Wendy Brandes Jewelry Blog

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We Are Amused by Undead Royals on Twitter

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People who haven’t tried Twitter assume that it’s nothing but dull announcements of intake and output: “Making lemon bars…yum!” “I need to go pee.”*A  There’s a lot of that, but Twitter also can be very interactive and I’ve had great conversations there.

Some of my favorite dialogues have been with a Twitterer who isn’t online that often because she’s very, very busy. She’s also very, very famous. More famous than Ashton Kutcher. My friend’s Twitter name is Always_The_Same, which is an English translation of the Latin “Semper Eadem.”A  “Semper Eadem” was the personal motto of Elizabeth Tudor, aka Elizabeth I.A  I’m tweeting with England’s greatest ruler and my ultimate role model!

Click Elizabeth I to read what I've written about her.

Her Majesty the Queen knows that I’m a fan loyal subject. She usually tweets to her fellow royals, but occasionally, when she’s not preoccupied with ruling Britain in a parallel universe where it is still the 16th century, she deigns to correspond with me. She generously praised my Gloriana necklace, among other designs. But last fall, I panicked when I received these two tweets:**

Always_The_Same @WendyBrandes my lady I am hoping you may assist me. Thou hath honoured the memory of @SheWolfOfFrance with fine jewels..

Always_The_Same @WendyBrandes …tho I am truly struggling to find her finer points other than being a strong lady in an era of male rule.Canst thou advise?

Elizabeth was speaking of my Isabella wolf-fang designs, inspired by the 14th century’s so-called She-Wolf of France and seen here in necklace form and here in earrings. Gorgeous blogger Work With What You’ve Got recently bought the Isabella necklace in silver.

Work With What You've Got and Isabella. Click for more!

Royals can be a bit jealous sensitive, whichA  I’ve noted before, so this situation needed to be handled with care. There are dire consequences for giving the wrong answer to the ruler of a kingdom. After considering several explanations, I decided it was safe to say that Isabella knew how to throw a good party. As I previously wrote about Isabella and her BF Roger:

They executed Hugh le Despenser in a perfectly acceptable 14th century way: they dragged him through the streets, stripped him, hanged him, cut him down before he died, chopped off his penis and testicles, threw his manhood in a fire, cut him open, threw his heart and entrails in the fire, and cut him into four pieces. Then they had a party. Good times!

I was relieved to know that I wouldn’t be sent to the Tower or a convent after Elizabeth tweeted:

Always_The_Same @WendyBrandes I thank thee indeed, a good hostess for a fine party ist always a welcome attribute. Thou art impressively well read my lady.

I blushed with pride when Elizabeth tweeted her mother, Anne Boleyn (identified on Twitter by her motto, The Most Happy):

Always_The_Same @the_most_happy methinks @WendyBrandes must be some descendant of Lady Woodville or the house of of Howard. Definitely some royal blood.

And I practically danced with joy when, addressing me again, Elizabeth said:

Always_The_Same @WendyBrandes In fact had thee been around back in the day thou wud have been a match for Bess of Hardwick & worthy of place upon my council

Woot!A  I do sometimes complain about the seedier aspects of the virtual world, but where else could I have won the favor of The Virgin Queen herself? If you want to tweet with the royals too, here are some suggestions:

  • Good Queen Bess is, of course, Always_The_Same. And she IS always the same because she stays in character.
  • SheWolfOfFrance hasn’t tweeted since October. She’s probably busy throwing dismemberment parties.
  • the_most_happy is gone entirely. She might have been beheaded again. QueenAnneBoleyn hasn’t been heard from since November. Beheaded as well, I take it. Try following AnneBoleynFiles.
  • Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII, may be followed via humble_n_loyal.
  • Henry’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, is at flanders_mare. (Love her “Anne of Cleavage” bra concept.)
  • Henry’s fifth wife,A  Katherine Howard, is at thornlessxrose.
  • Henry himself is King_Henry_VIII.
  • Cousin and enemy to Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots is at TheQueenofScots.
  • Louis XIV of Frances is Le_Roii_Soleil.
  • Charles, the Holy Roman Emperor, is Charlesemperor.
  • From later times, Elisabeth of Austria is sissi_amalie.

