Word: queenly
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
This year Gladstone's "Queen of all the schools of all the world" is marking a significant anniversary: exactly 550 years have passed since Henry VI dreamed up a school just down the road from Windsor Castle to accommodate "25 poor and indigent scholars." And last week's St. Andrew's Day (Nov. 30), the final great red-letter day of the school's anniversary year, was celebrated in typically Etonian style, with a staging of the annual Wall Game, a notorious blood sport in which 20 savage nobles flail and scramble in the mud in what is fittingly known...
...Thursday, Thatcher broke the news to Energy Minister John Wakeham, who had served exactly one day as her campaign manager. (Thatcher had angrily dismissed his predecessor, who had assured her she would prevail handily in the first round.) At 8:45 she notified the Queen of her decision by telephone. Then, 15 minutes later, she entered the Cabinet room and informed the rest of her colleagues. In light of the back-room battles that shook the Conservative Party and the hypocritical talk about loyalty and harmony, Thatcher's written statement was a model of clarity: "Having consulted widely among colleagues...
...inventive genius" whose "ambition was lofty and noble." No wonder that Pope Pius IX wanted to make the discoverer of America a saint, or that more places in the English- speaking world are named for the Admiral of the Ocean Sea than for any other historical personage except Queen Victoria...
...Queen's blue-blooded servants, played by Kelly matthews and Tom Chick, function as narrators for Cocteau's brand of Shakespearean prologue; they provide important information at the beginning of each of the first two acts. Although Matthews and Chick allow the opening scene to drag unnecessarily, they become more comfortable with their characters in the middle of the play. Then matthews' prissy, huffy countess and Chick's obsequious, inspid duke become enjoyable to watch...
...chosen details, such as the bowl of green apples and the secret door behind the King's portrait. The library is dominated by a banner of a two-headed eagle and a large staircase, and this scene nicely captures the gothic feeling of the play's fomenting intrigue. The Queen's bedroom is also perfect example of mood decorating, all dark blue curtains and mellow lighting...