Best monarch ever? Who would be your choice?

[Papyrophile]

Nominating Henry VII, the first Tudor. Sorted taxation, prohibited private armies. Created peace.

None of them. I’ll have respect for the one who abdicates and gets rid of the whole system while he/she is at it.

Erm ... except for that bit where she had lots of Catholics executed, sometimes in agonisingly painful ways, right?

Elizabeth I. I am a pragmatist myself and she balanced the two opposing sides brilliantly. And love that she was a woman in power.

You can’t judge historical figures by today’s standards.

Solomon.

I don't like how Henry VII treated Catherine of Aragon. Though I do see he was politically pretty sound and not a terrible person.

I do feel terribly sorry for Queen Anne.

It's hard, isn't it, because all monarchs have a nasty side, it comes with the job.

I would like to have seen the alternate universe where Mary I became queen without all the nonsense around Henry divorcing Catherine and treating his oldest daughter as a bastard ... I'd like to think she might have been an interesting queen if she hadn't had such a terrifying life up until then.

Funny question. I realise now that my understanding is so influenced by Shakespeare that I could barely give a sensible answer. James IV maybe.

Worldwide it’s hard to top Ferdinand & Isabella I’d say. Completing the reconquest of Spain while discovering the Americas (in the same year no less) is pretty much unmatchable.

@SarahAndQuack if it hadn't been for all the nonsense , then Mary might well have been married young enough to have had teenage children by the time That Bastard Henry VIII died. Quite a different proposition if she'd had a 15 year old Prince Henry skulking about the butts, learning kingly virtues.

Such a strange thought, isn't it?! We'd all be going on about what a lovely benign grandfather Henry VIII was, and how beautifully he and dear Thomas More ushered in a new age of respect for women.

Oh well.

Elizabeth I

I nominate Queen Camilla. I like them when they're seen and not heard.

She could handle herself, to be fair!

I took part in a tournament last year on The History of England Podcast’s Facebook page to decide England’s greatest ruler. It ended with Elizabeth I as the winner
davemcmahon.co.uk/2026/01/17/who-was-englands-greatest-rulerthe-final-result/?fbclid=IwY2xjawPbBzxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBjNENjaEpTcmRGR1RaZVFHc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHnNt0J72eOHazZvoxyCpEaU2ZPG3qvwiqwlOZb881ELw2vrDVpbE9coBWpUI_aem_aKidJ3sQJ5je8cCZj4VVfQ

Well anyone who has an obviously favourite child isn’t much of a person.

The widespread appreciation and enthusiasm for Henry VII has surprised me. Compared to some others, history treats him as a minor figure.

Overseas, I'd have to agree with Ferdinand and Isabella.

On the other side of the story, nominations for the worst?

Can I say Charles I first? For the Civil War... Although there were some right rotters, and there were earlier civil wars.

What a fantastic question! I struggle to answer, because it would depend on the criteria - particularly as monarchs had far more power back in the pre-Civil War days.

Or do we just go for entertainment value?! On that basis, I'm going to go for Edward VII...... survived years being sniped at by his sainted mother who blamed him for his father's death & didn't give him anything to do. He presided over the beautiful and fun Edwardian era and spruced up Buckingham Palace. More seriously, he proved to be quite a good diplomat and was the driving force behind the Entente Cordiale.
Yes, he was an unimpressive husband and a glutton, but you've got to have a soft spot for someone who knew how to really enjoy himself 🤣

I’ll raise my glass to the king over the water.

Bit popish, no ?

I agree with @SarahAndQuack and @SheilaFentiman that I’d like to have seen what happened if Mary ascended the throne after Henry VIII died a glamorous death in a jousting accident early in, say, 1530? Mary at 14 would have had Queen Catherine as Regent. Philip II would have been a small child - I guess they could have been betrothed and Mary could once again have stayed in England waiting for him to grow up. But intriguingly at that precise point Francis I was an eligible widower. Surely it would have made sense for Mary to at least negotiate an alliance with France? Another option - William of the Netherlands, also conveniently widowed just then - religious difference, but without this being so much of an issue in England at the time maybe this would have been a good option? The Pope would have wanted Mary to influence William back towards her faith, and William seems to have been spectacularly fertile? We could have had a big clutch of tall well educated Catholic Orange/Tudors ruling for the next 200 years - maybe they would have been intelligent enough to avoid a Civil War, though no doubt the Divine Right of Kings would still have been a fulcrum issue?

George VI. He was never destined to be king, but had to pick up the job when Edward VIII abdicated.

Oh I’ll have a listen to that. The name alone is great!

I was going to say Henry II also.

None.

Another vote for Elizabeth I. She is one of my greatest heroines. A pragmatist in religion and in love. She was certainly no virgin and led her suitors a merry dance.

Also Catherine de Medici queen mother of France, who was Elizabeth's contemporary. Despised and ignored because her hurband loved Diane de Poitiers she rose to a position of great power and influence after his death and ruled through her sons. A truly smart operator
er.

‘Certainly no virgin’

A very big statement Friendly. What makes you certain about that?

Henry VII - ended Wars of Roses (you can't blame him for Pretenders prolonging it for another two years), left country stable - in CREDIT (which no other monarch ever did) and with an 18 year old male heir.

Elizabeth was useless - but excellent at propaganda. She was dithery, indecisive, made no financial efforts to help the country except for being personally tight with money and arguably led to Civil War by allowing the puritan choir far too much leeway, and the monarch not enough money to live on. Spent an expensive and pointless 20 years at war with Spain.