Monday, August 22, 2011

"The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts all on a summer's day;
The Knave of Hearts he stole those tarts and took them clean away.
The King of Hearts called for the tarts and beat the knave full sore;
The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts and vowed he'd steal no more".
                                                                      
Queen of Hearts by matthew solle
Image by Matthew Solle, Some Rights Reserved        

Hearts are one of four suits in a deck of playing cards, an amusement for the French royal household; a popular game, for adults and children alike. They are ruled by a monarch - the King - and his consort - the Queen. Together they represent royalty, cards in a winning hand, making up a flush, a royal flush, or a straight in poker. Cards bringing riches to the holder - or grief to those with a losing hand, where King or Queen is held no more.

A true queen by sabuki Photo by Sabuki, All Rights Reserved

Diana, Princess of Wales, has died after a car crash in Paris.
She was taken to hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning where surgeons tried for two hours to save her life but she died at 0300 BST.
In a statement Buckingham Palace said the Queen and the Prince of Wales were "deeply shocked and distressed".
BBC News, 31 August, 1997



Image at www,fanpop.com


"Princess Diana was the beautiful English princess. She did not become a Queen of Britain, but to the people of the world she became a Queen of Hearts. In spite of her very unhappy marriage and subsequently the divorce with Prince Charles, she remained one of the most beloved and admirable members of the Royal Family of Britain. Love, admiration and fascination of her never stopped, even after her death in a tragic car accident in 1997. 'I don’t think many people will want me to be Queen. I do things differently – I don’t go by the rule book' ": http://www.famous-women-and-beauty.com/biography-of-princess-diana.html.

"The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small.
 'Off with his head!' she said, without even looking round".
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

The croquet-playing Queen of Hearts that rules over Wonderland is a foul-mouthed tyrannt, "a blind fury" the author described her as, passing sentence before judgement. She is cruel, vicious, a liability - and expertly managed by the King of Hearts, her husband. who tempers all her punishments with forgiveness.

 Original oil on canvasboard by Meagan Louise Aitchison


"The King and Queen of Hearts were seated on their throne when they arrived, with a great crowd assembled about them—all sorts of little birds and beasts, as well as the whole pack of cards: the Knave was standing before them, in chains, with a soldier on each side to guard him; and near the King was the White Rabbit, with a trumpet in one hand, and a scroll of parchment in the other.

In the very middle of the court was a table with a large dish of tarts upon it: they looked so good, that it made Alice quite hungry to look at them—"I wish they’d get the trial done,” she thought, “and hand round the refreshments!” But there seemed to be no chance of this; so she began looking at everything about her to pass away the time": Alice in Wonderland.

Sources:

Queen of Hearts poem first published  The European Magazine, No. 434, April 1782.

Matthew Solle image of French playing card is at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthew_solle/4344879301/in/set-72157623396097720.

Alice In Wonderland  is in the public domain. Extracts are reproduced by Authorama at http://www.authorama.com/alice-in-wonderland-11.html.

 
Princess Diana photo posted by fanpop member "nevermind5555". No copyright information available.
 
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