A Royal Affair

July 30, 2007

London, England

This morning in class we watched From Hell, which I thought was really good. It is really interesting to learn just how many movies have been produced about Jack the Ripper (26, in addition to several episodes of tv shows, etc.). They are all different, and because there are so many theories and no real evidence supporting any of them, the movies can really make the story be anything they want it to be. This particular film, starring Johnny Depp and Heather Graham, is about the Royal Conspiracy. There is a theory that Prince Edward was having an affair with a prostitute, and once the royal family found out about it, the Queen had the prostitute and all those who knew about the affair (the other prostitutes) killed. Anyway, I thought the movie was really good, although I am not sure how I feel about some of the elements of the theory it portrays.

After school I met Julia and Geiler outside Parliament, but we found out that there were no tours that day so Julia and I went to Buckingham Palace, which was really neat but really expensive. Taking a tour of a royal palace that is actually being lived in is so much different than anything else I have ever done. I suppose it would be a bit like taking a tour of the White House, but I am not sure. We got to see 18 state rooms, all of which were elaborately decorated. Afterwards, we were permitted to stroll through the palace gardens. I am really glad I took this tour, because Buckingham Palace is only open to the public for less than two months a year, and I was fortunate enough to be here during part of that. I have also seen it so much from the outside that I really wanted to see what it was like on the inside. It is truly marvelous.

After touring Buckingham Palace, I went running through Green Park and Hyde Park with Julia and Lindsay, and then went back to make some pasta again. After dinner, the people who had returned from Edinburgh came into my room to tell me all about it (I was happy to hear that they loved it, because I was slightly worried that I may have talked it up a bit too much), and then I kicked them out at about midnight so that I could get my presentation done. I felt like I was back at school, staying up until the wee hours of the morning to finish it.