HRH Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge

Many think that Queen Mary was German, but nothing could be further from the truth. Admittedly her father was German, having been born as HSH Prince Francis of Teck, but her mother was HRH Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge as as such, she was first cousin to Queen Victoria. The Princess was a very colourful character and at times was far more popular that the Queen herself.

The Princess had a relaxed approach with her children, three sons and one daughter. Se was the dominant force in her marriage, her husband being very bothered by his status, an HSH being ranked much lower than HRH. The Princess was something of a spendthrift and so the family ended up spending time abroad to escape from their creditors. The Princess's mother, The Dowager Duchess of Cambridge would normally bal out the family, so they could return. This never stopped the Princess from slipping back into her old ways though.

With her ample figure, the Princess always looked impressive in wonderful gowns and jewels, however being the poor relations, in royal terms, the children felt insecure. It was the Princess's wish was for spectacular marriages for her children. Her eldest son married the daughter of the first Duke of Westminster, her second son married HRH Princess Alice of Albany, a cousin, her third son died unmarried.

It was the Princess's daughter that made the most spectacular marriage of all, in 1893, Princess Victoria Mary became HRH The Duchess of York, the fourth lady in the land. Princess Mary Adelaide was beside herself with pride and it was also a good excuse to run up further bills!

The Princess lived long enough to see her daughters children born, Prince Edward and Prince Albert, both destined to become Kings.

 

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Dear World by Jerry Herman

I was in for a treat over the weekend, I saw a musical that has not played to an audience since its first opening on Broadway in 1969. The show was Dear World by Jerry Herman and this London premier starredBroadway legend Betty Buckley. Miss Buckley gave a superb performance as Countess Aurelia and every time she was on stage, you were transfixed.

This show is only on until the end of March and is at the Charing Cross Theatre and this venue is superb for this wonderful show, intimate and you feel as if you are part of everything that is going on. The show takes a while to get into in, but the songs are wonderful and it was great to see them in context after listening to the album for many years.

One of the highlights for me during the show was the Tea Party sequence, where Countess Aurelia and her friends Constance and Gabrielle discuss what they are going to do about the impending situation with the Presidents. It really is a masterpiece and I was totally engrossed.

If you get chance to see this gem of a show, get tickets now, the venue is great, unusual and quirky and perfect for this show. You won't be disappointed and you may never get the chance to see this show again.

 

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Carol Channing by Hirschfeld

Carol Channing was drawn by Al Hirschfeld many times and his portraits captured the energy of Miss Channing.

 

 

Hirschfeld incorporated the name of his daughter, Nina into many of his portraits and drawings. The name is always disguised in the folds of the clothes or in the hair, it is great to discover how many you can find.

This is the man himself, he lived in the Upper East Side of Manhattan and I have been past his home many times. The house has now been sold and is currently undergoing a renovation.

A great photo of Miss Channing signing Hirschfeld lithographs, two of which hang in my home.

 

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Queen Louise of Sweden

Queen Louise of Sweden was born as HSH Princess Louise of Battenberg and as such was the sister to Earl Mountbatten of Burma, The Marquess of Milford Haven and Princess Alice (mother of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh).

Princess Louise did all things princesses did at the time, helped charities, opened bazaars etc and felt that time was had passed her by with regard to marriage.

The princess famously said that she would never marry a widower or a King. Princess Louise actually did both in 1923 when she married Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden. The Crown Prince had been widowed in 1920 when his wife Crown Princess Margaret died.

The new Crown Princess enjoyed a full and eventful life with her husband, although the marriage remained childless. The Crown Princess did however have her husbands children to look after and they soon accepted her and she had a good relationship with them all.

Crown Princess Louise became Queen of Sweden when her father in law died and her husband assumed the throne. Already well into middle age, the royal couple carried out engagements of behalf of many organisations and undertook many trips abroad on behalf of Sweden. As Queen, Louise had access to the most amazing collection of jewels and used them as props for her role.

Queen Louise thought that no one would know who she was and whenever she was in London, she always carried a card in her handbag which read " I am the Queen of Sweden "

However there was not any need as people did know who she was!

Queen Louise died in 1965 and her husband lived until 1973, when the present King ascended the throne.

 

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Lady Pamela Hicks - Daughter of Empire.

I was very much looking forward to reading this book as the Mountbatten's have been so closely associated with the British Royal Family and Lady Pamela especially so. Lady Pamela's story is entwined with the history of the 20th century. From her birth in Spain in 1929, being at the centre of events in India, being a bridesmaid at her cousin Philips wedding and escorting both on the World tour The Queen undertook with the Duke of Edinburgh after the Coronation.

This book is superb as it gives you the insiders view of the above events. Lady Pamela is frank about her mothers need for male company and also her reaction her father needed extra female company. Also her mothers travels that never seemed to end and usually in the company of Bunny Phillips. For the time, Lady Edwina travelled to some of the far flung places, which must have been wonderful at that time. So It was a fairly lonely childhood, with her father also concentrating on his naval career, but Lady Pamela had animals for company and also the staff that looked after her. That aside, she was born into amazing wealth and both she and her older sister, Patricia (now The Countess Mountbatten of Burma) were deeply loved by their parents.

Lady Pamela's was a whirl, be it in some remote part of the World whilst on the Coronation tour, or in Malta with her parents, or India where she lived for a while or simply at Broadlands in Hampshire where the family lived. This book is an amazing read, I found it hard to put it down as I wanted to know what Lady Pamela got up to next. I am fortunate to have a signed copy of her book and it will go along signed copy of a book signed by her father.

