Uneasy Lies the Crown

Class is Back in Session

September is almost upon us, which means ULTC will be back with a new four-week series next Friday! We are excited to take a deep dive into the inner workings of a new ruler’s brain and historical impact. Prep for next week by taking a look back at everything we’ve posted so far!

Get back-to-school ready like George and Charlotte because ULTC returns next week! *From ABC News*.

Charles VI

Week 1: The story of how Charles VI of France went from “Beloved” to “Mad”; full of murder, mad kings, family feuds and backstabbing.

Week 2: Could schizophrenia have explained Charles VI’s strange behavior? And what can modern neuroscience tell us about what was going on inside his brain?

Week 3: Synthesizing history and science to examine how one man’s schizophrenia led to decades of war and the establishment of the bureaucratic state.

Week 4: Diving into the mysterious phenomenon of glass delusion to understand why a generation of the powerful and wealthy feared they would shatter, and why it all but disappeared by the 1900s.

Alexandra Feodorovna

Week 1: Before Anastasia, there was another Romanov who was the center of attention; her mother, Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of Russia, whose reign seemed doomed from the start.

Week 2: The science of hypochondria though the lens of Alexandra Feodorovna, including how your body can look and feel pregnant when it’s not.

Week 3: Alexandra’s mental instability left her increasingly dependent on Rasputin, who taught that “love is everything; love will protect you from a bullet.” No one loved her family more than Alexandra, but in the end, love could not save them.

Week 4: How DNA testing put the rumors of Anastasia’s escape to bed, but could not put all of the Romanovs to rest.

Henry VIII

Week 1: You’ve heard about the king who had six wives, but do you know the whole story? Henry VIII’s pursuit of a male heir changed the course of history in England, and Europe, forever.

Week 2: Henry VIII and NFL player Aaron Hernandez both experienced the devastating effects of brain injury. But does a diagnosis make them less accountable for their crimes?

Week 3: Six women experienced the effects of Henry’s instability. But in the end, it was a woman who resurrected the tarnished Tudor name.

Week 4: It’s no secret that Henry VIII struggled with his health. What might be more surprising is that his experiences as a patient inspired him to take some remarkable steps to modernize medicine.

Summer Fun

Week 1: Celebrate summer by taking a look at the favorite vacation spots of royals through the centuries.

Week 2: Has the lack of sports left a hockey rink-sized hole in your life? Fill the void by exploring favorite athletic pastimes enjoyed by Royals.

Week 3: Marriages between relatives strengthened the Habsburg dynasty for a time, but eventually the biological fallout led to its demise.

Week 4: ULTC brings you a summer reading and watch list for history and science lovers alike.

Week 5: We explore why Beatrice and Eugenie are more than just their stunning wedding photos.

Week 6: What happens when royalty and science royalty collide during Nobel Prize Week?

Week 7: There is a rich history of royal women serving in hospitals during war, and most recently, during pandemics.

Week 8: In light of the news that Kamala Harris is Joe Biden’s VP choice, we are celebrating women! Learn about some ladies who led with their intellect and their strength, with maybe a little help from their charm and good looks as well…

Week 9: We keep hearing that what we are experiencing is “unprecedented.” But in reality, pandemics are nothing new, and neither is using masks to prevent the spread of disease.

Don’t Mask, Don’t Tell

History is Doomed to Repeat Itself

Now that Stefanie has scarred half of our readers by exposing them to WAP, it’s up to me to get this blog back on track. With only a couple of weeks left in our vacation series, it’s time to tackle the story of the summer: COVID-19.

Prince William visited a lab working on a coronavirus vaccine in June and became the first royal to wear a face mask in public. *From Town and Country Magazine.*

I know you hear enough about the pandemic everywhere else, but I think it’s worth looking at coronavirus through both the scientific and historical lenses that we use on ULTC. We are used to hearing that what we are experiencing is “unprecedented.” But in reality, pandemics are nothing new, and neither is using masks to prevent the spread of disease.

Work Hard, Plague Hard

The coronavirus pandemic has been an enormous challenge for all world leaders, but has been a unique test for monarchs, who have also been fighting to maintain relevancy. As Politico reported in April, the pandemic has forced royal families across Europe were forced to switch from largely ceremonial roles to crisis management. Queen Elizabeth, King Carl XVI Gustaf, and others issued statements with big stakes: “Get it right, and the crisis could become a defining moment, an opportunity to turn an oft-maligned and increasingly antiquated institution into a source of national strength.”

Today’s royals are just the latest in a long line of leaders who have had to rule during a health crisis. This graphic shows a number of the most deadly pandemics throughout time, with the size of the dot proportional to the death toll. *From Visual Capitalist.*

But today’s kings and queens are hardly the first to be forced to lead through a pandemic, and while Prince Charles is the only royal to test positive for COVID-19, their predecessors were often not as fortunate. The bubonic plague took the lives of members of the British royal family over a period of more than 150 years. As we told you during our King Henry VIII series, his daughter Queen Elizabeth survived smallpox. But in the 1600s and 1700s, British, Russian, Spanish, and French kings and queens all died of the disease. In addition, the Russian flu that began in 1889 killed the grandson of Queen Victoria, altering the line of succession to the British throne. These monarchs could certainly sympathize with the challenge of leading a country through a pandemic, but I’m sure they would have welcomed the benefits of modern medicine, face masks included.

Beak Chic

Medical understanding was still rudimentary when the “Black Death” ravaged the world’s population in three waves between the sixth and 19th centuries. Doctors either believed illness had a spiritual cause or was due to an imbalance of the “humors“. The bacterial basis for the plague wasn’t discovered by Alexandre Yersin until 1894, just as the Galenic theory was falling out of favor with the rise of the germ theory of disease.

If the plague didn’t kill you, the fear of this outfit just might. *From Pinterest*.

But the lack of biological understanding produced one of the most lasting symbols of the plague during the 16th century: the beak mask. You’ve probably seen pictures of them, or recognize them from movies like the live action version of “Beauty and the Beast”. Usually paired with a wide brim hat, leather gloves, and a rod, they made for quite a look, simultaneously evoking gas masks, the Grim Reaper, and Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven. At the time, though, doctors believed they would help.

