Queens of Britain Series: Mary Queen of Scots

Welcome to the Queens of Britain series. In 2024, the blog will spotlight the reigning queens from the island of Great Britain. Check back regularly to learn about the women who led their nations.

By François Clouet via Wikimedia Commons

Child kings are relatively common across European history. A couple of kings were proclaimed from the moment of their births. A child queen, like reigning queens in general, is something much more rare. The two most prominent, Mary Queen of Scots and Christina of Sweden, both led rather unusual lives and each made the decision to abdicate at a young age. (Read my post Abdicating Queens.)

The turbulent life and reign of Mary Queen of Scots reverberates through history and has generated an important segment of tourism across several areas of Scotland. If you can't find a walking tour or spot that references her, you probably never left your inn. For Mary, the tumult started before she was week old. In the space of just 44 years, she was orphaned, was queen regnant of Scotland, queen consort of France, thrice widowed, possibly raped, witnessed a dear friend's brutal murder, perhaps had a husband murdered, abdicated, abandoned her only child, and ultimately was executed by someone she hoped she could trust.

Let's start at the very beginning. The course of the Scottish monarchy was perhaps a touch more volatile than most monarchies of the pre-modern era. The nearly constant warfare often led to the early death of kings and accession of youngsters. Mary's father, King James V of Scotland, was the product of an attempt at peace between England and Scotland. His mother was Margaret Tudor, older sister of England's King Henry VIII. The peace was very short-lived. James ascended the throne at 17 months old when his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden. Like his uncle, he was something of a Renaissance man. Also like his uncle, he was not very successful at creating male heirs. His first wife, 16-year-old French princess Madeleine of Valois died within months of their wedding. A year later, he married another French princess Marie of Guise. Marie gave birth to two princes, James Duke of Rothesay and Robert Duke of Albany. However, the two boys died within 14 hours of each other when James 11 months old and Robert just nine days.

James and Marie were distraught but still young. The loss of infants was fairly common in those days. When Marie became pregnant again a year later, they likely thought this would be the first of several more children. James was away at war when Marie went into labor earlier than expected. Alas, he never even met her. He died following defeat at Solway Moss. Some say he suffered a nervous breakdown; others that he drank contaminated water. The outcome was the same: his six-day-old daughter was proclaimed the first-ever Queen of Scotland.

Named Mary for her mother, the infant queen was the center of conflict from the beginning. The struggle for control of baby Mary and the kingdom was primarily between the Catholic Cardinal Beaton and the Protestant Earl of Arran. Arran served as regent for most of Mary's childhood until her mother Marie of Guise was proclaimed regent 11 years later. By then, Mary was living in France being raised at the French court alongside her future husband, the Dauphin Francis.

The first suitor for Mary had actually been Uncle Henry VIII's much longed-for heir Edward. Despite a treaty stating that the two children would marry, Scotland was not keen on the idea, preferring to maintain its longstanding alliance with France against England. Once Henry became aware of their intent, he renewed English attacks on Scotland in what became known as the War of the Rough Wooing. He failed and five-year-old Mary sailed off to France with a retinue of four noble girls also named Mary. 

There, she was under the direct care of her future mother-in-law Catherine de Medici along with Catherine's 10 children. Like her Tudor cousins, Mary was red-haired. She grew to be nearly six foot tall. After 10 years in France, she and Francis were finally wed. The next year, his father died in a jousting accident and the Queen of Scotland was crowned Queen of France. Her double crown was to be short-lived. Francis died in the 17th month of his reign. 

By Francois Clouet in the Royal Collection

via Wikimedia Commons

At 18, Mary returned to Scotland as a widow. The country had changed during her absence. John Knox and the Protestants had gained tremendous power and did not welcome the return of a Catholic queen. With her mother's death the previous year, the young woman was left to navigate dangerous waters with few true allies. Her illegitimate half-brother James Earl of Moray was a Protestant leader at court and her chief advocate. Mary adopted tolerance toward Protestants despite her own staunch religious beliefs. This may have been because she did not have enough power to oppose the Protestants or it may have been because she had her eyes on another prize: England.

By now, the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I was firmly in control in England and she had been refusing to marry and beget her own heir. Catholics in England, who saw Elizabeth as illegitimate, already believed Mary was the rightful English queen. She definitely had genealogy in her favor: as the senior descendant of King Henry VIII's older sister, she had the strongest dynastic claim even though Margaret Tudor had surrendered accession rights for her descendants when she married into Scotland. With this close blood between them, Elizabeth was inclined to keep a close eye on Mary, who could pose a strong threat against her.

