The Duchess of Cornwall had a nice family day with her adult children yesterday at the 2015 Cheltenham Festival. Camilla stayed in the royal box with son Tom Parker-Bowles and daughter Laura Lopes. Camilla is reportedly quite close with her children and her grandchildren – she keeps a home adjacent to Prince Charles’ Highgrove estate just so she can spend time with Tom, Laura and their kids. Apparently, Tom and Camilla made a bet with each other about the horses and Tom had to pay his mum – the Daily Mail says Tom gave her a “fistful of £20 notes.” I’ve heard that the Queen likes to put some money on the horses too, she just does it discreetly.
Camilla looks nice here, doesn’t she? I don’t really think she has the elegance for formal eveningwear, but she looks good when she’s in horse-culture, in her tweeds. And like all royal women, Camilla does have a face for hats.
Meanwhile, Camilla recently spoke to a magazine for children about her favorite fictional characters. Her ultimate favorite was apparently Winnie the Pooh because “I would love to have my fingers stuck in honey.” But she also said she adores Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice. I recently had a conversation with a big Jane Austen fan and I mentioned that out of all of Austen’s heroines, Emma was probably my favorite. Story-wise, I would go with Persuasion or Pride & Prejudice, but as far as well-drawn, flawed heroines, yes, Emma is my favorite. Anyway, the Austen fan was shocked! Apparently, it’s practically sacrilegious to prefer Emma over Lizzy Bennet.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Elizabeth Bennett is so very much over valued. She is only slightly less neurotic and impetuous than her mother and sisters.
Jane Eyre foreva lol
I’ve always been fond of Elinor Dashwood of Sense and Sensibility. I realize this is not a popular opinion either.
Personally, I find the Bronte characters to be different than the Austen characters… That said, I will concede I’ve just read for fun and not done in depth studies.
Another Elinor fan here! I also love Anne Elliot, although she really is a little bit too good to be true.
Count me in as an Elinor fan too.
Though the greatest nineteenth century fictional woman is Jane Eyre, of course. The Brontes wrote the best women characters, imo.
I am fond of Elinor as well. I never liked Emma and I can no longer picture her without seeing GOOP, too many similarities. Of course we must admire Lizzy but I don’t love her. After watching the BBC P&P my 13 year old said “I like Lydia, she seems fun” I knew then I had failed as a parent.
I was just about to say Elinor Dashwood was my favourite!
I also like Charlotte Lucas. She was practical and went with her head insted of her heart. It takes a lot of strenght to do that.
But I do love Lizzy.
I wish when making lists of greates books/movies/characters people wouldn’t name just the ones written in big countries.
Timber
The similarities between Eyre and Bronte are fascinating and quite telling!
@IMO
Yes, all the Bontes seemed to have used themselves as the basis for their heroines. And did you know their brother Branwell was the inspiration for their leading men? Quite a twisted screw he must have been!
Timber
Yes! Branwell gave their family the devil didn’t he? Brooding, tempestuous, volatile, passionate – hmm…sounds familiar lol. I recently read a biography of Charlotte Bronte written as if it were a discovered diary – fascinating, captured Bronte’s voice perfectly and actually read like a stirring Regency novel. I highly recommend it and hopefully can dig up the title and author for you.
@ IMO
I would love to know the name of the book. Sounds fascinating. I’ll check back to see if you’ve posted the title.
I read a bio about Emily and her possible eating disorder. If she was indeed anorexic, it gives an added insight into the sickness that was Cathy and Heathcliff’s “love” ~ Heathcliff is considered the first fully explored sociopath in literature. If Branwell was anything like him, I feel for those sisters. YIKES!
Timber
http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/The-Secret-Diaries-of-Charlotte-Bronte-Audiobook/B004YE3CB2/ref=a_search_c4_1_3_srImg?qid=1426173932&sr=1-3
Branwell was also a severe alcoholic who was not above lashing out at his frail sisters when inebriated. They loved him dearly and tried desperately to reconcile his brutish behavior with his caring, loving side. They all made peace with one another on his death bed.
