Susan Anita Jones

Wife of the vanquished Bonnie Prince Charles Edward

of the royal house of Stuart and the 1745 rebellion,

Princesse Louise Maximilienne Caroline Emanuele and

would-be Queen of Britain, France, and Ireland said,

“The most impossible things sometimes come to pass

in this world, whilst the most likely often fail to occur.”

In this, she echoed her romantic lover, Alfieri Vittorio,

Italian nationalist, who claimed that often the test of

courage is not to die but to live.

Louise had the courage to dream and she kept their

dreams alive. Her fascinating story as a prominent

salonnière provides a collective human platform from

which to contemplate our lives in the 21st century,

a century that sometimes feels like an equally

dangerous and challenging time.