Unlike Elizabeth, Mary was eager to marry and have children. She was besieged by suitors but ultimately fell sway to the handsome and dashing Henry Stuart Lord Darnley. From the beginning, it was a dangerous liaison. Not only were both of them volatile; they both had claims to both thrones of England and Scotland. Henry's mother was the daughter of Margaret Tudor by a second marriage, making him the most senior male in line for the English crown. On his father's side, Henry was descended from King James II of Scotland. At the time of Mary's accession, there had been a small potential that the throne could have gone to Henry's father. The marriage greatly angered Elizabeth--to have two potential heirs marry each other added to the fact that they were both Catholic felt very dangerous to her. She had Henry's mother Margaret Douglas, who lived most of her life in England, arrested.

Initially, the couple seemed to be very passionate but it soured quickly. Darnley was ambitious and jealous. He wanted to control Mary and Scotland, but Mary refused to name him King. It took little to stoke his anger especially when he was drunk, which he often was. When rumors arose that Mary was having an affair with his former friend and confidante David Rizzio, Darnley was enraged. He ordered a raid on Mary's suite where her entourage, including Rizzio, were dining. Rizzio initially hid behind Mary, but he was dragged away and stabbed over 50 times. One of Darnley's co-conspirators held the queen at gunpoint during the attack. Mary was six months pregnant when she experienced this violence.

Mary officially accepted Darnley's protestations of innocence. Their son James was born but their marriage remained rocky. Divorce was discussed and the couple were separated. Aware that the Catholic Church would not grant a divorce without delegitimizing her son, Mary convinced Darnley to return to Edinburgh. He was staying at the other end of the town from her when his house suddenly exploded. His strangled body was later found outside. Many believed Mary had ordered his murder, just 11 months after Rizzio was slaughtered, but the evidence is impossible to know definitively, even today.

James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, was immediately suspected of leading the murder plot. An early supplicant for Mary's hand in marriage before she married Darnley, Bothwell pressed his suit harder now. He kidnapped Mary and raped her, forcing her to become his wife. Or so one version of the story goes. In another version, Mary had colluded with him all along and willingly joined forces with him to strengthen her position in the wake of Darnley's death. Whichever version is true, the newly married couple was quickly besieged by opposing lords. Within a couple of months, Mary was captured and imprisoned at Lochleven, where she miscarried twins. A month later, she was forced to abdicate in favor of her son, whom she would never see again. The new King James VI was 13 months old.

Bothwell fled to Denmark. Mary escaped Lochleven after a nearly a year and managed to raise an army but was defeated. In desperation, she made her way to England, intending to get her cousin Queen Elizabeth to help her recapture her throne. Elizabeth had no such intention.

Instead, Elizabeth kept her elegant confinement at various stately homes for the next 19 years, never deigning to meet her. She kept her spies busy making sure that Mary was not plotting against her until finally, at last, they had evidence of Mary consorting with Catholics to have Elizabeth assassinated. During her trial, Mary asserted that she was not subject to English judgement because she was a foreign Queen but her protestations fell on deaf ears, particularly since the evidence against her was damning. 

Mary was executed at Fotheringhay on February 7, 1587. Her beheading was one of the bloodiest on record, requiring three strikes to finish the deed. Altogether, Mary spent only 12 years in Scotland. Adding insult to injury, she was not returned to France as requested but was buried with Protestant rights at Peterborough Cathedral.

Nineteen years later, her son succeeded Elizabeth as King of England. Although he expressed little affection for the mother who had abandoned him and whom he had never known, he had her body moved to Westminster Abbey in London to be buried among the monarchs of England.  In the end, she did get the English throne for her descendants. Every British monarch since Elizabeth has been descended from Mary Queen of Scots.

QUEENS OF BRITAIN SERIES
Boudica, Queen of the Iceni 
Empress Matilda 
Margaret Maid of Norway 
Lady Jane Grey
Queen Mary I
Queen Elizabeth I
Mary Queen of Scots 
Queen Mary II - coming soon
Queen Anne - coming soon
Queen Victoria - coming soon
Queen Elizabeth II - coming soon

MORE ABOUT MARY
The Bloody Death of Mary Queen of Scots on Historic Environment Scotland
Encountering Mary Queen of Scots on University of St Andrews Special Collections
The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots on University of Oxford
In the Footsteps of Mary Queen of Scots on Tweed Valley Blogger
Mary Queen of Scots website
Mary Queen of Scots: Martyr, Monarch, Mystery on Scotland's Wild
Mary Queen of Scots: a Remarkable Life in History on Scotland's Wild
Murder Most Foul on Medieval Manuscripts
Principal Players: Influential and Detrimental People in the Life of Mary Queen of Scots on The Thistle & The Rose
The Tragedies of Mary Queen of Scots on Mercat Blog
What Did Mary Queen of Scots Really Look Like on Royalty Now