I have so much contempt for Heathcliff lol – I can’t force myself to accept his cruel, abusive nature. I read WH recently after many years and it was just depressing. I’m anxious to read the Bronte memoire book again and look for clues about Emily’s possible ED. Thank you for the info!
Elinor fan as well. Loved the book and actually just watched the movie again while I was sick in bed last night.
I love Austen, but Jane Eyre und Wuthering Heights are another league. I’ve read Wuthering Heights at the age of 11 and it has been my favourite book ever since.
@Imo, I totally disagree with you about Elizabeth Bennett. She had a great deal of common sense, and went completely against societal and family pressures to follow her own principles. She had a sense of humor and was very intelligent.
@Amy L, I love Elinor as well.
Emma was certainly an amusing character, but I didn’t like the fact that she was so petty and spoiled, and only a good man like Mr. Knightley could “save” her.
Gnatty
For so many years I completely agreed with you but several rereads show me little things I never noticed once I removed myself from the romance and exquisite writing. Elizabeth’s contrivances to one-up Darcy were borderline ridiculous at times. I feel a great deal of the admiration felt for Elizabeth is the subconscious comparisons we make to the other Bennett women.i do love her kindheartedness. Good nature and devotion to her family but she is no deep thinker and no genius.
In contrast I find Jane Eyre to be completely actualized. Fully dimensional. Made of real steel and a good contemporary role model. I will say, however, that comparing Austen and the Brontes isn’t exactly analogous.
Interesting. It has been years since I read it, though I’ve read it several times. I’m going to read it again to see if I notice anything different about her trying to one-up Darcy. I always thought she was smart – not a genius, but hmmm… I almost said “compared to the other Bennett women” lol. Plus, I just like to read it.
It has been a thousand years since I read Jane Eyre. Maybe I’ll reread that as well. I honestly can’t separate the book and the movie in my mind, and don’t recall either very well.
Gnatty
Oh do! What a gift these books are for us, right? I admit I blame Darcy for convincing me I will never create the perfect male lead in my writing – and Charlotte Bronte has me half convinced that I shouldn’t try to pick up a pen anyway lol.
Yes to Jane! Except for when she drops all of her brains and looks after Rochester, even though he’s treated her like crap.
Idk. He really didn’t treat her like crap a la Heathcliff but he was too weak and selfish to do the right thing sometimes. But he sort of gained redemption through suffering so it is not like Jane was his doormat and came running back to him, you know?
Rochester did some bad things, but he wasn’t really a bad guy. Still, Jane turned down a very appealing offer to be his mistress and live a life of luxury in the south of France (rather than continue being poor in a gloomy climate). She only returned to Rochester when she was established financially and he was in desperate need of her. Whoa, I have such a knee jerk response to anyone questioning Jane Eyre as the greatest novel ever. I’m calming down now. 😉
Bettyrose
I want to put on an empire waist gown and dance a quadrille with your comment.
@bettyrose I love this response! I go back and forth in how I feel about Rochester. I don’t think he’s a purposely bad guy, just someone who has been kicked around by life and made the best choices that he could with what he was given. He kept Bertha from being institutionalized, so he was well-intentioned, even if keeping her in the attic wasn’t the best execution… But then I look at how he withholds affection and manipulates Jane when he doesn’t get his way, and I’m like, “not the guy I wanna marry.”
PFft. I came here to rant about how overrated Elizabeth Bennet is and make all the same points about Jane Eyre and the Dashwoods that have already been made. I love this place. 🙂
Ikr! And it took Lizzie 2/3 of the book to realize what Darcy had the good sense to see at almost the beginning of the book. Darcy’s about face happened much earlier than most people remember and to me, this makes most of Lizzie’s treatment of him uncomfortable to endure. Lizzie almost seems capricious next to Jane.
Imo – Plus, when dear Lizzy tours Darcy’s estate in his absence she’s says (roughly) “I could be the lady of all this?” She falls in love with his money before she’s open to seeing his true character.
