In Russia, With Love: The Royal Wedding of the Last Tsar and Tsarina
So the Big Day is finally here! The biggest Royal Wedding Great Britain—and arguably, the world—has seen since Charles and Diana. Prince William and Kate Middleton are to be married at Westminster Abbey, complete with its specially installed 97 metre red carpet, at 11:00 am UK time, with 1900 guests in attendance and in front of the biggest worldwide television audience in all of history. Those lucky enough to be invited to the ceremony range from foreign princes to familiar footballers, war heroes to slapstick entertainers. Also present in the House of Kings will be no less than two choirs, one orchestra and two fanfare teams to perform the wedding service’s music. The two processions, from Buckingham Palace to the Abbey and back again, take in such London landmarks as The Mall, Downing Street,Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.
The Royal Wedding reception, to which 650 guests are invited, is to be held at Buckingham Palace. The host, of course, could only be Her Majesty the Queen. Ellie Goulding, one of William and Kate’s favourite singers, will provide the musical entertainment—without the backing of two choirs, one orchestra and two fanfare teams, we imagine. Guests will dine on canapés as offered by circulating waiters.
But, of course, grand royal weddings have happened for eons. Here’s a verbal canapé about one of the most famous.
Nicholas and Alexandra, the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia, are a pivotal couple in The Ruthless Court. How did their own royal wedding, on 26th November 1894, compare with William’s and Kate’s? It was a more sombre and low key affair, as it was sadly just one week after the death of Nicholas’ father, Tsar Alexander III. However, as you can imagine, the new Tsar’s wedding to the German princess, known as Alix of Hesse before changing her name to Alexandra, was also attended by foreign princes and dignitaries (it is unclear if the 19th century Russian equivalents of Elton John, David Beckham and Mr. Bean were also in attendance).
The wedding took place at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, which was as surrounded with onlookers and well-wishers as Westminster Abbey is right now. Nicholas donned a Hussar’s uniform for the occasion, whilst Alexandra wore the traditional dress of Romanov brides. The post-ceremony procession saw the happy couple drive to Anichkov Palace, cheered on by astounding crowds, as no doubt the procession back to Bucks Palace will be later on. Whilst William and Kate are to nobly take an austerity honeymoon in Cornwall’s Scilly Isles, the Emperor and Empress had no honeymoon at all.
We at The Ruthless Court wish William and Kate a very long and happy life together. As everyone knows, the Tsar and Tsarina stayed in love and loyal to one another throughout revolt, constitutional change, the birth and lives of their children, WWI and finally, the Russian Revolution, which was to lead to their untimely death. In The Ruthless Court, however, their marriage is even more thrilling, laden as it is with secrets, intrigue and visitors from the past!
Be sure to follow our live tweet of the Royal Wedding as it happens!
Ra-Ra-Rasputin: Russia’s Greatest Love Machine!
In The Ruthless Court, historical figure and subject of endless fascination Grigori Rasputin plays a pivotal role, getting in the way of John Richmond’s (really the ‘dead’ Prince Albert Victor) attempts to win back the heart of Alexandra, the last Tsarina of Russia. However, TRC is not the only place where you’ll find a fictionalization of the Russian ‘mad monk’—although our Rasputin is obviously the maddest, most entertaining and most cunning!
Take for instance, the above video, of 70s disco group Boney M’s 1978 hit ‘Rasputin’. About the self-same man, the song’s lyrics celebrate some of the same qualities of—and rumours about—the rowdy, self-proclaimed mystic as The Ruthless Court does. You just can’t forget such lines as Ra Ra Rasputin/Lover of the Russian queen and Ra Ra Rasputin/Russia’s Greatest Love Machine. Ain’t that the truth–the latter line that is. As for the first line, stories of Rasputin actually being the Tsarina’s lover were vicious fabrications spread around by the originally German royal’s enemies during Russia’s participation in WWI. Of course that doesn’t stop The Ruthless Court from playing with the idea and incorporating it into the thrilling and dramatic plot!
And although Boney M’s song modifies the murder of Rasputin, it lacks the imaginative chutzpah of The Ruthless Court. Has to be read to be believed and enjoyed!….
Oh, those Russians!
The Ruthless Court Coming Soon—Get Free Kindle App!
At The Ruthless Court we believe in equal reading rights for all. Yes, we’re planning to publish TRC on Kindle, but don’t all rush out at once to buy an actual Kindle! Instead you can get ready for The Ruthless Court’s grand release by downloading Amazon’s Kindle App to your PC for free, from here. Compatible with Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later, Windows Vista, or Windows 7, the app works just like any other download. You can also get the app for Mac, here. Once you’ve downloaded and opened it, you just need to log into your Amazon account (If you don’t have an Amazon account you can sign up for free here, or—if you’re not in the UK–here).
It might be that you want to read Kindle books on the move as opposed as to on your PC, but you already have an iPad or iPhone and don’t want to invest in a physical Kindle as well. Well you can also download the Kindle app to either your iPhone or iPad by going here.
