Karen Harper & THE ROYAL NANNY

by Mary Jo

Hi, there!  Today we are lucky enough to welcome Karen Harper as a return guest. Karen has been writing even longer that I have <G>, and she's known for her versatility and superb research.  She started out with historical romance and has since branched out into main stream historical, romantic thrillers (including contemporary Amish suspense), and historical mysteries. She isa  winner of the Mary Higgins Clark award. (Note the many varied covers included in this blog.)

A New York Times list bestselling author, among other honors, Karen is with us today to tell us about her just released, and utterly fascinating sounding book, The Royal Nanny.  Over to you, Karen!

THE NANNY’S HAND THAT ROCKED THE WORLD

Victorian writer William Ross Wallace once wrote, “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.”  He may well have meant the loyal nannies who reared generations of the children of the British Empire. 

He most certainly was right on about the heroine of The Royal Nanny, Charlotte Bill, the Cockney woman who raised the children of King George V and Queen Mary, the current queen’s grandparents.

Two of those six children became kings, and in a way, Charlotte, or ‘Lala’ as the children dubbed her, saved both of these boys.  When she arrived in the royal household of the then Duke and Duchess of York, David (later King Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor) and Bertie (later King George VI) were being abused by their current nanny, who was later committed to an asylum.  (Remember The King’s Speech flashbacks where Bertie was ignored and starved?  And why did the Duke of Windsor gravitate toward abusive, take-charge women, including his beloved Wallis?)

All the major royal characters in THE ROYAL NANNY are as real as research can make them.  This includes the family’s cousins, Tsar Nicolas, and “Willie,” Kaiser Wilhelm.  But the downstairs staff are amazingly important.  Yes, shades of the beloved Downton Abbey series.  But it was the plight and the power of this royal nanny which amazed me.

If there’s one theme I took away from my three years of research for this novel—including a fabulous trip to England—it’s that the movers and shakers of the great British empire did not rear their own children.  When Winston Churchill died, he had only one photo on his bedside table, not of his wife, daughter or mother, but his nanny whom he had supported for years before she died and comforted on her deathbed.  

Another example:  A nanny employed by Queen Victoria, once fell ill on a trip and, despite a retinue of nursery maids and servants, Queen Victoria and two of her ladies found that, by accident, they were in charge of two royal children in a railway carriage for a journey of several hours.  The women had no clue how to entertain or control them.  The children ran around, broke things and yelled.  “The queen became irritated, then furious, finally exhausted, despairing and helpless.”  (From the book THE RISE AND FALL OF THE ENGLISH NANNY.)

Of the six royals Lala reared, her most precious child was the last of the brood, Prince John, sometimes called ‘The Lost Prince.’  The boy was epileptic and probably autistic.  Epilepsy had brutal treatments at the time, and some considered those stricken to be “idiots.”  Johnnie was probably autistic also, and that was unknown.  Lala fought the family on their plan to send him away and until he died young, lived with him in a house on the royal Sandringham estate in Norfolk.  

Lala Bill was the perfect person for me through whom to view the intimate lives of this royal family but also the sweep of late Victorian and Edwardian history.  

MJP: Karen will give away a signed copy of THE ROYAL NANNY and also a copy of THE QUEEN'S GOVERNESS, her novel about Elizabeth I's "nanny," Kat Ashley to one lucky commenter between now and Saturday midnight.  

To learn more about Karen's many and varied novels, visit her website at www.KarenHarperAuthor.com and her FaceBook page at www.facebook.com/KarenHarperAuthor

Mary Jo, who can't wait to read this one!

Comments

[Anne Gracie]

Wow, this sounds fascinating. Thanks Karen for visiting the word wenches, and thanks Mary Jo for inviting her. The whole nanny thing interests me, and especially the nanny view of significant families.

[Karen Harper]

Thanks to the fabulous Word Wenches for letting me visit their great site.

[Mary T]

I saw a TV program not too long ago, called the "The Lost Prince" and found it absolutely fascinating. I look forward to reading THE ROYAL NANNY.

One thing that I love about this website is that I have met so many new and interesting authors here.

[Margaret]

Thanks so much for this fascinating column - the bit about Queen Victoria was especially incredible. As someone who has been an extremely hands-on mother, both out of love and out of an instinctive belief that a mother is meant to raise her children, I have nevertheless had occasional brief fantasies of someone else handling in all while I went out to rule the world - or at least hide somewhere and read a good book in peace!

[Mary M.]

So happy to meet Karen, who is new to me. I love reading about the "real people" who populated the large households of the past. All those covers are inviting me into a whole new reading experience. Thank you Karen and Mary Jo!

When I travel, I make a point of seeking out the downstairs experience. One such place that was a disappointment to me was a Russian palace kitchen, where instead of learning how the staff put on meals, all they talked about was how Rasputin was killed there. Interesting, but Not What I Came For, lol. At the other end of the spectrum, King Henry VIII's kitchens at Hampton Court are not to be missed, they are fascinating and well presented.

