Royal Review: The Great Survivors by Peter Conradi

The Great Survivors: How Monarchy Made It into the Twenty-First Century by Peter Conradi
Published 2012
384 Pages
ISBN: 978-1846882159

In 1948, King Farouk of Egypt is reportedly quoted as stating: 

"The whole world is in revolt. Soon there will be only five Kings left--the King of England, the King of Spades, The King of Clubs, the King of Hearts, and the King of Diamonds."

He was incorrect. While the House of Windsor is, by far, the most media prominent, it isn't even remotely the only one left. Excluding their Asian, African and Middle Eastern counterparts, six other European countries are monarchies: Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, and the Netherlands. Not to mention the royal rulers in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and principalities of Monaco and Liechtenstein. These are The Great Survivors. How they survived when other royal houses tumbled and continue to endure in the twenty-first century is something Peter Conradi (co-author of The King's Speech) tackles in his new book.

The author compares and contrasts the royal houses, covering territory on how they're funded, their controversies and scandals, succession, political power, and grudging love-hate relationship with the media. Clearly, there's more to the relationship between many of these royal houses than their link to Queen Victoria. But researching this information in any depth would require consulting several sources. Now it can be found in one.  For someone like myself, with a passing interest in these monarchies but lacking the energy to delve into individual details, this book is a valuable and fascinating resource. A must have for any royal book collection.

© Marilyn Braun 2012

Thank you for enjoying this article. If you use the information for research purposes, a link to credit the work I've put into writing it would be appreciated.

Video: The Firm: The Fairy Story of the English Royal Family and Princess Diana

A new take on the story of Diana and the royal family





© Marilyn Braun 2012

Thank you for enjoying this article. If you use the information for research purposes, a link to credit the work I've put into writing it would be appreciated.

Mmmmmm....Cupcake Queen

What recipe calls for over 50kg of Regal-Ice, 50kg of Royal Icing, 20kg of Marzipan and over 40 tubes of Gel Food Colours? …what else? A  celebration cake fit for a Queen!

To celebrate the Queen's 60 years on the throne, Dr. Oetker teamed up with food artist extraordinaire, Prudence Staite, to recreate a 6m² ‘Cupcake Queen’ portrait of Her Majesty with over 2,012 hand-decorated cupcakes.

The edible artwork used ten cans of Gold and Silver Shimmer Spray, 60,000 Silver and Gold Soft Sugar Pearls and over 140 white Wafer Daisies from the Dr. Oetker baking range to adorn the King George IV State Diadem featured in the original iconic image taken by Dorothy Wilding in 1952.

The ‘Cupcake Queen’ was built in Prudence’ studio in Pamington, Gloucestershire and also featured 20kg of Plain and Milk Chocolate Chips and 30kg of Easy Swirl Cupcake Icing, which were used to define the Queen’s face.

Delicious!


Here's a time lapse video of the making of the Cupcake Queen.



Thanks to Yasir Alani for the heads up!

© Marilyn Braun 2012 Thank you for enjoying this article. If you use the information for research purposes, a link to credit the work I've put into writing it would be appreciated.