It’s no secret that I am obsessed with All Things Related to the British Monarchy. They are endlessly interesting to me, even though yes, I see your point that the idea that certain people live a life of radical privilege due to nothing more than the luck of their DNA while others of this world are starving is lunacy. And I also see your point that the notion that there are people in this world we are required to curtsey to – curtsey! in 2018! – is silly and goes against all of my egalitarian beliefs.
And yet.
I am totally obsessed. With all of it.
I binged Season Two of Netflix’s The Crown over Christmas break, and I have a lot of thoughts. First and foremost, enough with the whining about how hard it is to be royal. Please. It is magnificent to be royal and anyone who says otherwise needs to hand over their tiara to someone who would appreciate it. Me, for example. Yes, you lose your privacy and some of your freedom and possibly your choice in who you get to marry, but the payoff is that you get to live in a castle and wear ball gowns to dinner. So pipe down about how hard your life is, mmmmkay Phillip?
Despite the vast amount of whining from every single royal except the Queen herself, I really enjoyed Season Two. It’s slow, thoughtful story telling (maybe too slow for some) and I’d like to see future seasons focus more on the Queen’s inner life, not that we can ever really know it. I especially loved the episode with the Kennedys, even though I can’t find any evidence that their meeting went down that way in real life.
If, like me, you can’t get enough of the Royal Lifestyle, I have some fun links for you today.
Vanessa Kirby was a magnificent Princess Margaret in the show. She was the perfect combination of rage and rebellion and snooty privilege, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Margaret was no less fascinating in real life. This is a good article about 13 Princess Margaret Stories That Will Make You Love Her Even More. (Vanity Fair does a lot of coverage of The Crown, including a lot of really great stories about the truth behind the fiction.) And if you want to read more about Margaret and Anthony’s crazy life, check out Snowdon: The Biography by Anne de Courcy.
One of my favorite websites, Go Fug Yourself, does wonderful recaps of each episode, talking about the fashion, the castles, and the interior design of the show. Their collective irritation about Phillip’s constant sniveling is wonderful to behold. Related: the authors of that blog,  Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, known as the Fug Girls, wrote a fantastic, hilarious, dishy romance called The Royal We, which I highly recommend.
Speaking of romances I highly recommend, my book Winter Heat is currently FREE for the month of January over at the Swirl Love Romance Giveaway. This promotion is in celebration of Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s rather amazing (if you think about history) interracial romance, which needless to say, I am a fan of. Head on over there and find your new favorite romance!
Finally, just for fun, check out this article about competitive table setting. Yes, it’s a thing, and yes, it’s crazy and completely fascinating.
Have a great weekend, fellow peasants.
OXO
JULIE