall now marry that viking girl."

Or something on that order, as Edward smiled that vacant smile of his and thought, "Yes. Whatever, Mummy."

Alexandra was the eldest daughter of Prince Christian. Prince Christian was known as the father-in-law of Europe. His offspring, besides Alexandra, included George I of Greece (think: the current Duke of Edinburgh) and Alexandra's younger sister, Princess Dagmar - soon to be Empress Marie Fedorovna of Russia, wife of Tsar Alexander III and mother of Nicolas II. Between Denmark and the German state of Hesse, they cranked out the queens for years and years. But I digress.

So Edward married Alexandra and they lived happily ever after. And Edward begat George V and Georgie (as he was called in the family) married Queen Mary (called May - because Mary was too long, I guess) and the present queen is named, inventively, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary.

Edward and Alexandra were married at Windsor in 1863. He was 21, Alexandra was 18. Then they became entertainers. I don't mean they did song and dance on the stage, I mean they ENTERTAINED. Lavishly. My personal opinion is that spending money was Alexandra's revenge.

Returning to the incredibly sarcastic "happily ever-after", it was rumored there was a distinct possibility that Edward may not have been totally faithful to Alexandra. Or to put it another way, his willy continued to wander:

Actress Lillee Langtry; Lady Randolph Churchill (Mother of Sir Winston) Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick; actress Sarah Bernhardt; Alice Keppel; singer Hortense Schneider; prostitue Giulia Barucci; weathty humanitarian Agnes Keyser. 55 liaisons total. But only conjecture, of course.

Uncle Bertie tried to keep his affairs discreet. That is, he tried not to do it on the footpath in Trafalgar Square during the noon rush.

How did the Princess of Wales take all this? I'm guessing she looked the other way. The story that Alexandra allowed King Edward's last mistress, Alice Keppel, to visit the king on his deathbed is a complete myth.

But what goes around keeps coming around: Alice's great-granddaughter is one Camilla Parker Bowes. Believe it or don't.

Edward never admitted to any illegitimate children. What a surprise.

In 1871, Edward contracted Typhoid (the disease that is believed to have killed his father rather than a broken shocked heart) and nearly died. He didn't, of course.

At his coronation, his waist measured 48 inches (122 cm.)

He's the one who introduced the practice of eating Yorkshire Pudding on Sundays.

Victoria finally died in 1901 and Edward became king. The queen had intended for him to rule as Albert Edward, but, in perhaps his first EVER gesture of defiance, he chose Edward VII. He said he didn't want to "undervalue the name of Albert". Right.

All his life he was able to get along with almost everyone, of every station and every political belief. He had many friends in many places. He was the most popular king since at least the 1600s.

It was Edward's habit to smoke 20 cigarettes and 12 cigars a day. Alexandra returned from a visit to her brother, King George I of Greece, on May 5, 1910 and her husband suffered several heart attacks the next day, but he refused to go to bed. The Prince of Wales told him that one of his horses had won at Kempton Park that afternoon (Edward was heavily into horse racing) and the king replied, "I am very glad." Those were his final words.

4 kings: Edward VII (rear) George V (left); Edward VIII (the boy in back); George VI

George V and his father were more like brothers than father and son, and after Edward's death he wrote in his diary that he had lost his "best friend and the best of fathers... I never had a cross word with him in my life. I am heartbroken and overwhelmed with grief."

Edward VII is buried at Windsor Castle. His funeral marked the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank the world had ever seen.

He had a real sense of duty. He had a real zest for pleasure.

Victoria, Empress Frederick

Well it is a few days past "tomorrow" but I would like to continue with highlighting queen Victoria's children, beginning with her eldest daughter Victoria, called "Vicky" within the extended royal family. But first a little set-up if I may.

When I say the "extended" royal family, I refer to the royal houses in Europe at the time, all pretty much related, and thus all "family".

There were many countries in Europe in the 19th century that still had monarchs, or constitutional monarchs, but (Since this series of posts is about Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom) I will be referencing mainly the royal households of the UK, Austria, Germany, Denmark, and Russia. These were the big players in the 19th century, and up until World War I.

Born in late 1840 at Buckingham, Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa was soon created Princess Royal by her mother, since there were real prospects the little girl might become queen. As it turned out, she would become an Empress, but not of the British Empire.

Unlike her younger brother, who would become king of the United Kingdom, Vicky was intelligent and vivacious. When she was only 14, her mother and father arranged for her to be married to prince Frederick William of Prussia (Fritz) who was then second in line to the Prussian throne (and later the German Empire) behind his father. They were married 2 years later when Vicky was 17 years old.

Their marriage was, of course, a dynastic alliance, but (happily) it was a love match as well. Off to Germany the young girl went with her young husband. Soon thereafter, his father became king (Kaiser William I) and she suddenly found herself Crown Princess of Prussia.

These were war years as Prussia fought to consolidate all the German states into one Germany. Some of the fighting was with Denmark, and this caused strife within the British royal family because of their close ties to Denmark, but life went on. The monarchs of Europe never seemed to let wars stand in the way of family reunions.

Germany became a very militaristic state, run by aristocrats with saber scars above their eyes from fencing at university - quite the rage, even though sometimes self-inflicted. Otto von Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor, was the real power, overseeing the unification of Germany, and the old king went along, keeping his nose clean, sleeping in his metal soldiers' cot, pretending he was in charge, honestly believing his crown came from God, listening to Bismarck whisper visions of grandeur in his ear. He would be another Frederick the Great, would the old soldier. But Bismark called the shots.

When William I died, much of the country envisioned the dawn of a new era. Fritz and Vicky were modern-minded and forward-thinking, a much-needed breath of fresh air. Finally, change would come to Germany.

But by then it was too late. By the time he took the throne, Frederick III had advanced throat cancer and was already breathing through a tube. His reign lasted only 99 days.

When Vicky's son took the throne as Kaiser Wilhelm II, there was no doubt about there being any peace and quiet in Germany. Forget that dream.

William was an odd child. His grandmother, queen Victoria, never seemed to really like him. Vicky tried to exert a proper British influence on him through his early childhood teachings, but his heroes and final influences were the German aristocracy and the military. He would wear a uniform as long as he was in power. When the other royal children would visit - from England, from Russia, they would recall Cousin Willy as always bossing them around, deciding what they would play, making them sit while he read the Bible to them. A psychopath? You be the judge. He was the last king of Germany.

The Dowager Empress lived out her life in relative seclusion, known officially as the Empress Frederick. Vicky had 8 children and lived to 60 years old, dying just 7 months after her mother. She died of inoperable breast cancer. Her servants and maids asked to be moved farther away from Vicky's room so that her screams would not disturb them in the night.

Vicky always kept in close touch with other members of the British royal family, especially her younger brother, the future king Edward VII. There are some 3777 letters cataloged to her from her mother, queen Victoria, and over 4000 letters from Vicky to the British queen.

Queen Victoria's precocious firstborn was buried at Potsdam, next to her beloved husband and her two children who had died in childhood.

The nine children of Victoria and Albert

In the 19th century, the main royal houses of Europe were well stocked with queen Victoria's offspring and her grandchildren. Her nine children were:

Victoria

Albert (later Edward VII)

Alice

Alfred

Helena

Louise

Arthur

Leopold

Beatrice

You may already see some namesakes of the current royal family.

Tomorrow: Victoria, Empress of Prussia