The Heir and the Spare

Posted on March 10, 2015 by barbara

Next month will mark the arrival of Prince William and Kate’s second child; their oldest child Prince George was born in July 2013. Since Prince George is currently third in the line of succession to the British throne that would make him the eventual “heir” and his new sibling would be the “spare”.

The history of England has frequently been affected by the rules of the line of succession and there have been many spares that have gone on to inherit the throne. One example from long ago is King Henry VIII; he was the second son of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York and when his older brother, Arthur, died the crown passed to the younger Henry. A more recent example is George VI, the second son of King George VI and Queen Mary. His older brother, Edward, famously abdicated the throne for “the woman that he loved”, the American divorcee Wallis Simpson and the crown passed to the younger brother George. (more on these two brothers later in the post)

Currently the most recent “spares” have lived for many years in the shadows of their elder brothers but have still been able to have a life of their own within the confines of the Royal family and have occasionally stolen the spotlight from their older brother with mischievous and scandalous behavior. Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and the second son of Queen Elizabeth II will continue to move farther down the line of succession with each additional royal birth and the popular Prince Harry, the second son of Prince Charles and the grandson of the Queen, who will also move further down the line of succession as his brother, Prince William, has more children.

Now, let discuss some of Britain most famous “heirs and spares” …

Prince Albert Victor and Prince George

Prince Albert Victor and Prince George were the sons of Prince Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, and Alexandra of Denmark. Prince Albert Victor (then known as the Duke of Clarence) died suddenly in 1892 from a brief illness. His brother, Prince George, assumed the role as second in the line of succession to the British throne. Through their shared grief over the death Prince Albert Victor, Prince George and his brother’s former fiancée, Princess Mary of Teck, grew very close and they quickly fell in love. Queen Victoria, the Prince’s grandmother, was very fond of Princess Mary and encourage their union, the royal couple married in 1893. Then, after the long reign of Queen Victoria came to an end with her death in 1901, Prince Albert Edward became King Edward VII (until recently he had held the record as the longest serving Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne). King Edward VII only reigned for a short time, almost nine years, and he died in 1910. His son, Prince George, became King George V and he reigned from 1910 to 1936. King George V and Queen Mary were married for forty-four years and had six children.

Prince Edward and Prince Albert

Prince Edward and Prince Albert were the sons of King George V and Queen Mary. The elder one, Prince Edward the Prince of Wales, grew into a charismatic man who was a perpetual bachelor that enjoyed socializing with married women while the younger one, Prince Albert the Duke of York, was shy and introverted with a nervous stutter and he was married to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon since 1923. Prince Edward ultimately met an American woman named Wallis Simpson and became seriously involved. Then, King George V died and Prince Edward ascended to the throne as King Edward VIII. During the next 12 months, before his official coronation, Wallis divorced her husband and King Edward planned to marry her. This caused a constitutional crisis because the Church of England did not recognize divorce and Parliament eventually forced King Edward to abdicate and as a result his brother, Prince Albert, became King George VI. It has been said that the stress of being the monarchy along with the onset of World War II, not to mention lung cancer caused by a life-long habit of smoking, caused his early death at the age of 56. With the death of King George in 1952, his eldest daughter ascended to the throne, this was because King George had no sons and only two daughters, so the crown went to Queen Elizabeth II and she is only the sixth women in the history of England to become the ruling monarch.

Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret

Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret are/were the daughters of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and they were only 10 and 6 when their father ascended to the throne of England. The girls enjoyed a special closeness with their parents and had a relatively quiet childhood living in a house on Burton Street in Mayfair section of London and later at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle when their father became King. Princess Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, was very serious, studious and orderly almost to the point of obsession but she also had a wonderful sense of humor. Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip (now known as the Duke of Edinburgh) in 1947. Princess Margaret, the younger daughter was said to be the more beautiful and glamorous one and as a child she was very mischievous which was a trait that was carried over when she got older. Princess Margaret had a scandalous affair with Peter Townsend and after her father’s death in 1952 Townsend divorced his wife with the intention of marrying Princess Margaret. By this time, Princess Elizabeth was now Queen Elizabeth II, and despite the fact that Princess Margaret was truly happy, the Queen could not grant her permission for them to marry because the Church of England and Parliament strongly advised against marriage to a divorced man. Princess Margaret later married Antony Armstrong-Jones (now known as the Earl of Snowdon) in 1960, they had two children but eventually divorced in 1978 and Princess Margaret died in 2002. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip have been married for over 68 years and they have four children. In September 2015, the Queen will surpass the record set by Queen Victoria thereby making her the longest serving English monarch.

