The Royal Pretender

 

One of these three people is a big time royal pretender .... 

Up through history, several people have been popping up from an often quite obscure background, claiming that they are a lost prince or princess. One of the most well-known of these pretenders is Anna Anderson (1896-1984), who claimed that she was the youngest daughter of tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Her claim was that although her father, mother and all her siblings were killed by Bolsheviks on 17. July 1918, she escaped, wounded, but alive. Private investigations by the brother of the dead Tsarina Alexandra, Duke Ernest Louis, brought the truth to light: This woman, who went by the name of Anna Anderson, was no Grand Duchess, but a Polish factory worker, Franziska Schanzkowska, who had been institutionalized in a mental hospital after a suicide attempt in 1920. I don't think she ever owed up to her birth name, and after some time as a patient, she started to use the name "Anna Anderson". However, in 1922, she began claiming that she was the lost Grand Duchess Anastasia, and many believed - and supported - her. Not until the dead bodies of the tsar family were found were her lies disproved. 

Grand Duchess Anastasia flanked by the pretender, Anna Anderson

Just like her parents, brother and sisters, Anastasia was dead, but the myth of the surviving Grand Duchess gave vent to movies, articles, books as well as countless theories of her survival, untill her remains were found and identified with those of her family.

Some of the most famous royal pretenders are Lambert Simnel (c. 1477-c. 1525) who claimed to be Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, i.e. the last Yorkist with a claim to the English throne. Perkin Warbeck (ca. 1474-1499) said that he was Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the younger son of Edward IV, who somehow disappeared in 1483. None of them were what - and whom - they said they were, but when James Francis Edward Stuart (1688-1766) claimed to be the legitimate son of King James II of England he was right, which has been proved by modern day genetics. He and his son fought hard to be accepted as English princes, but both were rejected as England had decided that no matter what, the days of Catholic royalties were over once and for all. 

"The Old Pretender", James Francis Edward Stuart

A son and his parents? Naaaahhhh ....

 

Simon Charles Dorante-Day is a British-born Australian man who has been harassing King Charles III and his queen, Camilla, asking for DNA-testings of the couple to prove his assertions that he is their illegitimate son who was put up for adoption when newborn. According to him "his grandmother", the late Queen Elizabeth II, testified this "truth" to him on her deathbed, and now he wants to be recognized as a royal prince ....

 

"Good luck," is all, I can say - you will need it ....

 

The "Three Sons" of Charles III????

 

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/king-charles-and-camilla-s-security-on-high-alert-after-secret-son-sends-chilling-warning-before-australia-tour-101729282867292.html 

 

https://www.livemint.com/news/trends/royal-family-news-britains-king-charles-iii-camilla-secret-son-simon-dorante-day-royal-lineage-1965-australia-visit-11716349763814.html

https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1900621_1900618_1900620,00.html

 

Wikipedia

The Family Killer Who Dreamt Of Becoming A Sort Of James Bond

 

In my opinion, William Bradford Bishop (born August 1, 1936) looks Satanic, but that may be because I know what he did to his family: His dreams of living a glamorous and free James Bond-like life made him kill his mother, his wife and their three sons, using a blunt instrument which makes this mass murder even more brutal. 

It seemed to him that he had a much more interesting and fulfilling job as an American diplomat in Europe, but then he was sent back home and was put behind a desk to do what he may have seen as "menial work". That was not what he wanted, and when he didn't get the promotion he had hoped to get, he decided to start a new life. However, to him that meant doing away with his family, namely five family members: His mother, wife and three children. It must have been something that he had started to plan some time back in time. Anyway, as he succeeded in escaping and not being found, it was well planned. Staying a fugitive ever since 1976, there is still nobody who knows what life he got after the murders. Did he find something that fulfilled his dreams? Hardly, and he is still wanted by FBI, which must be a strain on him as it would for anybody else. 

His crime is so gross that it seems unique, but it's not: Most of those who commit what's called "familicide" - namely "killers of what may be an entire family" - are men, but there are female family killers too. One of these women is Andrea Yates, who, suffering from a severe post-partum depression, drowned her five children. She had been committed several times to receive treatment for her psychological problems. Her doctor had warned her that she ought not to have more children, as the many responsibilities of motherhood were too much for her fragile psyche. However, being very religious, she - and her husband - had the idea that "they should have as many children as God would give them".  

In 2018 a lesbian couple killed their six adoptive children in a murder-suicide incident which is known as the Hart family-murder. Why? Nobody really knows, but six kids may have been too much of a financial responsibility for the couple. Not that that is a valid excuse, because it's not, but it may be a sort of explanation or at least a valid theory.

