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Monthly Archives: August 2012

virgin tramp and poet.

29 Wednesday Aug 2012

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Flora Hastings, Lady Flora, Queen Victoria, Royal Scandal, Scandal

Lady Flora Hastings (1806 – 1839.)

She was born into privilege and became a Lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Kent. The duchess is said to have had an affair with John Conroy (a British army officer and comptroller to the Duchess and her daughter.) so her daughter, Queen Victoria, naturally, detested the man (from what I can tell, it seems there wasn’t much to like about this lying, thieving, cheating pig.)

In 1830, Flora visited her family in Scotland and returned with John Conroy in a private carriage- Scandalous! Within a few weeks, Flora was complaining of pain in her abdomen and her stomach looked suspiciously swollen. Because of this, and Flora’s refusal to be examined,  Queen Victoria believed the gossip and publicly ridiculed Flora for her affair and her so-called “pregnancy.”

Turns out- Flora was still a virgin and had an enlarged Liver. The mistreatment of the very ill Lady Flora did not sit well with public and the Queen was hissed at and criticized for her mistreatment of the dying woman. Later in life, the Queen conceded that she had handled the entire situation poorly, but at the time her hatred for Conroy had led her to treat a sick, innocent woman with cruelty.

Gossip sucks.

Flora was also a poet. The book “Poems by the Lady Flora Hastings” was published posthumously by her sister, Sophia.

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less weirdo, more hero.

23 Thursday Aug 2012

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Bavaria, Elizabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium


Elizabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium (1876-1965.)

I am stricken by photos of this woman- she looks so commanding and powerful. Something about her image says “I was here.”

Her father was a duke and an ophthalmologist. She assisted him as a nurse- exposed to human suffering at an early age. This helped her tremendously after marrying Prince Alpert of Belgium. During the first world war, she went straight to the front line and sponsored a nursing unit. Despite her German background, she was a popular queen.

Later on, she became a patron of the arts and close friend of Albert Einstein. During the German occupation of Belgium from 1940 to 1944, she used her influence as queen and German connections to assist in the rescue of hundreds of Jewish children from deportation by the Nazis.

She died at the age of 89 in Brussels.

mmm… mmm… mugwort.

21 Tuesday Aug 2012

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black plague, plague, plague water, the great plague

I’ve always been intrigued (and creeped out) by images of “The Plague Doctor.” In April of 1665, the Great Plague struck London. By August it had spread to other English towns and cities, and by the end of the year it had claimed a hundred thousand lives. Through these horrible times, there were all sorts of evil people selling crazy concoctions and lucky charms to ward off the sickness, this is an illustrated recipe for Plague Water- one of the more common recipes used by those who had to wait it out.

It has since been proven that those who survived had genetic resistance, however, A fourteen year old  Sir Dudley North caught the plague and was shut up in his father’s London home. His mother looked after him and his sister who also had the plague. Both survived but nothing is known about the treatment their mother gave to them.

Hmmm… maybe they had toads, maybe they smoked lots of tobacco… or maybe they had this recipe.

before the bed was cold (whatever.)

18 Saturday Aug 2012

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Duchess of Genoa, Elisabeth of Savoy

Princess Elisabeth of Saxony (1830 – 1910) married the second son to the King of Sardinia- Ferdinand, the Duke of Genoa at the age of 20. Despite the fact that this wedding was an extremely elaborate event, the marriage was loveless.

Call me crazy, but most of these inbred, pre-arranged, power/land driven marriages are all loveless- so that little fact gets old when doing research on these people. (Don’t even get me started on the Habsburgs.) What makes me think that I’d have liked this princess is that after the death of her first husband, she fell in love with, and secretly married Niccolò, Marchese Rapallo (just say that name- how sexy is that!?!)  before her “official mourning period” had ended. Hooray for a devil-may-care Princess!