Prince Charles and Prince Andrew

Prince Charles and Prince Andrew are the sons of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Much has been written about the older brother Prince Charles (known as the Prince of Wales) especially in the last twenty years, but growing up he tended to be serious and always the dutiful son who did as he was told. The younger brother Prince Andrew (known as the Duke of York) was quite the playboy dating several beautiful women until he eventually married in Sarah Ferguson in 1986. They were married for ten years, had two daughters and divorced in 1996. Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in a grand royal wedding in 1981 and they had two sons. The royal couple scandalously divorced in 1996 after accusations of infidelity made the headline of newspapers and tabloids. Tragically, Princess Diana died in 1997 in a car accident in Paris, France. Several years later, Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005, she is now known as the Duchess of Cornwall. Currently Prince Charles has become the longest serving heir apparent in the history of Britain, 59 years and counting from 1952 to the present. (The previous record was set by Prince Charles’ great-great-grandfather, King Edward VII who was the son of Queen Victoria)

Royal Note: Princess Anne was the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. At the time there was a century old English law that strictly determined the line of succession to inherit the throne. The Act of Settlement 1701 gave preference to male heirs over female members of the family, meaning that a male would take the place of older female siblings in the order of succession. In this case, en Princess Anne fell farther down the line of succession when her younger brothers, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, were born. Princess Anne has been married twice, her first marriage was to Mark Phillips in 1973, they had two children but divorced in 1992. Her second marriage was to Timothy Laurence in 1992.

Prince William and Prince Harry

Prince William and Prince Harry are the sons of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Much like their predecessors, the “heir” tended to be more aware of their destiny and was expected to behave in the manner of a future monarch while the “spare” had a less restrictions and a more carefree life with less pressure. Princess Diana made a concerted effort to also exposure her children to life outside the palace walls and she took them on casual and fun trips to McDonald’s and Walt Disney World but also more serious places such as homeless shelters and AIDS clinics.

The younger brother, Prince Henry but better known as Harry, went to the same secondary schools as his older brother but then decided not to go to university but to serve his honorable duty in the British military same as the generations before him. Prince Harry enrolled at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and received his commission as a second lieutenant. In 2007, he went to Afghanistan and served there for 77 days with no publicity until after his return. In 2012, he returned to Afghanistan for a 20 week deployment with the British Army Air Corps. Currently Prince Harry is not married and enjoying his life as a bachelor on the London social scene.

The oldest brother, Prince William, went on to study at Eton and later the University of St. Andrews located in Scotland where he met his future wife Kate Middleton. Then he completed officer training at Sandhurst and receiving his commission as a lieutenant and then trained as a military pilot eventually working with the RAF Search and Rescue Forces as a helicopter ambulance pilot. Prince William married Kate Middleton in 2011, had a son named Prince George in 2013 and are expecting their second child in 2015.

Currently Prince Charles is heir to the British throne. His son, Prince William, is currently second in the line of succession followed by his son, Prince George.

Royal Note: Recently in October of 2011 at the Commonwealth Meeting held in Perth, Australia the heads of the sixteen Commonwealth countries, with Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state, announced changes to the Act of Settlement. The Perth Agreement is the provision made to the original act of succession which proposed an end to the first born male preference. This was a much debated issue since it would change the centuries old rule and set precedence that would directly affect the children of Prince William and Kate, those members of the royal family born before 2011 would keep their place in the line of succession. To put this new ruling into perspective, Prince William and Kate had been recently married but it was before they were expecting their first child. So, if they had a girl it would become the next in line to the throne and remain at that position even if a brother were to follow her. Of course this point was moot because Prince William and Kate’s first child was a boy!

For information about British Royal Wedding, please check out the four part series and click on the link to Part One. For information about the tradition of the British Royal Births & Christenings, please click on the link.

Norman Rockwell’s Birthday

Posted on February 3, 2015 by barbara

I have enjoyed the art of Norman Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) for a long time; his whimsical depiction of life in America always brought a smile. His works also included subjects of more serious matters, such as the Four Freedom series. So, in honor of his birthday, I will discuss the life of Rockwell, his many paintings and illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post and Boy’s Life magazines and at the end I will give some information on the Norman Rockwell Museum located in Stockbridge, MA.

The life of Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell was born on February 3, 1894 in New York City, his parents were Jarvis and Anne (Hill) Rockwell and he had an older brother who was also named Jarvis. His father was the manager of a Philadelphia-based textile company and he worked at the office located in New York. Rockwell showed an interest as a young boy for drawing and painting so at the age of 14 he left high school to attend the Chase Art School and later the National Academy of Design.

In 1912, Rockwell’s first full time paying job was as a staff artist for Boy’s Life magazine which was a publication for the Boy Scouts of America, a new organization that had recently formed in 1910. Within a year of going to work for Boy’s Life magazine he became the art editor and held the position for the next three years. Shown below is his first cover for Boy’s Life published in September 1913 called “Scout at Ship’s Wheel”.

In 1915, the Rockwell family moved from the city to the town of New Rochelle, New York. It was there that he shared a studio with Clyde Forsythe, a cartoonist for the Saturday Evening Post magazine. With Forsythe’s connections, Rockwell was able to get one of his paintings used for the May 1916 cover of Saturday Evening Post called “Mother’s Day Off” and it is shown below. Rockwell went on to have eight more covers within the next twelve months – I would say that for a young man of only 22 years old Rockwell was doing very well!

In regards to Rockwell’s personal life, at this time Rockwell met Irene O’Connor when she moved into the same boardinghouse he was living at in New York City. (Irene is shown on the Literary Digest cover, “Mother Tucking Children into Bed” in January 1921) The couple married on July 1, 1916 and they did not have any children before divorcing in 1930.

