The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed a baby boy today. The newborn is 7th in line to the throne after his grandfather Prince Charles, uncle Prince William, cousins Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, and father Prince Harry. Just before the birth, I discussed the historical significance of the royal baby in an extended interview with Natalie Escobar at The Atlantic.
Click here to read The New Baby’s Historical Significance in The Atlantic
I discussed the history of speculation and rumours surrounding royal births from the seventeenth century to the present day with Janet Davison at CBC News. The article also discusses the reports that that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may live abroad at some point in the future. The royal couple’s first child is expected to arrive in the next few days, prompting widespread conjecture concerning the young family’s eventual plans for travel within the Commonwealth.
I discussed the royal succession with Eun Kim at Today.com, including the 1701 Act of Settlement, 21st century reforms and the place that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby will occupy in the line of succession. As 7th in line to the throne, the royal baby is unlikely to ever become King or Queen but royalty born 7th in line to the throne have pursued a variety of interesting careers.
Triumph of the Winter Queen: Allegory of the Just, 1636, by Gerard van Honthorst, a portrait of King Charles I’s sister Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia and her children. Her 6th surviving son son John Philip was born 7th in line to the English throne in 1627.
My latest article in the BBC History Magazine is about 7 royal babies who were born 7th in line to the throne. Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will become parents for the first time in the Spring of 2019. The latest royal baby will be 7th in line to the throne. From the 17th century until the present day, royal children born 7th in the line of succession have pursued a variety of interesting careers including artist, consultant, jazz music expert, military officer and King of Hanover!
Click here to read 7 Royal Babies Who Were Once 7th in Line to the Throne in the BBC History Magazine
My New Year’s Resolution for 2018 is to read a book (or listen to an unabridged audiobook) every day: 365 books by December 31. I will post my reviews here each week and provide regular updates on Twitter and Goodreads. Recommendations are always welcome!
Week 37: The House of Windsor In recent weeks, I have read numerous books about the modern royal family including innovative new biographies of two of the most controversial members of the royal family in the 20th century: King Edward VIII and Princess Margaret. I also read a novel inspired by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, scholarly studies of broader themes in the history of the monarchy such as the establishment of the House of Windsor and royal last wills and testaments, a history of Anglo-Russian royal visits during the reign of Czar Nicholas II and a Canadian perspective on the Queen Mother. Here are this week’s reviews:
Date Read: October 1, 2018
Genre: History/Biography
Acquired: Received a Review Copy
Format: Hardcover, 322 pages
Review: A fresh perspective on King Edward VIII that examines the impact of American society and culture on his life and brief reign. The book includes excellent analysis of British vs. American press coverage of Edward’s activities as Prince of Wales, which remains relevant to present day royal coverage. There are also insightful conclusions concerning Edward’s inner turmoil and the increasing conflict between his public and private lives during his years as Prince of Wales, which eventually culminated in the abdication crisis once he succeeded to the throne in 1936.
The subtitle of the book, An American Life, however, does not quite capture the complexity of the material. The early chapters are more focused on Canada including his popular 1919 Canadian tour and his purchase of a ranch in Alberta. There are numerous instances of Edward describing his affinity to Canada rather than the United States quoted in the book. Edward’s public role was different in Canada than in the United States and there are also cultural differences. A little more analysis of Edward’s shift from an identification with Canadians to a more American social circle would have enhanced the book.
Edward’s visits to the United States after the abdication crisis are passed over quickly and I would have been interested to read more about this period of Edward’s life, including his term as Governor of the Bahamas. Edward VIII: An American Life is a thought provoking read that might have been better titled “King Edward VIII Abroad” as it goes beyond the United States to place Edward in the context of popular opinion in the wider British Empire and Dominions in the 1920s and 1930s.
Genre: Biography
Date Listened: September 12-13, 2018
Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com
Format: Audiobook, 12 hours and 23 minutes
Review: A biography of Princess Margaret assembled from more than 99 perspectives on her life from the Home Secretary who witnessed her arrival at Glamis Castle in 1930 to the Christie’s auction catalog of her possessions at the time of her death in 2002. In between, Margaret struggled to find a satisfying public role, decided not to marry the divorced Peter Townsend amidst constitutional controversy, endured a turbulent marriage to Antony Armstong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon, spent holidays in Mustique, was asked to leave an event by a Beatle and snubbed Elizabeth Taylor. The anecdotes assembled in the book are entertaining, irreverent and sometimes inappropriate.
Although Margaret burned most of her correspondence, she was mentioned in the memoirs and diaries of numerous prominent figures over the course of the second half of the 20th century and always made an impression. The author draws upon a wide range of sources including his own musings about how her life would have unfolded if she had made a different marriage or become queen instead of her sister. However, there are key perspectives missing. Margaret traveled extensively around the Commonwealth but voices from these tours are limited. The absence of Canadian, Australian or Caribbean sources is notable.
