Princess Jane, Lady Mayor of Canterbury

First Person Survey for:   Jane Petre Boleyn, Canterbury Lady Mayor, Princess of France

Name Given at Birth: Millicent Jane Alexandra, House of Valois

Nicknames:   Littlehawk, but only the King dares call me such, as he was the one who dubbed me so following a childhood incident.  Princessa, a term of endearment from my new husband.

Hometown or where you were born:  Calais, France

Current Residence:  Canterbury, Mayor’s Manor.  My household is yet unpacking and things are quite in an uproar with our hasty arrival, and the harvest festival close upon us.  But all will be well by fall.

Age:  I will celebrate my 47th birthday at the Harvest Festival.

Class:  Royalty

What do you do, your main function in life/society:  There is much  to keep me occupied, I must settle my new house,  and see to the running of this wonderful little village of Canterbury.  Whilst the Lord Mayor is away on the Kings’ business, the daily workings have been left to my supervision.  There has been mush mischief reported and it falls to us to resolve that which is the source of any conflict.  ‘Ere  I was commanded to this marriage and office, I took great pride and satisfaction in running the best estate in all of England, my beloved Ingatestone.  Tho’ papers have been drawn and duly recorded for the future of Ingatestone, until such time as it passes to my declared heir, I will continue to oversee its welfare.

Have you ever gone skinny-dipping / do you know how to swim:  Yes, I swim well. One would never ask a lady such a question, but cool water against one’s skin whilst swimming with one you love is a delicious sensation. . . . . . . . .  I would imagine.

Do you make fun of people: Only those who through their own imagination puff and strut as peacocks of self importance, making others lives miserable.

Favorite Color:  The creamery yellow of butter, and the blue of a spring morning sky or robin’s egg

Have you ever committed or been convicted of a crime:  By royal Decree, NEVER

Closest friends/How did you meet:   

One Pillow or two:   Two, and miraculously I have been blessed with a beloved to share the second.

Pets: I have a talking Macaw, gifted to me by my former friend, the Empress of Madagascar and several wolfhounds,  the grand sire –William is my favorite.   There are a couple of cats that are quite tame but they stay in the barns.

Favorite Type of Music: Contentment is the sweet sound of the Royal family lifting their voices in song.   My villagers at Ingatestone also raise a clear and wondrous sound, surprisingly so with their simplicity of song.

Hobbies/Pastimes:  I am well skilled with a needle, and all manner of work in looming, dyeing, and designing textiles.  Amongst my other passions is improving the yield from my crops, at which I have had much success.

Personal Hygiene:  It is my firm belief that cleanliness is a key to warding off disease and pestilence, therefore, my household and I do often during the week!!

Favorite Food:  I am quite fond of a dish of pheasant in a herbed cream sauce, and something new from my relatives in France  --iced cream!

Are your parents alive, do you get along with them:  Nay, they have all passed to Our Father’s loving hands. I knew not my father but through missives that were few and far between.  Of my mother and step-father I will say that we did love each other well whilst we could.

If your parents are dead, when and how did they die:  My father, King Henri II of France, did die some days following a jousting accident when I was but a child of ten years.  My mother and her good husband did ascend to our Lord following a carriage accident some twenty plus years ago, shortly after I became a bride.

Favorite place to relax:  My morning room and balcony at Ingatestone.   Here in Canterbury, I have found it most enjoyable by the pond with the waterfall with a good book.

Favorite Holy Day / Why:   Easter.  Like its season of spring it is the promise of new life and hope from our Lord.

Favorite Drink: Tea leaves from China brewed and sweetened with a drop or two of honey.

What's your bedtime:  Very late, I do burn candles most nights to keep current with my accounts, the needs of the villagers and important correspondence once seen that all chores are done.  It is usually at ten bells when I may close my books and retire.

What, if anything, do you usually wear on your feet:   When at court I have lovely jeweled slippers, but good leather boots serve best in the fields.

Are you married or single:  Recently wed by command of my sovereign, just months ago.  I have been a widow these many years following a long and happy, but childless marriage.

Do you have a family / who are they:  I love the children of my good cousin, the King, as my own, as well as the villagers of Ingatestone.  But my new husband has a very large extended family – my head spins yet with all of the names and faces!

Favorite Entertainment: Theatricals, especially those that allow me to laugh.

Favorite Subject in School or Chore growing up:   Any science and literature.  Do you really believe a Princess would have chores?

