Favorite Queens of England/Britain

[Wannabestepfordwife]

I'm really interested in Queens of Britain and was wondering who is other peoples favorites

I personally love
The Empress Matilda- For her strength in fighting a civil war and securing her sons inheritance
Isabella of France- for the same reasons as above I just wish she hadn't let the power go to her head
Katherine of Valois- For marrying the man she loved and damn the consequences
Anne Boleyn- For the way she did things on her terms (I think of her as an original feminist)
Elizabeth I- For proving a woman can lead a country as strong as a man
Catherine of Braganza- for bringing the custom of drinking tea to England

Blimey, Carla, you know what I meant. Executed after only three years as queen.. Yeah; probably not overjoyed by that.

Pension from what I've read about Henrietta Maria I think she was pretty awful, had her attempts to interfere during Charles II's reign been successful the monarchy would not have survived. Unfortunately, like Mary I she couldn't see beyond her own fervent religious beliefs. Elizabeth I seemed to try and implement a less extreme religious settlement so I'd probably have her as one of my favourites.

There have certainly been some fascinating Queens and when they have been the primary ruler they seem on the whole to have done a better job and have proved more memorable than a lot of the men!

Well, I don't suppose that many monarchs (or commoners) were happy about how things panned out . how about Anne, dying of dropsy after miscarrying 17 times in as many years, or George III, or Henry VIII (everybody's favorite villain on here), living with a supporting sore in his old age.
Fwiw, I believe Anne had a fair go at things, and failed. That's life, or was in Tudor times.

"Dropsy" sounds like a rubbish thing to die of.

It doesn't sound dramatic or poetic.

It sounds like dying of being a bit poorly.

I also think that Elizabeth was a 'good' ruler, to a certain extent, but primarily because she was lucky in her advisors.
I can't think of any other independently-ruling queens that were outstanding

"Sweating sickness" is another one, Trills.

"Yeah, St Peter, I died of being a bit warm..."

At least consumption sounds ladylike.

Sweating sickness is interesting (see wolf hall last night) a disease that killed people within a day but was only around for 50 years before disappearing for good. How odd is that?

I read somewhere that Amne Boleyn might have been Rhesus positive. Hence the healthy first baby and subsequent miscarriages. She's still my favourite queen. I like Joanna Denny's revisionist bio of her.

It is interesting from a medical point of view, definitely! But still sounds rubbish.

Think you mean Rhesus negative for Anne, it's a good story. Given that she only had a few years in which to try, do we really need a medical explanation or do you think that her number of miscarriages/stillbirths was within the "normal" range?

I was looking at a family tree when I went home for Christmas and saw a family that had a little girl who died aged 6, and the next year they had another baby girl and gave her the same name.

That baby then died a year or so later. :(

It's all very sad, but made me think that in most cases we just don't pay attention to how many miscarriages/stillbirths/not-long-lived babies people had. (and this family was only in the 1800s, not the 1500s)

I think all of K of A's still born or short lived sons were called Henry.

I agree that Anne was possibly just in line with the times...

I suppose it could have been normal - as you say AB didn't have much time and must have been under a horrific amount of stress. However isn't Infant mortality which seems to have been the thing with K of A more in line with the times rather than miscarriage. Even in Victorian times 2 out of 5 infants wouldn't live to their 1st birthday.

Apparently girls had a better survival rate than boys. So boys were dressed the same as their sister s and 'breeched' i.e. put into male clothes when they looked like they would live. I was also surprised at the recycling of names. Just another case of the past is a different country I guess

I love reading about Anne Boleyn, I watched a documentary that explored the idea of her alleged adultery and ended up completely convinced she did nothing wrong.

Not sure so far about the actress playing her on Wolf Hall!

If Anne B hadn't come forward, we could have seen an inquisition here

How would that have come about then? (As it clearly hadn't in the 20 years Catherine and Henry were married, nor did it in her daughter's reign even though she married Philip of Spain.)

Yes, you're right about Katherine, but Mary did institute an Inquisition in england. It just wasn't very successful.

Joan There are quite a lot of articles online about it, I read a fantastic one written by an endocrinologist but I can't find it. This Hilary Mantle piece is quite good www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n04/hilary-mantel/royal-bodies

Her appearance being "goggle eyed"and having a lump on her neck (goitre) are symptomatic of untreated hyperthyrodism.

Anne's appearance declined ,she aged rapidly and lost weight, and her behaviour became more erratic after having Elizabeth. Pregnancy and the year after having a baby can trigger hyperthyrodism (it did with me). It can also cause miscarriages. However I am just theorising.

Carlajean I wrote Queens of England/Britain purely because I was too lazy to write Queens of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.

I personally find Marie de Guise fascinating and I know a few people with a soft spot for Mary Queen of Scots.

I was really impressed with Anne of cleaves who was able to navigate her way through a divorce and still remain on good terms with Henry v111 so much so he gave her the title of sister bit wierd but each to their own.

I'd go for Lady Jane Grey. Stitched up by Edward's will so she was queen whether she wanted it or not, and then tried for high treason as a result. Poor girl. She grew up local to us, so it's lovely to walk around the ruins of her house.

My favourite is Eleanor of Aquitaine, very impressive woman, one of most important in Middle Ages -married Louis II young king of France, had 2 daughters, went on 2nd crusade, divorced, took BACK dowry and married Henry ii, mother to Richard the lionheart and when she had enough of them all retired to Fontenvrault, led whole movement of romantic poetry...generally awesome!!

I like Eleanor of Acquitaine (sp?) Also Mary Queen of Scots though she definitely wasn't Queen of England or Britain! I think she did make some daft choices but didn't deserve the fate she suffered.

I came on to say Eleanor of Aquitaine for all the reasons above. When we drive through France, I always stop for a potter round Fontevrault Abbey or some of the castles in that area.

Elizabeth I for me. I think it's because my first memory of history as a child was reading about her.

I know this is a zombie thread but I always thought Mary queen of scots was good but I don't know if that is because she had a shit time near the end.

All of them! I have the Alison Weir book which lists all the monarchs and their offspring etc. the number of miscarriages, stillbirths and deaths of children at a very young age is quite terrible to read about. How did they endure all that misery and physical pain. You can bet that the absence of modern medicines and surgery resulted in most of tem having terrible gynaecological problems too. If their heirs did survive the first difficult years they quite often were killed or succumbed to other illnesses as young adults.