Once you’re all set up, you can access a number of titles to read for free, or you can shop in the Kindle store, choosing from more eBooks than you could ever imagine. If it’s fiction you’re after while eagerly waiting for TRC, you can pick from science fiction, romance, children/YA and so on. Though, if you want to get in the mood for TRC, may we suggest the ‘crime, thrillers & mystery’ section? Non-fiction categories include history and biography (there’s plenty of both in TRC—albeit outrageously and excitingly played with!) The majority of titles seem to be good value for money—and of course, once The Ruthless Court is let loose, it’ll be the best value for money of the lot!
From The Ruthless Court to the Clay Courts
Who'll win big in Monte Carlo?
The aristocratic and regal characters populating the late 19th and early 20th centuries in The Ruthless Court are exactly the type to grace the high-stakes world of Monte Carlo and may even have heard of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament, as the event debuted way back in 1906.
Sadly the tennis-playing Catherine Verkhovnova—one of TRC’s present day characters–isn’t eligible for the tournament as it’s strictly men allowed (or aloud, if you’ve ever heard their grunting). Never mind—in The Ruthless Court, Catherine wins 6 straight matches on grass to reach the Wimbledon final against GB’s Georgie Gent, so she’s obviously more suited to grass than clay anyway. For those who can’t instantly recall, Georgie, (the player formerly known as Georgie Stoop) as well as being a character in The Ruthless Court, is also a very real person, as her sometime doubles partner Laura Robson will testify.
But back to Monte Carlo. The first tournament of the European clay season, this event is a favourite playground of player and fan alike, thanks to the Monte-Carlo Country Club being a ball’s throw away from a postcard-perfect sea. This casino of clay has boasted a royal flush of great champions over the decades with the roll of honour including Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl and Rafael Nadal. Attendance this year is guaranteed to be well in excess of 120,000 and each spectator is licking their lips at the prospect of an elite 56 man draw featuring many of the world’s best players.
Rafael Nadal will be chasing down an amazing seventh successive title here, after crushing compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-0 6-1 in the 2010 final. Although World No. 3 Roger Federer has failed to win the tournament in his previous nine attempts, his participation in 2011’s proceedings is worth the gamble. After giving last year’s event a miss, Fed doesn’t have any points to defend—unlike many other visitors to Monaco, Roger’s coming to the table with nothing to lose.
No longer the djoker in the pack, Monte Carlo resident and man-about-town Novak Djokovic is pottering into the clay season off the back of a 26 match-winning streak stretching all the way back to last December and including his January 2011 Australian Open victory. Djoko has proven himself to be 2011’s King of the Hard Courts so far, but his hard-fought Miami Masters win against Nadal in the final on Sunday shows that an easy time against the King of Clay is something Djokovic knows better than to ever bet on. This is especially the case in Monaco’s best known place-to-be, where the Serb took his turn at losing the final to Nadal in 2009. Last year, Djokovic reached the semi-final, going down to Verdasco.
And what of Fernando Verdasco this year? He’ll once again be in the Principality, looking to build upon 2010’s run to the final, which was the first Masters final of his career. Other super players in the draw include Andy Murray and David Ferrer. Murray’s wild card entry was announced on Monday, after it was originally thought that the Briton would be skipping Monaco’s delights and starting his clay season in beautiful Barcelona instead. After reclaiming his world 4. status in the latest rankings, Murray will be looking to stem a losing streak of four defeats. Ferrer lost to Nadal in last year’s Monte Carlo semi-final but has proven to be dangerous on clay.
Nadal, Ferrer and Verdasco will be joined by compatriots such as Nicolas Almagro and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Meanwhile expect the home crowd to cheer on the likes of Frenchmen Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon. Canadian young gun Milos Raonic, a revelation in the early part of this year, is aiming to use Monte Carlo to launch the European leg of his journey up the rankings. Like Murray, Tomas Berdych is a top ten player with a wild card in his hand and a glint in his eye. But who’ll be left holding all the cards after the clay swing’s curtain-raising event? The only thing you can put your chips on is an amazing week of tennis with as many twists and turns as The Ruthless Court. The fun properly gets underway on Sunday 10th April, with the final bound to cause fireworks on Sunday 17th April.
This post is recycled from an article written by Autumn as ‘mrsshakeyjake’ and posted on My Tennis Lounge.
Welcome to The Ruthless Court on Facebook!
The Ruthless Court has taken over WordPress and Twitter and now it’s taking Facebook by storm! We’ve launched a page especially dedicated to everything and anything about The Ruthless Court—the debut novel by father-and-daughter team Autumn and Bonny St. John.
The book is an escapist thriller dramatically jumping between the late 19th century, early 20th century and the present day. This exciting yarn outrageously turns key bits of British and Russian history into a fascinating, entertaining tale, including the trickery and heart-stopping work of spies…past and present.
Our Facebook page will be a space for us to post pictures, links and videos about The Ruthless Court itself, the art of writing and anything else to do with the world of The Ruthless Court—including royalty, tennis, Russia and espionage, to name but a few subjects that feature in our tale.
The added beauty of Facebook pages is that not only can you become a ‘fan’ by ‘liking’ the page but you can also post your own links, photos and videos related to it. More than a novel, The Ruthless Court is a virtual lifestyle which you can share as you want, when you want with a community like no other—but will you get off the court alive??
There’s only one way to find out—enter The Ruthless Court on Facebook here and make yourself known to the court!
The Ruthless Court 