You are what you eat!

For those of you who will see our production (and you should!), Catharine Parr makes a reference to a certain Gillian McKeith.  I'm guessing not everyone has heard of her, but I can see why our dear Parpy would be such a fan!


"You Are What You Eat" BBC America

Gillian's personal website

Gillian is a hard-nosed, disciplined and diligent mother figure, bent on getting people to ditch their bad eating habits.  Her website has a quote that I think would particularly strike a note with Queene Parr.  "Gillian's latest technique means living under HER roof, following HER rules, with no escape."

After all, Parr was thrown into a family of 1 mad, cantankerous, obese, puss-y legged King Henry, 3 step children who all needed a good education and a mother, and don't even get me started on the state of the union! Who better than Queene Parr to get things in order, take care of the whiney and ill King, and get the noses of those future kings and queens into books?  Bring on the ultimate mother figure!


Never improper, sometimes glamourous, and always in charge and thinking of the big picture, Gillian McKeith is probably the only other human being (besides our dear Parr) who could have brought order and a sense of family life back to the Tudor court. 

Love always,
Denita
(Queene Parr)