To order this superb book, go to Hatchard's website by clicking here Welcome to Hatchards Bookshop

 

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Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

I was sent a delightful photograph of Her Majesty and thought I would share it with my blog. I am not sure when or where this photograph was taken but it is obviously a recent one.

The Queen was born in 1926 and will be 87 this year and is still amazingly fit and does not appear to be reducing her annual workload. The Queens year is still set by the migration from the various Royal residences. Most weekends are spent here, in my hometown of Windsor.

The Queen is now the oldest reigning monarch in British history, her consort, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh is the oldest consort and has been consort longer than anyone else. In a few short years, The Queen will overtake her great great grandmother and be the longest reigning monarch in our history.

 

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HRH Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

One figure that was present at many royal gatherings was a lady in a long cloak similar to a nuns habit. The lady in question obviously had the bearing of someone high born, but who was she? The answer is simple, the lady was the mother of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

Princess Alice of Battenberg was the sister of The Queen of Sweden, Earl Mountbatten of Burma and the Marquess of Milford Haven. She married Prince Andrew of Greece and they went on to have four daughters and one son, Philip.

The princess experienced many issues throughout her life and although she remained married, she did it live with Prince Andrew in the conventional sense. The princess had a series of breakdowns and spent many years in a sanatorium in Germany, missing many events in her families lives. Prince Philip was at school and when he wasn't he would spend time with his sisters and their families in Germany or with his Mountbatten relations in England. Prince Andrew died in France in 1944.

Princess Alice stayed in Greece throughout the war and continued the work she started when she stared her own order of nuns, helping the poor. It was said she was inspired in this role by the memory of her aunt, Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, who was murdered in the revolution. Princess Alice protected many people from the Germans including Jewish people, at great danger to herself. This fact only came into the public domain in the last 20 years.

Princess Alice continued her work, however she became ill and The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh invited the princess to live at Buckingham Palace, which she did until her death in 1969. The Duke of Edinburgh is her last surviving child.

 

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Privates on Parade on stage in London

For the next four weeks, at the Noel Coward Theatre in London, there is a show that has everything, fun, songs, laughter, sadness and tragedy. It is the first show in the Michael Grandage season at the Noel Coward theatre.

If you are easily offended, it is probably best not to see the show, but the main thing it is fun and the performances are amazing, the cast are on the go all the time.

Simon Russell Beale is superb as Capt Terri Dennis and gives a great performance.

For tickets

 

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HH Princess Marie Louise

HH Princess Marie Louise became a princess of nowhere after 1917 when King George V changed the name of the Royal House from Saxe Coburg Gotha to Windsor. All the remaining German titles of the members of the Royal Family were changed to English sounding names. The princess's father, Prince Christian had died in 1917 so was unaffected by the change and the princess's mother simply reverted to her original name, Princess Helena or was known as Princess Christian. Princess Helena was a daughter of Queen Victoria.

The princess was on the sidelines of the Royal Family but still undertook many public duties on behalf of her cousin, King George V. After her mother died in 1923, the princess lived with her sister, HH Princess Helena Victoria in Shomberg House, in Pall Mall.

The princess attended the coronations of Edward VII, George V, George VI and Elizabeth II. As she wasn't a princess of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, she was not entitled to the the ermine lined and edged train and so attended in her own long train. It is said that the princess ensured the whole event of the coronation of Elizabeth II was comfortable by sustaining herself with an ample supply of gin.

The princess is also remembered for publishing her memoirs just before she died in 1956. The memoirs are entitled, My Memories of Six Reigns and proved to be a very successful publication. Although nothing revealing was mentioned in the book, it did deal with the princess's short lived marriage and also daly domestic royal life. An interesting read for those who have in interest in the subject.

The princess had a large collection of Napoleonic memorabilia and left most of this and her jewellery to the Gloucester's. The tiara the princess wore to the coronation of Elizabeth II is still worn today by the current Duchess of Gloucester. A princess who did a lot of work for the Royal Family but not more or less forgotten, which is a shame as these princes and princesses did so much good for the country and all this before 24 hour news coverage.

 

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HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, part 2

Princess Alice was very much a British princess, living in the UK all her life, apart from short periods when her husband, HSH Prince Alexander of Teck (The Earl of Athlone) was Governor General of South Africa and Canada.

Behind this however was a deep emotional upset, her only brother, Charles Edward had been sent to Germany as a young boy to take over duties as the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, taking over from his uncle, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. This meant that during both world wars, Princess Alice and her brother, Karl Eduard, found themselves on different sides. Karl Eduard suffered because of his birthright, while Princess Alice was feted as one of the most popular British princesses.

Karl Eduard found himself imprisoned after WWII and was eventually released. He settled in one of his properties and led a fairly quiet life. He was able at last to receive visits from his sister but his health had really suffered and he died in 1954. All he ever wanted was to be the British Prince was he was born to be.

Princess Alice enjoyed meeting up with her many relatives, many of whom had ascended various European thrones, including her first cousins, Queen Ena of Spain, Queen Marie of Roumania, Queen Maud of Norway, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany to name but a few.

The Earl and Countess's daughter was born Princess May of Teck, but when she died she was known to the British public as Lady May Abel Smith. Lady May and her husband also lived a life dedicated to duty to the Crown and could often be seen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at events such as the Trooping of the Colour.

Princess Alice is in the front row on the left in this photograph and her husband is third from the left.

 

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