Ruth Fitzwilliam
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Contents |
Her Basics
Name
Name: Ruth Gracelin Fitzwilliam
Nickname(s): Ruthie
Maiden Name: Andrews
Dates
Birth Date: 30th November, 1935
Marriage: 1954
Places
Birth Place: Manchester, England
Places of Residence: Canterbury, Cape Town, (Kensington) London
Current Residence: Kensington, London
Family
Parents: Julian Andrews (deceased), Tess Bromley (deceased).
Siblings: Marion Vishnevskiy
Raised By: Parents, nanny
Significant Other(s): Married to Charles Fitzwilliam.
Children: Claire Fitzwilliam, Louise Fitzwilliam, Eleanor Fitzwilliam-Blumberg, Patrick Fitzwilliam
Education
School(s): Simon Langton Grammar School for Girls, The Sadler’s Wells Ballet School (Royal Ballet School)
First Language(s): English
Additional Language(s): French, Russian
Occupation: Grandmum
Footnotes
1
Her Self
Physical Appearance
Height: 5'1"
Haircolor: Dark brown
Eye color: Brown
Weight: Tiny
Bust:
Memorable marks:
Description: She is rather petite, has wavy, brunette hair, big brown eyes, and, after four pregnancies, even if the last was thirty years ago, an actual bust. Always seemed much smaller than she was, so Scout had to shrink her three inches.
Personality
Loud, loud, loud. One odd fact about Ruth was that until 2008, she aged as anyone would age, and reached seventy two (almost seventy three) as any seventy year old would. She had her husband, who kept his appearance mostly older so she wouldn't feel odd, to keep her young in behavior, but it could only go so far.
As a young girl, she was fairly shy, somewhat quiet, but incredibly stubborn. Her older sister was more independent, and Ruth was a bit of a brat until she reached her teenage years. After Charlie won her over, Ruth opened up in his presence and he saw a wild, humorous, carefree side that never left. She was full of laughter and joy.
As she became an adult and a parent and a grandparent, she became increasingly set in her ways, as you do, and nitpicky. Bickering with Charlie was (and still is) a pastime.
But now she's young again, and though it's been quite some time, she still behaves as though she's seventy, with physical behavior changes. She's still very stubborn and very set and very no-nonsense when the situation calls for it. She'll no doubt ease up as time goes on, but for now she is fussy Ruth, unchanging.
Interests and Uncategorized Facts
Raised by a mother who lived in Russia and France and a father who was half French, Ruth speaks both fluent French and Russian but didn't instruct her children much in either. She also knows a lot of Afrikaans.
Ruth's hobby is baking. She bakes for a majority of each day, developing her recipes and setting them on Charlie. She's a relatively skilled cook, as well, having been schooled quite efficiently by the cooks who really don't have to work as much as they probably ought to. She was instrumental in teaching Alice to cook.
As she cannot drive, she has had a chauffeur since moving to London in 1980, and his name is Albert.
She's also been on Charlie to quit smoking since 1967.
Her Life
Ruth, along with her older sister, started dancing at the age of three. Her mother was a dancer, as well, and wanted her children to share in the joy. Ruth loved dancing and her sister was a very helpful tutor, helping to advance Ruth just as skillfully as the girl advanced on her own.
They had a very happy childhood with parents who doted lovingly on them. Her father was a banker and while they were high on the financial scale, they were hardly the most upper class family in England, and, in fact, did not really come close. They spent their holidays in Kent and the Isle of Wight.
As Ruth's sister turned eleven, she won a spot in the Royal Ballet School (then Sadler's Wells Ballet School). Her parents received a scholarship to allow her to attend, and told Ruth that if she could do the same, she could also go there. Ruth did. But where Ruth's sister moved on to join the Royal Ballet, then the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Ballet, Ruth simply left school and declined all job offers.
While boarding at White Lodge with her sister, Ruth met a young Charlie Fitzwilliam, who had left Eton with a few of his friends for an afternoon of mischief. Charlie, who had started smoking a pipe at twelve, was not only the product of a vastly different upbringing, but more outgoing and far taller than Ruth, too. She was secretly intimidated by him but visibly indifferent. She rejected his advances time and time again until they settled on a friendship and eventually she took a shine to him. They courted for four years, then married in Cape Town, and Ruth settled in to be the wife of a man destined for a hell of a lot of greatness.