In regards to Rockwell profession life, his association with the Saturday Evening Post continued to prove to be a very productive partnership and over a span of 47 years Rockwell created 323 original covers for the magazine. Rockwell featured boy scouts in occasional covers and in 1926 he resumed work for the Boy Scouts of America by creating original illustrations for their annual calendars.

After Rockwell’s divorce from his first wife, he escaped the East Coast and went to California for a short time and that is where he met and married Mary Barstow on March 27, 1930. The couple returned to New York to live in New Rochelle and had three sons; Jarvis born in 1932 (a visual artist), Thomas born in 1933 (author of children’s books) and Peter born in 1936 (a sculptor).

Rockwell was inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address which spoke about the four principals of freedom that were the universal rights of the people of the world, and as a result he painted the famous Four Freedoms series. It took him seven months to create the four paintings, “Freedom of Speech”, “Freedom of Worship”, “Freedom from Want” and “Freedom from Fear” and they were published in February and March 1943 in the Saturday Evening Post accompanied by a magazine article written about each of the freedoms. Afterwards, the Four Freedom paintings were sent on a nationwide tour to raise money for war bonds sales, $130,000 was raised to help the war efforts. In addition, the Four Freedoms were reproduced into United States postage stamps and issued in 1943 and 1946.

Rockwell continued painting for the next twenty years and he also worked with his son, Thomas, to write an autobiography called “My Adventures as an Illustrator” which was published in 1960. One of his most famous paintings featured in the book and also on the February 13, 1960 Saturday Evening Post cover called the “Triple Self-Portrait”.

By this time the Rockwell family had moved from New York to Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1953 because Rockwell’s wife, Mary, was being treated at a psychiatric hospital in Stockbridge for mental health issues. Then in 1959, Mary died suddenly of a heart attack. Later Rockwell married his third wife, Mary “Molly” Punderson, a retired schoolteacher, on October 25, 1961. Rockwell’s third marriage was to bring him great happiness and they enjoyed their lives together in Stockbridge.

Rockwell’s last Saturday Evening Post cover was published in 1963 and then he went to work creating covers for Look magazine for the following ten years. During this period, Rockwell paintings became more serious in nature with such topics as civil rights and space exploration. (shown below are the 1964 “The Problem We Live With” featuring Ruby Bridges and the 1965 “Suiting Up” featuring astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young – a copy of this one hangs in my husband’s home office) Rockwell was also privately commissioned to paint the portraits of four United States President; they were Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. At the age of eighty-two years old, Rockwell received his final commission from the Boy Scouts of America for their annual calendar, during his sixty-four year association with the organization and he created four hundred and seventy-one illustrations which were used in calendars, periodicals, guidebooks as well as other promotional items.

Norman Rockwell - The Problem We Live With

In 1977, Rockwell received the United States highest civilian honor of the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his “vivid and affectionate portraits of our country”. Sadly, Rockwell died on November 8, 1978 from emphysema and he is buried in the Stockbridge Cemetery in Stockbridge, MA.

The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA

In 1969, Norman and Molly Rockwell founded the Norman Rockwell Museum and its original location was at the Old Corner House in Stockbridge, MA. In 1994, the museum moved to its current location on a 36 acre site overlooking the Housatonic River Valley. The museum has the largest collection of almost 575 original Norman Rockwell art, including his many preliminary sketches and completed paintings for his many magazine covers. The Norman Rockwell Museum archives contain more than 100,000 items which includes photographs, letters pertaining to his business, personal, and fan correspondence and personal mementos. Visitors will also see Rockwell’s studio which was bequeathed to the museum in 1976 and features his original art materials, equipment, furnishings and his 500 volume art library.

For more information on planning a trip to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum, please see their website at www.nrm.org.

Queen Alexandra – the Fashion Icon

Posted on January 22, 2015 by barbara

The Princess of Wales was a fashion icon in her day … but wait, I’m not talking about Diana but Princess Alexandra. Princess Alexandra of Denmark married Prince Albert Edward, the son of Queen Victoria, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on March 1863. Princess Alexandra was barely 18 years old at the time of the wedding and she was very beautiful and tall in stature with a slim figure which was in sharp contrast to the women of the time who had much fuller figures. (Queen Victoria was barely five feet tall and rather plump!)

