Blergh

I think at best Victoria had mixed feelings re Princess Sophia- seeing her as a spy for Conroy (and ultimately her mother). Yes, she likely felt sorry for her aunt as she become very old and blind towards the end of her life and probably even softened up thanks to Albert's pleadings but that didn't erase how Victoria had had to deal with her earlier. It's interesting that, decades after everyone else's death, one of Conroy's widowed daughters-in-law in a vain attempt to rehabilitate his reputation, she wrote that the Duchess of Kent had been attracted to him, to which Victoria replied (in the margins) 'Sir John's OWN imagination and Princess Sophia's fearful falseness!' . Not surprisingly, Victoria dismissed this plea as ' a tissue of lies' (and I wonder how much of it the woman herself believed rather than simply parroting her late husband's family's spin) but I think Victoria's responses were how she viewed the situation. Also, it's funny how when Princess Sophia supposedly became pregnant, she allegedly told her father King George III that she had dropsy and after the birth told him she'd cured it by 'eating roast beef' (and her befuddled and virtually blind parent chose to believe her). Yes, I agree that the Hanoverians and Coburgs themselves had PLENTY of stuff that could have been depicted or even just mentioned as opposed to all these soapy dealings of fictionalized staff.

I like the Mercury Insurance one with the two agents evidently summoned to a Darth Vader-like darkened office in which they get 'interrogated' by the shadowy figure armed with lightning effects behind the desk yet remain completely unflappable even when he does a complete 180 with the lights on and becomes Mister Rogers's long lost twin at the end. LOL

This episode depicted the early friendship between Albert and his originally resented secretary Anson . Ironically, Albert's initial resentment became something of a humorous stance between the two of them. Sadly, though, Anson would die in 1849 at the even-then early age of 37- and Albert would mourn one of the few genuine friends he had made in England.

Ironically, the most realistic part of this episode had to do with Albert's secretary Anson giving him good advice on the Anti-Slavery speech. Yes, he'd originally been foisted on Albert against Albert's will but he DID early on prove to be a good ally (and a true friend) to Albert and it was good to see this depicted.

I understand Mr. Bradley was supposed to be comic relief as the perpetually befuddled male headmaster of this all-girls' school but I didn't get why he was supposed to be hanging out with them all the time. I mean, he was even shown watching TV with them in their own dorm. Didn't he have a TV in his own unseen quarters?

OK, saw it. Not bad but I have to admit I was downright creeped out by Elizabeth I's gown with dozens of eyes and ears sewn in to let everyone believe she saw and heard everything! Also, a bit amusing for Miss Worsley to dress up in replicas of royal attire (including male kings') but it did give her as close to a firsthand POV re what they had to go through in both wearing said attire as well even getting dressed. Not surprising that one poor lady-in-waiting in George II's court was recorded as having wet herself in front of the entire court when the queen refused to give her permission to excuse herself to go into another room and have her own attendants undress her to let her do her business until it was too late but what was surprising is that accidents didn't happen more frequently.

Gee, why didn't they just make a brand new show about a Gary Stu teen instead of trying to tie him to the old Riverdale deal. Miss Grundy was supposed to be somewhat of a joke but as per the strip eventually evolved into someone the students had a bit warmth towards in spite of her often being a cross, silly old woman. Doesn't sound like I'm missing anything here.

The one I think that got both Vic and Albert as close to the mark as possible was "Queen Victoria: Her Life and Times (Volume One)" by Cecil Woodham-Smith ( a woman with the given name of Cecil believe it not!). Anyway, she was given unprecedented access to the collections of the letters and journals at Windsor Castle and neither sentimentalizes nor excuses away any of the players but paints a very intriguing dual portrait. Alas, it only goes to Prince Albert's death due to Mrs. Woodham-Smith dying before she was able to compose Volume Two. Yes, due to Princess Charlotte's fate being endlessly mentioned, it's true that Victoria dreaded childbirth which she said was the ONE thing she was not looking forward to re marriage (and, years later she bemoaned not having taken a couple of years before she started having children -mainly due to not being able to gallivant with Prince Albert). Oh and considering that the Duke of Sussex (among other lesser ranked royals) had lived in Kensington Palace with the pre-Queen Victoria, his marital status as well as his wife's ID was very well-known to Vic. It's always odd the way most depictions of her act as though she, her mother, Lehzen and Conroy had the WHOLE Kensington Palace to themselves but it was actually a bit crowded by royal standards.

Wait, Archie 'sexed' Miss Grundy?! I hope not. In any case, it looks like it's going to join 'Sleepy Hollow', 'The Muppets' (2015) in the ash heap of 'if it ain't broke, fix it 'concept shows!

