[LMB] SciFi vs Fantasy

[Marilyn Traber]

M Hämäläinen wrote:
>
> But I did get the impression that her deceased husband, who was a
> king of his own counry, had a variety of women to choose from. I very much
> doubt that he chose an unattractive or even plain queen...
>   
If you look at a lot of royal portraits [and I have for clothing 
documentation] despite the more or less requirement for portraying 
royalty as handsome/comely as possible there are a vast  majority that 
are just dead common looking.

Goya's portrait of Charles IV and family is a good example,
> http://knowledgenews.net/picturethis/goya_charles_iv.jpg
The little princess held by the queen is dowright homely, with the royal 
chin.

> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Portrait_of_William_III,_(1650-1702).jpg/275px-Portrait_of_William_III,_(1650-1702).jpg

William I has an out of proportion face, those funky shallow eyes like 
Tim Curry, and really isnt very handsom.


In the fivefold universe nobility may be able to marry whoever they 
want, but in the real world of the period people were told off to go 
marry for political reasons [or financial ones] Love and comeliness were 
not a normal issue. The ONLY reason that Henry VIII picked and chose his 
queens for looks was he was already an adult, and the king. He did marry 
the Flemish Mare [Anne of Cleves] despite her seriously pockmarked face 
[not included in the court portrait that was sent along so he could see 
what she looked like] because by teh time she had gotten there it would 
have cause a major scandal and possible war if he refused. IIRC she was 
one of the only ones he actually respected and stayed alive.

Our recent generations have been able to breed for looks, that is the 
main reason along with health and dental care that allows us to be 
comely past our early 20s.