The strange case of Royalist England

About 2 years ago, while cleaning my apartment in Madrid, I discovered a British band called The Kinks singing like crazy that "Victooooooria, Victooooooria, Victoooria was my Queen". I said to myself: "Self, that's interesting". The discovery surprised me: what's with the Royalty in England? The questioning is not new.

And so on, what other country has produced an author so into the lives of his country's kings? Ten historical plays Shakespeare wrote on the Kings of England, setting aside his Tragedies. Why? Another example of strong Royalist support is the recent success of the King's speech. Another example: can you count how many pubs in London alone are named after kings, queens, princes, princesses or any of their attributes? Another one: is it not the Change of Guards at Buckingham one of the international attractions of London? And another one: King's Cross station, how big; and Victoria, how lovely!

There is a rhyme in English to help memorizing all the kings and it is a pity the Spaniards do not have any -or, if does exist, nobody knows about-, at least from the Catholic Kings on. Listen to this (as hint, the first verse contains the 4 Norman Kings, from William I The Conqueror); each verse is 7 sounds and the rhyme is in couples and if there are any more details, I just missed them:

1. Willie, Willie, Harry, Steve,
2. Harry, Dick, John, Harry Three.
3. Edward One, Two, Three, Dick Two,
4. Henry Four, Five, Six then who?
5. Edward Four, Five, Dick the bad,
6. Harry's twain and Ned the lad.
7. Mary, Lizzie, James the vain,
8. Charlie, Charlie, James again.
9. William and Mary, Anne O'Gloria,
10. Four Georges, William and Victoria,
11. Edward Seven, Georgie Five,
12. Edward, George and Liz (alive).

The fact that the rhyme calls Elizabeth I (a black beast for the Spaniards), Lizzie, is... Interesting. And they call James, the vain... What's not him the one of The Bible of Saint James? The end is great: Liz... Alive.

From the visit to the Ham House on the river Thames in Richmond I saved an amazing aristocratic house from the 17th (I loved the basement: the kitchen, the cellar and all), very well-conserved. It was the site of Royalist supporters to the Stuart House, and you can see that from the motto that salutes you at the entrance door (Vivat Rex) to the paintings of Van Dyck (faithful supporter of Charles I).

Self-portrait of Anthony Van Dyck (1633), showing his loyalty to Charles I:

the golden chain (King's chain) and the sunflower (symbol of the King)

The figure of Elizabeth Dysart, the eldest daughter of William Murray (third owner of the house until his exile during the Civil War) and Katherine Bruce is that of a woman to remember. Elizabeth had to be quite a character, steering the house after his father left and against the rule of Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentary forces: the house had been a center for courtiers of Charles I, executed in 1649.

Elizabeth Murray-Dysart, c. 1652

Very womanly and independent Elizabeth, I guess, and apparently she liked to bath regularly, a quite unusual habit at the time. This portrait in the Long Gallery of the House (don't remember if the painting is by Van Dyck) seems to me unique: what is a black guy doing there?

Nice... Elizabeth!... Would the character come with the name?

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