Gill’s interview with Selina MacKenzie who presents The Lifestyles Show Monday to Thursday 2pm to 4pm on Talk Radio Europe – Tuesday 11 October 2022

 

Selina

It's exactly 03:30. Now from her book, our final guest today tells of over 1000 years of royal history told through 100 fascinating objects. Welcome to the show, Gill Knappett

 

Gill

Hello.

 

Selina

Hi there. Thanks for joining us. Now, your book is called A History of Royal Britain in 100 Objects and I believe it's in chronological order by monarch.

 

Gill

That's right. We start with the 9th century and Alfred the Great and it goes right up to Queen Elizabeth II. The book was actually written and finished before the Queen died, although we do give mention at the end to Prince Charles, now King Charles, and Prince William.

 

Selina

Wow. Okay. Well, we've got statues in there, stamps, coins, all sorts of things, even beautiful artworks to Edward the VIII’s abdication document.

 

Gill

Yes, I tried to tell the story of the history of the royal family using a variety of objects to add interest and flavour. There's such a wonderful story to tell. And as you mentioned there, the abdication document changed the course of world history back in 1936. He himself had only been on the throne for 325 days when he abdicated. The document was signed on the 10th December that year, and it was his three brothers who witnessed it. And the next day the radio broadcast announced it to the world. Of course, the document meant he renounced the throne and also excluded any children he might have in the future (which of course he didn't) from the line of succession. And from that day forward, the lady who was to become our queen was heir to the throne.

 

Selina

Yeah. Incredible, isn't it? It sounds like every object has its own fascinating story to tell.

 

Gill

It does, yes. Everything from statues, as you mentioned, and there's crowns … but there's more simple things as well. Sometimes the object is a photograph, for example, of the royal family at certain times. But there's paintings. There's even the Queen's coronation gown - with a coronation coming up next year, of course, I think there's many links to be made through the objects.

 

Selina

And I was reading, bringing us right up to date, that the famous engagement ring that Prince William gave to Catherine, which was Diana's, Princess of Wales.

 

Gill

That's right. And Princess Diana –Princess of Wales – is still much loved throughout the world and remembered 25 years on, the anniversary of her death. This year it is 25 years. And it was Prince William, now Prince of Wales, who gave Catherine that ring in 2010, and I believe they were in Kenya and he produced it from his rucksack and proposed. But it wasn't until November that the official announcement was made. And then, of course, they were married the following April. But as you say, it is the ring that belonged to his mother, Diana. And it's the most beautiful sapphire and diamonds, and we've seen it many times. It was his way of remembering his mother, bringing her into the happy event of the engagement.

 

Selina

Yeah, beautiful ring. What about Queen Victoria, then? Do you have anything of hers?

 

Gill

Oh, yes, several things, actually. I think the first object we have is the penny black stamp, which is historic in its own right, being the world's first adhesive prepaid postage stamp. And, of course, the Victorian era was one of great invention and change. You had the coming of the railways, the steamships, factories, for example, but the idea of the actual stamp was that of an inventor called Rowland Hill, who wanted to standardise the cost of stamps and simplify the process of postage in the United Kingdom, which he did with this stamp. And even today, as you will know, the UK remains the only country that doesn't have the name of the country actually on the stamp, because we were the first ones to do it. And the penny black, of course, is a very rare item because it wasn't around for very long, because it was replaced very swiftly by the penny red. And the story behind that is that the red ink that cancelled out a penny black stamp once it had been used doesn't show up very well and is also very easy to remove so people were reusing the stamps! But black ink over red worked much better.

 

Selina

Interesting. What about George V who made his wife, Queen Mary, a doll's house?

