Yup.
It still hurts.
I’ve written about so much of my life here. My experiences. My memories. My family. My friends.
I was 13 years old when I first read Katherine by Anya Seton.
It’s a book about Katherine Swynford and life. Her sister, allegedly, married Geoffrey Chaucer. She married too BUT…
…the one true love of her life was John of Gaunt, son of Edward III of England.
Katherine is buried in Lincoln Cathedral along with her daughter. She had several children by John of Gaunt who were not legitimised until John and Katherine married in later life, about 2 years before John died, and were given the surname Beaufort.
If you know Joan of Arc, you know the name Beaufort.
John of Gaunt is also closely associated with Bolingbroke Castle – just down the road from me. It was once owned by Blanche of Lancaster, wife of John and a Princess whom Katherine served as a maid-in-waiting. It’s also the birthplace of Henry of Bolingbroke, father of Henry V of Shakespeare fame and the prison of Charles d’Orleans of Joan of Arc fame.
I CAN WEAVE A TRUE & GLORIOUS PATTERN
The Savoy Hotel?
Yes. Another hotel I’ve had the great fortune to stay in. It’s on the Strand in London. Across the river from the London Eye.
It is also the site of the Savoy Palace, home of John of Gaunt.
To see a yt content creator take the saVoy and give it to his lover apropos of nothing else he had ever done before or since, was a true stab in the heart.
Why?
Why would anyone do that? How many mental knots do you have to tie to make something like this a good thing to do to someone you’ve never even met?
By the way – he and V will be pleased to know that I nearly drowned in a bath in the Savoy. Even at 5ft 8″ my feet didn’t reach the other end. Ooops.
:o)
P.S. My fave cook Gordon Ramsay was also head chef there for a while.
Just to bring another bit of MY life into the mix.
SCOTLAND.