The Team at Shangers Castle

Igor the Chef The Teaopolis jester who bakes brilliant cakes

Igor the Chef , a larger than life character, has a marvelous capacity for making people laugh. Bridget found the inspiration for Igor from her loving husband, Hans Wassermann. Hans was from Bavaria and moved to New York in the early part of the 20th Century where he lived in a mixed community with immigrants from all over Europe. This undoubtedly had an effect on Igor's accent which people had difficulty identifying. Hans played on this and exaggerated his accent, which became one of his trademarks for humor and the language games he played in the kitchen and grocery store.

It follows that a big part of Igor's personality is centered around his use of language and the way he purposely mixes up words. Add to this his great skill as a chef, and this makes him one of the VIPs on the Island of Teaopolis.

Watch out for Igor's very own TV cookery series - some of his special teatime recipes will soon be published.

Lady Rose de Biscuit An au pair who assists the Duchess of Shangers and helps her look after the children

Lady Rose de Biscuit first came to Shangers Castle as an au pair helping the Duchess. Bridget Kelly had never heard of the term au pair until her grandniece Audrey Lowe , granddaughter of Bridget's sister Rose, spent time working as an au pair in Paris. Audrey, born in 1945 , was a great traveler and as well as her time in France had also visited Hans Wassermann's family in Bavaria. Then in the mid-60s Audrey spent a summer with Bridget in Louisville, at a time when Bridget was enjoying telling her American-born grandchildren the stories of Princess Teana and Teaopolis .

Bridget found the notion of an au pair fascinating. A young person, usually a girl, of between the ages of 17 and 21, who spends three or six months in a foreign country living with a host family and helping with light household duties and looking after the children. The spirit of adventure, leaving home for the first time, gaining independence and learning a foreign language, all greatly appealed to Bridget Kelly. And so it was from Audrey's stories of her travels that the character of Lady Rose de Biscuit was formed. Lady Rose is a very organized person, caring to children and all those who need a little extra help.

In the Teaopolis stories Lady Rose graduates from being an au pair to the role of governess and assistant to the Duchess of Shangers. She speaks several languages, and to new generations of young people represents a get-up-and-go attitude for aspiring globetrotters from all over the world. Traditionally, au pairs would tend to spend time with families in larger towns and cities where there are language schools and plenty of social activities. Au pairs usually find a favorite café where they congregate for tea and conversation, exchanging all the tidbits of family life and experiences gained in a foreign land. Taking tea with a group of au pairs and hearing all their anecdotes would certainly be an eye-opener for most of us! And our own Lady Rose has no shortage of stories from all her travels which eventually led her to Shangers Castle.

Benjamin the Butler A sticker for teatime etiquette

When Bridget Kelly's nephew Benjamin followed in his aunt's footsteps and emigrated to America, little did he know that one day he would end up as the fictional butler in Bridget's teatime stories of life at Shangers Castle . Benjamin Kelly did indeed work as a butler in Louisville, Kentucky, before opening his own tea business in Jacksonville, Florida. Our truly fictional butler in the stories from Teaopolis is a real stickler for the traditions of teatime , the etiquette of how one should behave at afternoon tea, and the protocol of planning for important visitors such as Casey Jones, Merlin the Magician, Little Red Riding Hood and the Incredible Snowman.

Benjamin has a great collection of spooky ghost stories . Think of all the millions of tea drinkers from times gone by who, when they fancy a cup of tea, rattle their bones at Shangers Castle.
If you'd like to book Benjamin the Butler for a Halloween party, you'll have to wait for years!

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