but not for long!

[andysambcrg]

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wow CBeebies is looking great these days

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(he did)

Admiral Horatio Nelson, died at The Battle of Trafalgar 1805. His last words were “Kiss me Hardy”, but many tried to later pass it off as “kismet” to avoid embarrassment.

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The first Victorian Christmas cards

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Compared to her fellow ladies-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn was exotic. She’s been schooled in the refined world of French court. Unusually for an English courtier, the teenage Anne had spent 7 years in the royal household of Queen Claude, the young wife of King Francis I. Court life in France was different from court life in England, it was more sophisticated and sexy, and some of this rubbed off on Anne. At the French court Anne learnt how to sing, dance, and about fashion that was more seductive and revealing than the English equivalent. But, most importantly, she learnt a new way of behaving, flirtatiously and confidently with men. She picked up this trick of using her eyes, it was said she could “send them forth as messengers to carry the secret witness if the heart”. Anne was also sharp and curious, she didn’t just flirt with King Henry, she also argued with him.

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“I’m sending you, by this messenger, my picture set into a bracelet. Henceforth my heart shall be dedicated to you alone, and hoping that my body will follow.” “Wishing myself especially if an evening in my sweetheart’s arms. Written by the hand of him that was, is, and shall be yours by his will.” ~HR

Taken from 17 love letters from King Henry to Anne Boleyn, kept in the Vatican Library in Rome. Nearly 500 years old, the Vatican paid a handsome sum of money to get ahold of them in the 17th century.

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Catherine Howard, beheaded 1542.

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With Henry away fighting the French, the Scottish King James IV had tried to seize the opportunity to invade England. He hadn’t calculated on the Spanish Warrior Queen, Catherine Of Aragon, who Henry had left in charge. The rebellion was crushed and the Scottish King had been killed, along with scores of his men. Queen Catherine had King James’ coat sent to Henry in France, as palatable proof of their triumph.

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