The theory was that the bubonic plague was caused by bad air called miasma, so the masks were developed to allow doctors to fill the beak with spices and plants that smelled good, cleansing the toxic air before it reached their nostrils. Although the bacteria that causes the disease can spread by droplets from sneezing or coughing, it doesn’t appear that the eerie bird mask made much of a difference in preventing the spread of the plague. The outfit did, however, set the stage for the use of personal protective equipment in medicine.

Seriously, Disney had no reason for this disturbing plague scene in “Beauty and the Beast”. *From Cinemorgue Wiki.*

Masking for It

Fortunately for us, medicine and masks have progressed a lot since the Black Death. When the COVID-19 pandemic first began, there was a lot of conflicting information about whether face coverings can slow the spread of the virus. This led to understandable confusion and frustration, but the public was getting to watch the scientific method in real time. Hypotheses are made and tested, supported and refuted as new evidence emerges. The most recent evidence shows that wearing a cloth mask made of at least two layers reduces the risk of spreading coronavirus to people around you. Sure, they can be uncomfortable and make your acne flare up, but it’s an easy way to protect the people around you. And way less creepy than the 16th century alternative.

These bacterial colonies show how a mask can prevent the spread of droplets from sneezing, singing, talking, and coughing, Wear one! *From Dr. Richard Davis.*

References

About Cloth Face Coverings. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/about-face-coverings.html

Blakemore, E. (2020, March 31). Why plague doctors wore those strange beaked masks. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/reference/european-history/plague-doctors-beaked-masks-coronavirus/

Butler, T. (2014). Plague history: Yersin’s discovery of the causative bacterium in 1894 enabled, in the subsequent century, scientific progress in understanding the disease and the development of treatments and vaccines. Clinical Microbiology and Infection,20(3), 202-209. doi:10.1111/1469-0691.12540

Cures for the Black Death – The Black Death – KS3 History Revision – BBC Bitesize. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z7r7hyc/revision/4

Duxbury, C. (2020, April 01). The crown vs. corona. Retrieved from https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/01/coronavirus-europe-monarchies-159000

Fawcett, K. (2017, October 06). Doctors Didn’t Actually Wear Beaked Masks During the Black Plague. Retrieved from https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/505090/doctors-didnt-actually-wear-beaked-masks-during-black-plague

McKeever, A. (2020, March 26). How centuries of pandemics have shaped the British monarchy. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/03/centuries-pandemics-shaped-british-monarchy-coronavirus/#close

White, F. (2014, June 2). Why did doctors during the Black Death wear ‘beak masks’? Retrieved from https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/people-politics/was-king-arthur-just-a-myth/

WAP: Women Are Paramount

In light of the news that Kamala Harris is Joe Biden’s VP choice, this week we are celebrating women! Which, let’s be honest, we do anyway. No, I am not having boy issues, why would you ask??

In the days of #MeToo it’s hard to imagine that a serious male presidential candidate wouldn’t add a female to his ticket, but honestly what is harder to imagine is that it’s the year 2020 and the “the leader of the free world” has never been a woman. And if last week’s controversial release of the song “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion is any indication, this country still isn’t ready. (Just a warning if you are planning on listening to it – it’s pretty shocking. But that’s the point. I could go on and on about the double standards in music, but those are thoughts for another day and another blog).

So what does all of this have to do with a blog about royalty? Despite America’s poor track record of female leadership, world history is no stranger to royal women taking the reins. Even in countries you might not expect. Here are some ladies who led with their intellect and their strength, with maybe a little help from their charm and good looks as well…

Shah Jahan Begum

I’m going to take a wild guess that you have never heard of the state of Bhopal, once located in what is now central India. From 1858 to 1947, India was run by the British and was broken up into states that were ruled independently (but still answered to Great Britain). One of these states was Bhopal, whose rulers were referred to as “Begum”. Shah Jahan was the Begum of Bhopal, first from 1844-1860 when she was a child and her mother ruled as regent in her place. In 1860, the British decided to give her mother total control and Shah Jahan did not take power back again until her mother’s death in 1868. And then she ruled for the next 30 years. The list of Shah Jahan’s accomplishments as the leader of Bhopal are numerous and impressive and run in direct contrast to what most of us think about when we imagine a Muslim woman. Shah Jahan advocated for women’s education and opened a school for girls, oversaw the construction of one of India’s largest mosques, was an author, improved the tax system, modernized the army, and the list goes on. It is no surprise that Shah Jahan was so confident in her role as a female leader – her mother had been notoriously progressive as well – trading the practice of female seclusion for activities like hunting. These were the OG feminists, in the most unlikely of places.

Put some respect on this OG feminist’s name. *artsandculture.google.com.*

Cleopatra

You know the name, but you probably don’t know the whole story. And frankly, I don’t even have the time in this short recap! This story has everything – incest (in case you haven’t gotten enough yet!), adultery, murder, and Romeo and Juliet-style suicide. Cleopatra was more than her (alleged) good looks – she played by her own rules in a time when women were barely a footnote in history. Born in 70/69 B.C, Cleopatra was technically a “co-regent” with her father, then brothers, then sons. But there is no argument that she was calling the shots over the 30 years that she ruled over Egypt, and that’s not just because she was willing to kill family members to consolidate power. Cleopatra was exceedingly intelligent, speaking at least 12 languages and studied math, philosophy and astronomy. According to Andrew Evans, “Egyptian sources later described her as a ruler ‘who elevated the ranks of scholars and enjoyed their company.’”

And scholars weren’t the only ones who enjoyed her company. Her intelligence and beauty made her irresistible to the most powerful men of the age. The fathers of Cleopatra’s children were Julius Caesar and Mark Antony (no, not my mom’s favorite Latin singer) and her alliances with them only added to Egypt’s prosperity during her rule. In 31 B.C. Egypt was under attack by Rome and Mark was the unfortunate recipient of a false rumor that Cleopatra had died. He took his own life before learning that she was in fact alive. Once Egypt fell, Cleopatra did actually end up taking her own life as well – legend has it that she did it via snake bite.

This is the most popular image of Cleopatra, but some historians think she actually wasn’t attractive at all, and that it was her intelligence and personality that men found intoxicating….yea right. *giantbomb.com*.

