Tea at Trianon: New Period Drama About 1066

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 22, 2025

New Period Drama About 1066

Some of the casting is odd. James Norton is perfect for King Harold, though. From Discover Britain:

The series will tell the story of William the Conqueror’s ascension to the English throne after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Set in 11th-century England we will see Harold Godwinson, the last crowned King of Anglo-Saxon England, facing a threat to his throne from a forthcoming Norman invasion. Although we can’t know for sure, we can only assume the series will end dramatically with (spoilers!), Harold’s death at the Battle of Hastings. Here are 7 facts about the Battle of Hastings that you probably didn’t know before.
The eight-part series will tell the story of a fated clash between two individuals that happened 1,000 years ago and that would change the course of history, and the destiny of Britain and Europe forever. But, as the series will show, the roots of their clash stretch back decades before their final showdown, and extend out through two, interconnected family dynasties who struggled for power across two countries and a raging sea. Two allies, neither of which had any design on the British throne, but both of whom found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for the British crown. Only one man would come out victorious. Here, we tell the story of events that lead to the Battle of Hastings. (Read more.)