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Chapter 1: A Spirit of AdventureA Governess for the Royal Family - will I re-live The King and I
The advertisement reads: 'English Governess for Prince and Princesses of Saudi Royal Family.' Governess? The title intrigues me, conjuring up images of a Victorian era, when a position as governess was desperately sought by many an educated woman on her own without other means of support.
Do I also have to become a governess?
I am recently widowed, left only with my husband's debts and I need to find a new start in life. Searching for courage, I hurry to my bookshelves to try to remember what I have read in the past about governesses. Shirley, in Charlotte Bronte's novel of the same name, held the position in low esteem: 'Be a governess? Better be a slave at once.' Joanna Trollope writes in Britannia's Daughters: 'They were outcasts from life both below and above stairs.'
Reading more, my own opinion grows that tribute should be paid to the tenacity and enterprise of these women in socially repressed times. From humble beginnings in Britain, by the end of the nineteenth century: 'the status of the governess abroad was to be envied.' (Joanna Trollope). This is exemplified by the legendary Anna Leonowens, who, in 1862 accepted King Mongkut of Siam's offer to instruct twenty-five princes and princesses of the royal blood, later inspiring the musical and Hollywood movie The King and I.
I always wanted to travel, but lack of money was a problem until my sons grew able to look after themselves. Then I took an extra qualification to teach English as a foreign language. Eight years teaching in Italy, Greece and Spain has shown me how to meet each foreign country on its own terms, how to assimilate a new culture, how to accept some enormous differences.
Seeing the Middle East has been an ambition for a long time. The enigma of Arab culture fascinates me, even though my friends and family are sceptical: 'Saudi Arabia? Oh, I wouldn't go there' - 'Dicey, very dicey' - 'What about white slave traffic?' - 'Will we ever see you again?'
"It's a rich country" I retort, "and I need the money." Suddenly I want to know more about this quintessentially English occupation and a spirit of adventure takes hold, so I apply for the job.
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