Ok, here's one that I started out liking but have gotten to the point of just being annoyed whenever she appears on TV: Oprah. Yes, I did indeed admire that she overcame SO much and did very well for herself but her ego just exploded to unpalatable proportions. The first sign of it came with the "Beloved" movie which she herself handpicked to produce and star in. First she bragged about how 'important' and 'great' the movie itself and every single performance was within and smugly predicted a box office smash capped with grand slams of awards. Then, when the public largely avoided it, she attempted to guilt-trip her viewers over how HARD she had worked to make this movie, how it was 'her child' and how authentic it was supposed to be. She just didn't seem to get that one cannot rely on guilt tripping and the public's pity to drive them in droves to see a movie they had no interest in watching. Then, of course, came all the 'staff makeovers' in which she ambushed some poor staffer and told them how they looked subpar but via a makeover they could look fantastic. Did she truly expect the employees to tell her they were content with their appearances to mind her own beez? Oh, and of course, it got to be a bit much that she seemed to believe she knew more about others' struggles than the people themselves who had actually gone through them. Lastly, it became a nonstop egofest in which everyone was expected to praise her, her 'gifts', etc. to the hilt -even when she was supposed to be honoring them including such notables as Coretta Scott King and Maya Angelou. Yep, the Weight Watchers deal and her hogging the CBS Mary Tyler Moore tribute were annoying but nothing surprising (and if Gayle King truly believes that she would be cut off if she dared to stand up to Oprah much less suggest to her to tone things down, Miss King isn't as much of a 'bestie' instead of a 'yes-woman' as she'd like to believe). As I said, I had originally liked and admired her but stunts like these just got me annoyed with her to the point that I hope she finds her peace but I no longer want to watch her.

On a somewhat different note, I can recall walking into my workplace immediately after I clocked in, and my then-manager asking me to discuss the contents of an email that they'd sent out ten minutes earlier. I mean, come on, did this person truly expect employees to seek out 'puter terminals to check on email just moments before we'd clocked in?

If it's any consolation, the product comes in a plastic wrapper so they can't claim to be kind/nice to the environment!

Lola, I recall that show. At the time, I liked it but when I saw one ep rerun as an adult, I was a bit discomfited how broadly they stereotyped all the in-laws -and despite the leading couple's then-strong chemical attraction to each other (though I know things ended badly for them despite them having three kids together), their characters were surprisingly bland and neither had any characteristics beyond 'Oh, I love him/her SO much even if they're a different faith from me!'. Yet, I actually liked each of the performers but thought the show simply did a disservice by not giving them better characters to play. Thankfully, future shows would do so for most of the regulars.

OK, you got me there. However; I'd like to counter that I was so OVER them years before the show finally ended that, AFIAC, they were nobodies. In any case, I didn't know that ep's existence because I likely just had skipped it altogether because I was sick of them and couldn't have cared less what any of them did any more.

Re Catherine Howard's premarital history: Considering that Henry had ALREADY married four wives and had an untold number of encounters with other women, I find it next to impossible to believe that he wouldn't have known she wasn't a virgin on their wedding night. Yes, it's probable that she had had stuff happen when she was a child against her will but perhaps the molesters didn't technically go all the way with her. Then, too,it's also possible that Henry himself was so enthralled at the thought of having this attractive teen being his alone for the rest of his life that he was willing to not split hairs during the honeymoon.

Good point! However; keep in mind that royals had expenses that others didn't have such as paying for entire staffs as well as maintaining horses and coaches to be able to venture places. Of course, quite a few royals (like Vic's own parents) got themselves eyeball deep in debt even with these allowances many time ordinary subjects' earned incomes. At least Victoria herself did pay off her mother and late father's decades-old debts as soon as she could when she became queen. And,to his own credit, Albert was very thrifty and encouraged her and their children to do the same. Not that all their children learned that lesson (and, yes Vic wound up being a cash cow to several generations before and after her re relatives) but at her death Victoria had an estimated personal wealth of $100 million (in 1901 dollars!). As to her portrait shown on this page? I'm not haunted but reminded of WHY she was often called 'King George III in Petticoats' . Even photographs of her next to her grandfather's paintings show an uncanny resemblance. It seems she got the bulk of her facial features from him and her small height from her paternal grandmother Queen Charlotte -yet seems to have inherited the sea-blue eyes and brunette hair from the Coburgs.