Princess Alexandra’s wedding dress was created by Charles Worth, an English fashion designer working in France, who dominated Parisian fashion at the end of nineteenth century. Following the tradition started by Queen Victoria, Princess Alexandra’s ivory gown, with a separate bodice top and full skirt, was made of English silk with a Honiton lace overlay featuring elaborate embroidered symbols of an English rose, an Irish shamrock and a Scottish thistle. The silver moiré train was 21 feet in length and the gown was further embellished with orange blossoms and myrtle garlands and she wore a veil of Honiton lace with a wreath of even more orange blossoms and myrtle. Her bridal bouquet was made of white rosebuds, lilies of the valley, rare orchids, orange blossoms and of course the traditional sprigs of myrtle said to have been grown from a planting taken from Queen Victoria’s wedding bouquet 23 years earlier. Prince Albert Edward gave her a wedding present of a pearl necklace, earrings and brooch which she wore along with an opal and diamond bracelet that was a gift from Queen Victoria. (For more information about the wedding of Prince Albert Edward and Princess Alexandra, please click on the link British Royal Weddings – Part Two)

At the time that Alexandra came to England to marry the heir to the throne it had been a few years since the death of the Queen Victoria’s husband, her beloved Prince Albert, and the Queen had withdrawn from society stifled by her grief and she went into a self-imposed period of prolonged mourning. Prince Albert Edward was heir to the throne and as the Prince of Wales he was put into service as the Queen’s representative for official functions and together the royal couple proved to be extremely popular with the public. Prince Albert Edward soon became obsessed with royal protocol and dressing in proper clothes for every occasion and it was not unusual for him to completely change his clothing a dozen times a day. Taking on her new role as Princess of Wales, Alexandra was always acutely aware of her royal duty to dress appropriately for official functions and whenever she was seen in public she was always elegantly dressed in fashions that flattered her body type that would made with the finest fabrics.

Princess Alexandra was also very creative in adapting her style of clothing to mask several physical impediments. It was said that she had a scar on her neck, possibly from surgery when she was a child, and she took to wearing day dresses with high collars and in the evening she wore multiple layers of pearls or diamond necklaces that would cover her neck, these were known as collier de chein meaning collar necklace. This style of jewelry became very popular with society ladies and a fashion trend was soon started.

Princess Alexandra also developed a curvature of the spine which was a complication from rheumatic fever that she contracted in 1867. As a result, she walked with a distinct limp for several years and very cleverly adapted her clothing to distract from the physical disability thereby minimizing attention to the problem, or so she thought! The public noticed anyway, calling it the “Alexandra Limp”, and in a strange way it caused another fashion trend. Ladies so admired everything about Princess Alexandra that they were soon emulating the limp by wearing special pairs of shoes in different heel heights or walking with canes. The strange trend did not last long because women fashions were soon changing from dresses with full skirts to more tapered ones causing women to walk with smaller steps and thus eliminating the “need” to limp.

In 1901, Queen Victoria died and Prince Albert Edward became King Edward VII. As Queen Alexandra prepared for the coronation she knew she wanted a very special gown and she called upon her friend, Lady Curzon, to help her. The Coronation Day was set for June when the weather in London would be hot and since the Queen would already be wearing a heavy velvet robe as part of her coronation regalia the material for the dress was made of lightweight net with metallic embroidery. Lady Curzon oversaw the making of the beautiful material which was created in India and the fabric was embroidered with the symbols of England (rose), Ireland (shamrock) and Scotland (thistle) that would represent the countries that King Edward would rule.

Part of Queen Alexandra’s coronation regalia included a Queen Consort crown that was especially made for her to wear. In 1849, the East India Company had acquired the large 186 carat diamond, known as the Kohinoor Diamond, which was given to Queen Victoria. The Kohinoor diamond was said to be cursed and if any male wore it he would surely lose the throne. Queen Victoria, being female, did not fear the curse and the Kohinoor diamond was cut into a smaller 105 carat diamond which Queen Victoria wore set in a brooch. After the death of Queen Victoria, the Kohinoor Diamond was set into the Queen Consort’s crown instead of King’s crown to avoid the possibility of the validity of the curse. Queen Alexandra’s crown had a platinum frame designed as circlet accented with four large crosses (the center cross was set with the Kohinoor Diamond and the other crosses set with “smaller” diamonds) and four large fluer-de-lis for a base. Four arches set with three rows of diamonds each gently curved to join together and topped with a diamond encrusted orb and cross at the center., approximately 3688 diamonds were used. An inner lining of purple velvet was used under the arches and ermine lined the base so that it would set comfortably on the Queen’s head.

(Special Royal Note: The custom continued afterwards with the Kohinoor Diamond always worn in the Queen Consort’s crown, this was done for Queen Mary at the coronation of George V and Queen Elizabeth at the coronation of George VI but for their daughter’s coronation, Queen Elizabeth II wore the St. Edward’s Crown that has been used to crown every sovereign since 1661. For more information, click on the link Crown Jewels of England – Part Two)

To complete her coronation ensemble, Queen Alexandra wore Queen Victoria’s diamond bracelet and earrings. Then she layered even more jewels across the front her coronation gown and they were stitched onto the fabric. At her waist she wore the Dagmar necklace (a reminder of her Danish heritage) as a stomacher and several diamond earrings were added to the necklace as pendants. She also wore a set of Queen Victoria’s diamond bow brooches pinned down the front of the gown with additional emerald earrings suspended from the bows as pendants. Around her neck Queen Alexandra wore Queen Victoria’s large diamond necklace and her customary strands of several pearl necklaces. Needless to say, the bodice of her coronation dress sparkled beautifully!

