The fading of a queen

The consort of England in 1614 was starting to fade from view.  Anne of Denmark, wife of James I, had become queen of Scotland on her marriage in 1590 and queen of England in 1603 when her husband succeeded Elizabeth I.  But Anne's role and power were disappearing in 1614 as her health began to suffer and she withdrew from public life.  And, arguably, with her faded the notion of queenship in England for almost sixty years.

Anne of Denmark from a portrait attributed to Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger and painted around 1612

By 1614, the queen was living apart from her husband although there was no formal separation and the couple who had married as youngsters had grown into a middle aged acceptance of one another's hopes and aspirations.  Both had suffered deeply when their eldest son, Henry, had died at the age of 18 in 1612 and the queen had slowly withdrawn from public life after that, holding a ball in 1614 but disappearing from view soon afterwards.  Anne had helped her father take the throne of Elizabeth I and bring together the crowns of Scotland and England but by 1614, at the age of 40, she was tired and sad and beginning to suffer from ongoing poor health.  

Anne of Denmark was in mourning and in poor health by 1614

Anne, queen of England died before her husband and never saw her second son, Charles, become king - or lose his throne and his head in 1649.  His wife, Henrietta Maria, was never popular in England and after their marriage in 1625 she spent several years having children before finding herself ready for full time queenship just as England dissolved into civil war.  Her role as consort was to shore up an embattled king fighting for his throne and is life.  Arguably, Anne of Denmark was the last woman to exercise the full role of a consort until the marriage of her grandson, Charles II, to Catherine of Braganza in 1662.  But four hundred years ago her queenship was starting to fade into the background as the Danish princess who came to Scotland filled with youthful love and excitement coped with personal sadness and a diminishing public role.

Memories of a past long gone

The image of Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in front of an ancient building in India evoked memories of another royal visit to the country.  The prince and his wife were at the Akshardham Temple, in Delhi as part of their tour of India and while there have already been many images of them on the visit, the sight of the two of them together with one of the world's most beautiful and iconic buildings behind them can only bring back thoughts of that other famous photo taken on one of Charles' tours of the country.

 

Charles and Camilla at the Akshardham Temple, in Delhi which was completed in 2005 and holds a controversial Guinness World Record as the largest comprehensive Hindu temple with three other sites in India disputing its claim

 

Maybe it's the soft light of the Indian sun, maybe it's the contrast of the intricate building front which makes the people in front of it seem so small but the photo is deeply reminiscent of that image of Diana, Princess of Wales in front of the Taj Mahal on the Wales' trip to India in 1992, just months before the official announcement of their separation.  That photo of Diana has become one of the most famous ever taken, the lonely princess at the temple of love.  Perhaps because it has been so well used, and seen so often, in the twenty one years since it was taken that this new picture of Charles and Camilla instantly brings it to mind.  The duchess looks thoughtful in the snaps and there isn't a single one of her smiling on this photocall on the official Clarence House website.  A different building, a different century but still evocative.  Sometimes, even with the distance of decades, following in someone's footsteps can be a difficult day.

 

 

Diana, Princess of Wales at the Taj Mahal in India on her visit to the country with

Prince Charles in 1992

 

The poetic prince

It's National Poetry Day in the UK and to mark the occasion the Prince of Wales has recorded a poem by that most famous of Welsh poets, Dylan Thomas.  His version of 'Fernhill' has been released on his website where he also talks about the poignancy of the verse which is about childhood in rural west Wales.  Charles said he was nervous to record the piece but wanted to celebrate poetry day and Thomas's legacy.  With the centenary of the bard's birth approaching, there will be plenty more celebrations of his work in the twelve months ahead.  And reading the poem also allows us to hear Charles call himself a prince - not of Wales this time but of 'the apple towns', in his rendering of one of the most famous lines from this most famous of Welsh verses.

The prince who waited

Prince Charles has just become the oldest heir assumptive to the British throne in history.  As of today, he adds that record to several he already holds including being the longest serving heir since an English king first wore a crown.  It's said the British love to queue and Charles is leading by example.

 

When you've still got years to go until you get the job you've trained all your life to do, you have to find a way to pass the hours

 

Until today, the oldest heir assumptive to the British throne had been William, Duke of Clarence who became King William IV in 1830.  But William only spent three years as heir before getting the top job having outlived two brothers.  Charles has held the title of first in waiting since the age of three and a bit.  He was nowhere near being the youngest heir ever, even at that tender age, given the amount of princes born to reigning kings and queens in the past.  But now at 64, almost 65, he takes the title of most senior.

 



 

He's got plenty of time for a nice cup of tea and a biscuit before his reign gets under way