I don't remember ever seeing the nursery quarters anywhere, though, so I look forward to The Royal Nanny with pleasure.

[Nancy]

Don't relish reading details of the prior disturbing aspects of young children's lives but I'm sure I'd love this story, as it progresses.

[Annette Naish]

I think this sounds like a wonderful book. I have read a small amount about the children of George V and Mary. They seemed to be an unhappy family on many levels. I think in that era and for upper class families, children were to be compartmentalized somewhere distant from their parents. Often wondered, if anyone ever thought about the fact all those children would grow up to be adults.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Isn't this irresistible? I'm ordering my copy today.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Karen, I'm so glad you could join us to talk about this new book. It's a unique angle on history, and very much about the real people who make history.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Mary T, we do our best to share special authors since so many of our readers are always looking for someone wonderful that they haven't read before. BEtter yet if they have a substantial backlist-and Karen Harper does!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Margaret, I love the image of Queen Victoria frazzled and frantic because they couldn't handle their own children. *G* I'm sure it was very educational for them!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Mary M, I'd say that Rasputin should have been good for a minute or two in the kitchens, but really, his murder there was just a sidebar. How did they make the soup???? And yes, the Hampton Court kitchens are wonderful.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Nancy, I'm guessing that doesn't cover too much of the book, but it is important in understanding the children, and also Lala Bill.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Annette Naish, I suspect the adults did NOT think enough about the children as people. Actually, that's a subtext of my Lost Lords series, where the school is for "boys of good birth and bad behavior." In other words, boys who didn't fit into the slots expected, and who needed more caring and attention, which they got at the Westerfield Academy.

[Patricia Franzino]

This is sensational! I love to read about the strong connection between servants and their charges. Their influence and, hopefully, affection could make or break a person's life.

[Ann Stephens]

I got a chuckle out of the anecdote about Queen Victoria. A biographer describes her as not so much disliking children as being unable to relate to them. In that, she was like many aristocratic families who turned their children over to nannies, governesses & tutors.

[Jane]

This sounds like a wonderful book! I cannot wait to read it.

[Diane Sallans]

I love to read about what really went on in the lives of royals. they certainly have some different things to deal with.

[Janga]

I'm a fan of the Elizabeth I mysteries and have read and enjoyed The Irish Princess and Mistress Shakespeare. I look forward to reading The Royal Nanny.

[ML]

For most of us middle-class folks, this way of raising children seems so odd in this day and age of helicoptering parents. I suppose it's just different; another method of delivering love. Thanks for an interesting blog post!

[Anne Gracie]

Mary, that reminds me about a tour I did of some ancient Greek temples and classical sites, and all the guide could talk about was which Christian saint had been there, or had converted people there. That was also Not What I Came For. *g*

[Karen]

The Lost Lords is a fascinating series I think, because none of them "fit the mould". I loved what love and understanding allowed them all to become.
This book by Karen (great name BTW) sounds extremely interesting to me. Just the comment on why Edward picked Wallis resonates now as it was always inexplicable why he'd allow himself to be treated that way. But conditioning plays a huge part in how people behave. I always thought of it as wonderfully romantic when I was a girl that he'd give up his throne for love, but as I've grown older I've heard some disquieting things about their relationship. Suddenly it makes more sense.
Can't wait to read the book!! :-)

[Karen]

I hope the Nanny got a raise after they realized how valuable she really was!!! ;-)

[Karen]

I love children but they fascinate me because I think of then as little people -and you never know what they'll say next. But in the Victorian days they seemed to be alien creatures to their aristocratic parents. Only to be brought out to display when convenient. Very sad. Small wonder Queen Victoria has so many kids; she wasn't raising them!

[Laura Davies Tilley]

This book sounds fascinating. So was this blog. It led to a fascinating discussion. Thank you! Can't wait to read the book.

[Robin Greene]

It sounds like a fascinating book. To the Library I go!

[Anne H]

This sounds like a fascinating book.

[Nancy M]

Karen's book sounds like a good addition to books about historic childhood. There are some books like Children of the Mist and Children of the Great Houses. In one regency era family, the parents were away and the Nanny dealt with the death of a young child, even to the funeral. The mother wrote to tell her to be sure to impress on the other children the need to always live a good life because they never knew when it might end. Other accounts show parents as devastated as we would be at the death or illness of a child.

[D]

Queen Victoria was not a very loving, not hands on mother. But she was very strict. I cant wait to read this book. I watched a movie, I think it was called The Lost Prince and it was based on this same thing and was VERY good. Then like any of my other historical reading I did follow up research on the primary players and discoved that the movie was almost spot on. One little quirk the little prine had was to conduct "inspections" of his nanny and other servants.