Isabella I of Castile

When Isabella I of Castile married Ferdinand of Aragon, their kingdoms came together to form Spain. Despite this unification, Castile and Aragon were still very much ruled as separate entities, which meant that Isabella was more than just one half of a royal couple. She had power and influence, which was made possible in part by her intelligence (she was fluent in Latin), military knowledge, and strong religious beliefs. Under her rule, Christopher Columbus was given funds by Isabella to help in his journey to the New World. Although she was excited about the opportunities the New World offered, it was one of the great distresses of her life how the Native Americans were treated. It was Isabella and her councilors who “were more ready to recognize the rights of the Indians than was Columbus” (Britannica) (also not hard to do when the other guy doesn’t believe in any rights at all…) Although it wasn’t all good – under Isabella and Ferdinand’s rule, Jews were kicked out of Spain as part of the Inquisition.

If this story sounds a bit familiar, then that means you have been following us for a while! Isabella was the mother of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first unfortunate wife who was cast aside in favor of Anne Boleyn. Like her mother, Catherine was intelligent and headstrong. And there is a reason England was afraid of the consequences of a divorce from Catherine. Her parents were both rulers in their own right, who had united their kingdoms into a powerful Catholic country. For Catherine, it was all about flaunting what her mama gave her.

The apple didn’t fall far from the tree with Isabella and her daughter Catherine. *historyanswers.co.uk.*

Elizabeth Petrovna

We never stray too far from the Romanovs! This Romanov was the Empress of Russia from 1741-1762, and nabbed the throne after taking it from her cousin in a coup d’etat. Her cousin had threatened to send her to a convent, so who could blame her really. Elizabeth is not a Romanov that usually comes up in conversation, having to compete with the likes of Peter the Great (her father), Catherine the Great, and the ill-fated Alexandra and Nicholas. But like the other women of this blog, she was a champion of education and helped establish Russia’s first university. She also had a passion for architecture and commissioned the building of the Winter Palace, as well as more practical projects like improving roads. She may not have gone down in history as the world’s most prolific leader, but under her rule “Russia’s prestige as a major European power grew” (Britannica). She also attempted to abolish capital punishment and was successful for a decade, before she was overruled by politics. We stan a humanitarian!

Elizabeth’s court did not skimp when it came to the finer things. Like many Queens, Elizabeth was a trendsetter, but beware if you were caught wearing the same accessories or hairstyle in her presence. *Wikipedia.*

Resources

Andrews, Evan. “10 Little-Known Facts About Cleopatra.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 12 Aug. 2015, http://www.history.com/news/10-little-known-facts-about-cleopatra.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Elizabeth.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 Jan. 2020, http://www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-empress-of-Russia.

Highfield, J.R.L. “Isabella I.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 18 Apr. 2020, http://www.britannica.com/biography/Isabella-I-queen-of-Spain.

“Maharanis: Women of Royal India – Museum of Art & Photography – Google Arts & Culture.” Google, Google, artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/maharanis-women-of-royal-india-museum-of-art-photography/AQKCzXp1tn0mLA?hl=en.

Naik, Priya. “The Remarkable Begums Who Defied Patriarchal Norms to Rule Bhopal for More than a Century.” Scroll.in, Scroll.in, 21 May 2019, scroll.in/magazine/917529/the-remarkable-begums-who-defied-patriarchal-norms-to-rule-bhopal-for-more-than-a-century.

ER: Emergency Royal

Doctor’s Orders

War has always historically been a team effort. When men went off to fight, women held down the fort at home. Think of victory gardens in World War II. Think of homespun made during the American Revolution to avoid British tariffs. Think of my mom trying to suppress drama at a military spouse meeting at the Olive Garden when my dad was deployed.

The division of labor has historically been no different in royal families. The kings and princes would head to the battlefield, leaving their wives behind. While this did not always result in women gaining more political power, they were expected to lead their countries through the hardest of times by example. Time and again, royal women have risen to the occasion in a variety of ways. Often, this included fundraising and morale boosting for the troops. For Queen Elizabeth during World War II, it meant working full time in the Armed Services as a mechanic in London! But far and away, the most popular way royal women have served their countries is by scrubbing up and serving the sick and suffering in hospitals. Today we honor some of these medical queens, and another modern princess that has followed their lead during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Romanov Women

By now, you’re probably tired of our obsession with the Romanovs, but too bad. As ill-suited as Alexandra was for public life, her personality was well fit for her efforts in healthcare during World War I. She converted one of the royal palaces into a field hospital, and her oldest daughters, Olga and Tatiana, worked there as Red Cross nurses. The younger girls, Maria and Anastasia, volunteered visiting the sick and wounded soldiers. While Alexandra was criticized by some for taking on this work instead of caring for all of her people more publicly, the success of the hospital in hindsight is a huge testament to her love for Russia. Romanov biographer Helen Rappaport writes that Tatiana in particular “proved to be an exceptionally gifted and courageous nurse who – had history been different – might have been a pioneer of women’s nursing.”

Olga and Tatiana pose with their patients in the makeshift hospital set up at Tsarskoe Selo. *From helenrappaport.com*

Princess Arthur of Cannaught

Princess Arthur, as she was known after her 1913 wedding, was the granddaughter of British King Edward VII. Her private writings were published as A Nurse’s Story. In them, she wrote, “Ever since I can remember I wanted to be a nurse…but I never thought there would be the remotest possibility of my dream coming true.” World War I gave her the opportunity to move beyond hospital patronage and make her dream a reality. After the war, she continued working, and held positions at four different hospitals during her career. Later, she bought and ran a nursing home until her death.

The princess’ career was unconventional, but she was otherwise described as a typical reserved and refined royal. *From History Extra.*

Princess Alice of Battenberg

If you watch “The Crown,” you know that Prince Philip’s mother, Queen Alice of Battenberg is an endlessly fascinating woman, and one that we hope to write more about in the future. She married into the Greek royal family, and used her influence to run field hospitals during the Balkan Wars, where she served as a very hands-on nurse. Despite battling congenital deafness, mental illness, and political exile, she maintained her charitable spirit throughout her life. During World War II, she not only sheltered a Jewish family, but also smuggled in medical supplies and ran soup kitchens in Greece. In 1949, she founded the Greek Orthodox Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary, a religious order of nuns who nursed and tended to the sick and poor.

