Marie a French Princess in Denmark by Inger-Lise Klausen and Ted Rosvall

 

 

A new book will be released in Copenhagen tomorrow, May 2nd. It is MARIE 1865-1909, A French Princess in Denmark, by Inger-Lise Klausen and Ted Rosvall, and published by Rosvall Royal Books.

An unusual Princess, Marie of Orléans married into the Danish Royal Family and became the sister-in-law of Europe. Her husband, Prince Valdemar, was the brother of Queen Alexandra of England, Empress Maria F...eodorovna (Dagmar) of Russia, King Frederik VIII of Denmark, King Georg I of Greece and of Thyra, would-be Queen of Hanover. Unique pictures of an almost forgotten Princess and an interesting text, which involves a lot of Danish, European and Asian history. The short life of a gifted, impulsive and independent Princess.

144 pages, large format, 140 illustrations, many never before seen.
The launch will start at 3.30 PM by the Princess Marie Monument at Langelinie, exactly 100 years after the inauguration of this statue. About 15 of Marie's Rosenborg and Bourbon-Parma descendants will attend.

 

Poor Little Dutch girl

Once a upon a time -- now -- there lives a Poor Little Dutch Girl who says she loves royal books, pretty, lovely, royal books.  But the books have to be written by pretty, lovely people, or read by pretty, lovely people because the Poor Little Dutch Girl does not like people who do not write pretty or lovely things.  Or people she does not deem to be pretty or lovely or  ... kisses her wooden shoes.

Poor Little Dutch Girl is actually a grown woman, who acts like a spoilt child, who has temper tantrums, who disparages others.  Some weeks ago, for no apparent reason, Poor Little Dutch girl banned me from her royal books message board.  No one I spoke with could find a single post (and I had not posted all that often) that seemed inflammatory.  Heigh Ho! 

Poor Little Dutch Girl refused to explain herself ... she is incapable of explaining.   More recently, she had one of her weekly pouts on another board, tsk tsking another poster for the title of a post about the visit of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to Norway.  The post was titled "If it is Thursday, it must be Norway," which is a reference to a movie from the 1960s, "If it is Tuesday, it Must be Belgium."   The poster was slapped silly for the title, as Poor Little Dutch Girl deemed it to be offensive.    Others, too, were mystified by Poor Little Dutch Girl, and said so right on the board.  

 Oh dear, she lost control ... for a few minutes before she returned the slaps to all those who did not agree with her. 

I sent a private email to her, telling her how rude she was to the other poster.  Perhaps she had not heard of the movie, but as it turned out she had, so her original response was inexcusable.   She was rather nasty to me, as expected, and said to me how could I be so mean to her on such a day of sadness in Belgium.  I wrote back telling her that the funerals for the children killed in the bus accident was not relevant to the topic.

Poor Little Dutch Girl has an unnerving habit of using other events to deflect attention away from her.

The final straw came today.  Poor Little Dutch Girl banned author and publisher, Arturo Beeche, from her board as well.  She recently wrote about the authors who attended the recent royal conference at Ticehurst, England, and noted the top selling books ... well, Poor Little Dutch Girl could not give the truth.  She neglected to list the top selling book at the conference, which was Dear Ellen.  She did not even mention it.

Why?  She does not think Art is pretty or lovely.  She believes all the bad things she hears.  In full transparency, I will say that Art is a friend of mine (although I have kicked his butt a few times, but we talk about the problems that he has had, and I am glad to say, Art is back in business, doing good things.)

Art received a lovely email from the owner of the van Hoogstraten bookstore in the Hague, telling him that his book was the number one seller that weekend at Ticehurst.  Number two was the book on the Hohenzollerns, which I reviewed several months ago.

Art asked Poor Little Dutch Girl why he was banned.   She responded with another deflection.  How could he say such things when she was posting such lovely things about the upcoming Luxembourg wedding on another board.   The royal wedding in Luxembourg is not relevant to the conversation.  She cannot face the truth.  She is reality-challenged. 

Poor Little Dutch girl, who mentions Hoogstraten in every other breath, would not acknowledge the truth.  So she banned Art, although she continues to allow shady folks and trouble making drunks to post on her board. 

