Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

If you enjoyed THE KING’S SPEECH like I loved THE KING’S SPEECH, the Queen’s CBE is no surprise.  Bonham Carter played THE QUEEN MOTHER in this very special film which must have touched the Queen deeply.  I am really happy about this recognition.

I have a great deal of time for Helen Bonham Carter;  she is a rich, wonderful soul.

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Photo:  Owlpen Manor in Gloucestershire, a 15th, 16th century country house with fine old radiators

Our family home in the States was designed in 1917 by Eber Piers who was a local architect in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright.  E.O. Wattis, the builder of the Hoover Dam, built this house and two others in a area he called THE WATTIS COMPOUND.  The house is on three floors and has all the “atmosphere” of a cluttered family home:  ”musical radiators,” squeaky oak floors throughout, massive wood detailing everywhere, stained glass windows, and omnipresent fenestration.  Between the banging of an old  18th century grandfather clock on the staircase landing and the radiators, the house has a very musical atmosphere.   The beautiful  original cast iron radiators have been a part of our lives for decades, and the even heat without dust flying around are much a part of our lives.  The children’s rooms have had their radiators polished several times as our children when young have enjoyed melting crayons and watching the wax crawl down the sides of the radiators.  When we are at our home in the mountains, we live with electric heat and have to get used to the dry atmosphere;  so, we love our fat radiators at home more and more.  When we visit our friends in the English countryside, living in almost ancient buildings, we always notice the great radiators which were installed late last century.  I can’t imagine living in these massive residences with only a fireplace to keep the room warms.  The arrival of the RADIATORS must have been a great step forward.  I have enjoyed spotting the occasional radiator in Downton Abbey as I have watched this remarkable series on Masterpiece Theater.  When I ran into this article, I had to share it with my readers.  I know my California friends have never seen the likes of a cast iron radiator, but we who live in colder winter climates part of the year include them in our prayers!    I think this article is fascinating.

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

And, then of course, there is  CARNIVAL with all its Brazilian color and beauty:

Absolutely gorgeous!

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

We at the London Connection are receiving numerous inquiries about housing during the Olympic Games in London in July/August.  Check our website  www.londonconnection.com  for availability.  We may have several new flats added to the offerings, but don’t wait too long.  The demand is intense.

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

The two MONA LISA images will hang together in the Louvre this year.  I am thrilled and eager to see them together again when I am in Paris this year.  What a story to have the daVinci portrait as well as a contemporary’s version which adds great insights into the daVinci version.  Aren’t these amazing times?!  ABSOLUTELY EXCITING.

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

My father was never convinced that the entire RUDOLF HESS story had ever been written.  My grandfather told me that he had very good English friends who had pro-German sentiments which went back to the German Discussions about Prince Albert.  Queen Victoria’s love of all things “German” was her way of showing loyalty to her Prince Consort.  The Royal family spoke German when together and communicated and traveled back and forth between England and Germany.  A bronze statue of an English Prince Consort was in the center town square of Coburg the entire time during both World I and World II .  Those German loyalties were very much a part of many aristocratic British families.  King George V, during World War I, changed the name of the British Royal Family from SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA to WINDSOR to publicly disassociate itself from its German relatives.  My father used to say that Hess’s flight to Britain to attempt to agree to peace discussions is the most puzzling aspect still unresolved.  Modern research infers that even the British Royal Family wanted peace at a time when it looked like Britain would lose the way, but the King’s involvement in preliminary peace discussions with the Germans has never been proved.  But the question remains:  HOW DID HESS ARRIVE IN ENGLAND, THROUGH INTENSE SURVEILLANCE, WITH NOT EVEN AN AIR RAID SIREN GOING OFF?  Churchill eventually solidly backed a FIGHT TO THE DEATH policy which would have had no interest in any discussions with Churchill.  Who then were those who gave Rudolf Hess confidence that he would be well received in England to negotiated peace?  THIS IS A FANTASTIC DISCUSSION.