Least Favorite Subject in School or Chore growing up:  Protocol  --  tho’  the irony is that my first husband’s reputation depended upon proper deportment and diplomacy so I spent years in his service and am now, therefore, the tutor in that subject to our young princesses.

Favorite Sport:   Croquet and riding.

Most Humiliating Moment   It was but an insignificant childhood incident that our good King witnessed as the crown prince and has made humiliating by laughingly regaling all within hearing distance of my plight  year after year.

Proudest Moment:  With this command to marry and assignment to Canterbury, came the compliment of being a most trusted personage to the Crown.

Craziest Person or silliest you know:  Maestro may well be that one.  My, he doth have a zeal for life!

What do you look for in the opposite sex:   I look not, now that I am wed.

In our Hierarchical Society everybody has somebody  “over” them, Who is your immediate “overlord” and How Do You Feel about that person:  In truth, I answer only to the Lord God, but I needs must say my King.  Some would have me say my lord husband, but that has yet to be seen.

Favorite Sport to watch:   Hawking

Do you remember your first kiss:   Indeed, it was most sweet.

Do you keep in touch with your childhood friends:   the King , of course,  I had few other friends.

Where is your favorite “Vacation” spot:  South of France,  but  that is a major undertaking.  Canterbury has always been such for short breaks, but seeing as it is now my home I must needs find another.

Have you ever been overseas:  Yes, my first husband was Secretary of State to our King and we did travel muchly for his service.  My new husband does also travel abroad, for our King and his livelihood, and he has promised me sights and lands such as I have never seen.

Do you have Dirt/Mud floors or Stone:   My lovely stone floors at Ingatestone have been replaced with serviceable wood, which suffices to keep us dry.  Many carpets brought with us assist with warmth.

What is your bed made of:  “Tis a great massive frame of wooden timbers, made by my new husband without decorative carving or embellishment, but there is a mattress of matching size, overstuffed with the softest of goose down and very large down pillows.

How many people sleep in your bed:   There be but two.

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10 Things Everybody Should Know About Me

1. My life and much of what I believed has been turned upside down these past recent months, as I had never expected to marry again, or to be moved from my estate in Essex.

2. My new husband does believe that I did marry him out of duty and command of the King.  I have not yet told him that he did win my heart long ago, in spite of his birth, and that I happily complied with my sovereign’s wish.  It has been most difficult to keep his identity and the marriage itself from my Queen as it will make her most happy.

3. My estrangement with my good cousin did end when Eleanor, saddened by the loss of a baby, needed someone to whom she could confide, and as I was equally saddened by my inability to have a child, we became very close.  I was able during that time to love my little cousins with all my heart and regret the time lost.  It is still a regret today that I am not as close with Eric, as he had all ready been moved from the nursery when I did enter his life.

4. My fears of gypsies and feelings that they are all  thieves and scum, have lessened over the years, but it takes all my diplomatic skills to overcome my ingrained distrust with those of her family whom the Queen is still close.

5. I have believed that the scripture admonishing us that “cleanliness is next to godliness” holds a reason and have therefore put this into place at Ingatestone thus decreasing the contagions and severity of illness  amongst my villagers.  More of my babies survive than at other places and fewer mothers succumb to childbirth.  It ‘tis a practice I plan to encourage at Canterbury.

6. I still do not believe in gypsy “second sight “ or faeries.  What utter nonsense!

7. In order to keep my beloved Ingatestone from my new husband’s family (some of his sons may be ne’er do wells, I fear) I did petition our King and was granted permission to name an heir.  The estate and title of Duke and Duchess of Essex is to pass to our young Princess Jane upon her marriage to a suitable nobleman.  In the time ere that happy occurrence, it remains my pleasurable burden to maintain the estate.

8. At this time there is naught but six personages who know of my marriage, myself and the groom, the King, who commanded and witnessed the vows,  the clergy who married us in the sight of God, my good waiting woman, Caroline, and my grooms eldest son, who stood witness for his father.

9. I work hard most of the time so I greatly enjoy the fun and  entertainment of the Harvest Festival.

10. I expect to be a fair and gracious Lady Mayor.  I know from previously working out disagreements with my own tenants there are two sides to every story and usually a happy compromise can be settled upon.  The people of  Canterbury have always been grand hosts to the Royals who visit them each  year  and they deserve nothing less.