The Many Loves of Prince Eddy

Albert Victor of Wales Duke of Clarence by Alexander Bassano via Wikimedia Commons

Albert Victor of Wales Duke of Clarence

by Alexander Bassano via Wikimedia Commons

Rich. Handsome. Charming. Heir to the British Empire. Prince Albert Victor of Wales was the world's most eligible bachelor in the late 19th century. He appeared to have his pick of the royal brides across Europe. Nevertheless, when his grandmother Queen Victoria decided it was time for him to marry, the task took longer and caused more heartache than she could have imagined.

With nine children and dozens of grandchildren, Victoria relished her role as both matriarch and matchmaker. Feeling herself an expert on both duty and romance, she never hesitated to offer unsolicited advice to all of her offspring. Whether summoning them to join her at one of her many homes for in-person instruction or mailing them pages and pages of written expectations, she rarely hesitated to let them know what she thought they should do.

Victoria ultimately had grandchildren serving as monarchs or consorts in Germany, Greece, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The British throne, however, was obviously the most important to her. She had fretted over finding a successful match for her eldest son, Bertie, the future King Edward VII. His marriage to the beautiful and loving Princess Alexandra of Denmark might have been troubled by his infidelities, but Alexandra was a popular and gracious Princess of Wales and mother of six. She was barely 19 when she gave birth prematurely to Prince Albert Victor in 1864. He grew up in a rambunctious and close-knit family full of fun and hijinks thanks to his lively parents. 

As an eventual king, Albert Victor, called Eddy in the family, was subjected to the usual assortment of tutors expected to prepare him for the role. That's where the troubles began. Eddy was not only lethargic; he was not bright. At all. His little brother Georgie, 17 months younger was included in his studies. Moderately smarter and more attentive, Georgie did not inspire Eddy to greater academic achievements. The family decided the navy was the best solution. Both boys were sent to sea when Eddy was 13 and Georgie was 11. As teens, they were even sent on a five-continent tour around the globe. None of this really helped Eddy advance either. Six years later, the boys were finally separated. Eddy was sent to Cambridge University while Georgie remained in the navy. Eddy was excused from exams, but he did not excuse himself from the fun of student life during his two years at university. After that, he moved on to the army. He hated it, but he still had plenty of time for polo and socializing.

Grandmama Queen was not overly concerned with Eddy's lack of academic accomplishment preferring to focus on his kindness and charm. By now in his mid-20s, Eddy was gaining a reputation that was kept from Victoria. Not only had he likely already contracted a venereal disease and had been involved with "questionable" young women (two of whom committed suicide), but he was also implicated in the Cleveland Street scandal, an investigation into a male brothel that offered young boys for some highly placed London gentlemen. To be fair, the Prince was never officially investigated and to this day no direct proof has ever been produced. 

Eddy's father, himself no stranger to sexual scandals, was aware of the investigation. So, when Queen Victoria decided that the thing that would "make" Eddy was a wife, Bertie readily agreed. Eddy would need another paragon like his mother. The search for the ideal bride did not start far from home.

Alix of Hesse via Wikimedia Commons

Princess Alix of Hesse

Alix of Hesse was a favorite granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She was the youngest surviving child of Victoria and Albert's second daughter Princess Alice, who had died nursing her youngsters through diptheria when Alix was only six. (Read about this tragedy in my post The Kiss of Death.) Victoria appointed herself as a foster mother to her Hesse grandchildren, which included four girls and one boy. (Another little boy, who had hemophilia, had died in an accidental fall, and the youngest girl succumbed to diptheria a month before Alice.) Alix was considered to be one of the most beautiful princesses of the day. She was also sweet and quiet. Her first cousin Eddy, eight years her senior, found her to be lovely in every way. Everyone agreed that the 17-year-old would be a perfect future queen for Eddy. Well, almost everyone.

When marriage was suggested to Eddy, he immediately obliged by falling in love with darling Alix. Queen Victoria immediately invited the princess to join her for the summer in 1889. Eddy feared that their shared grandmother's interference might actually scare off Alix by placing too much emphasis on his future position. He wrote to Alix's brother-in-law Louis of Battenberg, "I will do all I can to persuade Alicky that I love her for herself."