Princess Alice, mother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth, wearing the habit of the order she founded. *From Esquire.*

Princess Sofia of Sweden

Last week, we introduced you to the Swedish Royal Family. In April, Princess Sofia created a media frenzy when the model-turned-royal decided to take a more hands-on role at the hospital where she holds an honorary chair position. After taking an intensive online course, she started work in April assisting healthcare workers with non-patient related tasks in hopes of easing the burden of the coronavirus pandemic on doctors and nurses. Plus, she looks great in a pair of scrubs.

Perhaps all those years of listening to Nobel talks piqued her interest in medicine? *From E!*

References

A nurse, a banker and… a TV producer? The royals through history who have held other jobs. (2020, March 19). Retrieved from https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/working-royals-harry-meghan-history-what-might-happen-next-careers-jobs-work-queen-money/

OTMA – The Romanov Sisters. (2018, September 09). Retrieved from https://helenrappaport.com/russia/romanovs-revolution/otma-the-romanov-sisters/

Princess Alice. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/princess-alice.html

Petit, S. (2020, April 16). Princess Sofia of Sweden Scrubs in at Hospital to Clean and Cook During Coronavirus Outbreak. Retrieved from https://people.com/royals/princess-sofia-of-sweden-scrubs-in-at-hospital-to-clean-and-cook-during-coronavirus-outbreak/

The Swede Life

Out of the Lab, Into the Limelight

Try to think of all the scientists you can name. My guess is that you can name a lot more actors. I know I can.

The discoveries that have transformed the world were made in private, through hours of work that were neither glamorous nor exciting. It’s no surprise that we tend to remember important scientific breakthroughs, but forget those who gave years of their lives to make them.

But for one week per year in December, the greatest living scientific minds are invited out of anonymity to Stockholm, Sweden for a taste of celebrity. Crowds shout their names, asking for selfies and autographs. Cameras click as reporters clamor to ask their questions in press conferences. Evenings are filled with banquets and concerts. This celebration catapults researchers into the public eye, crowning them as bona fide scientific royalty: Nobel laureates. It is fitting then, that their host for the week’s festivities is a royal himself, King Carl XVI of Sweden.

Meeting Dr. Gregg Semenza, who shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine, with some of my rotation lab members. I certainly felt like I was meeting a celebrity!

Merchant of Death

Alfred Nobel was shocked to learn that he had died.

In 1888, he opened the newspaper to a headline declaring that “The merchant of death has died”. It was a mistake, of course. Nobel’s brother had died, not him. But the shock of reading his own obituary is what many speculate pushed him to consider his legacy. While the chemist, engineer, and businessman had always been philanthropic, the obituary focused on the destruction caused by the explosives, including dynamite, that he invented. It’s unlikely that this is how Nobel, a pacifist, would have wanted to be remembered.

When Nobel actually died in 1896, his loved ones were equally shocked to learn that he had decided to allocate the vast majority of his wealth to establishing “a fund, the interest on which is to be distributed annually as prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” The Nobel Prize was born.

The prize is now awarded each year in the categories of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Peace, Literature, and Economics. Up to three living recipients can share the prize in each category, receiving about nine million dollars in prize money, and more prestige than you can imagine. The list of Nobel laureates includes the who’s who of STEM, likely the ones that you can name off the top of your head: Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Watson and Crick (Rosalind Franklin had sadly already passed away), Alexander Fleming, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Ivan Pavlov, Ernest Rutherford, Barbara McClintock, Rita Levi-Montalcini, and many, many more.

The Royal Treatment

King Carl has been in power since 1973, making him the longest reigning monarch in the history of Sweden. In reality though, he has very little power, since a 1974 law has restricted him to performing only ceremonial duties. One of those duties is being the guest of honor during the Nobel ceremonies. That means all the winners receive their prize from him, are invited to a banquet at his palace on their last night in Sweden.

The Swedish Royal family at the 2019 Nobel Ceremonies, which always takes place in the Stockholm Concert Hall.

However, the royal family is not actually involved in selecting the winners. That honor belongs to the Royal Swedish Academy of Scientists (physics, chemistry, and economics), the Swedish Academy (literature), the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute (medicine), or the Norwegian Nobel Committee (peace) which are not affiliated with the royal family currently or historically. All of the panels are composed of both Swedish and foreign scientists, and the drama and politics behind selecting a winner stay behind closed doors. Unfortunately for King Carl, the same can’t be said for the drama that unfolds in his family.

Bitterswede Legacy

Carl has grown in popularity through the years, but was a playboy in his youth. Scandals involving affairs and stripclubs did no favors for his reputation. His wife, Queen Silvia, also faced criticism for media reports about her father’s connection to the Nazis.

Heir to the throne Princess Victoria’s 2007 wedding was the biggest royal event since Diana married Prince Charles. *From Pinterest.*

But the royal family has also proved itself to be very adaptable and forward-thinking. The Swedish government made it possible for a firstborn daughter to become heir to the throne 30 years before England. The family tends to break expectations in their love lives as well. Queen Silvia was a flight attendant when she met her husband, making her the first Swedish queen to have had a career. Their daughter Victoria, a Yale educated woman open about her struggles with mental health, married her personal trainer. And their son, Prince Carl Philip, married Sophia Hellqvist, a former reality star and model and current fashion icon. Even just this month, King Carl made news earlier this month when he stripped five of his grandkids of royal titles, simultaneously saving the government money and allowing them to lead more “normal” lives. Basically, anything William and Harry did, Carl and company did first.

Carl Philip and Sofia had no right to look this good at the Nobel award ceremony. *From Pinterest.*

Worlds Collide

It may seem silly to trot out a man with an antiquated title to present an award for the most modern of findings, but this is fitting for a prize instituted by a man who was full of contradiction. Alfred Nobel’s pacifism and weapons. King Carl’s scandal and dignity. The scientists’ anonymity and celebrity. The ceremony’s tradition and innovation. This is the legacy of the Nobel Prize.