Bettyrose
Omg yes! And I don’t see how she is viewed as being so rebellious and a free spirit – high-spirited and witty, yes, but just as socially narrow as everyone else in her world.
bettyrose
I was avoiding this thread because it was to be 1 giant rant against E Bennett.
We haven’t had a good literary discussion since… that thread where we discussed the heroins of great novels and how the women were not pushovers… anyone remember that? months ago.
My Austen favorites are Elizabeth, Anne (from persuasion) and Elinor. I’ve tried to like Emma but I just find her extremely grating.
I’m having Becky Sharp.
Failing that, Lyra Silvertongue, Flora Poste, Bathsheba Everdene, or Moll Flanders.
And if I were a boy, I’d be Yossarian.
Pfft Lizzie Bennett.
yes to Becky Sharpe, Moll Flanders and Lyra Silvertongue and although she is only a child Anna in Mr God this is Anna just for her amazing curiosity about life and how things function.If I was a man I would be Sidney Carton and Heathcliffe.At the moment I am fascinate by the many facets to Jonathan Pine from the Nigh Manager
Out of 19th century heroines, Tatjana Larina is my favourite.
Oh what the hell, I’ll play.
How ’bout the sex maniac, Bertha. That crazy chick in the attic. Now that’s a gal to be reckoned with 😉
I love Elizabeth Bennett! However, Austen’s Lady Susan is such a fun character–she stars in a much lesser known epistolary novel and is quite scandalous!
Camilla and her family seem to really be enjoying themselves! Her son’s face is so animated–how fun!
Boy is Tom the spitting image of his dad. Laura looks more like Camilla as a young woman but not to the extent Tom takes after a parent.
Just finished ‘Lady Susan’. Loved it! And yes, what a fun little book – and “racy” for its time. There was a certain (how to put it?) honesty about ‘Lady Susan’ – the book. Almost as if Austen was still young enough to tell it like it was, instead of being bogged down by societal baggage, or something.
bbg–If you loved “Lady Susan,” I wonder if you’d like the French novels I enjoy? I love Balzac, Flaubert, and Dumas. Like Austen, they were keen observers of humanity.
Someone dresses Camilla very well. She is a dreadful looking woman but with fluffy dyed hair and beautiful clothes and hats and jewels it almost doesn’t matter. Imagine her first thing in the morning!
Yes, I will admit for once (FLORC will be proud) that she looks nice here and I like her outfit.
I just find her outfits stuffy and old fashioned even for a lady her age
I don’t think she’s dreadful looking, what an awful thing to say.
She’s by far my favourite Brit royal. Out of all of them, she’s the one I’d have coffee with. I also like Anne, but she is too scary for coffee.
Say what you like about Camilla but at least her outside matches her inside. She and her husband who apparently can’t bear to live with her are perfect for each other.
She is dreadful looking, by any standard. Why is that an awful thing to admit?
If we can say someone is beautiful or handsome can we not say someone looks terrible or dreadful?
I think she’s nothing beautiful, maybe even dreadful. I don’t personally know her, so I’m just talking about her looks
I honestly have always thought people were too hard on Camilla. I don’t think she’s ugly or unglamorous. She’s just always been compared to Diana, who was England’s darling from the time she was 19, and C was the ~other woman~
I feel really mean for saying that, for what it’s worth.
Amen to that. I’d pick her for coffee as well. Possibly with Prince Philip as my second choice. I think both would be fascinating.
Now, if I wanted to meet at a pub for a beer……Naah, I might still pick her. Possibly Harry.
Like Princess Anne or Glenn Close, she’s strong and somewhat plain, but that doesn’t make her dreadful imo. What used to be called a “handsome” woman by some. She shows up (not as much as she should, but definitely more than others), and appears interested and engaged when she’s at work.
I identify with Emma more, but I love the way Darcy loves Lizzie despite her family awkwardness. That appeals to me, so I’ve always loved Pride & Prejudice. But I’m totally an Emma. My husband loves Knightley over all of the Austen men because he never lets Emma off the hook and he knows her so well. Yes, my husband is a keeper and he loves Jane Austen too. He’s always willing to watch a period movie with me!
