The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family airs tonight!
Posted By Claire on August 13, 2021
Those of you in the UK, or with access to BBC2, will be able to enjoy watching the first episode of The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family today at 9pm.
I’m so excited about this programme because:
- I consulted on it – Unfortunately, due to Covid travel restrictions, I couldn’t take part in the filming, but it was wonderful to be involved remotely and to share my knowledge and research with the production team and researchers.
- I know how committed the makers were to peeling back the many layers of myth and history, and trying to tell the real story of the Boleyn family.
- So many good historians have been involved in the programme and you’ll see lots of new faces.
- It’s not just another Anne Boleyn programme, it’s about the whole family.
- It’s about the Boleyns, I’m going to be excited!
You can find out more at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09jgjp9
By the way, Dr Owen Emmerson and I have just released a book on the Boleyns – cheeky book plug I know! It’s called The Boleyns of Hever Castle and you can find out more at https://getbook.at/boleynhever
Other articles you might be interested in:
Coming soon – The Boleyns of Hever Castle – New book!
The Boleyns of Hever Castle – Owen Emmerson and Claire Ridgway talk – 1 August 2021
The Boleyns of Hever Castle now available for pre-order – yay!
The Fogge Family of Ashford: Family Connections to the Tudor Dynasty via the Boleyns, Woodvilles and Parrs
Unboxing The Boleyns of Hever Castle
LIVE Webinar 22nd September 2011 – The Real Boleyns Part 1
Happy Boleyn Day.
I got my copy of The Boleyns of Hever Castle this past week. I love the book! So beautiful! So interesting. I have enjoyed it so much. Thank you for this wonderful work.
I cannot wait to watch it as well, and I am so glad you were consulted on it Claire, because like with Eric Ives you are an expert on Anne, her life and times and her family, so very well done!
I’m pleased to know that this will most likely have actual history, as opposed to depicting Anne and Jane Seymour making out (like a certain recent TV dramatization I could name). Do you know if it will air in the States at all?
That was a channel 5 production total rubbish!
Now that’s far more like it. So many experts who have actually written about the family and worked with their home, like Dr Owen Emmerson and Dr Lauren Mackey and so many more. Claire was a consultant on the series. Filmed at Hever and Penthurst, the sets are stunning and this is the first time we are seeing their rise, especially in the reign of Henry Vii and early reign of Henry Viii. We see them in relation to the other families around them and the Howards. There are contributions by Dr Susan Doran and Gareth Russell and so many more. Loved this first part and looking forward to the next two.
Yes, the Anne Boleyn was very controversial. Funnily enough I had no problem with a Black Anne Boleyn because the actress was so good, but some other things were a bit unnecessary. Anne and Jane didn’t make out, that’s an exaggeration. There was a kiss and a bit of suggestive sexual tension, but this was a psychological drama so it no doubt had some meaning beyond most people watching. It wasn’t a patch on this docu drama though which is stunning and really is getting the myths out of the way.
Does anyone know if it will be available either on BBC America or released in the US? I would love to see it!
Watched it this evening after I recorded it, thought it was wonderful, they showed the Boleyn’s family tree which was a nice touch as it showed their origins, and their status at court as Sir Thomas began his rise up the ladder to the position he coveted the most, that of treasurer, I thought the settings were beautiful especially when Anne was in Margaret of Austria’s court, the beautiful gardens and the painting of the Cloth of Gold, also the precious correspondence between Anne and her father, and the letter he wrote to Cardinal Wolsey, the costumes and the little girl who played the young Anne was enchanting, but the part where Mary Boleyn was seen returning to her husbands bed having just left the kings, that is mere conjecture, as we don’t know when Mary slept with Henry V111, the affair could have been over before she married William Cary, also the narrator declared that she was a most reluctant mistress, we do not know if she was or was not, she could have gone joyfully to the kings bed, but with the eldest daughter of Thomas Boleyn we have little to go on, so we can only speculate, the enactment of the Chateau Vert pageant was lovely, and how winsome the ladies must have looked in their flowing gowns and wreaths of flowers in their hair, they must have thoroughly enjoyed those court events, I thought The Tudors also done that very well, it was most enjoyable and I’m looking forward to seeing the next programme very much.