However, her brother-in-law was so angry he forced her into exile and she was forbidden from seeing her two children- Margherita of Savoy (Queen of Italy) and Thomas, 2nd Duke of Genoa. A very harsh price to pay for finally finding passion.

little girl lost.

14 Tuesday Aug 2012

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Anastasia

I have been enthralled with the story of Anastasia since I was a little girl. I still am. Anastasia Romanov was the most mischievous of Nicholas’ daughters. Their family was murdered in 1918 by forces of the Bolshevik secret police. It was believed that Anastasia and Alexei escaped the slaughter because their bodies were not found with the family- sparking a worldwide phenomenon of various loons pretending to be the heir to the throne. It was only in 2009, thanks to DNA, they were finally accounted for- they did, in fact, die with the family but were buried in a separate grave. So tragic.

I’ve overlapped a hint of Ravel’s Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess.) I love playing that one on the piano- some of the most beautiful music ever written.

poor little whore.

09 Thursday Aug 2012

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Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard (1522ish-1542) was the 5th wife of Henry VIII. He liked to call her his “rose without a thorn.” At least, that’s what he called her before he had her head cut off.

 

In her misguided youth, Catherine was said to have had an affair with her music teacher, Henry Mannox and then later with Francis Dereham. It was the latter that led to her execution, Dereham didn’t get off easy either- the King had him hanged, drawn, and quartered. ouch. She also had an affair with one of the King’s favorite’s- Thomas Culpeper. He, too, was tortured in the Tower of London and later beheaded.

 

For a short time, she seemed devoted to Henry (who, by now was close to 300lbs and had to have his ulcer drained daily), but due to spies, power struggles, religious battles and political schemes – several sought to undermine the King and reported the more-than-odvious affairs his young, beautiful wife was having right under his chubby little nose.  And although they were married 3 weeks after his annulment to Anne of Cleves, she was beheaded less than 2 years into the relationship. A quick and painful Reign.

trophy wife

06 Monday Aug 2012

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Elisabeth of Austria

Elisabeth of Austria (1554-1592.)

Elisabeth was first married by proxy on October 22, 1570 to Charles IX of France. After a long celebration, she left Austria accompanied by high-ranking German nobles. Once in French territory, the roads were impassable thanks to the constant rain- this caused the decision that the wedding was to be celebrated in a small border town far from Paris. The King, curious about his future wife, dressed himself as a soldier and observed her incognito, and was very happy with what he saw. Who wouldn’t be? she is described as having perfect skin, perfect hair, and a perfect personality (which I’m guessing means “submissive.”) Alas… it was, unfortunately, a loveless marriage and Elisabeth busied herself with embroidery. After the death of her husband in 1574, the “White Queen” went back to Vienna and built a college and a convent.

loved by everyone, but her husband.

03 Friday Aug 2012

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Duchess, Georgiana Cavendish

Ahhhh…. Georgiana Cavendish (1757-1806.) She was FABULOUS. Unfortunately, she didn’t have what one would call a “happy” marriage. Ridiculed and abused for not producing a male heir – Georgiana found love with Charles Grey in a well-known affair. Their affair produced a daughter, Eliza. Sadly, she was sent into exile to have the baby and then was forced to give her to Grey’s family. “G” was told she would never see her other children again if she were to keep the girl. Eliza grew up not knowing why her “parents” resented and disapproved of her (Charles’ Aunt and Uncle.) Georgianna visited her frequently in secret and always brought toys (which were never given to her as a child by anyone but Georgiana.) It wasn’t until the Duchess passed away that Eliza was told who her real mother was.

Eliza named her first daughter Georgiana.

Nerd is the Word!

I love studying quirky history, so illustrating the people I research makes me one happy nerd girl. Did you know Queen Victoria had Bishopophobia? or that when Elizabeth of Russia died, they found 15,000 dresses in her uh... closet?

It's good stuff- and I plan to illustrate all the royal weirdos I can find.

All illustrations are my personal property- if you'd like to use them, just ask!

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All images are property of History Witch/Lisa Graves.

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