First Person Survey for:  Lady Edith Leeds

Name Given at Birth: Edith Margarite Anastacia Noelle Leeds

Nicknames: Eddy

Hometown or where you were born: I was born in Orléans, France, but the home of my childhood is Tintagel Castle west of Pendennis, Cornwall.

Current Residence: I currently reside at Court and though you may wish a physical location it is quite impossible to give as we move quite frequently.

Age: I had the great pleasure of celebrating my 22nd birthday on February 22.

Class: The lord did decide that I was to be a member of the nobility.

What do you do, your main function in life/society: Currently I attend the queen and it is a great honor but ultimately I am expected to marry well and bring honor to my ancient family.

Have you ever gone skinny-dipping / do you know how to swim: While it is not a polite activity for a lady, I do know how to swim quite well. How I learned is quite a funny story but alas there is not enough time or space to regale you most kind gentles with the tales of my childhood. To the former part of your question, I have been skinny-dipping because I never wish to ruin a gown by swimming in my clothing and if you return to the palace in wet clothing questions will be asked.

Do you make fun of people: Only in jest and most certainly not ever meant seriously.

Favorite Color: I absolutely adore pink and have since I was a small girl. However, red is also a favorite color of mine because it is a sensual color of passion.

Have you ever committed or been convicted of a crime: Committed??? Let me leave it at there is not any evidence to prove guilt on my part nor are there eyewitnesses to say otherwise.

Closest friends/How did you meet: The closest friend I had while I was growing up was my cousin Louis de Valois the Dauphine of France. We had lessons together when I was sent to France to live just past my seventh birthday. He was betrothed to my other cousin, Princess Elizabeth, but sadly about a year ago he succumbed to pox and passed on. Lady Rosalyn James is also a friend but our friendship really did not begin until I returned to England. Right before I was to leave for France, my family came to court for an important function of state but I was far to young to be interested in the happenings of state so I wandered off and scared a chicken up the skirts of the royal nanny. Thus her nickname Henny. Unfortunately I was given a sound lashing and sent to bed without supper but Henny did not hold a grudge and befriended me the instant I came to court as a lady in waiting. Her majesty, Queen Eleanor, has become a friend as well for I spend a great deal of time in her company and she is greatly interested in the happenings of the young people who reside at court and she tell the greatest tales of her childhood among the gypsies.

One Pillow or two: Am I only limited to to these two options because then I would have to lie, that it vexes me so. Truthfully I lost count about a year ago. Pillows are a passions I have and have as many made as I can have I also have all the pillows I can get my greedy little hands on.

Pets: I love animals except for that filthy little lemur. I have a goat named Edmund, after my brother, he resides at my grandmother's home in Blois. I have two Irish wolfhounds named Dionysius and Bacchus. They have a place in the royal kennels as they are my hunting dogs. I also have a small spaniel named Magda. She was a gift from her majesty on my birthday last year. I have three mares named Morgaine, Vivan, and Igraine, from the tales of King Arthur which strikes close to home. They reside in the royal stables as they are my means of conveyance.

Favorite Type of Music: I enjoy all types of music but am especially fond of the gypsy violin.

Hobbies/Pastimes: First I will give the answers a Lady would give, needlepoint, embroidery, reading, playing music, singing, and other sedate activities that all well born ladies pass their time with. Also there are the not so lady like answers. I enjoy hunting, hawking, falconry, swordplay and cartography.

Personal Hygiene: Her majesty requires that her ladies bathe weekly but I am far more vain than that and generally bather every three days when the weather is cool and every two days in the warmer weather. I was raised in France after all.

Favorite Food: My favorite food is birds of paradise. Sadly but thankfully we eat very rarely, usually at court feasts. It is rather rich.

Are your parents alive, do you get along with them: My father is alive and very well. Like most father-daughter relationships we disagree on certain points, fine one to be exact . . . marriage However, as long as the m-word is not mentioned we get along wonderfully well.

If your parents are dead, when and how did they die: Sadly my mother passed away from a broken heart. She died almost five years ago when my brother was unable to escape the Ventian law and was convicted of the most vile crime of piracy.

Favorite place to relax: Atop the battlements of the castle with a good book or my greek translations.

Favorite Holy Day / Why: Aside from the day of my birth, which is also the feast day of Saint Margaret of Cortona who my father says I need to take a lesson from. I enjoy twelfth night. I enjoy the revelry which lasts most of the night.

Favorite Drink: I enjoy a full bodied red wine and have found no wine that comes close since I left France. However I do enjoy warm spiced mead.

What's your bedtime: Their Majesties generally retire around nine but I have the bad habit of retiring much later. Midnight or later.

What, if anything, do you usually wear on your feet: I wear silk stockings unless it is very cold and then I wear wool stockings. If I am top remain indoors I wear silk and velvet slippers and if my activities take me away from the castle walls I wear leather boots made of kid skin that are lined in silk and usually have a pink bow on them.

