dowager

Playing an acid-tongue dowager or master teacher of witchcraft came naturally to her, but what thrilled her about acting was its transformative freedom.

Previous generations freely shared lilac slips with friends and neighbors, producing purple threads of sweetly scented dowager shrubs up and down the street.

There were pompous society dowagers with melting faces, young beauties with speckled dresses, unexpected sphinxes and nature spirits.

She accelerates those winds by outsmarting the dowager princess and planning a ball featuring Black and white members of society mixing, something previously unheard of until Charlotte's arrival.

Widows of British kings are called “dowager queens,” or, if their children accede to the throne, “queen mother.”