January Books of the Month: Searching for Beauty & Queen Elizabeth in the Garden

Since it's a brand new year, we have 2 books of the month, instead of one.  The first book is Searching for Beauty: The life of Millicent Rogers by Cherie Burns. I'd read about Millicent Rogers before in a book on fashion but I knew very little about her as a person.

From the back cover:  A fascinating portrait of the Standard Oil heirerss and legendary American trendsetter Millicent Rogers. Nobody knew how to live the high life like Millicent Rogers. Born into luxury, she lived in a whirl of beautiful homes, European vacations, exquisite clothing and handsome men. In Searching for Beauty, Cherie Burns chronicles Rogers's glittering life from her days as a young girl afflicted with rheumatic fever to her debutante debut and her Taos finale. A rebellious icon of the age, she eloped with a penniless baron, danced tangos in European nightclubs, divorced, remarried and romanced, among others, Clark Gable. Her romantic conquests, though, paled in comparison to her triumph in the fashion world where she electrified the fashionistas by becoming the muse to designer Charles James, appearing in Vogue and Harper's Bazaar and - at the end of her life - retreating to Taos, New Mexico where she popularized Southwestern style. With Searching for Beauty, Millicent Rogers enters the pantheon of great American women who, like Diana Vreeland and Babe Paley, put their distinctive stamp on American Style.

And now for something completely different, a book about Queen Elizabeth I, and gardens.  I admit to suffering from Tudor overload, it seems like not a day goes by without someone publishing a book set in either the Court of Henry VIII or Elizabeth (not many people seem interested in setting a book during Mary's reign!).  This one is different, dealing with the Queen's love of gardens, and the two of the most influential men in her life, Robert Dudley and William Cecil.  The author, Trea Martyn, has a PhD in 18th-century literature at University College London and she lectures widely on garden history.

Title:  Queen Elizabeth in the Garden: A Story of Love, Rivalry and Spectacular Gardens
Author:  Trea Martyn
Publisher:  Bluebridge
Pub Date:  January 30, 2012

Overview:  Taking a fresh and original approach to the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth I, this book tells the incredible story of her great passion for gardens, and how the two most powerful men in England during her reign fought a decade-long duel for their queen's affections by creating lavish gardens for her. It chronicles how, in their quest to woo the queen and outdo each other, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and William Cecil, Baron of Burghley, competed for Elizabeth’s favor by laying out innovative and extravagant pleasure grounds at their palaces for when she came to visit. As she played one off against the other, they created gorgeous palaces and landscapes that amazed the world. The book also describes how others in England and abroad followed Dudley’s and Cecil’s leads and how the queen’s love of plants made gardeners of courtiers, statesmen, and soldiers. This meticulously researched account reveals how Elizabeth’s enthusiasm for horticulture changed the world, encouraging gardeners and designers to create landscapes inspired by the spirit of the Elizabethan garden.

There you have it, 2 different books about 2 very different women.  Enjoy!

Was Elizabeth I A Man?

Okay, this was a new one on me, the idea that Queen Elizabeth I might actually be a man.  I had actually never heard this rumor before until I watched The National Geographic Channel's special THE SECRETS OF THE VIRGIN QUEEN.  Guess what? There were no real secrets in this special, just a bunch of rehashed stuff about whether or not she and Dudley ever had a child, and why she never married.  The only new information (at least for me) was the story of the Bisley Boy.

According to THE SECRETS OF THE VIRGIN QUEEN, Elizabeth (then a princess) had died aged 10 while staying at Berkeley Castle, in  Gloucestershire (the same castle where Edward II was murdered). Her minders, terrified of the retribution of her father, Henry VIII, made a substitution. A lookalike boy from the nearby village of Bisley was put in her place and sworn to secrecy. This legend 'explained' why Elizabeth never married or had children. In fact, the tale was apparently invented as a joke by a local clergyman in the 19th century.  Bram Stoker picked it up and wrote about the story in his book about Famous Imposters.

The show contained interviews with the residents of Bisley who apparently do consider the idea that Elizabeth I was actually a dude.  One more cynical resident admitted that it was good for tourism.  They tried to pass it off by suggesting that she wore all those ruffs to hide her Adam's Apple, and that the white make-up she wore was to cover up her stubble. The one valid point that was brought up was the fact that Elizabeth I didn't want an autopsy of her body after her death. Although that could have been because she didn't want anyone cutting her up, or she wanted to conceal the fact that she wasn't actually a virgin, which is more likely.

This is my question, given the fact that Elizabeth spent her life surrounded by women who dressed her and undressed her everday, and the doctors who examined during her lifetime, how could she conceal that she was a man? I think people would have noticed that she had a penis! Especially since she did apparently get her period, if not regularly, then often enough. Plus even though Henry might have been a neglectful father, I think he would have noticed that his daughter now had an Adam's apple!

Has anyone ever heard this story before?