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Last night I had dinner with the King and Queen, it was a belated Christmas dinner of sorts as the King was away on business over christmas and we’d not yet had a chance to celebrate with him. We dined on delicious seafood and salads and had rich chocolate cake for dessert It was lovely to spend the evening with my family and to go back to the enchanted forest where I grew up. I did miss seeing our beloved dog though, as she passed away a few months ago.

My Father gave me a new tripod for my camera and a beautiful fieldbook on wild birds! I love birdwatching and always carry a little container of birdseed with me in case I meet some friendly avians. When I was a little girl, one of my favourite things to do was to go down to the lake and feed the ducks and swans. Around the palace we have quite a few birds, Wagtails, Magpie Larks, Ravens and Honey-eaters. Sometimes I even see Rainbow Lorikeets!

The bird in this picture is a Turtledove, they are the sweetest little things and I often see them on the trellis outside my window, singing to eachother in their pretty little calls. They’re very shy and will fly away if you come too close. I would love to hang a bird feeder outside my window for them. The artwork is by Sophie Gengembre Anderson, one of my favourite painters.

Eugénie, the Last Empress of France was born in 1826 to the impressive name of Doña María Eugenia Ignatia Augustina Palafox de Guzmán Portocarrero y Kirkpatrick. The daughter of a Spanish Count and his half Scottish wife, Eugénie became the 9th Countess of Teba and later, the Empress of France. She was a beautiful, charming and elegant Lady who was both a leader of fashion, and an intelligent and capable Empress. She had political influence over her husband and was Regent during his absences.

Eugénie was educated in Paris at the famous Sacré Cœur (Sacred Heart) Convent and brought up among fashionable society, where she met Prince Louis Napoléon, to whom she made a very controversial marriage a year after his coronation. As a wedding gift he gave her a beautiful diamond, now known as the Empress Eugénie Diamond.

The Empress was said to be an admirer of Marie Antoinette, certainly she had a similar love for exquisite clothing and jewels. Her fashion choices influenced the silhouettes of womens costume for several decades and she was looked to by many as a paragon of beauty and elegance. She was a close friend of Princess Pauline de Metternich.

It is perhaps no coincidence that her reign very nearly ended in the same manner as Marie Antoinette’s. After the battle of Sedan, in which her husband was captured, she was forced to flee rioting in Paris and go in to exile in England. Napoléon III later joined her there and the pair spent the rest of their lives in England.

I would like to read a biography on Eugénie and learn more about her fascinating life and vibrant character. I have always admired the paintings of her, for she has such a serene and regal composure.

Reference

One of my favourite lines in the Princess Code is this “A Princess’s most precious jewel is Hope, which lights her darkest days and shows her the beauty in every soul she meets.” I believe that Hope is one thing we should never lose sight of, even when we are feeling down.

For most people, Princesses included, life is a series of ups and downs. Really good things happen and really bad things happen too. Even within a single day events can take a turn for the worse, leaving one feeling dissapointed, depressed and heartbroken. One of the things that can lift us out of such a state is Inspiration, but when things get really painful sometimes that just isn’t enough.

Count your blessings. This sounds deceptively simple, however often recognizing the things we have that are wonderful and being thankful for them is a great way to find some hope for the future. Make a mental list of everything you love in your life. Perhaps you are fighting with your family but you have a wonderfully supportive friend. Maybe you are feeling low in self esteem, instead think of all the things you’re really good at. Knowing that there are some bright things in your life, even if they seem very small right now, is like lighting candles in the darkness.

Give yourself something to look forward to. I’ve always found that planning an event and looking forward to it, whether it is a birthday or party or just going to see a new movie really brightens my day. The trick is not to get so attached to the idea that if it doesn’t go to plan you are dissapointed. There is always something to look forward to, even if its a long way away, work towards it, dream about it and let it give you a purpose.

Things could be worse. This might seem like a depressing thought at first, but the fact is in most cases things really could be worse. There are probably people out there far worse off and struggling to survive to whom your problems may even seem trivial. Becoming aware of this and actually spending some time or resources trying to help people in a worse situation than you can really make you appreciate what you do have in life.

Find the beauty and good in everything. This can take a lot of effort, trying to find something really admirable in everyone you know and seeing the beauty in a world that may be ugly on the surface is one of the greatest challenges that faces modern day Princesses. It would be easy to do in a perfect Fairy Tale world, but we live in a place where not everyone is nice to us and not everything is pretty. It’s this, however, that makes it all the more important to see past appearances and find diamonds where others see coal.

Never give up on your dreams. I believe we have the power to do anything, anything we could possibly want to achieve. Sometimes we have to find different ways of doing it, and its not always easy but the possibilities are endless. Find your dreams and hold them close, every time you feel down use them as inspiration and determination to keep going. Believe in yourself and keep Hope in your heart. Nothing and noone can take that away from you.

