Tea at Trianon: "Queen" Camilla??

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

"Queen" Camilla??

The rationalizations of the Church of England are beyond me, and always have been. But it looks like the charming Camilla is winning hearts. So is she his mistress or is she his morganatic wife? Did her Catholic husband ever get a decree of nullity? Royal marriage debacles can be so confusing..... Share

4 comments:

Brantigny said...: The next Queen of England

One should not be suprised that the next Queen by law or de facto will be Camilla. While I am a monarchist it is still a bit disconcerting when the next King of England will be able to install his wife as Queen. Lord have mercy, when the prize for adultery is the crown of a queen.
Of course this wasn't the first time in the history of the English Monarchy for such a thing... but the last time there was a hint of such a thing Edward had the good sense to abdicate.

And then there was that Boleyn woman...

de Brantigny; July 24, 2007 at 2:05:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Your thoughts echo my own....; July 24, 2007 at 2:17:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: I hope and pray that good taste, judgment and sense will prevail. Please, don't reward licentious behavior with a crown. Ugh.

Let us pray for Diana's sons, that they can grow to be moral, principled and holy men. Their behavior so far isn't too promising...all the more reason for us to pray for them.; July 24, 2007 at 5:39:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: Please read Elenas earlier posting about the diffenece between Diana and Marie-Antoinette. I ama fraid that the apple does not fall far from the tree.; July 24, 2007 at 7:49:00 PM EDT