Poor Little Dutch Girl has been described by several people as a psycho, a control freak, not well-educated.  She is definitely someone who has to be in control at all times, perhaps she is unable to control all things in her private life.   Her wooden shoes are far to big for her feet.  She needs to find a smaller size.   She also needs to free herself from her sidekick, Scottie.

She has no real accomplishments of her own, expect to say that she is a royal book addict.  Addiction is a sickness, and Little Dutch Girl is in need of help.   She is too much saccharine, and not enough sugar.

M 40 år på tronen by Jens Andersen

Kudos to Jens Andersen who has written a superb biography of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.  The book is M 40 år på tronen (Lindhardt og Ringhof: 399.95 DK), an intensive examination of the Queen Margrethe II's reign.   Andersen is a serious journalist.  He writes for the respected Berlingske Tidende.

This is a stiff 500 page tome that covers the entire period of Margrethe's reign from her succession in January 1972, following the death of her beloved father, King Frederik IX.

Here in the United States, the media largely focuses on the British Royal Family.  The attention is on Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. But she is not the only distaff sovereign in Europe.  Her cousin, Margrethe II, has reigned with great authority for forty years. She is well-educated, well-traveled and a talented artist to boot.

It was lovely to see the CNN International interview with Queen Margrethe II in January.  But Margrethe's Jubilee did not generate the same attention that Queen Elizabeth is now receiving for her 60 years on the throne. (It should be noted that Elizabeth II's Ruby Anniversary also received more press coverage than Margrethe's.)

We should know about Margrethe.  Jens Andersen does tell us about Margrethe, but he writes in Danish.  His primary readership is in Denmark.  But M 40 år på tronen is a book that deserves to be published in English in order for more of the world to learn about Margrethe II.

The GAD  bookstore in Copenhagen is a good source for foreigners to order books from Denmark.

http://www.lindhardtogringhof.dk/da-DK/Titler.aspx?c=Item&category=4972&item=28851

Wow! A cover for The Gleichens: the Unknown Royal Cousins

Amazon has created a cover for my article, The Gleichens: the Unknown Royal Cousins, which is available in ALL Kindle stores - from Amazon USA to Amazon Spain.  This link is for the US kindle store.

Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg was a nephew of Queen Victoria. He fell in love with an English woman, Laura Seymour. Their marriage was morganatic, and Laura was created Countess Gleichen. They had four children, Feodora, a noted sculptress, Edward, one of the developers of British military intelligence, Valda, a singer, and Helena, a painter, who also had long term relationship with another woman. Valda was the only one to marry, and she had one son, Roger Machell, an important British book editor, and director of Hamish Hamilton. He edited Cecil Woodham Smith's biography of Queen Victoria. The Gleichens: the Unknown Royal Cousins, is the story of a family, artists, favorites of Victoria and her family, and fringe royals, the first to enter and the first to leave. The British royals were fond of the Gleichens, a talented and artistic family largely unknown to the general public.

 

 

The price is $9.99 (US).  Converted to Sterling and Euros, when you purchase through the UK and other European sites.  If this is a success, I may consider putting up other articles on Kindle. 

 

Much thanks!

 

Our Fritz by Franz Lorenz Müller

Frank Lorenz Müller's Our Fritz: Emperor Frederick III and the Political Culture of Imperial Germany (Harvard University Press:$45.00) is a magnificent achievement, a gripping study of the life of Friedrich III, German Emperor, who reigned for 99 days in 1889.   This is a stunning political biography of a man destined for what was perceived to be greatness, but -- thanks to his elder son, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Otto von Bismarck -- has largely become a footnote in Germany imperial history.

But being a footnote is not what was planned for Friedrich.  He was to be a modern monarch, celebrating political liberalism in the new Germany.  But he was also a patriot, he supported a united Germany, and he sneered at many of the minor German rulers.  As far back as 1860, he desired the minor duchies and principalities to be merged into Prussia.  During the War of 1866, he was the "ridiculous German titles converted into ducal or grand ducal titles."  He also expected the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen to come "crawling on his belly, which would be truly German-princely."

Crown Prince Friedrich was ably supported (some say dominated) by his wife, Victoria, a British princess, eldest children of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.   It was Albert who set in motion a plan to marry his beloved and brightest daughter to the heir to the Prussian.  The plan was to have this liberal couple take on the new Germany, to bring about a plan that eventually create a more peaceful Germany.  