Brown mentions that Margaret loved her children, encouraged them to pursue careers of their choice and that they have successful lives. Their thoughts concerning their mother are entirely missing from the narrative. Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret is an engaging, innovative but incomplete portrait of the Princess. The audiobook narrator, Eleanor Bron, manages a full range of British accents from clipped royal tones to the Liverpool voices of the Beatles.
Genre: Fiction
Dates Listened: September 14-18, 2018
Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com
Format: Audiobook, 17 hours and 54 minutes
Review: A fun royal romance inspired by William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. While the characters are fictional, the authors have clearly researched the ambiance of Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace as well as the intense public scrutiny faced by the royal family and their social circle. At the centre of the novel is what happens when a regular person used to a private life becomes involved in a royal romance and is suddenly being literally chased through London by paparazzi. The authors have great fun with the way royal rumours circulate in the press. For example, “Some people swear Nicholas has a wooden leg and that’s why he never plays polo anymore.” The novel is filled with entertaining details satirizing the British upper classes. The couple’s Oxford classmate Penelope six names gets married and becomes Penelope eight names!
I especially enjoyed the royal couple’s group of university friends who do their best to form a protective bubble around them including Gaz (short for Garamonde, grandson of the man who invented the namesake font) and Joss, whose avant garde fashion designs always attract headlines. Trouble comes when one of these friends decides to make his career as a journalist by publicizing a royal scandal. Freddie (based on Prince Harry) is always charming and mischievous and finds himself at the centre of a few royal scandals of his own. A very entertaining novel that is especially enjoyable for readers who follow royal news!
Review: An excellent collection of scholarly articles concerning the enduring survival of the House of Windsor from the accession of King George V to the present day, a period that saw the overthrow of numerous other European monarchies. The contributors argue that the British monarchy should be taken seriously as a political insitution rather than being dismissed as an anachronism or a tourist attraction. The unique qualities that differentiated the Windsor monarchs from their predecessors are emphasized over the course of the book. Both King George V and King George VI were second sons who were educated for naval careers rather than kingship and they approached the role of king as a duty to the nation rather than a personal privilege, an outlook shared by Queen Elizabeth II.
There are numerous chapters concerning the mutually beneficial relationship between the monarchy and the military from the First World War to the careers of Prince William and Prince Harry in the 21st century. The surprisingly recent emergence of opinion polls concerning the popularity of the monarchy is the subject of a fascinating chapter. The constitutional advice received by King Edward VIII during the abdication crisis of 1936 also receives a thorough critique. Essential reading for anyone interested in British history and the modern monarchy.
Genre: History
Date Read: September 21, 2018
Acquired: Purchased from Amazon.ca
Format: Hardcover, 288 pages
Review: An enjoyable book about the three major Anglo-Russian royal visits during Czar Nicholas II’s reign: Balmoral in 1896, Reval (now Tallinn, Estonia) in 1908 and Cowes in 1909. Welch captures the atmosphere of the tours with the heightened security surrounding the presence of the Russian Imperial family in Britain, misunderstandings between Russian and British officials, excited newspaper articles about large royal family gatherings and relations between the individual members of the Russian and British royal houses. The chapters are organized according to the daily itineraries of the visits. There are numerous anecdotes about the Russian Imperial children including Queen Alexandra’s efforts to match her grandson, the future King Edward VIII, with one of Czar Nicholas’s daughters.
The wider political context surrounding these royal visits, however, is summarized quickly and the brief account of George V’s reluctance to provide refuge for the Romanovs in Britain does not take into account the latest books about these complicated circumstances, including Helen Rappaport’s 2018 book The Race to Save the Romanovs. Imperial Tea Party is a good book that could have been even better with more political context and sources.
Date Read: September 25, 2018
Genre: Biography
Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto
Format: E-Book, 177 pages
Review: A Canadian perspective on the Queen Mother, written at the time of her 100th birthday. The book is richly illustrated with photographs and memoribilia from royal tours in addition to formal royal portraits. There are detailed itineraries of the Queen Mother’s Canadian tours, especially her 1939 tour with King George VI, which include the press coverage of the time. The impact of Canada on the royal family’s public image and approach to Commonwealth tours also receives extensive attention. For example, the nickname “Queen Mum” first appeared in print during a 1954 Canadian tour. The book was published in 2000 and is slightly dated today as the Queen Mother’s official biography and selections from her correspondence have been published since then, providing more details concerning her life and travels. Nevertheless, a good overview of the Queen Mother’s relationship with Canada with some rarely seen illustrations.
