Movie Review: A Royal Affair

It has been, what seems too long in my mind since I have had a movie to review. Thank goodness for the Danish film, A Royal Affair, which came out last year and even won an Oscar for best foreign film.  It tells the story of  that old tart, Queen Caroline Matilda (sister to King George III) and her (royal) affair with Dr Struensee.  It had to be spicy and scandalous and good, right? Right?  Sigh...I have to admit, I didn't quite care for it.  Perhaps it was mostly because I felt I had seen it before?

Wait, haven't we seen gossiping at court dinner tables in the beginning of a film before?

The movie begins with young Caroline excited about the prospect of being Queen of Denmark.  After riding in a beautiful carriage she meets the king in the woods of her new home country and the initial meeting between the couple is awkward, but Caroline tries to ignore it.  When they arrive at the palace the king jumps out of the carriage to shower affection on his dog.  Upon her arrival, Caroline is robbed of her precious books and told they have plenty, more suitable Danish books for her to read.  Is it just me, or does this sound like a mash up of The Duchess and Marie Antoinette?  There was even the same camera shot of a birds-eye view of the carriage going under and arch to enter what would be Caroline's new home.

Oh Christian, you so crazy

Like Marie Anotinette and Georgiana, the enthusiastic young Caroline finds herself miserable in marriage, complete with problems in the bedroom, distance in the relationship, and as an added bonus, a mild bout of royal insanity.  However when the dangerous Rousseau-reading Dr S enters the picture the king's schizophrenic episodes subside under his guidance and a strong friendship blooms between the two men.  Soon the lonely queen also succumbs to the doctor's charms and the two use the king as a puppet to pass their enlightened improvements to the country.  Obviously, this can't last.

Bath time is when queens get to delve into self-reflection

Oh but it does! On and on and on, continues the dull tale.  Now I love this century and its scandalous women but can't we find a different tale to tell? I was disappointed that Georgiana's affair is what her biopic chose to focus on when she has such and exciting and multifaceted life.  A Royal Affair is an example of this same sad storyline being done to death in a short period of film-making.  The interesting aspect, in my humble opinion, is the relationship between the doctor and his royal patient and how the king's mental instability was handled; or in reality, ignored as if it wasn't actually happening while Caroline's own brother was strapped into a straight jacket in England around the same time.  The overbearing dowager queen too, such a forceful figure in the actual historical event is pushed to remain a shadowing figure waiting in the wings.  I think fashion buffs will also be disappointed by the jumping anachronistic costumes and the absolute lack of hair powder on the women.  But maybe Denmark was different (I don't think Denmark was different).

One big happy, menage a trois

Overall the movie had some good qualities but this eighteenth-century biopic just wasn't going to do it for me! Time for something new, original, and of course, fabulous.

Liotard's Portraits of the Royal Family

In his long life the pastel-ist, Jean-Étienne Liotard had the privilege of rendering the portraits of not one but two royal families.  You can find his portraits of Maria Theresa's brood on Lauren's blog today.  Here are Liotard's portraits of Frederick, Prince of Wales' family from 1754.

Frederick Prince of Wales

Princess Augusta Charlotte of Wales

George III

Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland

Princess Caroline Matilda

Princess Louisa

Tart of the Week: Queen Caroline Matilda

Naughty Queen alert! If you are aware of what a prude King George III was, it might shock you to find that his baby sister was, well...not. Caroline grew up as you would a expect a young princess to. She was born in 1751, a few months after her father's premature death. She learned the way to walk, talk, and be the perfect little princess, so it was only a matter of time before she was married off to secure a political alliance.

The lucky fellow was the King of Denmark and Norway, Christian VII. Unbeknownst to sixteen year-old Caroline or the royal family, Christian had a few quirks. Actually, he was full out crazy. He was obsessive about his looks and was known too look at his ripped muscles in public. Christian was also into devious forms of sex and would wear disguises in public in order to pick fights. His peculiarities may have stemmed from sexual abuse as a child but also could have been attributed to schizophrenia.

Chistian's peculiarities only grew worse after his marriage with Caroline. He and the Duke of Devonshire seemed to share the same point of view that wives were for heirs and nothing else. Caroline was both scared and depressed by her husband's treatment of her, yet, she still managed to give birth to an heir. Since she performed her duty in the eyes of Christian, he left Caroline to do as she pleased while he did his (crazy) thing. In fact, she ended up being the one who ran the country. It was not long before she fell in love and had an affair with Johann Struensee, the royal physian and minister. It is likely that her other child, Princess Louise Auguste was likely Struensee's and not the king's. Just look at her features compared with her brother's.

Of course, things could not stay sunny for poor Caroline. Struensee decided to take advanatge of his cohorting with the queen (and ultimately ruler) and the king's trust to input some of his own decrees upon the country. Typical! This may have been okay for the lovestruck Caroline but not for the people of Denmark. The couple was invited to a masquerade which also just happened to be a trap. The two were arrested; Caroline was divorced and Struensee was drawn and quartered. Caroline was released from prison and put into exile, never to see her children again. Her own brother was afraid to let her into England for fear it could cause a disagreement with Denmark so Caroline had was forced to live in Germany. She died not long afterward of Scarlet Fever in 1775.