 

Gill

Yes. Wonderful. Queen Mary doll's house. Yes, it was a gift from George V to his wife, who was much loved and hugely supportive of him, including throughout the First World War, of course. But in the 1920s, he commissioned the British architect Edwin Lutyens to create this doll's house for his wife. And when it was finished, it went on display in the British Empire exhibition of I think it was 1924, and 25 to raise funds for charity. So it was not just a beautiful gift, but doing some good too. And then it was moved to Windsor Castle, where it remains to this day. And visitors to the castle, of course, can see it. And it's the most wonderful object. I don't know if you've ever seen it yourself, but the detail is fascinating. It's perfect in every way, a perfect example of a 1920s mansion and such fine detail. Even the gardens surrounding it were designed by no other than Gertrude Jekyll. And Queen Mary said of it that it was the most perfect gift that anyone could receive. So I think that was a great present.

 

Selina

That's so sweet. And we've just finished a series of documentaries about Henry VIII and all his wives. Apparently, there's a miniature portrait of Catherine of Aragon, and she was the first wife, wasn't she?

 

Gill

That's right. I mean, Henry VIII is such a great, huge character in every way, a great character, and, of course, so well known for hissix wives, so it was quite difficult to decide what objects to choose to tell this story. But I've tried to not just focus on the actual monarchs, but also their queens or kings in some instances – sorry, prince consort – who have their own backstory as well. But in this instance, yes, you're right, I chose to use Catherine of Aragon, his first wife, and it's a little miniature portrait. In fact, it's one of the earliest known English portrait miniatures, and it's by a Flemish artist who was actually employed at Henry VIII’s court, at his court miniaturist. But Catherine is also well known because she was the widow of King Henry's elder brother Arthur, who died when he was only 16. So Henry married his widow and they had several children, but sadly, only one – Mary, who later became Queen Mary I of Englans – survived.

 

Selina

Yeah.

 

Gill

And I think you'll know, his wish for his son was overwhelming. And because he had no sons, through her that survived, he decided he wanted to divorce her and so began the break with Rome and him being established as the head of the Church of England. On these things, the whole course of history changed.

 

Selina

Indeed it did. Indeed it did. I keep thinking, just one more, just one more. But it really is interesting. I'm from Derbyshire and Leicester is obviously close by. What about Richard III's tomb?

 

Selina

Oh, gosh, yes. It's a very simple tomb, but I chose it because of the simplicity of it. I think it's simplicity is part of its beauty because it's a just a simple stone tomb which is inscribed with a cross. And this all sits on a marble plinth and his actual remains lie beneath it in the vault. But I think we all probably remember the backstory that there has always been the question of whether it was he that murdered his nephews - Edward V, and his brother, the Duke of York, who became known as the Princes in the Tower. Some see Richard III as a monster but there's another party that see him as a loyal man who showed great kindness to those he loved. He was also a very able soldier. But there's no doubt that he did sieze power. And it was his death on the battlefield that saw Henry Tudor becomes King Henry VII, which was the start of the Tudor dynasty. But Richard's body, following his death on the battlefield, was first buried at Grey Friars Church, which was demolished during the dissolution of the monasteries. And then, in 2012, a project, a huge project, saw his remains discovered beneath the car park in Leicester built over the Friary and his remains reinterred in Leicester Cathedral.

 

Selina

Yes

 

Gill

 Quite rightly. But Richard III, what a fascinating character - some of these monarchs get more than one mention because there's so much to say about them. And in fact, for Richard III, I've also included the title page of Shakespeare’s play about him, the famous play, this image of Richard III that many people have about this hunchback, a deformed king or crookback, as it's called in the play. But in fact, the archaeological evidence when his remains were discovered showed that there wasn't much more than one shoulder being slightly higher than the other. So not quite the grotesque image that has sometimes been portrayed over the years.

 

Selina

It really has, hasn't it? Richard III well, it really does sound like a fascinating book. There is obviously much, much more in there. Going right back. The book is called A History Of Royal Britain in 100 Objects, and it's by Gill Knappett, who we are chatting to now. And it's available for preorder from our website. ‘Tre.radio. Gill, I could speak to you for ages and go through them all, but maybe another time. Sadly we are out of time. But thank you for being on the show.