But the road wasn't paved with gold (or diamonds) like both expected. Though they honeymooned for six straight years, sailing all over the world and living for each other until Charlie went to work for the company as CEO in 1960, this would be the easiest and calmest six years of their lives together.
As Charlie settled into the business, they began trying for children. What no one knows, not even the children they eventually had, is that Ruth just couldn't seem to get pregnant. They saw doctors, they tried medicines, they had both Charlie and Ruth tested for fertility issues, but there seemed to be nothing wrong. They talked of adoption, but Ruth was so worried about what could potentially be wrong with her that they never tried.
And then, suddenly, Ruth was pregnant. As she had never suffered a miscarriage before, she crossed her fingers and hoped this would not be the first--and it wasn't. Claire Rebecca Fitzwilliam was born on 21st April, 1967. She was healthy, and full term, and would almost immediately be followed by a sister, Grainne Louise (a habit of only using birth control occasionally would suddenly not be a habit anymore).
In 1970, they welcomed a third daughter, Eleanor Catherine, and from here they stopped for about three years.
The sisters got along reasonably well, and Claire was put into ballet in 1971, with Louise (who was still called Grainne or Wheezy) following in 1972. Claire took to it like a duck to water, delighting her mother and grandmothers on all sides. Louise wouldn't participate, and stopped dancing the year Eleanor got her turn, in 1974.
But in 1973, they had a son, and their lives would change irrevocably as soon as he was born. Patrick Maxfield was, by all accounts, a healthy baby, at least in the womb. Ruth had no complications, no issues, no troubles. Patrick was not as active as his sisters, but he kicked, responded to pressure, and nearly reached full term before he was born. He seemed smaller than his sisters, or else Ruth gained less weight, but no one expected anything to be wrong.
It was a very long labor. Patrick seemed unable or unwilling to drop low enough, even when Ruth was dilated, so Doctors had to use more force--pressure, pulling, tools--to get him out. It was nothing they wouldn't have done for a normal baby--they didn't know Patrick wasn't normal until, when finally he came out, he was discolored, and screaming.
Screaming unlike any sort of crying his sisters had done. His arms and legs looked strange, swollen, and immediately he was taken away for x-rays, with a doctor cutting the cord.
His limbs were broken, his body was bruised, he seemed to be deaf, and he was underweight. It had nothing to do with the procedures--his legs were already healing. He had inherited a family disease that had only appeared a few times on record, and in different forms. The last recorded incident of it was in the 19th century. It was brittle bone disease, and Patrick would be in and out of hospitals for the next thirteen years.
The girls were made aware, and from 1973 onward began a tradition of going to England for better care. It was hard to feel rich and powerful when the youngest child was always crying, always angry, and always broken. Ruth was traumatized by the memory of the birth, which, coupled with the work it took to take care of four children, stopped them from ever going without birth control again. During this period, Louise began to act much more cold, and never got along with her sisters--Claire especially.
In the late-70s, coupled with the turmoil in South Africa and Charlie's father's poor health, they moved permanently to London, and let Claire attend the Royal Ballet School. Things only seemed to get worse. Louise was acting out, getting in trouble for being disturbingly inappropriate. She was bullying her sisters, and Claire was showing signs of anorexia that exploded in 1981, leaving her hospitalized during her time off from school.
It certainly felt as though her family was falling apart. Ruth never showed anything but resilience to the rest of her family, but inside she was torn apart and miserable. Only Eleanor seemed to have no problems, but she was extremely shy and closed off, presumably due to the rest of the chaos.
But Claire began to pull herself out of her issues and was able to take care of herself. She became a member of the Royal Ballet, and got her first real boyfriend, Jack Camden. Ruth took Jack under her wing, almost relying on the fact that she knew what to do to make him better, and had the means to do it. She fed him, gave him clothes, allowed him to stay at their home, and let him wash and bathe and have access to whatever he needed. He was therapy for her.
Then, in 1983, Charlie's parents died within days of each other, and his distress and his anger was unreal. Ruth had never seen him become so unhappy, and Patrick was in the hospital at the time after intentionally hurting himself over his sister being so close to Jack. They were forced to go between the estate and the hospital in London while arrangements were made for a memorial service.
Louise was no better, and in fact began to attract attention that horrified Ruth, but as the girls got older, there was nothing for it except to let Louise have birth control and a place to take her partners. And then Jack was arrested and Claire again became an emotional wreck.