The Nobel banquet is the stuff of Bridezillas’ dreams. *From Daily Mail.*

So for a moment in time, scientists trade data for diamonds, lab coats for tuxedos, and colleagues for kings. And when it’s all over, they return to their labs and continue working for the betterment of us all.

References

Finn, N. (2020, July 14). A Complete Guide to the Swedish Royal Family: Scandals, Romance, Heartbreak, Adorable Kids. Retrieved from https://www.eonline.com/news/884654/bored-of-the-brits-a-guide-to-the-stunning-swedish-royal-family-scandals-romance-heartbreak-ridiculously-adorable-kids

Sweden.se. (2020, July 20). The Nobel Prize. Retrieved from https://sweden.se/society/the-nobel-prize-awarding-great-minds/

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019, December 06). Alfred Nobel. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Nobel

The official website of the Nobel Prize. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nobelprize.org/

Nobody Puts These Princesses in a Corner

This week, we were treated to a surprise royal wedding when Princess Beatrice, daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson”, was married in an intimate ceremony in England. Proving that sometimes less is more, Beatrice and her now-husband Edoardo wowed the world with perhaps the most beautiful wedding to ever (responsibly) take place during a pandemic. In 2018, Beatrice’s younger sister Princess Eugenie also stunned us with her own royal wedding, not to be outdone by the likes of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle.

Unfortunately for Beatrice and Eugenie, not only have they lived in the shadow of their famous cousins William and Harry, but also in the shadow of their parents’ scandals. Following Andrew and Fergie’s divorce, their mother found herself with a massive amount of debt that she attempted to pay off by offering access to Andrew for money. Andrew’s misdeeds have been far more egregious – his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and proclivity for young girls recently forced him to step away from public duties (still waiting on that arrest warrant…).

But despite the sins of their parents, these princesses have blossomed into successful and generous women who are deserving of their very own post!

A Grand Entrance

In 2011, my college roommate and I woke up at 3am to put on our Sunday best and get a front row seat in front of our TVs for William and Kate’s wedding. There were many noteworthy details of that day – Kate’s dress, Pippa’s bum, William’s receding hairline – but two girls caused a special stir that the world simply was not ready for. When attending a royal wedding, it is required that a woman’s head be covered (I would complain about the double standards if I didn’t love the hats so much). Beatrice and Eugenie got that memo and then some, stepping out of their car and onto the world’s biggest fashion stage wearing hats that would make them household names. Until this moment the girls did not get much attention for their style prowess, but these looks forced people to pay attention. They.Did.Not.Come.To.Play. And they have been serving up looks with a side of philanthropy ever since.

I think the hats speak for themselves. *People.com.*

Princess Beatrice

Ninth in Line to the Throne

Like our own Queen Stefanie, Beatrice graduated college with a degree in history. But her achievement is much more impressive considering the fact that Beatrice was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of seven. In 2013, she became the royal patron of the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre, which she credits with helping her get through schooling (helenarkell.org.uk). We also stan a royal who likes to stay fit – when she was 21, Beatrice ran the London Marathon in honor of her mother’s children’s charity, and became the first member of the royal family to complete the marathon.

Now to the fabulous wedding we didn’t know we desperately needed in this year of doom and gloom. Where do I start? The flowers! The dress! The tiara! The pure joy on the bride and grooms’ faces! The most special aspect of Beatrice’s big day was that her dress and tiara were loaned to her from her beloved grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen has provided tiaras for royal weddings in the past, but historically ones that did not have much significance to her. The tiara that Beatrice wore was the same that Elizabeth wore on her own wedding day in 1947. Her beautiful and unique wedding dress was worn by Elizabeth to an event in 1962. Clearly these two have a very special bond!

(Left) Queen Elizabeth on her own wedding day, wearing the tiara she loaned to Beatrice. (Right) This dress Elizabeth wore was repurposed for Beatrice – particularly the addition of sleeves. *Insider.com.*

Princess Eugenie

Tenth in Line to the Throne

Just like her big sister, Eugenie had her own challenges as a child. When she was 12 she had major surgery to correct scoliosis, leaving her with a pronounced scar down her back. But instead of hiding it, Eugenie has publicly highlighted it on many occasions – including on her Instagram and on the biggest day of her life. She had her wedding dress designed with a deep V in the back specifically to show it off! In a society where women are taught to hide our every flaw, Eugenie is an inspiration with her message to embrace the things about ourselves others might not find beautiful.

Eugenie designed her wedding dress specifically to show off the scar from surgery to correct scoliosis. *harpersbazaar.com.*

In addition to the significant design of her wedding dress, the tiara Eugenie wore was also unique for a royal wedding. It featured emeralds instead of the traditional diamonds, which was perfection with her red-toned hair. But perhaps the best moment of her wedding came after the ceremony – her after-party dress is one of my favorite royal looks ever. Lowkey trying to figure out how I can befriend her so that she can lend it to me for my glamorous future wedding in Newport, Rhode Island.

It fits like it was made for her (which it was). *vogue.com.au.*

She’s Beauty and She’s Grace, She’s Miss United…Kingdom

Outside of throwing beautiful weddings, Beatrice and Eugenie dedicate their time to extensive charity work. The list of charities that they support is as broad as it is impressive – children’s hospitals, anti-bullying, anti-trafficking, women in business and theater (to name a few). In fact, Princess Eugenie has a podcast in the works with an anti-trafficking organization, which unfortunately has reportedly been stalled due to the allegations against her father, Andrew. Neither women receive funds as members of the royal family, but instead support themselves through the novel concept of working!! At ages 31 and 30, the time has come to put some respeck on these princesses’ names. They are as classy in their everyday lives as they appear in their wedding photos.

Content Queens

This week, Stefanie and I are giving you our book, TV, and movie recommendations to keep your brain entertained and stimulated until ULTC is back to our regularly scheduled programming. Comment or Tweet us with your favorite royal and scientific reads and watches. We love a good rec!

Stefanie’s Picks

Book: We Two Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian Gill

If you loved our incest post from last week, then this is the love story for you! Queen Victoria and her cousin Albert were married for 21 years, and history has always looked back on their relationship as loving and devoted. And it was. But it was also competitive, as each fought to wear the crown in the relationship. What makes this book so fascinating is that is uses actual diary entries and letters between the two.