Hi, wasn’t it stunning? The quotations from the letters and documents used in Lauren Mackay’s book and other sources. It was so good to see the family back in the reign of Henry Vii and the rise of their grandfather Geoffrey Boleyn from merchant and Lord Mayor of London to James and Thomas Boleyn, the young gentlemen on the make, working their way into the spotlight of the early Tudor Court, around the establishment at Henry’s Court. In 1497 Thomas was involved in putting down the Cornish Rebellion and in 1503 he was one of six gentlemen who were the official escort of Princess Margaret to her new husband, James iv of Scotland. The graphics showing who was who and where they where around the throne was a good way of bringing how the Royal Court worked. I loved the instruction book that Thomas Howard and his father would have read on how to make it in life. We have to remember that there were two Thomas Howards by the early reign of Henry Viii, Thomas Earl of Surrey, who died in 1524 and was restored as the second Duke after Flodden in 1514 (Flodden was 1513),the father of Elizabeth Howard, the fancy wife of Thomas Boleyn and her brother, Thomas, 3rd Duke of Norfolk from 1524, the ambitious Uncle of Anne, Mary and George. Mapping his rise and choices of whom to patronize was extraordinary and how many viewers would have known Wolsey was rising this early in the reign.
Many of the myths were very quickly put out the window and it was lovely seeing where Anne was in France and Brussels. It was great knowing more about her education and what it would have entailed as not many details survived. Anne’s letter to her father in the flesh was so charming. We really did get a much different view of Thomas, as a father and as a man with many worries as ambitions as rising at the Tudor Court was a dangerous game. It was also interesting seeing the Boleyns as a whole family unit, instead of the focus being on the adult children. I agree about Mary, as we have no idea when she was Henry Viii mistress or for how long. She might have been willing or reluctant, a one night stand, we just don’t know. It was King Francis who gave Mary her reputation, not Henry Viii who was so discreet that nobody knew about it. In fact we wouldn’t know anything about it, but for her sister Anne and the King’s desire to have her. Mary may not even have been married but its the traditional dating and most likely scenario of her relationship with the King. Henry asked the Pope for a dispensation to marry a woman whose sister he had slept with and that was Anne. He also named Mary in a joke to confirm he had slept with her and in his petition to annul his marriage to Anne before her execution. Otherwise we would have had no idea about her.
I loved the costumes and the shots of Hever and Penthurst and the experts were wonderful. I will be really looking forward to the next two episodes.
Funny thing.
You aren’t listed in the official credits.
Yes, I am. My name is in the credits for each episode. It’s Claire Ridgway. I can send you a screenshot if you like. I was heavily involved early on, but Covid restrictions meant that I couldn’t leave my village and there were no flights to the UK anyway. I was so disappointed, but it was a little thing compared to what others have been through.
Claire, yes, you are definitely on the credits under With Thanks. At least that’s something, maybe next time. If Covid was a visible thing I would beat it up. It’s caused so many problems, loss and chaos. At least the vaccine is working and things are starting to ease. Maybe a documentary on Inside Hever Castle with Claire and Owen in the Spring 2022 or Inside the Executed Queens Tour with your friend and you as the guides, which you are when it goes again? Steve and I both have the book and are loving it.
Iv some friends who refuse to take the vaccine still because of the health scares associated with it, I think it’s rather silly but it’s up-to them, the worrying thing is in the paper I read most days about people, (men especially dying) from covid because they refused the vaccines, an elderly bishop is the latest victim, men are more prone to dying from this awful virus than women, on the news last night they mentioned the plague known as the Black Death, I wasn’t really listening but it appears the scientists at Oxford were trying out a new vaccine from what I could gather, they injected one woman with it, I think it’s research to help in the fight against covid?
