Confessions of a Castleholic

After "The White Queen" comes "The White Princess": This time the adaptation of Philippa Gregory's novel focuses on Elizabeth of York and King Henry VII, first ruler of the Tudor dynasty. Elizabeth, or Lizzie as she is known in the series that aired between April and June of this year, was the daughter, sister, niece, wife, mother and grandmother of successive Kings and Queens of England. Her marriage to King Henry VII was one of the final acts of the Wars of the Roses uniting the York and Lancastrian claims to the throne. Historically, Elizabeth didn’t play a very prominent role in the politics of the day and was more of a pawn in her mother Elizabeth’s (The White Queen's) games. "The White Princess" over the course of the series tweaks Lizzie into being the master of her own fate. While despising Henry in the beginning, she eventually falls in love - or at least grows to fondly appreciate - him. It's kind of a backwards love story th...

A guest post by Sophie.  In the South of England, in the county of Sussex, lies Arundel. In the village you find Arundel Castle. And that castle was the main reason of my road trip (aside from the Diana exhibition). My parents used to travel frequently to the UK before I was born, with family, friends or just the two of them. And Arundel Castle was a thing they always got back to, because they found it so beautiful. As a royal history buff and Castleholic I got only more intrigued. So now in 2017, after 35 years my mother last visited it, it was definitely time to cross the Channel and visit. Would it hold up, after all the stories of my parents? Would I enjoy it? Time to find out! But first a little history (I know, but hang on!). It is one of England's oldest castles, being established by William the Conquerors nephew Robert de Montgomery in 1068. William awarded his nephew for protecting his property in Normandy while he was busy conquering England and Wales. Robert ...

The becoming of Queen Elizabeth I - that's how you can best describe the plot of the movie "Elizabeth" starring Cate Blanchett released in 1998 and widely acclaimed. The story is a rather easy, yet bloody one: A young Elizabeth, after being imprisoned by her half-sister, becomes Queen of England at the age of 25 and she doesn't know what to do and who to trust while being thrust into the middle of a political and religious firestorm she doesn't quite understand. Having your father behead your mother and your sister as one of your biggest enemies also doesn't help with trusting people or having any education for the role you were never supposed to have to begin with. It's an interesting tale I have watched twice in my life - and started to watch it a couple of times inbetween - and while I have to say that I liked the portrayal of Elizabeth by Blanchett, the movie never really clicked with me. Was it due to the male roles in the movie? The arty prod...