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Several months ago, I wrote an article about MARINELLA – NAPOLI on Maddox Street.  I learned of Marinella’s through a friend who thought my readers and I would really enjoy visiting this high-end Mayfair shop.  I was certainly not disappointed when I saw the most beautiful ties.  The shopkeeper showed me how the ties are made and all the fine quality fabrics that are used.  I have had three emails from readers confirming the quality of their visits to MARINELLA’S .  I thought I would post another invitation to visit this wonderful shop on Maddox Street.

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

My Las Vegas hotel was filled with my English friends.  I am sure I talked to everyone of them.  They came for sun, for fun, for shopping, for bachelor parties (naughty fellows!), for the gardens, for the animals, for the shows, for gambling, and for a trip to Hoover Dam–one of the greatest engineering masterpieces of all times.  I learned that there are two direct flights each day leaving Heathrow and Gatwick to Las Vegas McCarron International Airport.  When we used to drive from California to Salt Lake years and years ago, Las Vegas was nothing more than a bump in the road with a few clubs and casinos on the tiny street called the STRIP.  It was a railroad town.  Well, all that has changed.  There were large groups of English, Germans, Japanese, Australians, Canadians, French, and of course British.  Las Vegas is a fantastic  international playground where there is so much to do.  I thought you might like to see some of my images.  We drove from Las Vegas back to Salt Lake City this afternoon.  It is an easy ride, but what a difference in weather:  from bright sun to clouds and snow–perfect for the skiing.  What a fabulous world we live in.  So much fun to be enjoyed!  Lots of it.

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Today we are having a famous Las Vegas breakfast, going to the M&M shop with the grandchildren, and then we are off to Hoover Dam which is one of the great engineering achievements of the 20th century.  I flew over the Hoover Dam during a helicopter tour a few years ago, but today we want to see the “masterpiece” inside and close up.  It is only 45 miles from LV, so we will have a fun afternoon.  Tonight, we have reservations at a very famous Thai restaurant in a very ordinary strip mall, but the food is world famous.  And tonight’s entertainment?  Who knows!  Still no plans, but lots of options.

It’s not London, but it is a great place to stretch out, enjoy the sun, food, shows, and shopping.  Really a great break in our family’s busy schedule.  I love chatting to Brits anywhere in the world.  And, they are here in abundance.  Isn’t this a great world?  Aren’t we having fun!

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

The TYMPANUM of the West PEDIMENT of St. Paul’s Cathedral depicts St. Paul’s conversion to Christianity.  This magnificent pediment carving shows the appearance of the Resurrected Christ to Saul, to be later known as Paul.  The resulting blindness and Paul’s conversion are the foundation of this magnificent celebration, Sir Christopher Wren’s great cathedral. The carvings on the TYMPANUM are like the thesis statement of an important essay about St. Paul.  I took the above images when I was flying through London on the motorbike.  Being in the open like that, I had time to see things I had never noticed before, in this case the West Pediment.  It was spectacular.  St. Paul’s conversion was a great theme in Western Civilization art from Michelangelo  to Modigliani.