During the reign of King Edward and Queen Alexandra, which became known as the Edwardian Age (1901-1910), women fashions changed from dresses with full skirts worn with several layers of undergarments to dresses with tapered skirts, tight laced corsets and bustled trains accented with layers of lace and beaded appliques. Queen Alexandra continued to influence fashion and King Edward spent lavishly on a large wardrobe of dresses and countless pieces of jewelry including necklaces, bracelets, brooches and tiaras. The King was very interested in what the Queen wore and he was always aware of royal protocol and correct dress, in fact the King once reprimanded the Queen for wearing her Garter sash incorrectly and had her change it immediately before leaving the palace!

Shown below are two dress examples, the one on the left is a Victorian style dress and the one on the right is a Edwardian style dress.

After the death of King Edward VII in 1910, Queen Alexandra took on a smaller role as Queen Mother and she quietly retired to her country home of Sandringham to allow her son, King George V to begin his reign. The youthful appearance that had remained with her throughout the years had begun to fade and she took to wearing heavy make-up and veils to shield her aging face. She slowly removed herself from public as her hearing and eyesight began to fail and she spent an increasing amount of time with her children, grandchildren and her beloved dogs.

The life of Alexandra of Denmark, later Princess of Wales and Queen Alexandra

Alexandra of Denmark was born on December 1, 1844 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel. Alexandra was the oldest of their five children, her brothers and sisters were George (later George I of Greece, Dragmar (later Empress of Russis, Thyra (Crown Princess of Hanover) and Prince Valdemar of Denmark.

In 1863, Prince Christian succeeded his distant cousin, King Frederick VII, to the Danish throne. Prior to that time, Alexandra (“Alix”) and her family had been living a very quiet and modest life in a “grace and favour” townhouse adjacent to the palace in Copenhagen. It was a very normal childhood with one exception, the famous author, Hans Christian Anderson, was an occasional visitor to their home and he would tell the children his stories before bedtime!

The same year that her father became King Christian IX of Denmark, Alexandra left for England to marry the heir to the British throne. At the age of sixteen years old she became engaged to Prince Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales and the son of Queen Victoria. On the recommendation of her eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, Queen Victoria had personally picked Alexandra to marry “Bertie”, as he was known in the family. Prince Albert Edward was something of a wild playboy and the Queen wanted him to settle down and become more responsible. At the time of the wedding it had been a few years since the death of the Queen’s beloved husband, Prince Albert, and the Queen had blamed Prince Edward for his involvement in his father’s death. The story goes that Prince Albert had traveled down to Cambridge to have a serious discussion with Prince Albert Edward about his indiscreet affair with an actress that could possible bring shame to the royal family. Father and son had taken a long walk in the rain to discuss the issue and shortly after returning home Prince Albert became seriously ill and died a few weeks later. At the time it was believed that he died from typhoid fever but later medical research by historians showed that in reality he had been suffering from long term stomach problems for several years and his cause of death was possibly abdominal cancer.

The wedding of Prince Albert Edward and Princess Alexandra took place on March 10, 1863 at the St. George Chapel, Windsor Castle. Because the Royal Court was still in mourning following the death of Prince Albert the wedding was a solemn occasion. Queen Victoria refused to take part in the ceremony and watched from a secluded area in the St. George Chapel. (For more information about the wedding ensemble of Princess Alexandra, please see the detailed description previously mentioned in this post)

After the wedding, the Queen continued her self-imposed period of prolonged mourning and withdrew from society and was rarely being seen in public for royal functions. The public was outraged and felt that their Queen had selfishly abandoned her royal duties to crown and country. Prince Albert Edward was heir to the throne and he was put into service as the Queen’s representative for official functions and together the royal couple proved to be extremely popular with the public. Princess Alexandra was to hold the title of Princess of Wales the longest in British history, from 1863 to 1901. Until very recently her husband, Prince Albert Edward held the title of Prince of Wales the longest, just over 59 years from 1842 to 1901. (His great-great-grandson, Prince Charles, broke that record of the longest serving heir apparent in 2011; he has been Prince of Wales since 1952 to the present which makes it currently 63 years and still counting!)

As Princess of Wales, Alexandra became a fashion icon influencing the British clothing industry with her elegant style of dress that was copied for the society women who were demanding to emulate her style of clothes and jewelry. In political matters, she failed miserably in her attempts to influence her husband and the British ministers to favor Danish and Greek interests over those of Germany and Prussia. The reasoning behind this was that her father was King of Denmark and she also had a brother that later became King of Greece. Furthermore she despised her husband’s nephew, Wilhelm II, who was the German Emperor and King of Prussia. As a result of her interference, Alexandra was restricted to uncontroversial public duties involving charitable organizations.

Princess Alexandra was known to be gracious and charming in her public life but in private she was often affectionate and carefree. Despite a limp she developed as a result of rheumatic fever complications shortly after the birth of her third child, she enjoyed many physically challenging activities, such as dancing and ice skating, and she was also an excellent horsewomen. One activity that Queen Victoria, her extremely strict and proper mother-in-law, did not approve of was Alexandra’s participation in hunting which the Queen felt was unbecoming of a lady of her royal stature.