Hi Christine, its even worse in America. The conspiracy theories are very active. The scare stories are so annoying. Even with rare serious side effects, which you can get from anything by the way, its very safe. Nothing goes into my arm or mouth unless I am certain its safe. The effects are all self reported with only one or two actually verified. Its utter nonsense. Yet the same people will happily trot off to the doctors come October demanding the flu jab or antibiotics they don’t need at the first sign of a sore throat. Not one serious case of flu last Autumn and Winter. Why? The Covid Vaccine prevented both. How many people had a jab of some kind at school? Did we make a huge fuss? No. Are we all fine? Yes. Seriously we have a problem now because of social media. You know people who died, sadly, your friend, I know someone who was seriously ill, some of my mates on Twitter died, people I have been to the football with. Liverpool had one of the highest mortality rates. Its very low now. The North West has the best vaccination take up, despite BAME communities, in the country. Even my mum was vaccinated and she is 93 and not afraid. People believe anything social media tells them. I can understand people being concerned but they should contact their health care team, not a bunch of dumbbells on Twitter. There are five vaccines now, all safe but all better for one group of people than another. Some chap died three weeks after one vaccination of a heart attack but he was 106, so his granddaughter said that was proof it wasn’t safe. Well my nanna was 86 and had a pace maker fitted. She died after a month dancing to knees up mother brown. It wasn’t the pace maker, it was her over doing it and old age. Its a vaccine folks, not the elixir of eternal life. Some people really are silly. O. K. maybe the odds on getting serious illness from Covid are less than getting hit by a car, but what about the people you love? Don’t these people want to keep them safe. Even if someone isn’t ill, it can still be spread on your hands, clothing, through nose and mouth droplets and on the surface. You can spread it and not realise. That’s the idea of a vaccine to cut the link between contact and the virus. If it wasn’t safe, how come the bodies are not piling up in the streets? Nobody has actually been verified as dying from the Vaccine. A lot of people still die from Covid. Maybe its time to make it compulsory, at least for the conspiracy theorists.
Ah, I think you may have misread or been misinformed. As someone who also contributed to this documentary, Claire provided many key sources and vast swathes of ideas to the producers, and is rightly credited in the on-screen credits of each episode. She was also going to appear on screen to give her own expertise to the viewers, which I was so excited about, but sadly COVID got in the way of her being able to get to the UK. We were all really sad that Claire wasn’t able to film in London, but the good that I take from it is that so much of her expertise shaped this new and exciting revision of the Boleyn’s story.
I enjoyed listening to you Owen it’s a pity our Claire wasn’t with you.
Yes it was a beautifully presented series, the beautiful scenery and the costumes, it was an age without flight without trains, the motor cars, no ugly modern steel buildings to ruin the vista, it was just a world of green hills and lakes and woods and forests, little cottages cobbled roads and magnificent castles and palaces, of simple charm and pleasures, I liked the information on the Duke of Norfolk to who was described as someone very disagreeable, he was certainly a powerful man, the alleged argument where he was said to have stabbed Wolsey with a knife, Wolsey certainly did become very arrogant as people do when they rise high, the Cardinal after all was the man who ruled England during the early years of the kings reign, I too loved the proverbs there were some I’d heard of and some I hadn’t, I actually thought the actor who played Sir Thomas was quite handsome, I loved the bit where he was showing his son the young George how to handle a falcon, I absolutely loved it, and it’s great knowing ‘our’ Claire had a hand in it.
