I am Tudor-fixated in the way that many of my friends are Jane Austen fans. Sure, I love Jane Austen and have read all of her books (with the exception of Mansfield Park, which I've started a number of books) and seen many of the adaptations, but despite my difficulty with keeping exact dates in my head, I gravitate toward anything to do with the
history of Tudor England. I believe that Catherine of Aragon got the short end of the stick and Mary Tudor would not have earned such a ruthless reputation as "Bloody Mary" had she not been forcibly separated from her mother and made to endure a number of emotional humiliations under her father's reign. In terms of bloodlines, Mary Stuart was indeed the rightful successor to Mary I. Yet, despite her flaws, Elizabeth I is my favorite queen of all time. I have read a number of historical novels, seen the adaptations and cheerfully shook my fist as I called out, "It didn't happen that way, you fools!" It's a small detail, but I'm a little disgruntled that in both The Tudors and The Other Boleyn Girl (which I have not seen), Henry VIII doesn't have red hair. Red hair is important. Whenever Henry VIII wonders if Elizabeth I is really his daughter, it's supposed to be laughably apparent that she resembles him so closely, especially with the hair.
Recently, a portrait of the young Elizabeth I with her family was discovered. You may read the article here:
Rare Elizabeth I portrait uncovered. Here's the painting:
What I like best about this portrait, which is a copy of an original thought to date back to the early 1550's, is that Will Somers [also spelled "Sommers"], Henry VIII's fool (i.e.
court jester), is in the portrait with the family. Fool would have been the occupation for me, perhaps. As Ringo Starr sang on the "Help" album, "
All I've got to do is act naturally."