One aspect of the Prince and Princess of Wales marriage that drew severe criticism and disapproval from Queen Victoria was the royal couple’s almost constant entertaining and the Prince’s gambling and drinking. Most troublesome to both Princess Alexandra and the Queen was the Prince’s roving eye for beautiful women and his numerous affairs. Princess Alexandra handled her husband’s infidelities with dignity and silence but eventually the two began to live separate lives with her living most of the time at Sandringham and Prince Albert Edward staying at Marlborough House in London to perform his royal duties and allowing him freedom to carry on numerous relationships with his mistresses. Despite this fact, Prince Albert Edward and Princess Alexandra had six children; they were Prince Albert Victor born in 1864, George (the future King George V) born in 1865, Louise born in 1867, Victoria born in 1868, Maud born in 1869 and John born in 1871 who sadly died shortly after his birth. (For more information about the Sandringham estate , please click on the link)

Prince Edward and Princess Alexandra with their children

Throughout the years, there were two separate events that would have a direct effect on the lives of Prince Albert Edward and Princess Alexandra. The first event occurred in 1871 when Prince Albert contracted typhoid, the same disease that supposedly brought about his father death which the Queen still earnestly believed Prince Albert Edward indirectly caused. The mother and son were never close in childhood and even more so after the death of her beloved husband but upon hearing the new about her son’s illness she quickly traveled to Sandringham to keep a vigil over her son’s sick bed. Luckily Prince Albert Edward recovered and Princess Alexandra, Queen Victoria and in fact the entire nation joyfully celebrated his recovery. Afterward, the relationship of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert Edward improved slightly and they developed a better understanding of one another.

The second event that was to directly affect the lives of Prince Albert Edward and Princess Alexandra happened in 1892. While participating in a few days of hunting at the Sandringham estate Prince Albert Victor, the royal couple’s oldest son, developed pneumonia and died a short time later. It was a great shock to the Royal Family since Prince Albert had always been in robust health and he had recently become engaged to Mary of Teck and preparations were underway for their upcoming wedding. After the death of Prince Albert Victor their second son, George, became closer with his brother’s former fiancée through their shared sadness and mourning. George and Mary soon fell in love and were married a year later in 1893. It was said that the ever meddling Queen Victoria, who had always had a deep fondness for Mary, encouraged the romance and approved of the marriage. (As a result of the death of his brother, George, took his place in the line of succession and later became King George V)

In 1901, Queen Victoria died and the Prince of Wales became King Edward VII with Alexandra as his Queen Consort, it was almost a year and a half between King Edward’s accession to the throne to his official coronation day in June of 1902. This long period of time was due to the fact that just days before the scheduled coronation, King Edward had appendicitis and the event was postponed to allow the King to have an operation and recuperate. (For more information about the coronation regalia worn by Queen Alexandra, please see the detailed description previously mentioned in this post)

Very little changed in the daily life of Queen Alexandra and she continued her charitable work and spending time with her numerous grandchild. After the death of her father, King Christian IX of Denmark, the Queen purchase a house near Copenhagen in 1907 which she used as a private retreat for her and her sister Dragmar, now the Dowager Empress of Russia. In early 1910, she was visiting her brother, King George I of Greece, when she was called back to England when King Edward became seriously ill. She arrived at Sandringham one day before her husband died. Being the gracious person that she was and fully understanding her husband’s needs she allowed his mistress, Alice Keppel, to visit King Edward’s bedside to say their goodbyes.

Dowager Queen Alexandra and her sister Dowager Empress Dagmar

After waiting for so long, King Edward VII’s reign was a relatively short 10 years. Alexandra was now the Dowager Queen and her second son had ascended to the throne as King George V. Being the ever dutiful son and sensitive to his mother’s feelings and comfort, the new King allowed her to remain living in Sandringham and when he visited the estate he took up residence in a smaller home located on the property. Over the following years, Alexandra health slowly declined and she developed severe rheumatism in her legs and her eyesight began to fail as well as her hearing due to a hereditary condition inherited from her mother, she was almost completely deaf. On November 20, 1925 the Dowager Queen Alexandra died at Sandringham after suffering a heart attack. She is buried next to her husband in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

The Cambridge Emeralds

Posted on November 6, 2014 by barbara

The Cambridge Emeralds came into the royal family through Queen Mary who was the grandmother of the current queen, Queen Elizabeth II. The story is a very interesting one in which the emeralds were originally acquired by Augusta of Hesse- Kassel, the Duchess of Cambridge (Queen Mary’s grandmother) in 1818 at a charity lottery while they were in Frankfort, Germany. The box that was the prize is said to have contained somewhere between 30 to 40 cabochon emeralds (cabochon is a French word meaning a gemstone which is slightly shaped and polished as opposed to being cut and faceted).

The Duchess had some of the emeralds set into a pair of drop earrings and a pendant necklace. After her death her daughter, Mary Adelaide, the Duchess of Teck (Queen Mary’s mother) inherited the emeralds. Unfortunately, the Cambridge emeralds were almost lost to the royal family when they were passed onto Prince Francis of Teck (Queen Mary’s brother) and when he died suddenly in 1910 the emeralds fell into the possession of his mistress. Luckily, Princess Mary of Teck (later to become Queen Mary) retrieved the emeralds under questionable circumstances.