Unfortunately for the lovesick Eddy, he had lost the race long before he got to the starting line. Alix had given her heart away when she was only 12 when she attended her sister Elizabeth's wedding to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia. Grandmama Queen had battled Elizabeth over her choice of groom, fearing that Russia was too unstable for her granddaughter. Sergei's father, Tsar Alexander II, had been assassinated the year before the wedding. She would have preferred Ella, as she was called, to have married her besotted cousin Wilhelm of Germany, another grandson who was a future monarch in need of a good wife to "make him" -- though for different reasons than Eddy. 

During the engagement and wedding celebrations, the very young Alix had met Sergei's sweet and quiet nephew, Nicholas, heir to the Russian autocracy. Nicky noticed Alix too. The 16-year-old was immediately in love. They were both far too young to make any commitments, but he did give her a bracelet and two began corresponding. Ella, once again defying Grandmama Queen, encouraged their puppy love. She took every opportunity to invite Alix to Russia and she gave Nicholas a small portrait of Alix with their brother.

Victoria could not have imagined that the one person most opposed to the proposed engagement with Eddy was Alix herself. Always sweet and demure, Alix proved stronger and more self-determined than Grandmama could have imagined. Not only did she firmly, but gently, decline the greatest position that could have been offered her as future Queen and Empress of the British Empire--breaking Eddy's heart in the process--she remained determined to marry Nicholas. It was a decision that would ultimately cost her her life along with the lives of the five children they had together. (See my post, The Last Romanov Ladies, Part I.)

Margaret of Prussia by Alexander Bassano via Wikimedia Commons

Margaret of Prussia

Heartbroken Eddy was sent off to India while Victoria reconsidered his options. Perhaps a less attractive cousin would not think so highly of herself and be more grateful for Grandmama's advice than the Hesse princesses. 

In May1890, Victoria rewarded Eddy with the title Duke of Clarence. She also rewarded him with the offer of new potential bride. She wrote to Eddy to extol the virtues of his Cousin Mossy, aka Princess Margaret of Prussia, youngest daughter of Victoria's firstborn child, Vicky Princess Royal. By this time, Vicky was the Dowager Empress of Germany, her beloved husband having died of cancer less than a year after inheriting the throne. At 18, Mossy knew her place in the pecking-order of princesses. She might be the daughter and sister of emperors, but she lacked the sparkling beauty that helped attract a good match. By the late 19th century, high status was no longer enough for a princess--treaties were not built on royal marriages any more. To put it simply, Mossy was mousy. 

Nevertheless, Mossy "had a great love of England," Victoria assured the new Duke of Clarence. Never one to mince her words, Victoria admitted that Mossy might not be "regularly pretty" but she had a nice a figure and was nice. 

Bertie approved. This time, however, Eddy was less obliging. He was not going to fall for the "nice personality" of Cousin Mossy. Fortunately for him, his mother Alexandra, who hated all things German, made sure to stop this latest proposed romance before Mossy even arrived in Britain.

Helene of Orleans via Wikimedia Commons

Helene of Orleans

In fact, Alexandra and her three daughters had already launched a plan of their own. Without telling the Queen, who had already voiced concerns about Princess Helene of Orleans, Eddy's oldest sister Louise invited the French princess to stay at her marital home just when Eddy was coming to visit. Tall and gorgeous, Helene was lively and spontaneous. She fit right in with the Wales family. As the daughter of a pretender to the French throne, 18-year-old Helene had been born in England but raised in France until her father was exiled once again in 1886. With her older sister Amelie already married to the heir to the Portuguese throne, Helene had good prospects on the international marriage market even if her family no longer had a throne.

With both mother's encouraging the couple, Eddy and Helene spent much of the summer of 1890 together at Louise's homes in England and in Scotland. Amidst the shooting parties, balls, and parties, the couple became very fond of each other. Eddy wrote his brother Georgie that Helene was "everything that is nice in a girl" and that "she really likes me." This was an exhilarating new feeling for Eddy. Where Alix had been shy and quiet, Helene was warm and reciprocal. He need not fear another rejection as she confidently declared that she had been in love with him for years. Soon the young couple exchanged engagement rings.

Now, how to tell Grandmama. Eddy's mother once again hatched a plan. She knew her mother-in-law very well. Underneath all of those imperial admonitions, beat the heart of a true romantic. Alexandra told the young couple to declare their love in front the Queen and fling themselves on her mercy. As soon as it could be arranged, the party from Louise's Scottish house paid a visit to the Queen at Balmoral. As their guests, they brought the Orleans princess and her family with them. That afternoon, as was her habit, Queen Victoria retired to her private sanctuary for a respite from a castle full of people. Soon, she had a message that her most important grandchild wished to see her. 