There were many times when Ruth locked herself away and couldn't believe how there seemed to be no peace. Three of her four children were miserable. One of them was so quiet she might have been miserable but no one knew it. And it was all out of Ruth's control.
Claire would eventually move out in an attempt to clear her mind and focus on her dancing. With the help of her best friend, she began to recover. And Patrick, at the same time, would begin to heal. Miraculously heal. He finally got to join City of London School, to make friends, to take part in sports. He was happy and open and extremely popular. And with Claire out, Louise's wild behavior was relegated to the tabloids. And, well, she was eighteen, and there was no stopping her. She, too, would move out.
Claire was engaged in 1987, but that same year, her best friend was shot and killed. Again, Ruth couldn't believe it. She allowed her daughter to escape to Russia to dance for a season, and worried as to whether or not it was good for her to become engaged in the middle of so much turmoil. But she held her tongue and had to battle with her future son-in-law's mother, who was overbearing, conservative Catholic, and trying to manipulate the wedding to her own standards. Ruth could barely compete with it, and in fact had to let the woman botch Claire and John's ideas because there was no one around able enough to help stop it.
But still, for a few years everything was okay. Claire married, moved out, and got pregnant. Eleanor transferred from one university to another university in America. Ruth was active in keeping up with Eleanor's life at this point, letting her other girls do what they pleased, and happily supporting Patrick as he excelled in track and field. Eleanor's serious relationship (and only relationship) with a young man named Alexander (or Alex) was of great interest to Ruth, though they were unable to see the young man until a few years had passed due to funding issues.
But there were other complications. In 1990, Louise became pregnant. She was seriously dating her first respectable boyfriend, a banker named Richard, and they soon became engaged. Though Louise had been in Claire's wedding, Claire and Eleanor were going to be shunned from Louise's--and the drama, hatred, and anger that came out enraged Ruth and forced Louise's wedding back a year--she would marry in a small ceremony after her daughter was born. Ruth would attend, but few other family members would.
And then, for a short while, only peace. Eleanor married after she graduated, and Patrick began to study jewelry design, as he was the only one actively interested in taking over the company. The grandchildren Ruth now had became the center of her world, and when Avery began his time at Eton in 2001, she and Charlie were always there to let him stay or to drive him wherever he needed.
But then the drama began again. Suddenly, in April 2002, Charlie's sister Alice, always close to Ruth, said that her long time partner, Robert, had left her. Died, essentially, just as Charlie's mother had done twenty years before. Alice was beside herself. She still had a teenage son to take care of, and completely shut down. Charlie and Scott were furious, but given no time to recover.
Avery, who had privately questioned his sexuality but was publicly being bullied because of it, ended up in hospital from what looked like a drug overdose but turned out to be absolutely unknown (it was indeed a drug overdose). Ruth and Charlie panicked, not knowing what to do, and had to endure the rest of his issues and traumas and then the criminal trial Avery had to testify in, in 2004. Life was turmoil and chaos again. Newspapers began to focus on their family. Claire separated from John, only to reunite and then divorce a year later. Louise walked out on her family in 2007. Abby, her daughter, a teenager, became pregnant the same year. James, Claire's middle child, was kidnapped, then began a wild spree of sexual rebellion that only quieted when he began to date a young girl in 2007.
One thing after another until Charlie's mother came back with her husband's ghost. This was a world Ruth didn't understand, but even Charlie appeared clueless about why it had happened--and Isabella acted much the same. This event seemed to trigger Alice, and she often came to their home, acting a bit distant and confused. Ruth didn't know how to comfort her, but the direct confrontation with so much loss made Charlie realize that he would one day lose Ruth, and they began to have discussions about maybe having her live forever. Reluctant at first, she agreed only when Scott's wife also agreed in 2008. Seeing Isabella so miserable was enough.
Since then, Ruth has had to adjust to being young, and to having her husband's family exposed in an odd tabloid that claimed they were some sort of immortal creature or otherwise inhuman. The interest in them since that article was published has died down, as most people considered it a bit ridiculous, but there have been many people digging deeper, and wanting to do more damage. People who already know there are different species out there, or at least think they know, and want it substantiated.
But for the first months of 2009, life again became quiet. James finished his time at Eton and was accepted into Oxford. Avery moved out. Bess began to strike the attention of the Royal Ballet. Alice had a baby girl after her partner returned, and Ruth has occasionally debated having another child herself--but she doubts she'll try. The fear of another broken child is still as raw as the day Patrick was diagnosed.