Dates Read: September 27-30, 2018
Genre: History
Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto
Format: E-Book, 225 pages
Review: A good analysis of key themes in the history of last royal wills and testaments. Nash examines how royal wills were a means of establishing the difference between state and personal property, and expressing preferences concerning the succession. Distinct themes in the history of wills drafted by royal women are also highlighted in the text. Since royal wills have been sealed since 1911, there is little new information concerning modern royal wills beyond observing that the recipients of certain bequests, such as the Burmese ruby bracelet owned by Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Louise, remain unknown. I would have been interested to read more about the structure of early royal wills and how they were drawn up and witnessed. There is some very interesting material in this book but due to restrictions on source material, a complete history of royal wills has yet to be written.
My New Year’s Resolution for 2018 is to read a book (or listen to an unabridged audiobook) every day: 365 books by December 31. I will post my reviews here each week and provide regular updates on Twitter and Goodreads. Recommendations are always welcome!
Week 11: Royal Succession The first book I read this past week examined how “unexpected heirs” who were not educated to wield power shaped the history of Early Modern Europe. Throughout British history, numerous monarchs have been second sons or second daughters including Henry VIII, Charles I, George V, George VI, Elizabeth I and Anne. The theme of unexpected developments in royal lines of succession informed the rest of the week’s reading. Here are my reviews:
Date Read: March 15, 2018
Genre: Royal History
Format: E-Book, 280 pages
Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto
Review: Unexpected Heirs in Early Modern Europe: Potential Kings and Queens examines the educations, images and actions of unlikely monarchs in Early Modern Europe, demonstrating that they often came to the throne with very different experiences than Kings and Queens who were born with a clear expectation of the throne. My favourite chapters included Valerie Schutte’s examination of books dedicated to Mary I and Elizabeth I before they respectively succeeded to the English throne, demonstrating popular views of the amount of influence wielded by each princess, and Troy Heffernan’s study of how the education of the future Queen Anne was less comprehensive that that of her male predecessors and even previous queens such as Mary and Elizabeth. The final chapter, by William Robison, about Elizabeth I as an unexpected heir summarizes the contingencies that governed that entire royal succession from Anglo-Saxon times to the sixteenth century, emphasizing how rarely the throne passed from father to son without unexpected developments. A fascinating read that includes analysis of Early Modern royalty in England, Scotland France and Sweden.
Genre: Royal History
Format: Hardcover, 115 pages
Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto
Date Read: March 15, 2018
Review: George I succeeded his second cousin, Queen Anne, as the monarch of Great Britain after Anne died without surviving children (despite seventeen pregnancies) in 1714. Blanning provides a detailed analysis of the succession of the Hanover dynasty to the English throne, challenging the perception that George I was distant relation of Queen Anne as his mother, Sophia of Hanover, was a granddaughter of James I, niece of Charles I and cousin of Charles II and James II. The domestic and foreign policy, economics, culture and society of George I’s reign are all discussed in this short biography. While some of the other titles in the Penguin monarchs series focus on a monarch’s political activity at the expense of his or her personal life, Blanning also discusses George I’s “seedy private life,” which was satirized by his subjects, and his famously acrimonious relationship with his son, the future King George II. Blanning’s only defense of George I’s relationship with his son is “At least George did not follow the example of Peter the Great…”A comprehensive further reading list organized by theme is included at the end of the book.
Genre: Royal History
Format: Audiobook, 14 hours and 33 minutes
Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com
Dates Listened: March 13-16, 2018
Review:
Format: Hardcover, 128 pages
Date Read: March 16, 2018
Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto
Genre: Royal History
Review: An comprehensive short biography of Henry V, who became heir to the throne after his father, Henry IV, deposed his cousin Richard II and seized the throne. Anne Curry has written extensively about the Battle of Agincourt and that research informs the book but she also includes lesser known information about Henry V including his book collection (Henry enjoyed Chaucer and other English language authors) and patronage of the Bridgettine monastic order. Curry concludes that Henry was “one of England’s busiest kings,” an accurate assessment considering his achievements in war, diplomacy and politics before his early death at the age of thirty-five.
Genre: Royal History
Format: Hardcover, 118 pages
Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto
Date Read: March 16-17, 2018
Review: A short sympathetic biography of one of England’s most unsuccessful monarchs. Henry VI succeeded to throne at the age of just nine months. Ross examines Henry’s famous piety as well as his periods of mental illness, likely inherited from his maternal grandfather, King Charles VI “the Mad” or “the Foolish” of France. Henry VI emerges as neither an entirely passive figure nor a consistently active monarch. Henry was easily influenced by his courtiers and queen and prone to abrupt changes in policy, from excessive generosity to severe repression of dissent. Perhaps the most poignant moment in the book is the evidence that Henry was aware of his own shortcomings as monarch. When asked if he wished to be buried next his father, Henry V, the victor of the Battle of Agincourt, Henry VI stated “Nay let him alone: he lieth like a noble prince. I will not trouble him.”