Are you married or single: I am very happy to say that I am single and my father is looking. There is a certain father of several sons that I wish most desperately he would approach my father and propose that one of his sons tackle my heart.

Do you have a family / who are they: My immediate family first, I should think. My father Michael Leeds Duke of Cornwall. My mother Jehanne Leeds Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Orléans. My brother Edmund Leeds. Now my extended family for who are we with out familial ties. My father is descended from Henry Tudor or known to most as Henry VII through his eldest daughter Margaret and James IV of Scotland. My mother is the daughter of Princess Margarite de Valois and Philip du Lys, my mother's grandfather is Charles V of France. There are my many cousins. My father has a sister, Elizabeth Donegan, married to Thomas Donegan the Earl of Limerick. The have three children, Bridget, James and Margaret. My mother was an only child.

Favorite Entertainment: I attend theatrical productions, Master Shakespeare is an excellent playwrite. I tend to stay away from bear and bull baiting as they are a most gruesome affair. I tend to shop a bit and I do read quite a bit.

Favorite Subject in School or Chore growing up: It is a toss up between three subjects, ancient languages, cartography and military tactics. I shared lessons with my cousin Louis.

Least Favorite Subject in School or Chore growing up: Any sort of domestic chore which my nurse quickly learned served as a most effective punishment for when I found a bit of mischief.

Favorite Sport: I enjoy hunting, hawking and swordplay. I know they are not very lady-like but so few sports are.

Most Humiliating Moment: There are just so many to pick from but I think the most humiliating moment would have to be when I was about 15 my father was in an incredible hurry to see me married. So he traveled to the Louvre and met with a gentleman who was representing the Medici for a possible marriage alliance. When most of the details were worked out and the ambassador wanted to meet me he came to the garden to find both Louis and I covered from head to toe in mud and rolling around on the ground. The ambassador thought I was far too immature for marriage and left. My father had me lashed soundly for humiliating him and left the next day. What is far greater is my moment of humiliation and sound lashing saved me from marring a man in his forties.

Proudest Moment: Some would think it would be the day I was invited to court but I had already been living at the French court for ten years. Still more would think it was the day I became mistress of the maids. While that day was very special, it is not my proudest moment. My proudest moment is also my most humiliating moment for if I had been behaving as a Lady I would now be a wife and mother with a husband old enough to be my father if not my grandsire.

Craziest Person or silliest you know: Craziest, the royal nannies the title says it all.

What do you look for in the opposite sex: Gypsy, oh dear that was out loud. I look for a ruggedly handsome man that has musical ability, intelligence, a good sense of humor, and only eyes for me.

In our Hierarchical Society everybody has somebody "over" them, Who is your immediate "overlord" Her majesty, Queen Eleanor.

Favorite Sport to watch: wrestling

Do you remember your first kiss: I do not really remember the first one as there have been quite a few. However the one I remember clearly was on my seventeenth birthday and my grandmother had a party for me with a mysterious Italian gentleman in attendance. We danced most the night and when the unfortunate hour to retire arrived he escorted me to my chamber and kissed me on the forehead and somehow we ended up having the most passionate kiss Orléan castle has ever seen, I would venture to guess.

Do you keep in touch with your childhood friends: I dutifully write a letter every month and receive and answer like clockwork.

Where is your favorite "Vacation" spot: The Bay of Naples in Italy. The water is so blue and weather is beautiful.

Have you ever been overseas: Only a few times.

Do you have Dirt/Mud floors or Stone: Stone, marble and wood of course.

What is your bed made of: Beautiful English oak with silk and velvet hangings with matching bed clothes and fine linen sheets.

How many people sleep in your bed:  Only I sleep in my bed but that is not to say there is not an occasional visitor, oh dear once again that was out loud. Well the damage is done.

1. I was born in France when my parents were on holiday after the death of my grandfather. I spent years three to seven in Cornwall and returned to France for my education at seven and returned to England at 18.

2. I am the only surviving child of the Duke of Cornwall and the Duchess of Orléans.

3. My morals are clearly French but I do have English shame and modesty.

4. I am the Mistress of the Maids to her majesty and can generally be found a few steps behind her.

5. I am a bit of a spoiled brat, having always gotten what I wanted.

6. There is a gentleman who looks almost exactly like who can be found in the Pubs of London after 9:00 in the evening.

7. I am quite smitten with a man who is well below my class but as money means very little to me, I hope that if I am to marry it is he who will be my husband.

8. I love pearls and other gemstones and will generally stop to purchase said items when I have the chance.

9. I am a bit of a trouble maker though being at court has forced me to mature rather rapidly.

10. I really abhor that dreadful lemur that was gifted to her Majesty by the empress of Madagascar.