This Princess Lesson is dedicated to a friend, I think she know’s who she is.

It is so dreadfully hot today, I wanted very much to go out but I couldn’t even bare to step outside. Instead, Éclair and I sat down with a bowl of cherries strawberries and chocolates and watched the ‘Affair of the Necklace.’ I hope that it is cooler tomorrow.

One thing I like to do at the start of each year is to buy a new notebook I can’t really say it’s a diary, as I’ve never been much good at keeping diaries (except this one!) however I do like to write down various thoughts as they occur to me, compose letters and keep lists of goals and wishes I’d like to fulfill. This year I couldn’t resist this cute pink notebook. I usually don’t like things with ‘Princess’ written blatantly on them, especially t-shirts but the crown design is very pretty and the padded print on the inside cover was too adorable! You can see it here.

Some of my goals and wishes for this year include,

Opening the Petit Miel online store
Working on some short stories with illustrations
Going on a holiday somewhere
Celebrating the first international Princess Day
Refurnishing my room
Making new friends and having lots of fun!

What do you hope to achieve in this bright, fresh new year?

I am in two minds over this movie, I really did enjoy watching it but the story is so very inaccurate that it dissapoints me too. I first saw this film back when it was released in 2001, and watching it again was interesting to compare it to the recent Marie Antoinette, especially as Milena Canonero did the costume design for both films.

The Affair is a movie about the infamous scandal L’Affaire du Collier that took place during the reign of Marie Antoinette and was one of the key events that marked the beginning of the French Revolution. It was a conspiracy conducted by Jean de Saint-Rémy-de Luz, Comtesse de la Motte and her companions to extort money from the Cardinal Louis de Rohan and eventually to steal a diamond necklace through a series of machinations.

My main criticism of this film is the made up background story for Jean that gives the character a sense of honour and righteousness and allows them to portray her as the victim in the story. In the movie she lost her ancestral home and her father was killed due to his ’standing up for the peasants.’ Her motive in the conspiracy is to regain her home and title which was ‘rightfully hers.’ In fact, Jean never had a privileged life to begin with. She was born to a very poor family, her father having a dubious connection to the house of Valois through an illegitmate son and her mother was a prostitute. The small link to Valois managed to get the family a little relief through charity and Jean and her sister were sent to a Convent. Her motive for going after the Cardinal seems to have been more to do with money, as her husband was unable to provide well for them. I would have liked to have seen her portayed more as a clever social climber, in the vein of Becky Sharp from Vanity Fair, a role that would have been more realistic but with its own charm. Another spot on her character were the liscentious lies included in her Memoirs.

The other characters in the film, I thought, were played quite beautifully. I particularly liked Jonathan Pryce’s Cardinal, the first time I’ve seen a more two dimensional, intelligent presentation of Louis de Rohan. Joely Richardson was perfect as Marie Antoinette, really my favourite actress to play her so far. I think she really sympathised with the Queen, but at the same time she didn’t gloss over her flaws and ignorance of the situation. I found Kirsten Dunst in the recent film far too sympathetic, she was like a little lamb being influenced by everyone - sweet and innocent. Richardson portrays a slightly older Marie Antoinette with just the right air of pride and vanity but without making her in to a Peacock. As much as I adore her, MA was far from perfect.

I think this film is worth watching for the set and costume design, the excellent acting especially in the minor roles, but also for those who have seen the recent Marie Antoinette, which does not include this part of her story (an omission that surprised me greatly, but I suppose it is a story on it’s own.) For those interested in L’Affaire du Collier I reccomend a book called ‘Queen of Diamonds’ by Jean Plaidy, its my favourite version of the tale.

It is so hot today! The air is sticky and warm, it feels like it ought to rain but won’t. This is my least favourite kind of weather and I’m glad to be in the cool comfort of the Palace. I really don’t deal well with extreme temperatures. I miss my blue skies too.

I did a little shopping today. One of my favourite Antique stores had a painting of an adorable girl in a pink rococo dress holding a little kitten I nearly bought it but it had some nasty water damage so I tore myself away despite the temptation. I really want some new paintings to decorate my room, and a mirror would be nice. I browsed longingly through the flower shops, knowing that any attempt to bring peonies home in this weather would be a failure.

I did buy some new shoes though! I have a lot of lolita shoes but I have been wanting something a little more elegant to go with my Mermaid Princess dresses and I love these. They’re white leather with little pink jewels all over the straps, made in italy, and quite comfortable for heels too. Now I just need more summer dresses to match

There is a new article in the writing section, Undefining the Lolita Lifestyle.