It was great to see so many of the wider history community being involved in such a great series, some very familiar, some not so well known, all bringing a fresh perspective to the story of the Boleyn family, Lauren Mackey, Lauren Johnson, Estelle Paranque, who saw things from the French view, Gareth Russell, Susan Doran, Greg Walker, Owen Emmerson, Leanda de Lisle and Nandini Das, all of whom brought together many strands of expertise and new and old experience and new light on a family often misrepresented even in documentaries. It was lovely seeing sources in the flesh, the handwriting of Anne and rare intimate insights into family dynamics, relationships and power plays around the ascent to office after office at Court. We haven’t seen many documentaries that start in the reign of Henry Vii, which was set up very differently to that of his predecessor and successor and how these rising, rich, upcoming families, played the game of real politics and navigated their way to favour and how both rivalries and patronage worked together for them to eventually rise to the apex of power. What was amazing was long before he became the main man under King Henry Viii, a young but already influential cleric at the Court of Henry Vii, Thomas Wolsey was the man that both Thomas Howard and Thomas Boleyn had to suck up to, in order to get on in Court service. He would continue to be the power broker during the next three decades. That progress being mapped out is unique in this series and very insightful into the insecurity of Thomas Boleyn as well as his natural ambition for his family and children.
I missed Elizabeth Norton off the list and of course our own brilliant Claire, whose input as a consultant must have been very valuable. Its a pity they couldn’t do Green Screen for her on the series. Never mind now things are getting back to normal international relations and travel around is not as restricted we can maybe find a way to launch our Claire on TV and I wish we could do something to have her recognised formerly with an honour from an English or Spanish University. She definitely has as much experience and knowledge as many scholars and that should be recognised.
We have two copies of the Boleyns of Hever Castle by Claire Ridgway and Dr Owen Emmerson because one was sent as the original got lost so Stephen has one and I have one and we both think they are beautiful. Hope to come to Hever next year for the festival and have them autographed. Very beautiful and stunning pictures and lovely history. I was just telling him about the Books of Hours, especially the new work on them. Fascinating how they must have been kept secretly by so many people and now we have those precious books at Anne’s home.
Yes Elizabeth was there and Leanda de Lisle, I have her book on the Grey sisters, it is a pity Claire couldn’t attend as it would have been great to see her on television, but maybe if another Tudor series is made? the book of hours is certainly a treasure, one of the artefacts that Anne owned and wrote in her own hand, I shudder to think how much it would be worth, I think the second part will be really exciting as that must focus on Anne’s dalliance with Henry Percy, and Sir Thomas Wyatt, and when the king himself realises he wants her, and starts pursuing her with the ill fated obsession that made the kingdom reel, and which was finally to end so tragically for Anne and her family.
Yes the main man at court was the butchers cur Thomas Wolsey, how he must have loved his own self importance at court, both Thomas Boleyn and Thomas Howard sought his aid in going up the pecking order, yet Thomas Howard was one of those who years later, along with the Boleyn’s sought the fall and disgrace of Henry V111’s right hand man, it was said over the years Wolsey became insufferable and angered the older more noble families at court, he may have helped Thomas Boleyn yet disappointed his daughter, the Duke himself who was then the mere Earl of Surrey was arrogant well aware of his noble lineage, it appeared many found him most disagreeable, in films and books he is seen as the matriarch of the family and barking orders to his lesser important relations, the full length portrait of him shows a somewhat gloomy morose looking man, as the series showed, a good name meant everything at court, I particularly liked the information on the other powerful families that also played their part at court, the Stafford’s once called the De Stafford’s, the Percys the Nevilles, and many others, Thomas Boleyn did well in marrying Elizabeth Howard, and she also for the Boleyn’s were rich, many aristocratic families married into wealth for, they may have had an aristocratic name, but not necessarily the wealth, so the marriage between Boleyn and Howard meant both parties profited, Boleyn was ambitious and hardworking, he steadily rose to the top by a combination of skill and diplomacy, meanwhile his family prospered, his youngest daughter was at his friends Margaret of Savoys court and she must have been enjoying herself, yet we can assume maybe little Anne felt homesick