Catherine the Great
A first look at The Great (Season 2)
Hulu has given us a glimpse at the second season of The Great and a release date as well. The second season will begin on 19 November 2021.
Month: August 2021
The Royal Women
Lady Penelope Devereux – The fair lady with the black soul
Penelope Devereux was born in January 1563 in Staffordshire to parents Walter Devereux, who later became the 1st Earl of Essex, and his wife, Lettice Knollys. Penelope’s siblings that survived infancy were Dorothy, Walter and Robert, who became a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I and was a high-ranking privy counsellor. Penelope came from a long [read more]
Afghanistan
Soraya Tarzi – A champion of women’s rights
“Soraya was the first Afghan lady and queen who began to promote women, educate them and try to give them their rights.” The future Queen Soraya of Afghanistan was born as Soraya Tarzi on 24 November 1899 as the daughter of Mahmud Tarzi and Asma Rasmiya Khanum. Her family was living in exile at the [read more]
The Duchess of Windsor
The Duchess of Windsor’s life in the Bahamas (Part two)
Read part one here. In December 1941, the United States was dragged into the Second World War with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Early the following year, there were rumours of German U-boats in the Caribbean, and several shipwrecked crews indeed came ashore and were brought to Nassau, where Wallis oversaw their care. A large [read more]
The Duchess of Windsor
The Duchess of Windsor’s life in the Bahamas (Part one)
In the morning of 17 August 1940, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor arrived in Nassau, where the Duke was to act as Governor-General. Before their arrival, King George VI had sent a telegram with the following instructions to the officials, “You are no doubt aware that a lady when presented to HRH The Duke [read more]
Austria
Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg – A poor sinner (Part two)
Read part one here. In 1685, Eleonore Magdalene’s stepdaughter Maria Antonia married Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria and Maria Antonia remained in Vienna at first, as Maximilian was away fighting. As a condition of the marriage, Leopold had made Maria Antonia secretly renounce her rights to the Spanish throne in favour of her father’s [read more]