I discussed Prince Philip’s retirement with Global News at Noon earlier this week including the speculation surrounding the announcement from Buckingham Palace, Prince Philip’s philanthropy and whether the next big royal news will be Prince Harry’s engagement. Here’s the interview:
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From the interview with Dundurn Press: “I wanted to examine whether royalty through the centuries had followed the parenting advice of their times and how the public viewed them according to prevailing parenting ideas.”
Click here to read “A Q&A with Carolyn Harris”
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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on the Balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations
My latest CBC News interview discusses Prince Philip’s role in modernizing the monarchy including his support of the Queen’s decision to invite television cameras into Westminster Abbey for her 1953 coronation.
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Prince Philip in 2008.
Before the announcement that Prince Philip would be retiring from public life at the end of the summer, there was widespread speculation on social media that Buckingham Palace would be announcing his death on the morning of May 4 as members of the royal household gathered for an “eleventh hour” meeting.
There were also more optimistic theories including the idea that forthcoming renovations to Buckingham Palace would prompt an announcement that the Queen and Prince Philip were moving to Windsor Castle or Balmoral for an extended period of time. In an interview with University of Toronto news, I discuss the timeless fascination with events behind palace doors and how the internet has accelerated the spread of royal rumors.
Buckingham Palace, London
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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in Canada in 2010
Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Philip will retire from public life at the end of the summer. I discussed his decades of official engagements in Canada with Michelle McQuigge in the Canadian Press. In the 1950s, the Queen and Prince Philip were the royal couple poised to modernize the monarchy. As the decades passed, Prince Philip became known for his extensive philanthropic efforts – and occasional off the cuff remarks.
Click here to read Remembering Prince Philip’s glamour and gaffes as he retires from public life
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Maria Bockareva, who issued a call to arms for Russian women in May 1917
The May article in my Russian Revolution series in Smithsonian Magazine examines the May Day celebrations in Russia on May 1, 1917 and the subsequent call to arms for Russian women to take up combat roles during the First World War. Advocates of women’s rights in Russia and around the world, including the British suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst, paid close attention to the mobilization of women on the eastern front.
Click here to read “The Women Warriors of the Russian Revolution” in Smithsonian Magazine
Links to all of my Russian history articles in Smithsonian Magazine are available here.
Sources and Further Reading:
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Prince Georgy Lvov, 1st Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government in 1917
The April 1917 article in my monthly Smithsonian Russian Revolution series examines the struggles faced by the new Provisional Government after Czar Nicholas II abdicated. The new Prime Minister, Prince Georgy Lvov, a Russian nobleman, found himself politically isolated and unable to reconcile the competing demands of conservative and socialist political factions.
The rising star in Lvov’s government was Alexander Kerensky, Minister of Justice, whose first order of business was investigating former Czar Nicholas II. When Lvov’s government faced protests because of its determination to fulfill Czarist diplomatic and military obligations including Russia’s participation in the First World War, Kerensky orchestrated a coalition government with socialist parties and became Minister of War, events that became known as the April Crisis. Vladimir Lenin’s Bolshevik party, however, remained in opposition to this government, demanding an immediate end to hostilities on the eastern front.
Click here to read my entire Russian Revolution series (so far) in Smithsonian Magazine
Sources and Further Reading:
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Click here to purchase your copy of Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting
How royal parents dealt with raising their children over the past thousand years, from keeping Vikings at bay to fending off paparazzi.
William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, are setting trends for millions of parents around the world. The upbringing of their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, is the focus of intense popular scrutiny. Royalty have always raised their children in the public eye and attracted praise or criticism according to parenting standards of their day.
Royal parents have faced unique challenges and held unique privileges. In medieval times, raising an heir often meant raising a rival, and monarchs sometimes faced their grown children on the battlefield. Conversely, kings and queens who lost their thrones in wars or popular revolutions often found solace in time spent with their children. In modern times, royal duties and overseas tours have often separated young princes and princesses from their parents, a circumstance that is slowly changing with the current generation of royalty.
Click here to purchase your copy of Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting
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Click here to read the review in the Canadian Journal of History
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Click here to read “Open History – Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting”
Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting is currently for sale in Chapters/Indigo bookstores and will be available across Canada on April 8. The USA/UK publication date is May 2.
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