And if you want to tweet with me, my Twitter name is WendyBrandes.

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER.

Speaking of the royals, and history, I haven’t done one of my historical book club posts since my introduction to A Distant Mirror in March. I worked furiously on the follow-up post in April, was disappointed with how it turned out, didn’t publish it and, as a result, got a bad case of the blogging yips. Wikipedia describes the yips as “an apparently baseless sudden loss of ability in one of a number of different sports” and notes that athletes affected by the yips sometimes recover, sometimes work around the problem by changing technique and sometimes are “forced to abandon their sport at the highest level.” I did try changing technique by taking pictures for a photographic follow-up to the original post but the yips remain. To make matters worse, I can’t bear to write another book post until A Distant Mirror is done. Hold me, I’m scared!

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FOOTNOTES

*Real tweets seen on January 6, 2010.

**I was granted royal permission to share these conversations.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Such elite conversations. I just flirted and traded innuendos with vampires (the manly Bill kind, not the stupid sparkly kind – I have some pride, dammit).

  3. Being of the royal persuasion myself, I most heartily agree with the wise “always_the_same” Queen! (Argh you are taunting me with those earrings!)
    XXX
    Suzanne, the Punk Glam Queen who has reinstated the guillotine, so beware those who should anger my monarchical self!

  4. Well my dahling, I’m so proud to know you. You have quite an elite fan club and deservedly so. I shall to call you “Dame Wendy” from this day forth.

  6. Real LOL. Who on earth spends their time tweeting as a Royal?

    Although these conversations are hilarious, I can’t get my head around the format of twitter. Whoever said that the youth of today are the online generation was mixing us up with the Elizabethans, for sure. x

  8. I love funny, creative tweets. And I know from the yips, unfortunately. I’m in the middle of who knows how many posts that I just cannot seem to finish. A pox on the yips!

  10. I knew there was *some* reason I should stay more current than I do Tweeting!

    I can’t remember the last time I Tweeted anything.

  11. Tweeting royals! Too funny. I follow FakeAPStyleBook because it’s fun English major geekery, but maybe I should see if other undead historical figures are on Twitter.

  13. i just had a minor panic attack. i can’t believe (can’t BELIEVE) you made your way onto my blog. i LOVE your jewellery so much! i nerdily peruse your website, i dither with delight when other bloggers wear your stuff/bring you up, and you leave a comment on MY little corner of the internet?

    this is too much.

    this is almost as good as tweeting with ol’ lizzie.

    this is also a really excellent post .

  15. While I was laughing at your post, Poochie stole your thunder over her comment above LOL! Now I’m in search for real vampires on twitter “not the sparkly kind” Is there an Eric? LOL!

  16. It’s always fun when long dead celebrities Tweet me or fictional ones.

    You have my tweets trumped!The best I have ever gotten is a “bite and kiss” from Eric Northman. Something that totally made my day.

    Queen Elizabeth I is so much better!

  23. Haha. Too true, QE1 was pretty awesome. I loved studying Tudor history…the blood, drama and corsets make brilliant essays.

  31. darling such esteemed elite conversations! Love this post so much, the dialogue was fabulous.
    The Isabella necklace is worthy indeed!

    I love the conversations on twitter, i have such fun ones on there.twitter is super addictive!
    I hope you are well honey and are having a good wknd. Just to kindly let you know now there is now free subscription via a feed reader. Just click on the orange feed icon in the subscription section(right hand side of blog). Have a gorge day.
    Kisses,
    Marian.

  32. I LOVE my Isabella necklace! My 6th grade girls call it my “Taylor Lautner” necklace. They get very excited when I wear it to school! It looks great on “Work With What You’ve Got!” She is such a pretty lady and I really like her style!

  34. This is outstanding Miss Wendy, really, truly fabulous reading. We loved every bit of it, notwithstanding the end of Hugh le Despenser’s existence on our planet!
    Hope you have a wonderful week!
    tp