Queen Mary was known to wear numerous pieces of jewelry at one time and on the occasion of the Imperial Durbar held in Delhi in 1911, when King George V was crowned Emperor of India, she had a majority of the Cambridge emeralds set into what became known as the Delhi Durbar parure. (A parure in royal terms is a set of matching jewelry that would sometimes include a tiara, necklace, bracelet, brooch and earrings)

Then in 1921, Queen Mary bought a diamond and pearl tiara from the Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. The tiara had been smuggled out of Russia by a British diplomat during the 1917 revolution. After acquiring the tiara, Queen Mary had it altered and the original teardrop pearls could be replaced by fifteen Cambridge cabochon emeralds. (Please click on the link, the Queen’s Jewelry Collection – Part One, for additional information on the Grand Duchess Vladimr Tiara)

The remaining Cambridge emeralds were used in additional brooches, necklaces, bracelets and earrings made by Garrards, the Royal Jewelers. These pieces of jewelry were cleverly designed so that the emeralds could be detachable from their setting so that Queen Mary would be able to insert gemstones that would coordinate with the color of her gowns.

All of the jewelry mentioned; the Delhi Durbar parure, the Vladimir tiara and the additional pieces using the Cambridge emeralds, were the personal property of Queen Mary. Eventually, Queen Elizabeth II inherited the collection in 1953.

The Cambridge Emerald Collection including the Delhi Durbar Parure

The Delhi Durbar Tiara – The tiara was originally part of the Delhi Durbar Parure and was set with several of the Cambridge emeralds, many years later the ten cabochon emeralds would be eventually used in the Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara. The Delhi Durbar Tiara is now part of Queen Elizabeth’s personal jewelry collection and was most recently worn by Camilla, the current Duchess of Cornwall.

Delhi Durbar Tiara worn by the Duchess of Cornwall

The Delhi Durbar Necklace – The Delhi Durbar Necklace was specifically made for the 1911 Delhi Durbar and is set with nine cabochon Cambridge emeralds, six large diamonds, numerous smaller diamonds and the Cullinan VII diamond which is an 8.8 carat marquise shaped diamond. The necklace was made by Garrard at the request of King George V and was presented to Queen Mary on occasion of her 44^th birthday. Since the Queen Elizabeth inherited the necklace in 1953 she usually wears it paired with the Vladimir Tiara for evening events.

Delhi Durbar Necklace worn by Queen Elizabeth

The Delhi Durbar Bracelet – The original Delhi Durbar Parure included three emerald bracelets made by Garrard and this one is set in platinum and gold with three of the Cambridge emeralds and several diamonds. Later, when Queen Elizabeth inherited the jewelry collection from her grandmother, Queen Mary, the Delhi Durbar Bracelet was one of her favorite pieces and she often wears the bracelet for evening engagements.

The Delhi Durbar Earrings – The Delhi Durbar earrings are set with one of the Cambridge oval shaped cabochon emeralds surrounded by 11 diamonds and a matching emerald provided by Garrard surrounded by an additional 11 diamonds. Since Queen Mary would often wear several necklaces at one time, the earrings were kept relatively simple in style.

The Delhi Durbar Stomacher and Scroll Cambridge Emerald Brooch – These pieces of jewelry were specially made by Garrard for Queen Mary to wear to the 1911 Delhi Durbar. The Delhi Durbar Stomacher is set in gold with seven of the Cambridge emeralds, chips from the Cullinan diamond and several smaller diamonds. The stomacher was a favorite of Queen Mary and she wore it often with several additional brooches, such as the Cullinan V Heart Brooch and the Cullinan VIII Emerald-cut Brooch, to create an impressive display. (a stomacher is customarily a set of elaborate pieces of jewelry that are normally worn over the bodice of a gown) One of those additional brooches worn with the Delhi Durbar Stomacher was the Scroll Cambridge Emerald Brooch which included a square-shaped emerald placed in a scrolled diamond setting and a removable emerald pendant. Since the Cambridge Emerald collection passed to Queen Elizabeth in 1953 she rarely wears the Stomacher but occasionally wears the Scroll Brooch for day or evening engagements.

Delhi Durbar Stomacher worn by Queen Mary with Delhi Durbar Brooches

The Delhi Carved Emerald Brooch – Queen Mary was given the Delhi Carved Emerald Brooch by the ladies of India to wear at the Delhi Durbar in 1911. This brooch does not contain one of the Cambridge Emeralds but it is included in the Delhi Durbar Parure. Set in silver and gold, the large hexagon shaped emerald is intricately carved with the images a rose on the front and an unidentified plant on the back and it is surrounded by several diamonds. Queen Mary wore the brooch pinned at the top of the Delhi Durbar Stomacher with additional brooch pinned below. In 1953, the Delhi Carved Emerald Brooch was passed to Queen Elizabeth and she only wears in occasionally due to its heavy weight.