Genre: Royal History
Date Read: March 17-18, 2018
Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto
Format: Hardcover, 128 pages
Review: A short critical biography of Edward IV. Pollard judges Edward to have been resourceful leader in the crises of the Wars of the Roses and an able military commander but a king who “did not look much beyond his immediate personal interests and desires.” Pollard observes parallels between Edward IV and his grandson Henry VIII, noting that both were handsome young princes fascinated by tournaments and courtly display who became increasingly obese and self indulgent as they grew older.
In contrast, Pollard provides a surprisingly positive assessment of Elizabeth Woodville as queen, noting that she fulfilled the requirements of a queen consort including motherhood, piety and patronage although she was unfairly maligned as an ambitious intriguer. Pollard concludes by noting that Edward IV belonged to a dysfunctional family, ordering the murder of his brother George then having his own children disinherited by his brother Richard III after his death. I look forward to reading the biographies of Richard III and Henry VII in this series, when they are published later in the year.
Genre: History
Format: Audiobook, 18 hours and 52 minutes
Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com
Dates Listened: March 16-19, 2018
Review:An engaging history of Ancient Egypt, providing a detailed analysis of the Old Kingdom (best known for the building of the Pyramids of Giza), the Middle Kingdom (a period of literary Renaissance), the New Kingdom (including the famous Pharaohs of the 18th dynasty: Akhenaten and Nefertiti, Hatsheput, and Tutankhamen as well as the military victories of Ramses II), and the foreign invasions of the Third Intermediate Period and Late Period. The Ptolemaic Dynasty, which ended with the defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII at the Battle of Actium, is passed over quickly with the Ptolemaic Pharaohs prior to Cleopatra summarized in a single chapter.
Wilkinson focuses on the elites at the top of the social pyramid including Pharaohs, their families and high officials. This emphasis on the lives of the wealthy reflects the surviving archaeological evidence, including tomb inscriptions, but the book also includes the difficult conditions faced by ordinary people such as the evidence of one of earliest labour strikes.
While I enjoyed much of the book, I found the author was quite critical of the Pharaohs of the Third Intermediate Period and Late Period because they did not measure up to the standards set by the New Kingdom rulers. Even during the chapter on the reign of Cleopatra, one thousand years after the New Kingdom, there is a comparison to this earlier zenith of ancient Egyptian empire. I would have preferred an assessment of the later rulers according to the standards of their own times instead of continuous comparisons with the glories of the New Kingdom. Otherwise, the book is richly detailed, and emphasizes the lasting impact of Ancient Egypt on modern history. The audiobook is well read by Michael Page.
Clarence House announced today that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are engaged and will marry in the Spring of 2018. I was interviewed about the big news by a variety of media outlets including CBC News and Global News (above).
I discussed the impact of the engagement on Meghan Markle’s daily life, career and charity work with University of Toronto News. The interview is online here.
I also discussed royal titles and surnames with Town and Country Magazine. Here is the interview.
Queen Elizabeth II investing Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in 1969.
I discussed Queen Elizabeth II with CBC News this past week in the context of her decision to observe the Remembrance Sunday ceremonies in London with Prince Philip while their son Charles, the Prince of Wales, laid the wreath that the Queen usually places herself.
Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
“The Queen appears to view her position as a lifelong commitment to her people,” says Carolyn Harris, a Toronto-based royal author and historian whose book Raising Royalty: 1,000 Years of Royal Parenting was released earlier this year.
“At the age of 21, she stated that she would devote her whole life whether it was long or short to the service of her people and she received a religious coronation ceremony in 1953 that emphasized this lifelong commitment.”
On Wednesday afternoons in January and February 2018, I will be teaching an eight week history course about Family Life from Medieval to Modern Times.
Click here for more information and to register.
Course Description:
Prince Harry at the official press launch of Walking with the Wounded in 2010.
I discussed Prince Harry’s recent remarks about the monarchy with Janet Davison at CBC News. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
“Harry’s comments about how the Royal Family is “involved in modernizing the British monarchy” and how “we are not doing this for ourselves but for the greater good of the people” also conjured up memories of his grandfather.
“I think there are very striking similarities to Prince Philip’s comments in Canada in the 1960s about how monarchy exists for the people rather than for the monarch,” says Carolyn Harris, a Toronto-based royal historian and author of the recently published Raising Royalty: 1,000 Years of Royal Parenting.”