tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post3453900441911234908..comments2023-10-12T02:21:40.102-07:00Comments on English Historical Fiction Authors: Queen Charlotte?Debra Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-52648773265601338552012-06-05T19:02:42.080-07:002012-06-05T19:02:42.080-07:00Forgive me for only just now seeing this. I would ...Forgive me for only just now seeing this. I would first like to say that these are excellent points, and secondly to add that I'm not an expert on William or anything before Victoria, though I'd hardly claim to be an expert on her, either. My expertise comes in the manners and mores of the latter half of the era. You are absolutely right to say that this is a far more complex subject than I addressed here. I find it really difficult to fit in all the crucial elements in a piece like this, with limited word count restraints. <br /><br />I wholeheartedly agree that the turnaround in social attitudes was owing to William. At least I agree that it happened in his day, and that he was far more highly favoured than was George. <br /><br />As to the to Caroline's relationship with her parents, I can only refer to Gillian Gill's interpretation. I quoted from her. I trust there are other interpretations of the same events. But I'm thoroughly grateful for the broader view you have presented here.V.R. Christensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15808305289401007597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-64108064851348063862012-03-15T17:52:00.223-07:002012-03-15T17:52:00.223-07:00There are one or two points here, notably in the s...There are one or two points here, notably in the second and the penultimate paragraphs of your article, that perhaps require some clarification lest they cause further confusion. I feel a certain proprietorial interest in Princess Charlotte - having lived for a year in Claremont, the house where she lived and died - and submit these comments as an aid to shedding light rather than generating heat.<br /><br />It is all too easy to try to parcel up history into neat and convenient packages. To say, <i>When, after her uncle William's death in 1837, Victoria at last gained the throne, she was precisely what the people wanted, and perhaps what society needed. They were tired of the old ways, the old excesses. Victoria brought the promise of a new era, and the world has never been the same</i>, is to do just that. <br /><br />William's seven-year reign (1830-37) in fact ushered in the real 'new era' of the nineteenth century - the Great Reform Act of 1832, which fundamentally altered politics and society. Even this was a culmination of many years' political negotiation and evolution, including the Catholic Relief Act of 1829. As with all major legislation, the Reform Act reflected changes that had been ongoing for may years previously - in this case the gradual change from a rural to an urban society and from an agrarian to an industrial economy. It was these changes, rather than Victoria's accession, that provided the framework for the extraordinary socio-economic phenomenon that we call the Victorian era.<br /><br />(Incidentally, William IV was generally well-loved and respected and was not seen as perpetuating the "old excesses" of George IV. As for George himself, his "excesses" certainly had a basis in fact, but were often caricatured and exaggerated by a polarised and vitriolic press. And the very fact that his "excesses" were cause for such comment is evidence that such behaviour was NOT widespread among the upper classes - or not as widespread as some would have us believe!)<br /><br />It is equally tempting, and equally misleading, to cast Charlotte as "pawn...in the acrimonious game between her rivalling parents....an unhappy young woman, and desperate to escape the confines of her life." This is to put an anachronistic and inaccurate 21st-century interpretation onto the events of the early 19th century. Charlotte was heiress to the Throne of Great Britain and Ireland, and <i>any</i> heiress of the day would have understood and accepted the constraints placed on their life. Charlotte was hardly "estranged" from her parents; she had a robust and opinionated relationship with them both, and was well aware of these constraints as one factor in that relationship. Indeed, she showed considerable backbone in dealing with her own situation: originally engaged to Prince William of Orange ("Slender Billy"), in pursuit of a political alliance with the Netherlands, she called off her engagement in June 1814 rather than accept a requirement to live abroad for a part of every year.Edward Fowlernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-5562859347057496662012-03-13T02:58:57.699-07:002012-03-13T02:58:57.699-07:00I would love to read this.
gardnerad@juno.comI would love to read this.<br />gardnerad@juno.comAlliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03374780285978745645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-69083133145714981922012-03-12T14:11:54.476-07:002012-03-12T14:11:54.476-07:00There's more to be said about that, as well, b...There's more to be said about that, as well, because Baron Stockmar was an adviser of Leopold, and he had told Leopold that the doctors' regimen for Charlotte was not healthy. Leopold didn't listen. And so, when Leopold took a hand in Victoire's dealings, and then with Victoria's, Stockmar was still there. When Victoria became pregnant, it was Stockmar who oversaw her medical supervision, so her children were not subject to the royal doctors. Thank heaven!V.R. Christensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15808305289401007597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-74030030053245948702012-03-12T14:08:04.091-07:002012-03-12T14:08:04.091-07:00That was precisely it, thank you. And I know he, a...That was precisely it, thank you. And I know he, at one point, went back, but confused it. I was really rather focussing on getting the muddle with the princes right. It's all so confusing. But thanks again.V.R. Christensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15808305289401007597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-4730028054770185252012-03-12T11:38:05.883-07:002012-03-12T11:38:05.883-07:00You're welcome. I thought you may have got co...You're welcome. I thought you may have got confused with the fact that Leopold who had become King of Belgium stepped into help them.Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15285632190480221634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-52570977105083943072012-03-12T09:58:55.814-07:002012-03-12T09:58:55.814-07:00Amazing how many clamored at the door to be king. ...Amazing how many clamored at the door to be king. And must say, the doctors of poor Charlotte all but killed her and her baby. As with King Charles II, those poor royals would have done better not having any doctors, at all. Thanks for the share. The Georges are so many, I get very confused. You clarified some of my confusion.Katherine Pymhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15807278372998263951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-80244580957157926992012-03-12T07:41:42.763-07:002012-03-12T07:41:42.763-07:00Karen, you are right. Forgive me. I forgot about t...Karen, you are right. Forgive me. I forgot about that, and remembered only that Leopold stepped in and rescued them, but he rescued them in England, not in Belgium. I will amend that. Thank you for pointing that out to me.V.R. Christensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15808305289401007597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-78550099717486194092012-03-12T03:37:24.178-07:002012-03-12T03:37:24.178-07:00Victoire retreated to her native Belgium and raise...<i>Victoire retreated to her native Belgium and raised the child away from her English relatives.</i><br /><br />Sorry, this is wrong. The Duchess of Kent remained in the UK with her daughter, living at Kensington Palace in London. It was at Kensington Palace in the early hours of the 20th of June 1837 that the 18 year old Victoria learned from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chamberlain, who had ridden from Windsor, that her Uncle William had died and she was Queen.Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15285632190480221634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-9954750864444801362012-03-12T03:11:42.942-07:002012-03-12T03:11:42.942-07:00I so look forward to reading your posts with my mo...I so look forward to reading your posts with my morning coffee. So insightful and intriguing! Thank you...<br />Kimberly<br />http://www.a-novel-affair.com/The Book Baristahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10740100335178388029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-26488536736983508352012-03-12T01:36:14.977-07:002012-03-12T01:36:14.977-07:00I find it one of the most fascinating histories ev...I find it one of the most fascinating histories ever. Thank you for sharing!Phoebe's Sistershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03548739602100284299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-34681151758018136182012-03-12T01:06:55.687-07:002012-03-12T01:06:55.687-07:00That was very interesting - thanks. How neglectful...That was very interesting - thanks. How neglectful of the brothers to not even try and produce heirs before. So strange, especially as in those days, health issues could so easily be fatal.Jenna Dawlishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17041431937600905275noreply@blogger.com