To keep it on point, Camilla does look nice.
My husband made a Valentine’s day card for me that said “you’ll always be the Lizzie to my Darcy.” So, of course she is my favorite!
Aw so sweet!
Oh Camilla. Me too. I love Lizzy Bennett.
Reminds me of the Jane Austen Book Club:
“Excuse me, we’re, we’re not electing the homecoming queen, okay? I mean, yes, if this were high school, yes, we all know Elizabeth Bennett would be most popular and that Fanny would be least.”
Anne Elliot 4 Eva
Another vote for Anne Elliot!
Emma was just annoying and got into everyone’s business.
If you love Pride and Prejudice, then you know that the main character’s name is Elizabeth Bennet. BENNET.
Oh, big deal. I love P&P and I’m just a bad speller. Lol
Poor spellers and kind people unite!
Trollop!!
I liked the character of Emma as well. Yes, she’s a spoiled brat but she loves her father and, despite her snobbish behaviour where Mr. Martin was concerned, she was oddly unconcerned about befriending a girl who had no known connections and took her into her social circle in the hopes of introducing her to a better life. She is not bowled over by flattery, as evidenced by her insightful observation that Frank Churchill meant nothing to her even though he seemed to have been pursuing her. She is disgusted by the parson and his crass, annoying wife, and admits to her mistakes and tries to make amends for them. Even without Mr. Knightley’s admonishment, I believe she felt truly bad about insulting the chatty old lady. She has a heart underneath that social veneer and redeems herself in many ways, not the least when she accepts Mr. Martin as a husband for her friend and invites them to come to the house of an evening. It was one of the more entertaining books Austen ever wrote, in my opinion.
She does grow up in the book, and that’s fun to read.
I really enjoyed Emma as well. It’s been awhile since I’ve read it, but I remember liking her confidence, kindness and her willingness to grow.
I love pride & prejudice I know there have been countless movies made off that book and believe me I have seen them all BUT Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is my all time fave. Darcy getting frustrated during fencing because he can’t forget Elizabeth. Darcy diving into that pond. Darcy in wet shirt. Darcy record breaking dressing…Colin Firth the best Mr. Darcy
I have seen 3 versions of P&P and I much prefer Matthew and Keira as Darcy and Lizzie.
Colin Firth never did it for me :hides:
Don’t worry, I’ll stand with you! I’m totally immune to the Colin Firth-fluenza.
I am disappointed in Colin Firth for working with Woody Allen, so the bloom is off the rose for me, but that version of P&P with Keira was dreadful. At least the Colin Firth version was true to the book. The Keira version completely lost the beauty of language and humor that is Jane Austen. You can’t make a two hour version of that book without simplifying it to such a degree that it lost everything good about the book and became a shallow melodrama.
That sounded really harsh, and I’m sorry. I’m not judging you for liking it, I just really really thought it was a terrible adaptation of the book. Maybe if you see it on it’s own without having read the book, the experience would be different.
I know it’s anti-JA to admit it, and I’m the opposite of you GNAT, but I much prefer the 2005 Kiera and Matthew version. The cinematography is spectacular, the soundtrack is literally the soundtrack of my life ( I walked down the aisle to the dawn proposal song) and I feel it did a good job distilling what I love best about the book into a manageable film. I don’t always have the time to watch Colin Firth’s version or read the book over again. Plus this Mr. Collins is the best! So the 2005 version is my favorite. And Matthew MacFayden has never looked so good again. He always disappoints me with how not-Darcy hot he is in other movies. 🙂
I prefer the Keira version of P&P too, I feel like it’s significant that Keira and Matthew are actually the correct ages of Lizzy and Darcy. Watching the Colin Firth version, you realize how old those actors are!
Abby
‘Leaving Netherfield’ is also beautiful . That entire soundtrack is inspired 🙂
I will say I thought the dynamic between Lizzie and Darcy was much sexier in the Keira version. But that’s as far as I can travel with you. Lol
OHMYGAWD!! Jennifer Ehle brought Elizabeth to life! All Keira Knightly can do is pensive brooding shots where she pouts. She drives me bloody nuts. That being said, I think Colin Firth overdid the broody thing as well. Still like him, though. 🙂
Sorry; I have quite the opinion of Keira Knightley’s acting talent. The only movie where she didn’t drive me batty was The Duchess, but even then I think someone else could have played that role better.
