Fancy a Cuppa?

Today is a national holiday in Bloguistan, so I decided to treat the eventual wanderer that stumbles in here, to a short, albeight juicy and informative post, about Queen Catherine of Braganza (Catarina de Bragança) - she married Charles II of England and lived in Hampton Court.

Didn't I see you in Interview With A Vampire?

Although somewhat discrete in English history, her role is greater than what is credited to her - probably because she was QUITE catholic, at a time when that was not so fashionable, to put it mildly.

According to some, she has reportedly introduced the habit of a "cuppa" of tea, since she had been brought up drinking the infusion brought from either India or China - places where only the Portuguese were firmly present, at the time.

She also "brought" to England the steppingstone for what would be the future "Jewel of the Crown", British India - Bombay - as part of her dowry.

It is also alleged that the New York Borough of Queens, got that name in her homage... but neither the Borough nor the Queen seem to care.

A statue in her honour was to be erected in Queens, but due to a bad case of fundamentalism and Political-Correctness-gone-mad, the statue now stands in Lisbon, her birthplace..

I have other scopes you wouldn’t believe about today's world, but there is nothing like the past - comfortably stored in the auburn pages of time...

So remember Catherine, next time you have a cuppa.