for Hever and her mother? These days young girls would not be sent so far from home and one wonders how Lady Elizabeth could have borne it, but it was a different age and it was all about tuition the chance to better oneself, and have a good standing at court, it was about doing right by the child and Anne flourished, first in Savoy then later at France, where she modelled herself on its women, she left it as one observer at Henry’s court noted, as being like a Frenchwoman born, she was stylish graceful and elegant, she had that certain something which set her apart from all the other ladies at court, Sir Thomas Boleyn was quite unaware that his little Anne would bedazzle the king of England when she made her debut at court, and that she would later be responsible for the elevation of her family, Mary was possibly the kings mistress by then but it could have been but a brief affair, we know Henry V111 was maddeningly discreet about his love affairs, no doubt this was due to his respect for his wife which was admirable, but it means we have little to go on, his affair with Bessie Blount lasted about three years and resulted in a son, but with Mary Boleyn all we know is he was involved with her and it may have been just once, but Thomas was made Earl of Wiltshire, so Mary must have pleased the king, it must also have soothed Thomas somewhat as he had long coveted the Earldom of Ormond which he believed was his by right, and which he had lost to his cousin, it was certainly interesting as you say Lynn Marie that the series started in Henry V11’s court, because that was where Thomas Boleyn began his slow rise to fortune, it was where it all began for this most fascinating family, I loved the scene of his wedding night, for a virgin bride it must have been very embarrassing in those days, to have the company standing outside the door making ribald comments and chuckling, to be a virgin bride is always frightening, let alone being the butt of drunken jokes and ribaldry, but as we know it was the order of the day, thank heavens that custom has since long died out, looking forward to Friday very much!.
Yes, its interesting the way the Tudors did business. They were not the first Kings to do this but promotion on the basis of merit rather than implied noble entitlement was definitely their thing. Partly because the highest nobility had somewhat dwindled in the previous four decades thanks to domestic wars between 1455 and 1487 and revenge executions on both sides, there were actually not an awfully lot of them left to aopoint to high office. At the start of the reign of Henry Vii only three Dukes existed, one of whom was a minor, one the relative of a later traitor and whose title was demoted to Earl of Suffolk and one who was deprived of his inheritance, Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey and later 2nd Duke of Norfolk (Elizabeth Howard’s Father). In 1509 there was only one Duke in England, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. That remained the situation until 1514 when Surrey was restored as Duke of Norfolk and to the horror of the old families, Charles Brandon, his buddy was made Duke of Suffolk. A number of Earls and Lords existed but even then it was difficult to appoint loyal and appropriate people to the state offices. The Tudors began to employ people of exemplary skills and talents, people who were gifted and loyal as well as good stable character, men who often proved themselves to be willing to do anything for their new masters. Thomas Wolsey was one such man and being a cleric, his skills in languages and the law where particularly valuable. Although known as the Butcher’s cur by men of the old school like Norfolk and later Boleyn, he probably wasn’t the son of a butcher. I believe Glen Richardson has challenged that misconception. His family was more likely to be white collar, especially as his parents could afford to send him to a prestigious University. However, he was not gentry or nobility and was seen as an upstart. The Neville and Staffords had the same opinion as did the others, still working for recognition by Henry Vii who was suspicious of their motivation. Henry Viii on the other hand favoured the old White Rose families. Edmund de la Pole, Henry Pole, his cousin, the Marquis of Dorset, Courtney and so on were all good jousters and as Prince Henry saw them all as his, mentors. As King they were his companions and those closest to him. Unfortunately, these were not the most gifted men in the Kingdom and he was wise enough to build a group of older men around him with experience to rule while he played and enjoyed himself. These were men like Richard Fox and new people like Thomas More. He recognised the value in the multi talented Thomas Boleyn and employed him in the more junior roles of Controller of the Kings Household and as a joint Ambassador in Burgundy. In the centre of all this was Thomas Wolsey who by 1515 was both Cardinal Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England. He was also a minister of war and the second most powerful man after the King.
