Stories of kings and queens, giant battles, and royal back-stabbings, were these the stories you read as young reader? Who or what did you read specifically?
As a child I read everything from science fiction like L’Engle and Sleator to non-fiction about the African rain forests. I was the kid after bedtime reading with a flashlight under my sheets until my eyes couldn’t stay open. But as far as royal intrigue, I was at a very impressionable age when I watched Princess Diana marry, cementing the fantasy that some day, some prince could whisk me away from all my problems and I could have awesome outfits, live in a castle, and ride horses all day. And people would have to do what I say and not the other way around. Which sounds pretty darn fantastic to an eight year old.
As I grew up, I still loved the outfits and the castles, but the history behind it all was the real fascination for me. Why the Tudor era and the early Renaissance, I’m not quite sure. Perhaps it was because Diana was British, perhaps because I studied in London for a time in college, perhaps it was because Henry VIII is morbidly fascinating and his daughter to this day remains one of the most successful rulers of all time. Ok, it’s just the outfits. READ MORE