Friedrich's father, Wilhelm I, died on March 8, 1888, three weeks before his 91st birthday.  It was now Friedrich's time.  Sadly, for Friedrich and his family, and tragically for Germany (and Europe), two bad fairies were waiting in the wings to destroy everything that Fritz and Vicky believed in: their son, Crown Prince Wilhelm and Otto von Bismarck.

Friedrich was already dying when he succeeded to the throne.  He suffered from an advance case of lung cancer, and his health was battered by bad doctors.  He died on June 15, 1888.  Crown Prince Wilhelm and von Bismarck were waiting to make their moves to destroy Fritz's liberalism and views for Germany.  Moreover, Wilhelm II tried to destroy his father's reputation.  Unfortunately, for Germany, the views and actions of Wilhelm II and Otto von Bismarck set up the motions that would led to not one, but two world wars. 

Müller, a professor at the University of St Andrews, offers a mature portrayal of Fritz, focusing on the Fritz's persona as a beloved military hero and his position as a purveyor of change to Germany's political climate. 

Professor Müller delves deep into the political history and the personalities that shaped the second half of 19th-century Germany.    A superbly researched book.  

Highly recommended.    This is the biography that Friedrich deserved. Get it, and put next to Patricia Kollander's equally scholarly Friedrich III Germany's Liberal Emperor, published in 1999 by Praeger.

Her Majesty the Queen

Robert Hardman's new book,  Her Majesty the Queen, is now available in the USA. Published by Pegaseus.  The British title is Our Queen.  Hardman was interviewed this morning on NBC's Today Show.

The British edition is also available for sale through Amazon (USA).

Dear Ellen - Royal Europe Through the Photo Albums of Grand Duchess Helen Vladimirovna of Russia

Dear Ellen - Royal Europe Through the Photo Albums of Grand Duchess Helen Vladimirovna of Russia is now available.  After clicking on the link, look for the seller called royalwriter.  That's me.

and the book is now available through Amazon.co.uk
(BRAND NEW COPIES)

The Royal Hellenic Dynasty

Eurohistory first published The Royal Hellenic Dynasty in 2007. The book remains in print, and obtainable from Amazon.
This is a stunning book of photographs of members of three Greek royal family based on the collection of Mrs. Helen Helmis-Markesinis, which she inherited from her aunt.  Prince Michael of Greece, a family friend, helped whittle down a collection of more than 1000 photographs of members of European royal families to about 200 photos of the Greek Royal family.

This book of photographs was first published in Greece (in Greek). 

The photographs are amazing, and cover the time period from King George I and Queen Olga to the 1940s.  Many of the photographs were signed.  Some rather sweet photographs of royal children, including a newborn Princess Sophia, now Queen Sofia of Spain.

This book features family portraits, weddings, baptisms, group photographs (an absolutely gorgeous one of Princess Marina and her two sisters taken in the 1930s), and members of the Greek Royal house carrying out official duties. 

This book is a must-have for all royal collectors, as many of the photographs were published for the first time.  The price of The Royal Hellenic Dynasty is $49.95.

Favorite photos:  the bejeweled and beautiful Queen Sophie of Greece (one of my favorites: we share the same birth date) and a young Prince Philip.

Les Trois Princesses de Monaco

It is a shame that the majority of French-language books on the Monagesque Princely Family never get translated into English.  There is a market for these books.  The Prince of Monaco's mother was the American-born Grace Kelly, and his new wife is a former South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock.

One of the newest books on the Monagesque princely family is Les Trois Princesses de Monaco (l'Archipel:18.95 Euros).  This book, published in paperback, focuses on the lives and relationships of the new Princess of Monaco and her sisters-in-law, Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie.

Princess Caroline has a vested interest in the succession.   Unless Charlene bears a child, the succession will pass to Caroline and her elder son, Andrea.

Lunel is a French journalist, and he offers an honest portrait of three distaff Grimaldis.

This is a refreshing look at the history and personality of Monaco as seen through the eyes of the the three Princess of Monaco.

http://www.amazon.fr/trois-princesses-Monaco-Pierre-Lunel/dp/2809804931/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333423215&sr=1-11