Baubles & Petticoats

Royalty. Such an interesting disposition. Some of the most courageous and strong women were of royal families, some of the most vile and greedy women as well. I read their stories often, and as I read I try to keep an open mind. They have braved some of the most gut-wrenching experiences-expectations of court, endless miscarriages, younger mistresses, non-consumated marriages, public exploitations, and beheadings. Usually, their fate is decided by matters of state and government, they are powerless to what has happened around them. They are unable to have minds of their own and every thought and action is a careful plan, an agenda arranged and faciliated by the men of court. Their stories tend to end in tragedy and sadness. Such a far stretch from the "happily ever after" that we learned and hoped for as little girls....but they still happen, just in different ways.


Anne Boleyn, 1835, in the tower waiting her execution, on the charges of treason and incest. In divorcing Queen Catherine, and marrying Anne, Henry VII broke from the Catholic church, thus starting the English Reformation....

Queen Elizabeth I signing the order of Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, her second cousin. Mary had designed three assassination plots for Elizabeth, in order to place herself on the English throne. Elizabeth did not want to sign the papers, due to Mary being her blood, but had to do so as Queen.

Marie Antoinette. She was the scapegoat for the fall of the French revolution, thus ending in her beheading. She braved seven years of an unconsummated marriage, two miscarriages, one living child out of the three she gave birth to, and a passionate love affair with Count Fersen of Sweden over the course of 20 years. She did spend a lot of the King's money though, and her elaborate gowns, hairstyles, houses, and jewels made her a target of humiliation and exploitation by her people.

A young portrait of the current Queen of England. She has had a relatively clean history, thank the heavens :-)