One of the, in my opinion, worst cases of a family killing is the Watts-murders in 2018: Just like William Bradford Bishop, Christopher Watts wasn't satisfied with his life. He and his wife, Shannan, had two young daughters, and, against his wishes, she was pregnant once again, this time with a son. As Chris was dreaming of starting all over with another woman, he decided to kill his family, thus murdering four people without obtaining anything but life in jail. In court, he gave a chilling account of his killing of the girls, who loved and trusted him, but ended up, stuffed down crude oil tanks after being suffocated by their father. 

According to research into the subject of family killings, it seems that men who murder their entire families are driven by the same urges as those who harass and maybe kill their wives after a divorce: They feel obliged to "teach them a lesson" as they hate to lose control over them. However, when I read about cases like e.g. the ones of William Bradford Bishop, Chris Watts as well as Scott Peterson, John List and many others I get the impression that one concept stands out: "The idea of getting a new life". These men hate the social and/or family situation they are in and wants to start all over, often with another woman. Of course, women may feel the same urge to start all over again, but no matter what there are fewer female family killers, and most of these suffer from a mental disease or have been abused by their husband before they "snap" and do what they do to free themselves. 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/1978/08/04/archives/mother-killed-with-6-children-in-utah-plunge-joining-the-father.html

 

 

 

https://www.denverpost.com/2006/10/08/yates-finds-friend-in-similar-mom/

https://boobytrapec.blogspot.com/2021/08/nar-forldre-tror-de-ejer-deres-brn.html

 

 

https://showbizzed.com/father-kills-10-year-old-son-with-autism-family-dog-and-himself-in-murder-suicide-missing-20-year-old-daughter-also-found-dead-in-home.html&s=red 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/oct/11/woman-jailed-life-murdering-parents-bodies-essex-virginia-mccullough

https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/230412.pdf

 

 

https://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=132646&page=1 

 

 

Wikipedia

From Wife to "Sister"

Anne of Cleves by Hans Holbein

 

After the death of his third wife in childbirth, Jane Seymour, King Henry VIII of England went looking for a No. four to replace her. At that time he had three living children from his previous marriages: His and Jane Seymour's son, Edward, and two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, by two former wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. However, he wanted more male heirs that would keep his Tudor-dynasty thriving by, in their turn, having male heirs who were able to procreate - and so on and so on. Girls were not wanted the same way as boys, because even though they were Tudors, they didn't keep the family name alive when marrying as did their brothers.  

 

Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536)

Just like the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon, who became Henry's first wife, his fourth, Anne of Cleves (1515-1557), was out of a royal house. I think, that had that not been the case, Anne's fate might have been much different from what it was, because he really, really wanted to get rid of her "because she was so very ugly". His second wife, Anne Boleyn (c. 1501-1536), whom he had beheaded when he wanted to get rid of her, was out of a noble family, but she wasn't born a royal princess, like Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves. He may have felt tempted to behead these royal wives too, but how could he? Both of them had strong political allies through their family ties to foreign royal houses, which none of his other four wives had, so they didn't have any protection that was as strong as the ones of the royal born queens. 

 

Anne Boleyn

 

Both his royally born wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves, ended up with annulments of their marriage to the king. In both cases, he used the fact that there had been some kind of previous engagements to other men before they were married to him. Catherine had been engaged to his late brother, Arthur, and Anne of Cleves was originally contracted to Francis I, Duke of Lorraine. The annulment meant that these two queens were stripped of their royal titles, but at least they weren't beheaded.

 

Anne, being a clever woman, feigned sorrow at losing the "love" of Henry, but I suspect that she must have laughed at him and all his machinations to get rid of her. The annulment brought her several advantages at the court of her former husband. After the annulment, she became "The Lady Anne of Cleves", and she would later on be elevated to a new stage above all other women in England, except the current queen and Henry's daughters, as "The King's Beloved Sister". That should do it, but she also was granted an annuity, some generous settlements, a pension, as well as some rich properties: Hatfield, Richmond Palace, Blethingley Estate and Hever Castle, which was the ancestral home of the king’s second wife, Queen Anne Boleyn. 

 

Francis I, Duke of Lorraine (1517-1545) 

 

Of course, Anne of Cleves missed a properly very good, and peaceful marriage to the Duke of Lorraine, Francis I, as well as having children by him, but she sure gained a lot by marrying Henry VIII: Well, sometimes it kind of pays off to be considered "ugly" - which she wasn't by far! - as the annulment also gave her a personal freedom she might not have had otherwise. She even maintained a close relationship with Henry and his children, particularly Elizabeth.

