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Sunday, 17 March 2013

ANDREW MORTON AND HIS LADIES OF SPAIN



 The man who confessed to Diana of Wales two decades ago (“Diana, Her True Story”) now dissects the ladies of another monarchy that is now living his particular "annus horribilis", the Spanish monarchy, which is facing its biggest crisis since it was restored in 1975.

Andrew Morton (*) has been recently to Madrid introducing his latest book, "Ladies of Spain. Sofia, Elena, Cristina and Letizia. Between duty and love", which analyzes the current situation of the Reina Sofia, the Princesses Elena and Cristina and Princess of Asturias, Letizia.


In his book, Morton addresses without taboos the “separated”  marriage of the King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, the marriages with  love of their children and the personalities of their spouses commoners, and even surprising anecdotes, like the Princess Elena is a great fan of teleshopping.


To write this book and to defend himself against accusations by some people of plagiarism and unoriginal, he says he has worked in it during three years and he has spoken to many people very close to the Spanish court.

The author also discussed the current situation of the Spanish monarchy, cornered by financial scandals because of Iñaki Urdangarin’s dirty business and kings’s sex scandals, recognizing that the world is now more interested in the Spanish monarchy that in the Windsors. Even the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal regularly write about it.

According to Morton the monarchy in Spain is like a coat you wear and take off, depending of the different historical situations, while in England, for example, the monarchy is like the rain, it's always there.

According to Morton, Letizia is the mirror Catherine of Wales should look at

Asked about which of the four ladies he is most interested. he said he preferred Cristina and Letizia. Cristina, because of the situation she is living at the moment, halfway between her love for Iñaki Urdangarin and her love for her father and her duty to the monarchy. And Letizia, because she is a woman of extremes, who has had a rich and varied love life and from whom he tells she is bossy, perfectionist and very intelligent.





Related to Doña Sofia, the author says she has got a full loyalty in her DNA and that when she got married to the king she did it for duty. And also he explains that she is not a victim but, on the contrary, she deserves the utmost respect.


Regarding to the King Juan Carlos he tells in his controversial book that he has been with 1500 women throughout his life (he even explains that during the honeymoon of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles in Palma de Mallorca, the Spanish king made a pass at her, although unsuccessfully).


And his last advice for the King is as simple as: Keep calm and carry on........

And finally, the author is already threatening to write his next book about the German Princess Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, the last "very close friendship" of the king, as she acknowledged in a recent interview with a Spanish newspaper. Thus, the story does not end here, but it will be continued .....




(*) Andrew Morton's controversial author of other books like:

Diana: Her story brings in her own words (1992)
Monica's Story (1999)
Posh & Becks (2000)
Madonna (2001)
Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography (2010)
Angelina: An Unauthorized Biography (2010)
William & Catherine: Their Story (2011)

Monday, 7 January 2013

THE MOST POPULAR POSTS IN THIS BLOG IN 2012




A new year has just started and in the beginning of a new year it is time to take stock of the past year. I felt curious about which posts were the most visited in  2012 and after having a look at the statistics I saw that these were the 10 most visited posts, perhaps you missed any of them and you want to read it or just re-read it again. Make the most of it!

  1. Famous Spanish actors now in Hollywood
  2. Mona Lisa’s twin sister painting at the Prado Museum
  3. Anita Delgado, the Spanish maharani of Kapurthala
  4. The Madrazo, a family of realists painters
  5. Elena Arzak, best female chef in the world
  6. Are all Spanish stereotypes still valid?
  7. Los Manolos shoes of Manolo Blahnik
  8. John Bagnold Burgess and other Victorian painters
  9. Ronda, Pepa Borrego and her Goyescas costumes
  10. This position is shared between: La Alhambra Palace and people who were inspired by it and 6 easy steps to enjoying a vino tinto from Spain

And that was all, now it is time to look forward 2013 and see which new subjects this blog will find interesting enough to share with all their readers during this year. Ready, steady, there we go!


Monday, 24 December 2012

HADDOM SUNDBLOM AND SOME BEAUTIFUL QUOTES FOR CHRISTMAS


 


Since Christmas is not all about giving and receiving presents, I just wanted to post this entry about the meaning of Christmas through these beautiful quotes for Christmas with some illustrations by the artist Haddon Sundblom (1899-1976), best known for the images of Santa Claus he created for the Coca-Cola Company.

W. T. Ellis
It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.

Alexander Smith
Christmas is the day that holds all time together.


Richard Roberts
It is not even the beginning of Christmas unless it is Christmas in the heart.

W. J. Cameron
Christmas is the gentlest, loveliest festival of the revolving year, and yet, for all that, when it speaks, its voice has strong authority.


Ray Stannard Baker
I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays, let them overtake me unexpectedly, waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: 'Why this is Christmas Day!

Frank McKibben
This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols. But the humble heart that receives a new the wondrous gift, the Christ.


Charles Dickens
I do come home at Christmas. We all do, or we all should. We all come home, or ought to come home, for a short holiday, the longer, the better, from the great boarding school where we are forever working at our arithmetical slates, to take, and give a rest.

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.


Robert Lynd
Were I a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, showing that nothing else in life need to be taken seriously, and that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions on which men become entirely alive.

Joan Winmill Brown
Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given, when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes.


Charles Dickens
Time was with most of us, when Christmas Day, encircling all our limited world like a magic ring, left nothing out for us to miss or seek; bound together all our home enjoyments, affections, and hopes; grouped everything and everyone round the Christmas fire, and make the little picture shining in our bright young eyes, complete.

Carol Nelson
Christmas is a time when you get homesick, even when you're home.


Augusta E. Rundel
Christmas… that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance, a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved.


HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU, 
VISITORS, FOLLOWERS, FRIENDS AND READERS ALL 
AND ALL THE BEST FOR THE NEW YEAR!





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