It is an absolute privilege to host a guest post from Daniela Seker, author of Echoes of Mazal: In Search of Yona. Published by Pynewood Press in August of this year, Echoes of Mazal is a literary novel about memory, disappearance and the enduring ache of a missing child, set against the unresolved legacy of the Yemenite… Read More When History Leaves No Grave: Writing a Mother’s Search into Fiction
It’s been a busy September for the British royal family. The King and Queen opened the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition at the British Museum. He then went on to host a summit regarding the development of artificial intelligence, while William and Catherine launched a suicide-prevention in sports initiative, before William went to Norway for King Harald’s… Read More Topical Tuesday: Leaving the Royal Family
I can’t really call this Everything Wrong With Reign Part VI, because for once, nothing included here is Reign‘s fault. They were cancelled before they got the chance to… present the story of Mary, Queen of Scots in their unique and sensational style. In the final episode of Reign, we see Mary desperately trying to… Read More Everything Reign Couldn’t Get Wrong: The Seasons That Never Were
Nobody ever asks if Henry VIII was straight. Henry VIII had six wives and several mistresses, and just like almost every king in British history, his heterosexuality is simply assumed. Suggest a monarch might have been queer, however, and suddenly every minute scrap of evidence is placed under a microscope entirely absent when considering heterosexual… Read More The Question of Queer History Part II: William II and Edward II
If you lived in Europe, June 2026 was hot. Temperature records across the continent were broken, especially in Western Europe, with France recording the highest highs at 44.3°C (111.7 °F). It’s thought that almost five and a half thousand people have died in heat related incidents, and there has been an incredible amount of discourse over how… Read More Topical Tuesday: Surviving a Medieval Heatwave
Judging the sexuality of any historical figure is difficult. Making a determination on the sexuality of a royal figure, whose status and position depended on marriage and children, during a time that lacked the wide array of labels available to us in the present is even more challenging. When tradition demanded a king or queen… Read More The Question of Queer History Part I: Queen Anne & King James
Since Donald Trump announced his intention to run for the Presidency of America, he has apparently faced multiple security incidents and threats to his life. These range from plots that were foiled before they could be enacted, to the infamous shooting during a rally at Butler, Pennsylvania. Most recently (at time of writing) was on… Read More Topical Tuesday: Manufactured Threats and Manipulation
In our penultimate Reign post, we look at the star herself; Mary, Queen of Scots. We have already considered the political landscape in which Mary found herself, so now we turn to the personal. The fourth season shows Mary’s hunt for a husband, her second marriage to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the birth of their son,… Read More Everything Wrong with Reign (S4): Mary, Queen of Scots
Although Reign follows the story of Mary, Queen of Scots, and she has long since left France, the plot continues to follow the characters that she left behind. We see a traumatised King Charles IX struggle with the weight and responsibilities of the crown, his mother trying to help him, and his brother trying to… Read More Everything Wrong with Reign (S4): édition Française
We are kicking off our more in depth look at Everything wrong with Reign (S4) with a look at the portrayal of Elizabeth I. Having been introduced as the primary antagonist in Season 3, Rachel Skarsten reprises her role in Season as an Elizabeth desperate to keep her throne. Elizabeth’s plot lines focus on her romantic… Read More Everything Wrong With Reign S4: Elizabeth I