Along with all the explosions and blasts that can be heard despite the fact that space is a virtual vacuum with sounds only heard if one gets close enough to an atmosphere but NOT on TV! LOL

Totally agree! In fact ,one should keep in mind whenever one sees 'reality' shows or even those vlogs on that website that rhymes with Threw Lube that folks will turn themselves 'on' whenever a camera is put in their face as opposed to be acting naturally - even the tinest babies.

Yes, Victoria DID indeed know all about William IV's nonmarital offspring. In fact, the most detailed blow-by-blow account of William IV public excoriation of the Duchess of Kent and Conroy in front of Vic at his birthday party was recorded for posterity by one of his nonmarital sons who was there. Moreover, as a child Vic's only visit with George IV also got her to meet his last longtime mistress. I doubt that folks talked about her own late father's mistress openly in front of her but likely by the time she became queen she'd heard enough whispers about his earlier life from servants and adult relatives talking among themselves. Yes, I agree that it was different for the bachelor Duke of Kent to have a longtime mistress then the married George IV and the Duke of Kent DID [barely] pension off and send away the mistress as soon as he married (and, by all accounts, WAS a faithful husband during his brief marriage). Also, William IV had long since dumped his nonmarital children's mother by the time he married the future Queen Adelaide but throughout their marriage she welcomed his children into their home (which scandalized the Duchess of Kent). As I noted earlier, Albert's side of the family had quite a few skeletons and intrigues yet it was only the Vic's 'Wicked Uncles' lives' that were used as cautionary tales in vain efforts to attempt to keep the Prince of Wales on the straight and narrow.

Some experts! If one's husband HAS a girlfriend, then it would be more practical to buy a divorce kit (and not far off from the price of a set). I thought folks on TV DO get divorced.

No one on TV has to spend hours making robocalls in vain efforts to get services restored.

While Miss Worsley did an outstanding job, there were two things she left out re Henry's treatment of his daughters that would be quite relevant to history. First, he literally bastardized them so that they were no longer princesses but just 'Lady Mary and Lady Elizabeth Tudor' (and neither Edward VI would reverse this for them nor would Mary herself do that for Elizabeth but she DID do it for herself). Even though she wasn't yet three, the ever perceptive Elizabeth herself noticed the change and asked 'Why hap yesterday I'm called Lady Princess and today Lady Elizabeth?'It's only historic retro-courtesy that they are termed princesses after their mothers' unions got annulled. This, of course, knocked out the possibility of any Continental prince wanting to wed either of them during Henry's reign. This also meant that they would not only be the first women but also the first bastards to rule since William the Conqueror himself! Secondly, on one of the very few positive notes re his parenting, regardless of how Henry viewed his daughters' legitimacy, he DID see to it that they were thoroughly educated in an age when it was rare even for royals and wealthy families to educate their daughters- and this would prove vital especially in Elizabeth's reign. Ironically, of ALL his wives, I think not only was Catherine of Aragon the one he loved longest (and the one who knew him at his best) but also was the one who loved him for himself rather than his connections. Still, Anne of Cleves DID get the best deal of all (and it should be noted that there seems to have been a trade of horses from the Low Countries to England that were imported to improve English stock at the time- so it's possible that Henry's 'Flanders mare' tag was not so much an insult but a somewhat crude acknowledgement of her ostensible role as his new queen).

Interesting, I wonder how he felt about the US creation. Also, it should be noted that it was during a rerun of the British show, that BBC2 made a horrible on-air blunder in 2002 when the network interrupted the show to tell viewers to 'stand by for an important announcement' and went to dead air while occasionally repeating that plea for FIVE MINUTES until the network finally joined BBC1 to announce the Queen Mother's death. I wonder how Mr. Simpson felt about his viewers thinking that the world might about to come to an end for so long.

I guess at least on his part some wounds have healed but I've never heard anything on her part to draw that conclusion. Time will tell.

OK, this is a classic one but it NEEDS to be mentioned on this thread: In the 1938 screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby thanks to madcap heiress Katharine Hepburn's shenanigans, stuffy professor Cary Grant winds up having to answer a door wearing a woman's dressing gown. Anyway, when he tries to explain to the society matron WHY he's in such a getup, he gets so frustrated in having to recount the whole story that he winds up literally leaping in the air and exclaiming "Oh, I just went GAY all of a sudden!" Back then 'gay' usually meant happy but among more sophisticated theatrical folks, it was already being used as a euphemism for homosexual and the scriptwriters would later admit that that's exactly what they were trying to say but they counted on the censors only knowing the then-more common definition (and it's believed to have been one of the earliest known usages of the term in that context in a mainstream movie).