Say hello to the REAL Alice-In-Wonderland...precious lil Alice Liddell. The story goes that the Liddell family met author Lewis Carroll [real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], while on a boating trip in Oxford. Harry, her older brother, & Dodgson were good friends. Lil Alice asked the fledgling author if he would tell her a story...so he did: Alices Adventures Under Ground [Carrolls earlier title for Alices Adventures in Wonderland]. Finally finished in November,1864, he gave her the first draft of his tale. That manuscript now resides in the British Library. The character from Wonderland, however, is NOT based on Alice...she just lent the author inspiration & he liked her plucky name. Rumors swirled for years about his interest [never proven] in the young girl, but Alices mother nipped that unbalanced possibility in the bud by breaking all ties to Dodgson. Alice was the 4th child of Oxfords Dean of Christ Church & when still young, perceived herself to be in love with Prince Leopold [youngest son of Queen Victoria]. Though family friends, the Prince never returned Alices romantic affections, however, they did remain close for life. At the age of 28, Alice finally married Reginald Hargreaves, a professional cricketer player turned local magistrate, in Westminster Abbey in 1880. They had 3 sons [2 were killed in WWI] & a daughter. Alice, who became a noted society hostess, also served as the first president of Emery Down Womens Institute. Over the years & because of her popularity, several other writers have written fictionalized accounts of Alice. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Alice Liddell was written, as a recurring villain in Warehouse 13, one of the main characters of the Riverworld series of books by Philip José Farmer, in Frank Beddors The Looking Glass Wars, which reimagines the Alice in Wonderland story to include real-life characters such as the Liddells and Prince Leopold, and many other stories. And speaking of that last book, I would just like to point out, though Alice & Prince Leopold never supposedly had an affair [afterall, hes royalty & beautiful Alice was not, so such a relationship would never be allowed], Leopold named his first child Alice, & served as godfather to her second son, whom she named Leopold. And...upon Alices death on June, 30th, 1876, Prince Leopold served as one of the pall-bearers, yet sobbed the entire time. Ahhh, Im thinking another romance book needs to be written...yet THIS time, twill have a happier ending. Doncha love history? I surely do! Had to share ... :-)
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 15:50:55 +0000
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