TV Show: The Great (Hulu)

Highly recommended for those who love history but want to be entertained by it (aka anyone who reads our blog), this new Hulu original stars Elle Fanning as Catherine the Great of Russia. If you like the satirical dark comedy of “The Favourite” or loved our series on fellow Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, this one’s for you.

Movie: The Queen (streaming on Netflix)

Helen Mirren won the Academy and Golden Globe awards in 2007 for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the wake of Princess Diana’s death (our forever true Queen). You would think it would be obvious how the royal family would proceed after such a tragic and high-profile death (i.e. by grieving with their country), but “The Queen” highlights hows Elizabeth and the Prime Minister struggled with navigating the death of a figure who was not just royalty – she was a woman beloved throughout the world.

Riley’s Picks

Book: The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission that Changed Our Understanding of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

The author of the bestseller Brain on Fire takes us on a journey through the history of mental health care in America. She focuses on the famous 1970s study by David Rosenhan where he had healthy people go undercover to mental institutions to see if they would be given a diagnosis. The results of the study fundamentally changed the way mental illness is treated, and shaped a generation of psychologists. Cahalan delves into why the findings were so groundbreaking, but also calls into question their validity. A perfect read for those who want to learn more about psychiatry while getting a dose of academic scandal.

TV Show: Mindhunter (Netflix)

Based on the true story of the FBI’s first forensic psychology unit, this show is not for the easily creeped out. A senior agent, a sometimes over-enthusiastic youngster, and a psychology professor team up to interview the most notorious serial killers, before serial killer was even a term. Using what they learn in interviews, they try to find suspects. Of course, drama ensues and late 70s/early 80s fashions abound.

Movie: Something the Lord Made (Streaming on HBO)

Johns Hopkins is not paying me to recommend this movie (they only pay me to mess up experiments), it’s just that good. It tells the true story of Black janitor-turned-lab technician Vivien Thomas, who helped Dr. Alfred Blalock develop the revolutionary surgery for Blue Baby syndrome. It’s an inspiring story and a great reminder that many minority scientists’ contributions have been erased from history.

We Got the Beat

As a bonus, we’ve put together a playlist for you based on our favorite royals, past posts, and all the music references we made in the first three series. Turn it up and think of us!

https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/2WWkLjxoQBrh2FL7n2hBJA

Family Ties

The sun is shining. You’re consuming spiked seltzer in great quantities (jk that’s just me). Summer is a time for family and for love. This week, we just want to remind you not to mix the two.

98 Pedigrees

Our tale begins in my ninth grade history classroom. One day, while teaching us about the Habsburgs (a German-Austrian royal family that ruled great swaths of Europe between the beginning of the twelfth century and 1700), my teacher pulled up a horrifying drawing of a person who looked more animal than human. This, he said, was what the Habsburg offspring looked like toward the end of their reign due to a little thing called inbreeding. The picture may have been a cartoonish overdramatization, but the science behind it was real.

A Habsburg who suffered unfortunately from a receding hairline is lucky the genes she inherited weren’t more debilitating. *From The Runaway Bunny.*

Marriages between relatives have been common in royal families throughout history, but the Habsburgs took inbreeding to a whole new level. Never before had relatives so close to one another married with such frequency. Intra-familial marriages strengthened their empire for a time, but eventually led to its demise.

By the end of the Habsburg reign in 1700, their empire included the majority of Europe. *From The Map Archive.*

Too Close for Comfort

Not only is inbreeding morally repugnant, it’s genetically disadvantageous. Think of purebred dogs, inbred to maintain purity, that end up with a multitude of genetic defects. The same thing happened to the Habsburgs. At conception, you inherit a set of genes from each parent in the form of a set of chromosomes. These chromosomes are further able to swap pieces of genes with one another in order to increase genetic diversity. Aside from making you totally unique, this serves the important evolutionary advantage of minimizing the effect of any deleterious genes you may have inherited. For example, if your dad gave you a defective version of a gene (cough, my lactase enzyme), your mom’s copy can pick up the slack. But when closely related individuals have children, there is more of a chance that both parents have the same genetic defect. As a result, inbreeding increases the risk of rare genetic mutations.

A family tree of some of the Habsburgs. Notice some big names like Marie Antoinette and Marie Medici. Also notice that the arrows are overlapping A LOT. *From Nature.*

There’s actually a mathematical way to measure this, called the inbreeding coefficient. This coefficient, with possible values ranging from 0 to 1, represents the probability that two copies of a gene inherited from each parent are identical due to a common ancestor. A study published by researchers from the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain in 2009 found that the inbreeding coefficient for the last Habsburg ruler, King Charles II of Spain, was 0.254, higher than it would be if he was the result of a mating between parent and child.

This graph shows the increase in inbreeding coefficients across Hapsburg rulers from 1482 to 1661. *From Alvarez et al.*

El Hechizado

Although the Habsburgs benefited politically from their strategic marriages, their biology began to weaken. Royal portraits regularly show members of the family with a pronounced chin dubbed the “Habsburg jaw.” Another group of researchers from Spain were able to find a correlation between a family member’s inbreeding coefficient and the degree of their jaw deformity, thought to be a genetic trait called “mandibular prognathism”, based on paintings and historical records. Inbreeding also increased the risk of child mortality for Habsburg offspring, with the probability for a child to survive to 10 years old decreasing to less than 50% as the inbreeding coefficient reached 0.254.

You can appreciate from this figure that as the degree of inbreeding increased, a child’s probability of surviving to 10 years of age decreased. *From Alvarez et al.*

Charles II’s Habsburg jaw in all of its glory. *From The Mirror.*

Ultimately, the effect of inbreeding on fertility brought down the Habsburgs’ centuries-long rule over Europe. The subtle facial features that were seen throughout the family dynasty became debilitating deformities for Charles II, the last Habsburg king. He was severely mentally and physically disabled, barely able to walk or talk until he was 10, and had lifelong difficulty speaking and eating due to his jaw deformity. He was known as “El Hechizado,” or “The Hexed,” due to his impairments, likely caused by the inbred genes he inherited. Although he was married twice, he had no children, and his first wife made sure to tell everyone about his fertility issues (another symptom that could be explained by his highly inbred genetic profile). Thus, when Charles II died in 1700, the family empire died with him. You can conquer land, you can win wars, you can dominate trade. But at the end of the day, you can’t fight nature.

