Saturday, May 4, 2013

The Letters of Charles II and Minette

Author Melanie Clegg discusses the moving correspondence between the "Merry Monarch" and his youngest sister. To quote:
The details of court life are fascinating but I had to wince a bit at Charles’ descriptions of poor Frances Stuart’s suffering when she was stricken with small pox (and his clear worry that she might lose her good looks as a result) and the talk of his unfortunate daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Monmouth’s suffering after she managed to break a thigh bone while participating in a vigorous court dance and had to have the bone re-broken again after it failed to set properly.

I can already see that this will be the valuable resource that I hoped it would be as I piece together the details of Minette’s life and, most importantly, get a feel for how she herself would have spoken.

The other thing is that having read Charles’ letters to his sister that reveal so much of his love for her, I can’t even begin to imagine how he must have felt when the news of her death arrived at Whitehall. I knew, of course, that he was devastated but now I think he must have been utterly flattened by her loss and you know what, it makes my heart ache to think of it. (Read entire post.)

More on Minette, HERE. Share

No comments: