I did wake up ..

and start the book later in the evening.My knitting kept calling but the book won out.It is the most balanced so far on the subject .Still not quite the in depth book on the Queen I want. Amazon have one listed that is still being written but can be pre-ordered that sounds perfect. I won't order from them as this one was something like £3.00s cheaper in "Waterstones" . Talking to Holly I admitted that I wished I'd bought the biography of Henrietta Maria I had seen in Oxfam some time ago.I found it difficult , at the time , to admit to a near life-long fascination with a royal as I am a republican and it appears Quakers were part of what seems a near conspiracy called Fifth Monarchists . They believed Jesus was the only King and I agree butthe vengeful ,over sober puritanism is repellant. History is a strange thing that repeats itself yet we don't seem to learn much from it . I'd like to think the personal suffering of the King and Queen had bought about a more democratic England and one that learned utter fanaticism like The rule of The Commonwealth was not something we would ever want. Even royals are people so it was nice to see the late Tsar's mother get her wish to return to St. Petersburg . I really think Monarchy is well out of date but our history should be cherished. There are many aspects of the first Caroline court I admire , not least the couple's faithfull marriage. How they managed to give birth to a serial adulterer like Charles 2nd is a mystery.