References

ABRI, U. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://abri.une.edu.au/online/pages/inbreeding_coefficient_help.htm

Alvarez, G., Ceballos, F. C., & Quinteiro, C. (2009). The Role of Inbreeding in the Extinction of a European Royal Dynasty. PLoS ONE,4(4). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005174

Royde-Smith, J. G. (2019, October 16). House of Habsburg. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Habsburg/

Thulin, L. (2019, December 04). The Distinctive ‘Habsburg Jaw’ Was Likely the Result of the Royal Family’s Inbreeding. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/distinctive-habsburg-jaw-was-likely-result-royal-familys-inbreeding-180973688/

How Inbreeding Doomed the House of Habsburg (2020, April 08). Retrieved from https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry-reports/inbreeding-doomed-habsburg/Vilas, R., Ceballos, F. C., Al-Soufi, L., González-García, R., Moreno, C., Moreno, M., . . . Álvarez, G. (2019). Is the “Habsburg jaw” related to inbreeding? Annals of Human Biology,46(7-8), 553-561. doi:10.1080/03014460.2019.1687752

Vilas, R., Ceballos, F. C., Al-Soufi, L., González-García, R., Moreno, C., Moreno, M., . . . Álvarez, G. (2019). Is the “Habsburg jaw” related to inbreeding? Annals of Human Biology,46(7-8), 553-561. doi:10.1080/03014460.2019.1687752

A League of Their Own

Once upon a time, in a land before COVID, people around the world enjoyed a pastime called “sports”. For thousands of years, athletic events have brought people of all ages, races, religions, and backgrounds together. It also did the same among Royal courts, where oftentimes it was the only interaction the peasantry would have with the aristocracy. With the Summer Olympics delayed until further notice, we decided to fill the void by exploring favorite athletic pastimes enjoyed by Royals.

Polo

Let’s start with perhaps the most iconic sport associated with the British royal family – polo.

Prince William & Prince Harry from The Big Picture: Today's Hot Pics | E! Online | Prince william and harry, Prince william, Prince harry — Happier days when William still had hair and the brothers were still friends. *Pinterest.*

Who among us hasn’t swooned over photos of William and Harry on horseback, while Kate and Meghan cheer from the sidelines in outfits we immediately coveted? Despite what we know of polo’s popularity among the British elite, the game actually originated in Persia (or Iran), somewhere between the 6th Century BC and the 1st Century AD. First played as a military training exercise, the Persian court soon picked it up. King Khosrow II and his queen were known to be polo fans – that’s right, even in the 6th Century BC women were allowed to play! Over the next several hundred years, the game made its way across Asia and into India where it was picked up by British soldiers in the 1860s.

Jea de paume (Tennis…sort of)

Before tennis as we know it, the game was played indoors and with hands instead of racquets. “Jea de paume” originated in France and fittingly means “palm game”. By the late 17th century, the game had evolved to resemble more of today’s tennis, and it was extremely popular in the court of Louis XIV. Tennis also took on symbolic importance for the French. On June 20, 1789, a group of men met at the Royal Tennis Court of Versailles to make an oath to fight together. Today, the Royal Tennis Court is often thought of in relation to the beginnings of the French Revolution. Not a bad rallying cry (sorry I had to).

A royal court would gather for tennis matches to ogle the players and each other (if you don’t understand this photo then you can’t sit with us). *Pinterest*.

Pigeon Racing

Honestly, I am so desperate for sports right now that I would happily watch this. Pigeons, despite the bad rap they get, have actually been quite useful throughout history. Long before the age of telephones, pigeons were used as messengers by everyone from the Egyptians to Genghis Khan. In the early 1800’s, Belgium turned its pigeons from workers to athletes – pigeons were released hundreds of miles from their home base and the first bird to return was crowned the winner. Thrilling! In 1886, King Leopold II of Belgium (this guy makes Henry VIII look like a saint, by the way) gave racing pigeons to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Today Queen Elizabeth II owns several Royal pigeon lofts and just last year, a man in China paid $1.4 million for one of these birds! So think about that the next time you turn your nose up at a pigeon as you’re walking the streets of New York City – with the right training, that bird could be worth a fortune.

Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Princess Margaret, with one of the royal racing pigeons. In 2015, Elizabeth spent 40,000 pounds on a new loft for her birds. *The Royal Oak Foundation.*

Golf

I could write an entire blog post on the origins of golf and who claims to have invented it, but I’m on summer vacation, so for the purposes of this, we are going to focus on Scotland. It’s no secret that golf has historically been a sport of the privileged, so unsurprisingly, it took off in popularity because of James IV of Scotland’s patronage. James’ granddaughter, Mary Queen of Scots, was the games’ first recorded female player and her love of the game was used against her. Mary’s first husband was assassinated in 1567 and many had always suspected that the Queen had played a part in the plot. Only days after his death, Mary went golfing, which wasn’t a good look for someone who people were already suspicious of (hint: my father hitting the links anytime the house needs cleaning). Twenty years later, her ill-timed outing on the course was brought up again when she was on trial for the attempted murder of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I (daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII). She was found guilty and beheaded.

Hunting

Ahh, my least favorite “sport”, but worthy of noting because there is perhaps no more universal a sport among royalty than the hunting and killing of innocent animals. From Mughal Emperor Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar’s safaris and tiger hunts, to boar and fox hunting in Europe, if it was an animal who could run or fly, chances are that a king or queen has tried to kill it. And although meant to be a fun pastime, it was also a cause of many deaths – King William II of England died from an arrow to the chest while hunting in 1100. Christian V of Denmark died in 1699 after an unfortunate hunting accident. Robert Baratheon, ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, “accidentally” died after being gored by a boar… ok fine he was a fictional king, but it was an entirely plausible scenario! Not all royals are fans of hunting however; our Kween Meghan Markle, an animal lover, did not buy into the tradition during her tenure as the Duchess of Sussex.