The Round Cambridge Emerald Brooch – Unlike the other pieces of Cambridge Emerald jewelry collection, this brooch was not specifically made for the Delhi Durbar although it was worn for that occasion in 1911. The round cabochon emerald is surrounded by two rows of diamonds with a pear shaped emerald pendant that can be detached. After the death of Queen Mary, the brooch was passed to Queen Elizabeth who wears it often and mostly with the pendant attached and but she will occasionally wear it without the pendant.

Delhi Durbar Round Brooch worn with pendant by Queen Elizabeth

Delhi Durbar Round Brooch worn without pendant by Queen Elizabeth

The Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara – In 1921, Queen Mary bought a diamond and pearl tiara from the Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. Queen Elizabeth inherited the tiara in 1953 and frequently wears it with the original teardrop pendants and occasionally with the interchangeable Cambridge Emerald pendants. (Please click on the following link, the Queen’s Jewelry Collection – Part Two, for additional information on the Grand Duchess Vladimr Tiara)

The Art Deco Emerald Choker – There is some controversy surrounding this Art Deco Emerald Choker and it was always believed that this necklace was created for Queen Mary with the Cambridge Emeralds for the 1911 Delhi Durbar. Recently it was determined that the emeralds used in the necklace were in fact a gift to Queen Mary from the Ladies of India and this necklace is sometimes confused with the Delhi Durbar Necklace. The confusion lies in the fact that in 1921 Queen Mary had the original necklace redesigned and shortened into an Art Deco style choker set in platinum which she worn with a multiple strands of diamond necklaces. The Art Deco choker was passed to Queen Mary in 1953 but she did not prefer the shortened style. Much later in the 1980s the Queen loaned the choker to Diana, the Princess of Wales. Diana wore the choker often and it became one of her signature pieces of jewelry. Then in 1985 on a tour of Australia she wore the chocker in a very unusual way. At an evening engagement in Melbourne Diana cleverly accessorized her beautiful turquoise Emanuel designed evening gown by wearing the chocker as a bandeau in a distinctive 1920 style across her forehead. Upon Diana’s death in 1997 the necklace was returned to the Queen.

Delhi Durbar Choker - Princess Diana wears as headpeice

Also, if you are interested in more information about the Royal Family and their jewels, please click on the links to the following posts: The Crown Jewels (Part One and Part Two) and the Queen’s Jewelry Collection (Part One and Part Two)

Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Posted on October 23, 2014 by barbara

During this Halloween season I thought it would be a good time to discuss the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. I remember when I was a small child seeing the classic Disney animated movie which told the story of a man named Ichabod Crane. The local living history farm not far from where we live has an autumn festival and the highlight of the hayride is always the appearance of the Headless Horseman and our family has made it an annual must-see event that we enjoy.

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is originally a short story written by Washington Irving and first published in 1820 under the pseudonym of Geoffrey Crayon. The story is based on an old German folktale known as “The Wild Huntsman” about a phantom rider which sometimes appeared headless as he would chase trespassers through the woods. Irving had been inspired by these German tales and wrote the story as part of his book, “The Sketch Book”, while he was visiting Europe.

Irving had set the story in the time of the American Revolutionary War in the countryside near Tarrytown, New York. During the war this area of Westchester County, which was situated between the lines of the Continental Army and the British troops, had been the location of several raids and skirmishes conducted by the Loyalists with the help of Hessian soldiers against the Patriots. The legend is that the Headless Horseman was said to be a Hessian Soldier that had been found decapitated after one very violent skirmish and then later buried in an unmarked grave over the bridge in the Old Dutch Church Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow.

The unusual name of the character of Ichabod Crane is said to have come from directly from Irving who had met an Army Captain by that same name in 1814. The character of Ichabod was modeled after a real person named Jesse Merwin who was a local school teacher in Kinderhook, NY where Irving had visited in 1809. The character of Katrina was possibly inspired by a real person, either Catriena or Eleanor Van Tassel who are both buried in the cemetery in Sleepy Hollow.

“Legend of Sleepy Hollow” synopsis

The story is about a tall, lean and very superstitious schoolteacher. He is in love with Katrina who is the daughter of a wealthy farmer, Baltus Van Tassel, who opposed the marriage. Abraham van Brunt, “Bones”, was also pursuing Katrina and he set about playing a series of pranks to unsettle Ichabod. Then in autumn there was a harvest party at the Van Tassel house and Ichabod was going to propose to Katrina that night but he failed to win her hand.

At the party “Bones” had been telling ghost stories and as Ichabod rode home, sadden by his failure to win Katrina’s hand in marriage, he became haunted by those stories. As Ichabod passes through the woods near Sleepy Hollow he encounters a shadowy headless figure on horseback and extremely frightened he races to cross over the bridge at the Old Dutch Cemetery where legend has it that he will be safe from harm.

The next morning, Ichabod has mysteriously disappeared from town and Katrina eventually marries “Bones” who sees delightfully happy with these turn of events. The story concludes that “Bones” was in fact was the Headless Horseman.

The Enchanted Manor

a lifestyle blog by Barbara Jones

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