Categotry Archives: History
By George! What Manner of Person Are You, My Dear?
When Mr. Al left off last Wednesday, Prince George had been accidentally maligned with the truth. The tabloids saw his uncle’s carriage in front of a particular house and surmised the prince was carrying on an affair with the Countess Hardenburg, which he was. **** Those tabloids! You can’t count on them to get anything right. The carriage did indeed belong to the Duke; but it was parked in front of the house of a certain POLISH countess. Unfortunately for […]
By George! The Wages of Discretion
I took liberties with Mr. Al’s blog last week. He intended to end with the sentence that I moved to the beginning of this week’s history lesson. I preferred to end with “Discretion wasn’t in his vocabulary. He couldn’t behave discreetly if his life depended on it. But… he was the Prince of Wales. Which for him and him alone was a license to behave badly. And behave badly he did.” Now I return you to Mr. Al’s take on […]
By George! Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous
We continue our saga of the life and times of George the IV with more youthful hijinks of the Oh-My-God variety. When we left off George had inadvertently settled an outlandish amount of money on his first mistress. **** The king’s orders and admonishments were so many snowflakes in July as far as the Prince was concerned. He continued to slip out of the palace and have it off with all manner of loose women and fast friends. […]
By George! What a Naughty Little Prince Can Do
When we left off, Mr. Al hinted that George’s next “true love” would not be a goody-two shoes like Miss Hamilton. Boy was he right. Take it away, Mr. Al. **** The lucky lady was Mrs. Mary Robinson. She was the beautiful daughter of an American whaling ship captain and an Irish actress. Dad abandoned the family when Mary was quite young to set up a whaling station in Canada and live with the Eskimos.Mom took Mary to London […]
By George! – A Proper Education
If you thought the way George the III kept his heir in baby clothes until well past the point where he could speak was bad enough, wait until you hear about the way he was raised from then on. Take it away, Mr. Al. *** It didn’t help matters that dad considered children other than his brother to be totally unsuitable companions. Any adults around the Prince also had to be carefully screened for moral suitability. The outside world was […]
By George! The Prince Regent’s Childhood.
We have seen a little of George the 4th’s background. Now Mr. Al gives us a look at the way he was raised. *** King George III had a royal fear of his son becoming a lollygagger. To avert this the Prince and his brother lived a closely regimented life. Every waking moment had to be accounted for. Supervision was constant to make sure that only suitable activities were engaged in. What dad wanted his son to learn first and […]
A Case of the Georges
Mr. Al is back!! He kept me on tenterhooks long enough. I had to pry this out of his fingers last night. I’m so glad I did. **** Early one morning in the year of our Lord 1760, George Augustus, King George the Second of England, went to the bathroom. Nature was not kind to him on this fateful morning. Exerting himself above and beyond, he suffered a stroke and died on a rather different type of throne. . […]
Tudor Follies: the End of Henry
Just when we thought Katherine was bound for execution, she stop screaming and got smart. Lets see if Wriothesley faired as well. Take it away, Mr. Al. ****Henry, Katherine and assorted hangers-on were gambolling in the royal gardens when Wriothesley showed up with forty Tower guards in tow. Most likely Katherine and the ladies were gambolling. Henry’s gambolling days were a very distant memory by then. Henry took the Lord Chancellor aside and read him the riot act. Trick me into […]
Tudor Follies: Arm Chair Theologians
When we left off Katherine was behaving the same way so many of Henry’s other wives did when finding out how blood thirsty Henry could be. She had a royal hissy fit. Let’s see if she fairs any better than the others.*** So sayeth the doctor to Katherine; “First, don’t say anything to anybody else about the warrant! When you talk to Henry, tell him that you could sense that he was upset about something. That after much soul searching […]
And even more Tudor stuff
We’re back for another installment of Mr. Al’s take on Henry the VIII. Warning, there is some rough language in this one. *** One of the things I love about history are those moments when I put down a history book and exclaim, “What the hell was he thinking? How could he be that stupid?” Katherine’s story takes just such a turn. Soon after his conversation with Henry, Gardiner ordered the arrest of three of Katherine’s most important ladies-in-waiting; Lady […]
Tudor Follies: A Conversational Gambit
Put your breakfast down before you read today’s installment of Henry’s life and wives. Mr. Al is in rare form today! *** In the summer of 1546, a woman, Anne Askew, was imprisoned in the Tower on charges of heresy. For some reason Wriothesley considered this a golden opportunity to gather evidence against the Queen. Under questioning she denied knowing any members of the Queen’s household, let alone the Queen herself. Wroithesley ordered her racked. When no information was forthcoming, […]
The Tudor Follies: Marital Bliss with Henry
When we left off last week, Henry and Katherine Parr had just gotten married, and Henry was in the mood to celebrate. Now, back to the words of Mr. Al.**** Henry decided on a celebration that would combine business with pleasure. Accordingly, during a visit to Windsor Castle, Henry had three Protestant heretics burned at the stake on the front lawn. Yes, all was well in the Tudor household. Katherine had prevailed upon Henry to be nice to Mary and […]
Tudor Follies: Courtship, Henry Style
Welcome back to Mr. Al’s take on the many wives of Henry the XIII. When we left off the sweet, young, but not so innocent Katherine * had lost her head. Wouldn’t you know Henry would turn his attention to another Katherine. And now, without further ado, Mr. Al: *** Yes, Katherine Parr was already married. But the hubby, Lord Latimer, was much older and sick with some long-term disease that would carry him off before too long. And a […]
Tudor Follies: Teaching the Howards a Lesson
My sincere apologies for the delay in posting Tudor Tuesday this week. It’s been a rough few days around here. But my computer is back out of the shop and here’s Mr. Al’s history lesson for the week. *** Because so little of what Katherine was doing was of her own choice, the hand of the Duke was much more in evidence. Cranmer saw it plain as day. Yessiree, he saw through the Duke’s plans and he was going to […]
Tudor Folley's: Feeding Katherine Howard To The Wolves
Welcome back to Mr. Al’s take on the life and times of Henry the VIII’s wives, what little they tended to have at any rate. We left off with a young bride accused. And now, in the immortal words of Mr. Al: *** Henry had brought to Parliament, in it’s role as Supreme Court, the matter of Katherine’s “abominable behavior.” This was extremely bad news for Katherine. Henry was not going to be satisfied with an annulment. He wanted a […]