The 38 most gut-wrenching Game of Thrones deaths, ranked - CNET - Page 13 — He may not have been real, but his injury was! *gameofthrones.fandom.com*

References

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Pigeon Racing.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 3 Nov. 2016, http://www.britannica.com/sports/pigeon-racing.

“The Game.” The Royal Tennis Court, http://www.royaltenniscourt.com/the-game.

Gillmeister, Heiner, and Francis Moran. “Golf.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 30 Apr. 2020, http://www.britannica.com/sports/golf.

Guynup, Sharon. “A Concise History of Tiger Hunting in India.” National Geographic Society Newsroom, 15 Dec. 2017, blog.nationalgeographic.org/2014/03/10/a-concise-history-of-tiger-hunting-in-india/.

Latham, Richard C. “Polo.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 7 May 2020, http://www.britannica.com/sports/polo.

“Royal Captains.” The R&A – Royal Captains, http://www.randa.org/Heritage/The-Royal-Ancient/Royal-Captains.

“The Royal Pigeon Racing Association.” The Premier Organisation for Pigeon Racing in the UK, http://www.rpra.org/pigeon-history/the-royal-connection/.

“The Royal Tennis Court.” Palace of Versailles, 26 Dec. 2017, en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/estate/royal-tennis-court.

Women’s Golf Journal. “Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden – a History • Women’s Golf Journal.” Women’s Golf Journal, 1 Aug. 2017, womensgolfjournal.com/golf/no-women-allowed/.

Heir B+B

Two Tickets to Paradise

Being a royal may seem like an easy life, but the constant public scrutiny and weighty responsibilities take their toll. Throughout history, monarchs and their families have taken advantage of the summer months to escape their stresses (and in some cases, the plague). This week, to kick off our summer break series, we are highlighting some of the most legendary royal vacation spots.

The Romanovs: Crimea

Before it was annexed by Russia, Crimea was the go-to vacation spot for Russia’s elite. The Romanov family traveled there each summer on their legendary Standardt yacht, and stayed at the Livadia Palace. In between picnics and visits to churches, Tsar Nicholas could check in on his Navy, which was headquartered there.

Nicholas, pictured with his daughters, was able to mix business and pleasure in Crimea. *From Russian Beyond.*

Livadia Palace, where the Romanovs spent their summers. *From Visit Crimea.*

Pharaoh Seti I: Pi-Ramesses

Ramesses II moved the capital of Egypt to this city in a diplomatic move. But his predecessor, Seti I had built the larger-than-life palace as a summer home before he died in 1279 BC, proving the need for vacation is as old as human existence itself. One ancient source said, “the palace of this city is similar to the two horizons of heaven.” High praise!

The ruins of Ramesses’ memorial monument located in Seti I’s old summer getaway. *From Wikipedia.*

The mummy of Seti I, probably as relaxed as he felt as his summer palace. *From Mummipedia.*

Princess Diana: Barbuda

The adventurous Princess Di traversed the globe for business and pleasure, but the Caribbean was always her go-to for sunny vacations with William and Harry. She especially loved the island of Barbuda, so much so that they named a beach after her! The K Club where she used to stay was caught up in controversy in 2016 when Hollywood royalty Robert DeNiro’s plans for a $250 million resort on Princess Diana Beach upset locals. Despite concerns that it would have a negative effect on the natural beauty of the beach, he is moving ahead with the development plans.

Princess Diana at K Club Barbuda April, 1997 (With images ... — Princess Diana at her happy place, the K Club, on the beach now named for her. *From Pinterest.*

Princess Diana Beach is just as stunning as the woman it’s named for. *From Uncommon Caribbean.*

King Charles I and Henrietta Maria: English Countryside

Charles and Henrietta ruled England from 1600 to 1649. Despite their opposing religious views, they had a deep love for one another and an unusually intimate relationship with their seven children. Summer was for family time, and began in May with a two month stay in Greenwich, close to their official home in London. They then moved on to Henrietta’s palace in Surrey known as Oatlands, followed by a parade of hunting lodges and homes of England’s elite. Although deeply in debt, they spared no expense on hunting expeditions, banquets, and theatrical performances.

A charming painting of Oatlands, one of many stops along Charles and Henrietta’s summer pilgrimage. *From Regency Dances.*

Emperor Qianlong: Beijing Summer Palace

Emperor Qianlong had this palace, still a popular tourist destination, built in 1750. It remained a getaway for the Chinese imperial family until it was destroyed during a war in the 1850s, but was later rebuilt as a residence for the dowager Empress Cixi. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its classical Chinese landscaping and architecture.

It’s not hard to figure out why the Summer Palace is such a popular tourist destination. *From Viator.*

Emperor Qianlong had fabulous taste. *From Wikipedia.*

Princess Grace Kelly: Seville

The Hollywood starlet-turned-royal basically already lived in paradise as the princess of glamorous Monaco. But, a staycation just wouldn’t do, and she frequently traveled to the most luxurious spots in Europe. A favorite was Seville in southern Spain, where she stayed at the Hotel Alfonoso XIII.

Style icon Grace Kelly serving a look in Seville in 1966. *From Tripadvisor.*

The Hotel Alfonso XIII, Grace’s choice of accommodations, holds up. *From Marriott.*

References

Bobb, B. (2017, May 25). Happy Birthday, Grace Kelly! Here’s How to Travel Like the Glamorous Princess. Retrieved from https://www.vogue.com/article/grace-kelly-birthday-how-to-travel-like-a-royal

Centre, U. W. (n.d.). Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing. Retrieved from https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/880/Isaeva, K. (2015, June 05).

Crimean holidays of the Romanov family. Retrieved from https://www.rbth.com/multimedia/2015/06/04/romanovs-in-crimea_96675

Pi-Ramesses. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://ramessesthesecond.weebly.com/pi-ramesses.html

Telegraph, T. (2016, December 28). Locals fight Robert De Niro’s resort plans on Barbuda, an island well-loved by Princess Diana. Retrieved from https://nationalpost.com/news/world/locals-fight-robert-de-niros-resort-plans-on-barbuda-an-island-well-loved-by-princess-diana

Whitaker, K. (2011). A royal passion: The turbulent marriage of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. London: Phoenix.