Imo
I haven’t seen Leaving Netherfield. I guess I know what I’ll be watching this weekend!
Anne Elliot all the way.
Maggie Tulliver. That is all.
Camilla’s fur-rimmed hat is CRAZY cool! And I love the color combo she’s wearing! I must be getting old.
Mrs. Jennings is the best Austen woman.
Yes, when I’m old I hope to be like her 🙂
When my mom read Emma to me when I was younger all of my family including me realized that her character is JUST LIKE ME, so of course I’m partial to her 😀 But I love Lizzie too, especially her independence and intelligence. And does anyone else despise Jane Eyre (the character, not the book)?
GlimmerBunny–YES! I loathe Jane Eyre! She grates on my very last nerve. Not even Fanny Price is that awful, and she’s pretty dreadful. The word “insipid” always comes to mind when I think of either of those characters. I have absolutely no patience for them or find them compelling in any way.
Sorry for the rant!
Devil’s advocate here: Fanny Price was supposed to be an anti-heroine. It was supposed to be hard to like her and Edmond especially next to their more flashy fun friends and cousins. Mansfield park was written later when the evangelical movement was coming in and people were turning towards a more somber way, on the way to becoming victorian. Fanny is meant to show that being good and thoughtful and correct is hard. She is conflicted many times as should she do what is asked of her or should she follow her principles.
Sorry rant, everyone loves Lizzy Bennet, i’ve always found her to be a brat.
I love all of Austen, but especially Persuasion.
Anne Elliot – loved the movie of Persuasion with Amanda Root, she totally embodied the beaten down Anne at first who grew a backbone and despite all obstacles ended up with the lovely Captain Wentworth and went off to sea like Wentworth’s sister. *Sighs deeply*. Think I may watch that movie again tonight!
U saw the version with Sally Hawkins and it was great, but Sally Hawkins is always great.
I’ve seen that one too and she was equally wonderful – it’s such a lovely character to play.
Ah, Persuasion. That version is my favorite Ciaran Hinds performance.
(Taken from imdb)
Anne Elliot: We do not forget you as soon as you forget us. We cannot help ourselves. We live at home, quiet, confined, and our feelings prey upon us. You always have business of some sort or other to take you back into the world.
Captain Harvile: I won’t allow it to be any more man’s nature than women’s to be inconstant or to forget those they love or have loved. I believe the reverse. I believe… Let me just observe that all histories are against you, all stories, prose, and verse. I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which did not have something to say on women’s fickleness.
Anne Elliot: But they were all written by men.
I like Camilla, she doesn’t seem to take herself too seriously and looks like she has a fun sense of humour. She’s looking good at the moment and has great skin, she kinda glows.
Re: Lizzie Bennet, i agree – she’s quite feisty compared to some others.
Lizzy has to be up there for favorites, as well as Emma, but I am very fond of some of the side characters from these books. Colonel Brandon, for instance. He seems to be everything that you’d consider good in a man of the time, but he has a past that shows that he believes in love for loves sake, not just as a stepping stone to more rank or money. It helps that he will forever be in my heart with Alan Rickman’s face. Of course, my beloved Johnny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightly.
I also love her ridiculous characters. I imagine that she knew people just like them all, and they all serve an important purpose to the story, so they are never just there for side entertainment. Did that make sense?
Persuasion is my favourite Austen novel.
The things our friends persuade us to do, or we allow them to convince us to do, when they insist it is in our best interest. That is a great book.
*Squee* I love all of this talk of Jane Austen’s characters. I’m fond of the Elinor character myself. I also love Elizabeth and Jane to. They all are likeable for difgerent reasons.
But anyway…Camilla’s daughter is rather pretty. I’m surprised by this.
Laura Lopes looks like her mother when she was younger.
WHY?