 

A "twist of fate" is that Francis I married the Danish princess, Christina, whom Henry VIII had wanted either for one of his illegitimate sons or for himself as his fourth wife. However, she reclined the offer and is reputed to have stated that "If I had two heads, I would happily put one at the disposal of the King of England".

 

Christina of Denmark 

 

 

 

https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/history-and-stories/anne-of-cleves/#gs.mpkzus 

 

https://www.royaltynowstudios.com/blog/blog-post-title-one-pxydc-3e4k2-lwr6a-kleed-dxwc4-cr3nm-welff-kkp9h-lzwy8-gz3dk-z97n3-7xlk8-g2kyc-dk646-ynpbs-py5tj-6aw9j-d7c6n-63rgp-jyrsa 

 

Britannica 

 

Wikipedia 

 

Swedish Craziness 350 Years Ago: June 1, 1675

The Witch lore 350 years ago is almost as crazy as some of the modern day religious nonsense that makes teleevangelists rich, and their followers poor. Today, 1st of June 2025, marks the 350 years since 71 (innocent!!!) Swedes were executed as witches at what is called "Haxberget" (i.e. the "Witch Mountain"): 4 boys, 2 men and 65 women.  It should be noted that these 65 executed women were every 5th woman in the so-called Torsåkers Parish. What a waste of human lives and all in all there were c. 400 such witch executions in Sweden!

 

One of the many very interesting details of these witch trials and witch executions is that many of the so-called "witches" were accused by children who claimed that they, for instance, had taken them to meet and/or worship Satan. I take it that it can't have been all that easy to be a poor, uneducated child, living in a bigoted countryside, riddled with poverty and superstition, but still, accusing someone for wild and crazy acts with "Satan" looks more than insane to me. As it is, many/most of these children were also executed, which they must have known most likely would happen: "Playing with fire, may lead to the pyre" - Yup, that's for sure ....".

Many other European countries had more witch trials than Sweden, but it was intense while it lasted. The worst cases were from the time period 1668-1676, and the last one was 1704 which to me looks rather late.  

 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/WA7JUsnKejLnz7L99

 

https://haxmuseet.se/  

 

Wikipedia

A New Male "Sport"? = “Taharrush Gamea" (Collective Harassment)

 

Lara Logan from the American network CBS

The 2011-Taharrush Gamea-attack on a well-known, high-profiled correspondent for CBS, Lara Logan, high-lighted a growing problem in the Muslim world, namely men ganging up on women to harass or rape them. This special assault happened on Tahrir Square when the American, female correspondent was reporting on the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, but it wasn't the first incident of its kind. As far as I know, the first one that was brought to the attention of the non-Muslim world happened in Egypt in 2005. At that time, Egyptian security forces and their agents resorted to it as a quite powerful weapon against female protesters, trying to terrorize them out of public life. 

You may ask, WHAT is this "Taharrush Gamea"? Well, it's the most recent abomination in the ongoing male "war" on women in the Arab world: Men create fake crowds, numerous men cooperate to sexually abuse women. I see this as a special Muslim way of "taming her with the rod": The actions are part of a well-known male suppression-system, but it takes it to a new level in countries where the idea of female virginity and chastity is very important in safe-guarding women in thoroughly misogynistic societies. 

 

To rob these women sexually means robbing them of their social status and thus also their general safety. As it is, in these Muslim countries rape and other kinds of misogynistic sexual assaults are considered a grave "shame" of the woman, but not of her male attacker.

Sadly enough, this male "taming-method" has not been put to a stop. On the contrary, it has become increasingly prevalent. Somehow, it seems that by 2012, it has become more or less commonplace for crowds of young men to sexually assault or even rape women during festivals and political protests throughout Egypt. The crime has been described by many witnesses and/or victims as a smaller group of men encircling a woman. At the same time, a larger group is forming outside this smaller group, making it impossible for presumptive helpers of the woman to save her from her ordeal. As it is a well-known phenomenon in some countries, it has been brought to the attention of e.g. The European Parliament, but it's obvious that it takes more to stop it than international laws as it's kept alive by a general misogyny in the Muslim societies. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/16/lara-logan-cbs-egypt-tahrir 

 

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/P-9-2022-000346_EN.html 

 

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-10-2025-000118_EN.html 

 

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=26cf592c500860d43ceab39d21816654e53e9c6c 

 

Wikipedia

 

Should Grannies Be Killed?

