Category Archives: Recent Talks and Media Appearances

Daily Express Interview: Royal baby name: Will Meghan Markle and Harry choose ‘on trend’ name for Baby Sussex?

by CarolynHarris | Leave a comment

I discussed the history of royal baby names with Kat Hopps at the Daily Express. While royalty often choose names that belonged to royal relatives or godparents for their children, there are also examples of Kings and Queens choosing a names from the contemporary names of their times. I was also asked to suggest to some possible royal baby names and my ideas are included in the article.

Click here to read Royal baby name: Will Meghan Markle and Harry choose ‘ON TREND’ name for Baby Sussex?

My royal baby name ideas are also included in Baby Sussex: The final royal baby name predictions are here in Image Magazine

TIME Interview: How a Royal Baby Is Born, From Tudor Times to Meghan Markle’s Modernity

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I discussed the history of royal births with Olivia B. Waxman at TIME. The circumstances surrounding the arrival of royal children have changed over successive centuries from the secluded atmosphere of a Tudor confinement to the summoning of a French midwife by Charles I’s queen, Henrietta Maria to the presence of the Home Secretary at royal births until the arrival of Prince Charles in 1948. The birth of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s child will be part of this long history of tradition and innovation in the royal birth chamber.

Click here to read “How a Royal Baby Is Born, From Tudor Times to Meghan Markle’s Modernity” in TIME Magazine

Today Interview: If Meghan Markle gives birth at home, she’ll be following a royal tradition

by CarolynHarris | 1 Comment

I discussed the history of royal births with Eun Kim at Today.com. Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have decided to keep plans to for the arrival of their baby private, which has prompted speculation concerning whether they will choose a hospital or a private residence for the birth.

Here is an excerpt from the interview:

“A home birth would be a return to earlier royal traditions,” said historian Carolyn Harris, author of Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting.

Home births were actually common for women of all social backgrounds in the United Kingdom until the creation of the National Health Service in 1948, the turning point for hospital births.

But there was another reason for members of the royal family to continue delivering their children behind palace walls.

“For royalty, home births had the advantage of privacy and all the space to accommodate large numbers of official and personal visitors without inconveniencing other families in a hospital,” Harris said.

Click here to read the full article: “If Meghan Markle gives birth at home, she’ll be following a royal tradition”

Daily Express Interview: Royal baby: The Changing Role of Royal Nannies

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I discussed the history of royal nannies from Queen Victoria’s reign to the present with Kat Hopps at the Daily Express. There have been significant changes in the role of the royal nanny in the past two hundred years. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the royal nursery was the nanny’s domain and problems in the nursery might take months or years to come to the attention of the children’s parents. Royal nannies are more carefully supervised today.

Another key change in the late 20th and early 21st centuries is presence of royal children and their nannies on royal tours, a trend that is likely to continue when Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex resume their Commonwealth tours after the birth of their child.

Click here to read “Royal baby: Sinister past that means Meghan and Harry’s nanny to be very closely monitored” in the Daily Express

Daily Express Interview: The Royal Tradition of Hiring Nannies

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I discussed royal parenting and royal nannies with Kat Hopps at the Daily Express. With the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby expected to arrive in within weeks, there is widespread speculation in the British press concerning the childcare arrangements. I discussed the place of grandparents in the upbringing of royal children, the role of royal nannies and compared Queen Elizabeth II’s and Queen Victoria’s approaches to guiding their extended families.

Click here to read “Meghan Markle baby: Will Meghan ditch royal tradition of hiring nannies?” in The Daily Express

CBC News Interview: How the royal baby name could mix the trendy and the traditional

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I discussed possible names for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby with Janet Davison for The CBC Royal Fascinator newsletter. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

“There may be opportunities for one of the middle names … to be more unique, but I think the name chosen will be somewhere between a traditional royal name and a very trendy name,” said Harris. “This royal baby is seventh in line to the throne, but is still in the top 10 at this time in the line of succession.”

Click here to read “Victoria? James? Or Kylie? How the royal baby name could mix the trendy and the traditional” in The CBC Royal Fascinator newsletter

CBC News Interview: Why This Crown Prince Came to Canada

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I was interviewed by Janet Davison at CBC News for this week’s The Royal Fascinator newsletter. The newsletter discusses Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark’s visit to Canada and the interest in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex becoming parents this Spring. The royal baby will be seventh in line to the throne and I discussed how press attention toward junior members of the royal family changes over time.

Click here to read “Why this crown prince came to Canada” in The CBC Royal Fascinator newsletter

CBC News Interview: The Royal Fascinator newsletter

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I am quoted in the final section of this week’s CBC Royal Fascinator newsletter, discussing Princess Patricia of Connaught’s time in Canada. Like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex), Princess Patricia and her husband Sir Alexander Ramsay enjoyed a royal romance that unfolded partly in Canada.

Click here to read “The Royal Fascinator: ‘Ripped up the royal rule book’: How Meghan is making waves.”

For more about Princess Patricia of Connaught, see my article in the Historica Canada Canadian Encyclopedia

Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution: My Spring 2019 course at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies

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 I will be teaching an eight week course about Queen Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies on Tuesdays in March-April 2019. Click here for more information and to register.

More than 200 years after her execution, Queen Marie Antoinette is still one of the most famous and controversial figures in European history. In late 18th-century France, her reputation influenced debates about the role of women in politics, their families and the arts. Austrian-born, her position at the top of French society fuelled criticism of the monarchy and contributed to the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. Her influence on popular culture continues today.

  • Discover the real Queen Marie Antoinette behind centuries of myths in popular culture.
  • Trace the reasons for her controversial reputation.
  • Explore the clashes in the politics, culture and society of royal and revolutionary France.
  • Look behind the legend and examine the controversial queen’s impact on politics, culture and society.

Click here for more information and to register.

Click here to purchase my book Queenship and Revolution in Early Modern Europe: Henrietta Maria and Marie Antoinette

New York Magazine Interview: Inside the Royal Gossip Machine

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Diana, Princess of Wales at the Cannes Film Festival in 1987

My recent interview with Lisa Ryan for The Cut, New York Magazine, examines the history of royal reporting including how the royal family has shaped its own image over the centuries from the reign of King George III to the present day.

Here an excerpt from the interview:

“This isn’t a new game; reporting on royal gossip has been happening for a while, though it’s certainly evolved under different monarchs’ reigns. “It’s varied over time, as there’s a balance between maintaining the mystique of the monarchy and ensuring members of the royal family have a private life to some degree, but also responding to a very strong public interest in royalty and life behind palace doors that has existed for centuries,” royal historian Carolyn Harris, the author of Raising Royalty: 1,000 Years of Royal Parenting, told the Cut.”

Click here to read “Inside the Royal Gossip Machine” in New York Magazine