Wolsey was the centre around which the Court of King Henry Viii revolved. Thomas Boleyn was as much his client as anyone else until he became a member of the Council and then he was very much his own man. He was as ambitious for his family as anyone else and wasn’t going to refuse the obvious benefits that Anne’s relationship with Henry inevitably brought. The sad thing about his being involved with the downfall of Wolsey after he failed to get Henry his divorce was that before that Boleyn had a good relationship with Wolsey, as indeed did Anne. She had in fact courted him because he was the one person who could make her dreams come true. It was only after Henry withdrew his support and more likely encouraged by Norfolk who saw everyone as an upstart, his niece included, that Anne and her family helped to defame him.
Henry V111 did seem to like having new people around him, I think the nobility irked him, he was paranoid about his status as King because he was head of a new dynasty, everywhere he looked there were those who had a claim to the throne, the Stafford’s the De Poles, one who served him was Arthur Plantagenet his grandfather Edward 1V’s base born son, therefore his half uncle, to give posts to those who really came from nothing seemed to satisfy him, wether it was sticking his fingers up at the older nobility or wether he just liked to promote men on their own merit, or a bit of both we cannot say, but yes I have heard that Wolsey may not have been the butchers son from Ipswich after all, that could be a myth, I have wondered that myself how someone lowly born could afford to go to university, because certainly he was intelligent, he was also skilled in diplomacy and Henry V111 thought highly of him to allow him to take the reigns of government when he first came to the throne, it’s like with Thomas Cromwell he too was lowly born, but possessed a fertile clever brain and Wolsey was his mentor, Cromwell later became as hated as Wolsey because he had the kings ear, he was to make an enemy of Anne Boleyn because she resented his influence with Henry V111, as with Wolsey and Anne Cromwell had his day, but favour with Henry V111 was transitory as all three favourites found to their cost.
The conspiracy theorists are ridiculous but you will always have eccentric people who refuse to see what’s in front of them, it made me laugh when Jeremy Corbyn’s brother was rallying crowds in London against social distancing, and he was also nicked for taking down covid posters on the tube, you are right we had injections aplenty at school, I remember lining up to see the nurse having the jab for whooping cough rubella etc, but we have to remember a lot of folk are naturally anxious because these vaccines were pushed out very quickly, it takes years to perfect vaccines and yes social media is to blame for these scare stories, to die from a vaccine is extremely rare but you only tend to hear those stories, not the good the vaccines have done, covid admissions have fallen a great deal so it is working, my local hospital has been in the news occasionally over the years for horror stories yet you don’t hear about the wonderful work they do, both my parents died in hospital yet they were treated very well, there are cases where people going into hospital have a rare reaction to the anaesthetic and sadly die, yet it is extremely rare and many ops are performed successfully, I have a friend who is due to have an op for severe arthritis in her hips yet she is scared in case she dies, I said don’t think about that, you are being offered the chance of a better life, at the end of the day we have to be positive and just grasp the chance with both hands, your mum sounds like she was a right laugh Lyn Marie, yes the blood clots linked to the AZ vaccine frightened many, yet I’m not sure if it was the vaccine that caused that, these people could have had other health factors, I have always had faith in our scientists whom I consider amongst the finest in the world, it was our scientists who discovered DNA and made it possible for childless women to have babies, through the introduction of IVF, by the pioneering research of two wonderful doctors from Oxford, at the end of the day we are very very lucky we live in this age of medical advancement, because it must have been truly dreadful in the past, the suffering of victims of those who died from the plague, cancer TB and other awful diseases, and here I have to mention little King Edward V1 whose torment must have been dreadful, he must have wondered what he had ever done to deserve such torture, today a course of antibiotics would have saved his life and no doubt his uncle Arthur’s and half brother Henry Fitzroy’s, Jane Seymour need not have died because she would have a skilled midwife, Jane’s condition they think could have been caused by part of the placenta being inside her which caused septicaemia, death followed swiftly, likewise Katherine from Aragon and Anne Boleyn would have been examined for any medical issues regarding their miscarriages and why Katherine especially lost so many children, the deaths of Queen Anne’s children would have been prevented as well, they believe now the tragic monarch suffered from blood clots which the simple aspirin would have cured, it was the deaths of so many heirs to the throne and English princes which changed the course of history, had Queen Anne’s first born child survived we may not have had the House of Hanover, likewise had Prince Arthur not died so suddenly we would never have had Henry V111, and just maybe we would not be on this website discussing his tragic Queen Anne Boleyn and his other rather unfortunate wives.
