Royally Mad!

I have been a royalty watcher since I was a kid, but I've never been quite open about my addition until I became an adult. Frankly I blame Jean Plaidy and her series of historical fiction about European and British royalty.  There is no 12 step program for being Royally Mad but that is exactly what I am.  My DVR is now filled with royal wedding specials about William & Kate. Seriously don't they look incredibly happy? I've been reading royalty blogs, buying up books about William & Kate (to add to my collection of books about Princess Diana and the Duchess of Windsor). I was in England when Princes Charles and Lady Diana wed, I was late to work the day that Prince Andrew married Fergie, and I celebrated Prince Edward's wedding by attending a royal wedding tea at The Four Seasons hotel. When Princess Diana died, I seriously contemplated flying back to England for the funeral but alas I was broke. However I did get up at 5 in the morning to watch it live.  I even remember where I was when I heard that Princess Grace had died (and I watched the TV movie starring Cheryl Ladd!).  My collection now encompasses books about all European royalty not just the British.  Two of my favorite books are Eleanor Herman's books Sex with the King & Sex with Queens.  I've even blogged about royalty (next up Princess Stephanie of Monaco!). 

So when I heard that BBC America was doing a show to be shown in the week leading up to the royal wedding, well I had to audition.

My good friend, the lovely and talented author Hope Tarr, graciously agreed to let me use her home for the video, and her boyfriend Raj agreed to be the videographer.  I showed up with a pale pink ballgown, a tiara, some royalty memoribilia and the fixings for a Crack Baby (William & Kate's favorite cocktail from the nightclub Boujis). Two Crack Baby cocktails later, the video was finished.  Unfortunately I wasn't picked, I suspect I wasn't quite crazy enough, but I certainly had fun making the video.

So here it is.  I hope you enjoy!  I will be up early on April 29th to watch William & Kate tie the knot, probably twittering during the commercial breaks.

Hump Day Hottie: Henry Cavill

Since today is Groundhog Day, the day that Punxtamey Phil is supposed to pop out of his hole, and then tell the world whether or not we will have six more weeks of godawful winter, I thought we could use something hot to look at.  This week's piece of British Beefcake is Henry Cavill, who played Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk in the Showtime series The Tudors, and as far as I'm concerned the only reason to watch that horrible series.

Henry hails from the island of Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, that sit midway between France and England.  His father is a stockbroker and he attended Stowe boarding school.  Recently Henry was cast as Superman, following in the footsteps of Christopher Reeve (totally hot) and Brandon Routh (not so much).  The film, to be directed by Zach Snyder who gave the world 300, should put Henry over the top if it's successful. But this isn't Henry's first time at the Hollywood table. He was up for James Bond before Daniel Craig snatched the role. Stephanie Meyers also wanted him desperately to play Edward Cullen before the producers didn't think he could cut it anymore as a teenager.

Superman is my least favorite superhero (I much prefer Batman), but I will go to see the film to see how Henry fills out the tights!