The talks are all video presentations and I supply all of the equipment including a screen where necessary. I will travel anywhere in UK. I am used to giving talks at all types of venues and for all types of events including after-dinner engagements, charity evenings, National Trust, Rotary, PROBUS, TWG, WI, U3A etc. Usually my talks last between 45 and 50 minutes though I am very happy to expand them (without extra fee) when asked to do so. All of my equipment is PAT compliant.
Born to Rule
Launched in March 2011
My mother who was an infants school teacher taught me history along with telling me the stories of Arabian Nights, The Waterbabies, Alice in Wonderland and Wind in the Willows etc, so I grew up not being sure what was fact and what was fiction. This caused a few conundrums, I have to admit - one of which took a long, long time for me to sort out. Mum told me that King John had lost his Crown Jewels in the Wash and I couldn't for the life of me understand why he didn't just wait till the water got cold and then delve around in the wash-tub and hoike them out.
I promised the Kings Bromly History Society that I'd create this talk after I mentioned to them that there had been about 42 Kings and Queens since William the Conqueror (how many depends on who you include) but only about a dozen of these rulers were actually 'born to rule' ie born the first son of the ruling monarch or his heir, such as Prince Charles (King George VI had no sons so when his eldest daughter, the then Princess Elizabeth who was his heir, gave birth to Prince Charles he was 'born to rule'). So, looking at the statistics, less than a quarter of our monarchs were actually 'born to rule' ..... how did that happen? I'll be delighted to tell you in my tour through ten centuries of Kings and Queens, the good, the bad, the ineffectual, the murderous and the reluctant -its a fun talk and imparts a lot of gossipy tit-bits.
