Global National News Interview: How King Charles’ Cancer Diagnosis Affects the Royal Family

I discussed King Charles III’s recent cancer diagnosis with Redmond Shannon at Global National News, including the potential for the 2024 Commonwealth tour schedule to change in the coming months.

Click here to watch How King Charles’ Cancer Diagnosis Affects the Royal Family on Global National News

CBC Radio Ottawa Morning Interview: What we know about King Charles’ cancer diagnosis

I discussed King Charles III’s recent cancer diagnosis and the 72th anniversary of the death of King Charles III’s grandfather, King George VI, with Hallie Cotnam on CBC Ottawa Morning.

Click here to listen to “What we know about King Charles’ cancer diagnosis” at CBC Ottawa Morning

CBC News Interview: What happens when a monarch falls ill? The plan for royal health issues explained

I discussed King Charles III’s recent cancer diagnosis and the impact of the King’s health on the monarchy in an interview with Janet Davison at CBC News

Click here to read “What happens when a monarch falls ill? The plan for royal health issues explained” by Janet Davison and Rhianna Schmunk at CBC News

New Canadian Encyclopedia Article: King Louis XIV

My latest article in the Historica Canada Canadian Encyclopedia is about King Louis XIV and his role in the development of New France. Click here to read my article about King Louis XIV.

King Louis XIV, king of France (born 5 September 1638 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France; died 1 September 1715 in Versailles, France). Louis XIV was the longest-reigning monarch in European and Canadian history, serving as the king of France for 72 years (from 1643 to 1715) — nearly two years longer than the 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1663, Louis XIV assumed direct control of New France as a Crown Colony, sponsoring increased immigration, regulating the fur trade and creating a stronger French military presence in the region. Despite these efforts, Louis XIV’s military and diplomatic endeavours — including repeated wars with the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), as well as the War of the Spanish Succession and the Treaty of Utrecht — shifted the balance of power in North America. This created the eventual conditions for the British conquest of New France with the support of the Iroquois during the Seven Years’ War of 1756–63.

Click here to read my article about King Louis XIV.

New Canadian Encyclopedia Article: Laura Muntz Lyall

My latest article in the Historica Canada Canadian Encyclopedia is about Canadian Impressionist artist Laura Muntz Lyall (1860-1930). Muntz Lyall was the first Canadian artist to receive an honourable mention at the Paris Salon and the first female Canadian Impressionist artist to have her work become part of the National Gallery of Canada’s collection in Ottawa.

Click here to read my article on Laura Muntz Lyall in the Canadian Encyclopedia

Click here to read all my articles in the Canadian Encyclopedia

CBC News Interview: ‘Very modern’ royals Frederik and Mary come to Danish throne after surprise abdication

I discussed the new King Frederick and Queen Mary of Denmark with Janet Davison at CBC News

Click here to read “‘Very modern’ royals Frederik and Mary come to Danish throne after surprise abdication” in the CBC News Royal Fascinator Newsletter

New Book Chapter: The Reputation of Dowager Queen Henrietta Maria and the Legitimacy of the Restoration Monarchy” in Later Stuart Queens edited by Eilish Gregory and Michael C. Questier

My new book chapter “The Reputation of Dowager Queen Henrietta Maria and the Legitimacy of the Restoration Monarchy” has been published in Later Stuart Queens, 1660-1735: Religion, Political Culture and Patronage edited by Eilish Gregory and Michael C. Questier. Later Stuart Queens, 1660-1735 is part of the Queenship and Power series at Palgrave Macmillan.

Click here to purchase Later Stuart Queens, 1660-1735: Religion, Political Culture and Patronage edited by Eilish Gregory and Michael C. Questier from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract

The restoration of the English monarchy in 1660 resulted in the return of the exiled King Charles II and the re-establishment of an extended royal family. Charles II had numerous family members whose place in the new political order was uncertain including his mother, Henrietta Maria, the queen dowager. Although Charles II enjoyed broad popular support at the time of his Restoration, some of the factions that emerged during the English Civil Wars and Interregnum were motivated to use Henrietta Maria’s reputation as a weapon to undermine her son’s political legitimacy. During the 1660s, Charles faced two modes of political attack based on his mother’s reputation, which coincided with Henrietta Maria’s two periods of residency in England. From 1660 to 1661, various English men and women outside court circles who opposed monarchical government challenged the very premise of “Restoration” by accusing Henrietta Maria of being unchaste. From 1662 to 1665, when Henrietta Maria presided over a splendid and well attended court at Somerset House, rumours spread in elite and diplomatic circles that she had recently married her private secretary, Henry Jermyn, first earl of St Albans. These rumours were an attempt to undermine both the perceived influence of both Henrietta Maria and the earl of St Albans over Charles, and to diminish the attraction of the queen dowager’s splendid court, which appeared to promote French and Roman Catholic interests. Although Charles II would make numerous conciliatory gestures towards his political opponents, his support for the status and privileges of all members of the royal family would remain steadfast throughout his reign. Charles’s later determination to preserve James’s place in the line of succession during the Exclusion Crisis demonstrated the same concern for hereditary legitimacy as his previous efforts to grant Henrietta Maria full honours as queen dowager.

Click here to purchase Later Stuart Queens, 1660-1735: Religion, Political Culture and Patronage edited by Eilish Gregory and Michael C. Questier from Palgrave Macmillan