Hello Everyone
I'm finally going to face my fears and give my RL home renovation project a shot.
As therapy, I'll be blogging a bit about it and above all I'll be trying to keep my sense of humour intact.
See Reluctant Renovator: And so it Begins
Wish me luck!
Apparently I'm not the only one catching glimpses of Midldle Earth in the real world!
An Unexpected Briefing: Hobbit themed Safety Video
Love all those hairy feet & elf ears 
What a wonderful idea, Trasgo!
I'm moving this to the Marketplace Category.
Also please note the Guildelines :
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Thanks!
Thanks for the additional pictures! That first portrait by Philip Alexius de Lszl is my favouriteimage of her.
Personally I don't feel that Elizabeth & Wallis were in different leagues. After all, as her daughter Princess Margaret wasprone to say, Elizabeth "wasn't born royal" she just married into it.
They both loved to have a good time& could be very charming when it suited them; they both wanted to be the centre of attention; they both really wanted their own way. No wonder they clashed!
I do believe that Elizabeth was always angling to be Queen. As I mentioned before, she was hoping to marry David but ended up with Bertie and took it from there. I think this makes her a much more interesting woman. I had thought that she was someone who just kind of drifted through her life but it appears that she was actively making things go according to her own plan (and in some cases those plans were very long ranging).
On the other hand, I don't think that Wallis ever wanted to be Queen and would have been quite content to remain David's matresse-en-titre. Instead she found herself married, vilified andexiled. I have a lot of sympathy for her.
With regard to Bertie's rather early death. Though it'spossiblethat stress was a contributing factor, he was a heavy smoker which lead to lung cancer and arteriosclerosis. I think it's a marvelous piece of PR that Elizabeth hated Wallis because of Bertie's early death. She had all kinds of reasons to hate Wallis but I don't believe this one is basedon fact.
In the end, Elizabeth made for a good Queen especially during the war years and lived a long and seemingly happy life. Wallis's life, particularily the later years, really wasn't that pleasant.
I think it's fascinating to look beyond the stereotypes of "kind-hearted aristocrat" and "grasping gold-digger" to try to find the real women underneath.
She certainly had the common touch and loved to play to a crowd whether it was big or small or out in the wilds of Northern Ontario - lol. That's how my grandmother managed to snap photos of her!
It seems that she was a lot like Princess Di in that wayandthiscertainly was a wonderful characteristicespecially during WWII.
As for being modern, apparently she really wasn't and stuck firmly to most of the old ways (which helps explain her early backward fashion sense). George V loved her for being an old-fashioned girl. If we are to believe Lady Colin Campbell a conservative group (who didn't want to modernize the monarchy) was formed around her and they helped to oust David who was all for making changes.
Perhaps David, with all his personality quirks, really wasn't as weak as he was made to appear? Perhaps he was just out maneuvered by people that wanted to hold on to their power & positions, Elizabeth being the nexus of that group? It's an interesting avenue to explore!
That was pretty much my take on Elizabeth until I read Lady Colin Campbell's book which made me re-evaluate. Of course I take everything I read with a grain of salt but it certainly has shifted my opinionof the woman.
Campbell claims that Elizabeth really wanted to marry David (Edward VIII) which was the real reason that she kept refusing Bertie (George VI). She finally had to admit defeat & accept Bertie so it's no wonder that she had a grudge against Wallis from the very beginning. This was a woman that really needed to be the centre of attention and she loved being in the fishbowl as long as she was the biggest fish!
Campbell also claims that it was Elizabeth and her conservative set that manipulated the situation so that David was forced to abdicate. If this is true then she had no one but herself to blame (or congratulate as the case may be) for Bertie's early demise.
Elizabeth comes off as being very shrewd & powerful and hiding it all under a thick layer of charm.
Mind-bending isn't it?
Anyone who has seen Madonna's movie W.E. has caught a glimpse into the life & romance of Wallis Simpson& Edward VIII. They know thatthis was a relationship that altered history and they know that "W.E."was the cypherusedto symbolise that relationship. They may also remember a few of the movie's"bit players" including Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, first seen as the Duchess of York and played by Natalie Dormer (who in a lovely little twist also played Anne Boleyn in The Tudors ).
This certainly was the image that I had of Elizabeth;always gracious (except when it came to Wallis of course), always smiling andalways a bit boring. Elizabeth appeared to be more like the "Bound to Obey and Serve" Jane Seymour while Wallisappeared more along the lines of the stylish, sophisticatedand, somemight say, shrewish Anne Boleyn.
Thanks for the link! I'll be following her boards
p.s. I'm just going to move this over to Bloggers' Corner since there are Pinterest posts there already.
Nice blog! Thanks for sharing it with us