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

During the past couple of years, I have been reading and rereading AN UNCOMMON WOMAN – THE EMPRESS FREDERICK by Hannah Pakula.  This is the biography of the Empress Frederick in Prussia (VICTORIA, THE PRINCESS ROYAL in England).  The Empress was the oldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.  She had been very carefully educated by her father Prince Albert and understood her father’s ideas for a peaceful Europe.  The Empress married Emperor Frederick of Prussia who shared Prince Albert’s ideas for peace in Europe;  the marriage was a great success, and the relationship between the couple and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert was close.  When Prince Albert died, the German Empress–the Queen’s daughter–grew very close to her mother, and they exchanged letters almost daily.    As I read AN UNCOMMON WOMAN, there are several references to this correspondence.  I have tried over the past two years to find this correspondence.  Tonight, as I have been wandering around in the Internet, I stumbled onto this correspondence which was published in 1928 by The Honourable Sir Frederick Ponsonby, Queen Victoria and King Edward VII’s private secretary.    It is now 11:00 PM, and I have been reading the German Empress’s letters and the Queen of England’s responses to her daughter for three hours, and I am as happy as I can be.   Let me tell you a bit about what I have found.  King Edward VII went to Germany to see his dying sister, the Dowager Empress.  He was accompanied by his private secretary Sir Frederick Ponsonby.  It was clear the Empress was dying, but one evening, a page in the Dowager Empress’s household asked Lord Ponsonby to come to the dying Empress’s room;  she wished to talk with him.  Lord Ponsonby was very close to the Empress because he had handled Queen Victoria’s correspondence and shared Victoria’s affection for her daughter.  When he arrived in the room, she asked him to do a great favor for her which he agreed to do.  She had packed up all her personal correspondence between the Empress and her mother, Queen Victoria, and asked Ponsonby to return it secretly to England where she believed it would be safe.  Ponsonby agreed.  Then she asked him to publish the correspondence after her death.  During the years the Empress was in Germany, Bismarck and William II, her son, vilified the Empress’s husband and the Empress, calling her “the English Lady.”  She detested Bismarck because of his military plans and his intentions to challenge British liberal, constitutional monarchy which was much the design of Prince Albert.  William II was aware that there was a great deal of correspondence between his mother and Queen Victoria, and he was intent on seeing that this correspondence was destroyed to prevent the Empress’s views being published.  He knew that the correspondence would reveal the Empress’s confrontation with Bismarck and her son about their intent to rearm a united Germany.  Edward VII returned to England after visiting his dying sister, and Ponsonby accompanied him with the Empress’s correspondence carefully concealed in the King’s luggage.  The King returned to Germany for his sister’s funeral, and Ponsonby accompanied the King.  William II had closed off his mother’s home and searched room by room, searching for her personal papers and correspondence to no avail.  He realized that they must have been returned to England before his mother’s death, and he intended to confront Ponsonby about the matter.  The occasion never arose, and Ponsonby returned to England with the secret.  Because of the growing tensions between Britain and Germany, Ponsonby did not publish the Empress’s letters because he realized that the contents would further inflame the tensions between the two countries.  But in 1928, after King Edward VII’s death, after World War I, and after Kaiser William II’s defeat and abdication, Ponsonby published the correspondence which is one of the most important publications explaining the tensions which led up to World War I.  The correspondence gives credence to the saying that World War I was a family argument.  I wonder what the defeated Kaiser thought after World War I, living in exile in Holland,  reading Ponsonby’s publication, revelations, and trickery.  Poor Kaiser!

I don’t imagine I will have a lot of readers who will be as excited about this discovery as I am.  In fact, I am so excited about this, I find myself actually almost ecstatic.  I have requested a copy of the entire publication so I can have a hard copy and mark it full of notes.  I love this kind of pursuit, and when I have a serendipity like this, I say to myself:  LONG LIVE WONDERFUL TRIVIA.  It isn’t trivia to me, but it might be to others.  Hopefully, there will be a few of my readers who will be as excited as I am.  Let me publish the introduction of Ponsonby’s publication which will give a very good idea of the contents of his important work.  THANK YOU, SIR FREDERICK PONSONBY, personal secretary to the Queen and King!

Let me show you where you can find the document as well:

And now the INTRODUCTION:

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THIS IS THE “PREFACE”  WHICH IS PARTICULARLY INTERESTING:

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Interesting IMAGE of King Edward VII at the funeral of his sister in 1901.  Imagine, in a few years, Germany and England would be at war–just exactly what the Empress Frederick feared and predicted.

The tomb of the Empress Frederick with her husband Emperor Frederick

I am really thrilled about this information.  I hope my readers might be tempted to read AN UNCOMMON WOMAN by Hannah Pakula.  And then, I hope I can tempt you to read the Empress’s correspondence.  World War I will be much more understandable after reading these documents.  FABULOUS.  Goodness, aren’t we having fun!

Here is a picture of Queen Victoria with the Empress Frederick seated next to her and her sister the Princess Beatrice standing.  Valuable photograph.

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com