No matter what, it can't be denied that sooner or later all of us shall end up in one of these "one-room-flats-with-no-escape". Most of us may try to not think of it, but that's how it is, and has always been, except for the one called "God's son", namely Jesus. According to legend, he escaped his grave alive, even though he had been killed in a gruesome manner. True or not, that's not going to happen to any of us, which means that we will have to accept that we, and those we know and maybe also love, are going to die.

That being the case, we must also think of the time and how that event shall be, both for us and for relatives. I take it that most of us are dreaming of those "golden years", spent in leisure and economic safety, that former generations have had. However, lately some powerful men, who have designs upon the use of the working ability of their fellow human beings, have uttered some alarming opinions. One of them is the self-declared enemy of feelings like e.g. empathy, namely Elon Musk:
 

So, according to this individual, ordinary people shouldn't outlive their usefulness, i.e. not for themselves or their families, but for him and society at large: No "Golden Years" for Mr. and Ms Non-Billionaire, no matter how much they, after hard work for years, deserve it. One might say: "Be useful, work until you stoop or perish."

It can't be denied that society as such has to face special challenges that arise from the fact that large parts of modern society consist of elderly people. Problems which can't be ignored as they may not "only" be of an economic art, i.e. something which the younger generations may be able to pay themselves out of. Health-care and pension costs may be heavy, and non-refusable obligations, but what about special support systems for the elderly? 

Luigi Mangione

Well, The Guardian found out that the infamous health insurance company UnitedHealthcare, which Luigi Mangione made very, very famous by killing its CEO, Brian Thompson, because of its callous treatment of many insured, has their own "solution": SECRET PAYMENTS to keep elderly people away from hospitals even when they’re literally dying. The Guardian both talked to several whistleblowers and got hold of heaps of confidential documents, corporate records, court files, etc.. 

What was found out was that UnitedHealthcare had a policy of embedding their own medical teams in nursing homes and pressuring staff to avoid hospital transfers which, as we know, don't come cheap. Normally, I donøt condone murder, but it seems that Luigi Mangione may have had a point.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/21/unitedhealth-nursing-homes-payments-hospital-transfers 

 

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/03/9602550/elder-abuse-neglect-coronavirus-old-people-dying

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9347438/

 

UnitedHealthcare Got Caught Paying Off Nursing Homes to Let Seniors Die 

 

Wikipedia

Food For Thoughts: Apples

Apples are special in the mythology of the Western World as they carry a very rich tradition of all kinds of symbolism, according to culture, history and time periods. As far as I can see, they started out as symbols of love and fertility, beauty and wisdom. However, the original concept of them was corrupted by that Biblical story of sin and temptation, as well as a postulate of a certain kind of female disobedience to a male principle, which to me looks like the main part of that story. Yup, "everything is the fault of Eve, who was seduced by that devious snake to eat the forbidden fruit": Typical for a male god, like e.g. Yahweh. 

No doubt about it, apples are tasty and fruity in themselves, and they don't really need to be turned into symbols, but they were, even before that silly Biblical story of Eve and the snake. In Greek mythology, the apple holds a crucial symbolic value in the myth of the super-handsome Trojan prince, Paris, who was chosen by Zeus to resolve a conflict between three goddesses, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. Because the goddess of discord, Eris, wasn't asked to attend the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, she threw a golden apple, which was inscribed "to the fairest", into the crowd, thus giving rise to a fierce dispute between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite.

Actually, I suspect that Prince Paris may have been the fairest at that party, but each to his or her taste. All the goddesses promised Paris a lot of wonderful rewards for choosing them, but when Aphrodite promised him "the most beautiful woman on Earth", who was Helen of Sparta, he gave her the golden apple. Because of that ill-begotten promise, Helen was abducted, which was the cause of the Trojan War.

Yes, some men really have apples in front of their faces, but it takes a painter like e.g. Rene Magritte to see that. As it is it also takes a special idea of the apple symbolism, which in my opinion is interesting, but not quite clear: Is the apple - and the hat - a challenge to the everyday perception of people or a comment on the burgeoisie ideologies, e.g. of "sin"? I find it intriguing, but not quite understandable which is part of its allurement: Apples are not only for fun, they are also provocative. 

https://humakabakci.substack.com/p/apple-food-symbolism-in-history-of?utm_medium=web 

 

https://www.canvasprintsaustralia.net.au › understanding-... 

 

Wikipedia