Its interesting how the past and the present meet each other across the centuries when it comes to illness and disease, because all of the stuff they went through we have, but we are lucky to have found a way to beat whatever comes our way. Until Covid we in the 21st century had pretty much everything beat but when it hit it may as, well have been the Bubonic Plague because we were no better off than our Medieval and Tudor cousins. Now with the science and the hard work and international knowledge we have been lucky to have found a vaccine and beaten that as well. You are absolutely right, we could today cure most of what we know the Tudors had, well in theory anyway. Many of the strains they had were in fact far worse than their modern equivalent and some of our drugs may not even work. However, if we could gather samples and cultures then we could develop medicine for those diseases. Child birth is certainly safer today and we would be able to take say Jane Seymour to the OR for a procedure to safely remove the placenta and treat her septicaemia with antibiotics. Aggressive as they were, the smallpox and measles which Edward vi suffered the year before his death could have been inoculated against, but its unlikely modern antibiotics would cure his TB. With the ability today to design virus specific drugs and vaccines, specialists today could train the doctors and chemists of the 16th century to identify the right herbs and plants to use to create a drug for that Ancient strain.
During the Pandemic we were as helpless as our ancestors. There was no Vaccine, no drugs, no answer. Just as with people for thousands of years we had to go into quarantine, had to not touch anyone or anything, had to wash our hands, cover our faces, keeping our distance and clean everything. Then we and them had to pray and hope for the best. We were lucky to have the knowledge they didn’t as yet and we created the new vacancies and now lives all around the world are being saved.
Its interesting to think what we might have done to help women with complicated problems like Queen Mary I or Katharine of Aragon have healthy children, to treat the many people who died of simple infections, wounds in war which were septic and so many things. We understand the difference between cancer and poison, for many people were thought to have died of poison who clearly didn’t and there is so much more we could help with, if only we had time travel. The problem is we wouldn’t survive stuff that they were used to and might even end up in the Tower for something.
Iv just been reading an article by a doctor who’s head of an intensive care unit in one hospital, it’s very sad and tragic, and he said the fruitcakes who are complaining the virus does not exist and is all down to a conspiracy are causing many deaths, because they have so many people brought in who cannot breath due to not taking the vaccine when it was offered them, they were gullible and believed the conspiracy theorists, I have never believed this theory, thinking it’s a ridiculous notion as you well know I lost my friend Paula last year, she had just turned fifty six and was looking forward to getting married, an elderly neighbour also contracted it and died, and my friends father died to only sixty six years of age, since then another friends boyfriend caught it and declared he was so frightened because he couldn’t breath properly, and he had to go into hospital and we were so worried, because we knew he nearly died, he is a very fit man who uses the gym regularly, luckily he pulled through but he told us he was absolutely terrified during that fraught time and it was the worse illness he had ever had, my other friends mother caught it in the care home she was living in and her elderly boyfriend, they were both in their mid to late eighties, Ann’s mum was dying of terminal cancer but it’s not the point, care homes were badly affected because the staff brought it in from outside, the elderly are more vulnerable than the young, you are right Lynn when the pandemic took hold the world was totally at sea, we had no immunity against it, like sadly our distant ancestors from the plague and TB small pox etc, and other lethal diseases, all we could do was isolate use hand sanitiser often, try to keep well and wait, whilst the scientists around the world worked tirelessly on producing the vaccine, we are lucky now there are several and lots of lives have been saved, but as for the conspiracy theorists, as this doctor so eloquently put it, they really are just a load of fruitcakes!