The Top Ten: Royal Portraits

On January 11, 2010 / By Ella / In The Top Ten / No Comments

A new portrait of Prince William and Prince Harry went on display at London’s National Portrait Gallery last week, depicting them in their army uniforms before leaving Clarence House to participate in the Trooping the Colour ceremony in 2008.  The painting, which was done by Nicky Phillips on a commission from the National Portrait Gallery, is being described as the first ever double portrait of the royal brothers.  In light of the publicity the portrait has been getting from the press, let’s look at ten other famous (and infamous) royal portraits.

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This Day in History: Henry VIII Marries Anne of Cleves (1540)

On January 6, 2010 / By Ella / In This Day in History / No Comments

Hans Holbein the Younger's portrait of Anne of Cleves, now in the Louvre in Paris

Three years after the birth of his only living legitimate son — and three years after the death of his third wife and queen — Henry VIII was on the marriage market in Europe again.  He had ensured the succession of the throne by siring a male heir, the future Edward VI, with his wife, Jane Seymour, who had died only twelve days after the baby’s birth.  Now Henry was looking for a fourth wife to help to secure the Tudor line once and for all, and his attentions were directed toward the Continent and a German noblewoman, Anne of Cleves.

Anne, who was nearly twenty-five years younger than Henry, was the sister of the Duke of Cleves.  Her brother was an enemy of the Holy Roman Emperor — just like Henry — and an alliance between his sister and the English king was seen as a favorable political match.

But Henry was never satisfied merely to marry for political gain — he had to find his wives attractive as well.  To that end, Henry sent painter Hans Holbein the Younger to Cleves to paint a portrait of Anne.  In one of history’s great moments, Holbein painted a lovely miniature of Anne — perhaps quite a bit lovelier than the real subject — and on the basis of the picture, Henry immediately approved of her as a bride.

When Anne landed in England, however, he found her not at all like Holbein’s portrait.  He thought she was unattractive and too heavy to be a virgin, apparently assuming that all unmarried women were slender.  (As if he had room to talk, really.)  Feeling that he had been misled and betrayed, Henry famously said, “She is nothing so fair as she hath been reported.”

Even so, Henry went through with the marriage, for fear that backing out could have political ramifications.  On January 6, 1540, on the Feast of the Epiphany, Henry and Anne were married in Greenwich by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer.  However, the marriage was not consummated, and within months, Henry had begun an affair with one of Anne’s ladies-in-waiting, Katharine Howard.

Henry asked Anne for an annulment only seven months after they were married, and Anne eventually accepted.  Though she would no longer be Queen of England, Anne probably ended up with one of the best deals of any of Henry’s six wives.  She received financial compensation, lands, and the title of The King’s Beloved Sister.  She was the last of Henry’s wives to die, and was buried in Westminster Abbey in 1557.

In the News: Prince William Will Not Be a “Shadow King”

On January 3, 2010 / By Ella / In In the News / No Comments

The Sunday Telegraph’s Andrew Alderson writes this week (“Prince William: I will not become ’shadow king’“) that St. James’s Palace is officially refuting the claim made by the Mail on Sunday that Prince William will take on an increasingly large number of duties in relief of his grandmother, The Queen.

Glen Owen of the Mail on Sunday wrote in December (“Prince William to share Queen’s duties: Treasury document reveals secret plan to make him the ‘Shadow King’“) that The Queen was focusing her attention preparing William for kingship, including ceding some of her official duties to him.  Owen based his claims on a document written by Chancellor Darling concerning the finances of Prince Charles and his sons.  The Telegraph says that the document is out-of-date, having been written in 2008 after William decided to train to become a search and rescue helicopter pilot.

The article speculated that The Queen’s plans for William could mean that she wished for William to inherit the throne after her, not Charles.  Alderson’s article quotes Prince William’s spokesman, who specifically moves to refute that rumor: “Prince William will not be a ’shadow king’ – the possibility is not even being considered. Over the next few years, Prince William will be concentrating primarily on a military career while also slightly increasing his [charity] patronages and the other interests that he pursues.”

(For non-UK readers: the phrase “shadow king” means exactly what it sounds like it means, but it takes on an extra significance in Britain, where the opposition political party forms a “shadow cabinet” that offers alternative proposals to that of the cabinet formed by the party in power.  David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party, is the leader of the current Shadow Cabinet in the UK.)

Prince William is raising his royal profile in the New Year, traveling to New Zealand and Australia from January 17-22 on behalf of his grandmother.  His private secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, tells Alderson, “It is an instance of Her Majesty seeing an opportunity for her grandson to learn the ropes.”

But according to the Telegraph, William’s focus for the foreseeable future will remain on his military career.  Alderson writes, “They say that Prince William’s focus for 2010 is largely military flying. He will be based at RAF Valley in Anglesey while he embarks on the hardest and most challenging part of his course: further training to become a fully-operational search and rescue pilot.”  Once William’s training is done, he is committed to the RAF until 2013, after which the paper suggests he may wish to serve on the front lines with British troops as his brother, Harry, did in 2008.

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