Eddy and Helene came in together hand in hand. With tears in their eyes, they declared their love for each other. Beautiful Helene begged for the Queen's blessing, "Oh! Do help please do!" Eddy added his own plea, promising to be "grateful to you to the end of my life." 

Victoria was moved. Here, at last, was Prince Eddy showing initiative and here was the young woman who had inspired him to do it. If Helene could achieve that, she must indeed be the right bride for the future king. When Victoria announced her consent, Alexandra feigned surprise at the impulsive couple, writing the Queen that the couple must have been more deeply attached than she could have imagined.

There was just one problem. A huge problem. The very reason Victoria had sought to prevent Eddy from ever thinking about Helene in the first place. The marriage was illegal.

Since 1689, Catholics had been barred from sitting on the British throne. In 1701, the Act of Settlement further confirmed that a British monarch could not be married to a Roman Catholic. Helene was Catholic. 

The answer seemed simple to Victoria, Eddy, Bertie and Alexandra: Helene must convert to the Church of England. Helene herself, after days of thought, had promised Eddy that she would before they declared themselves to the Queen. However, she neglected to consult her father, the Comte de Paris, on this point. Well aware of the concern, the Comte had already been seeking legal advice to try to work around this issue. His daughter's conversion was not an option that he would consider. The prospect of another daughter on another throne was no replacement for her eternal soul or for the loss of support from the Catholic community. Faced with no other alternative, the Comte pressured Helene to break her promise to Eddy.

Helene herself was troubled by her conscience. Would she truly be risking damnation for the sake of love? Unconvinced by her father and the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Helene sought out the highest authority. Chaperoned by friends of her parents, she undertook a personal pilgrimage to Rome and sought a private audience with Pope Leo XIII. Following that conversation in November, Helene wrote to Eddy to decline his marriage proposal.

Eddy declared that he would never love another woman. He even threatened to give up his right to the throne. For months, he anguished hoping that Helene would change her mind. Finally in May 1891, she wrote to consider the religious and political consequences they would face. Mature beyond her years, she advised him to "do your duty as an English prince and forget me." When Eddy appealed one last time to Queen Victoria to use her influence to change Helene's mind, Grandmama was saddened to break his heart one more time, telling him he "must have the courage to renounce the idea forever."

Mary of Teck from the Royal Collection via Wikimedia Commons

Mary of Teck

Despite Eddy's "violent" emotions over the loss of Helene, the search for his bride carried on without him. (Eddy fell in love again that summer with Lady Sybil St. Erskine, a match that never would have been considered for someone of his exalted status.) Bertie unsuccessfully suggested Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg, but that thought went nowhere. Victoria, for her part, went digging a little deeper in the cousin closet. If the decidedly plain Mossy would be appropriately grateful to wed a future King-Emperor, what about a princess who had no prospects whatsoever?

Victoria's first cousin, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, had a daughter who could fit that bill perfectly. Although Mary Adelaide was a granddaughter of King George III, she has married "beneath" herself. As handsome as he was poor by royal standards, Francis of Teck was the product of a morganatic marriage. His father, a scion of the royal House of Wurttemberg, had surrendered his rights to the throne in order to marry a mere countess. Francis had served well in the Imperial Austrian Army and had been granted the style of a Serene Highness before marrying a Royal Highness. Nevertheless, his family were largely dependent on the generosity of Queen Victoria providing them with homes free of rent while the British government gave Mary Adelaide a small annual income. The first of their four children and only daughter Princess Victoria Mary of Teck was born in Kensington Palace, in the very room where Queen Victoria had been born 48 years earlier. Calm, quiet, shy and always appropriate, the new little Princess was always called May.

The colorful, loud, and outgoing Mary Adelaide adored entertaining lavishly and generally living beyond her means--much like the Hanoverians who came before her and Victoria. She was nevertheless popular with the public who loved her personality and her sincere devotion to charitable causes. By the time May was 16, pressure from the creditors forced the Tecks to flee to the continent in some disgrace. After years of living abroad, they returned to Britain. 

The time in Europe had helped to expand May's cultural education. She remained devoted to the arts and to museums for the rest of her life. She also was fluent in German, French, and English. Though she was never considered a beauty, she had a fresh prettiness and slim figure. All of these fine qualities did little to attract a husband. To be fair, a couple of unattractive, low-status princes had made advances early on, but May had turned them down. Now, at the age of 24, the likelihood of her finding a marriage partner was almost zero.

Suddenly, however, the Tecks were invited to the Waleses at Sandringham early in 1891. Then, Queen Victoria requested May's photograph. Then, that fall, May and her oldest brother (without their parents) were invited to visit the Queen at Balmoral. No one really consulted Eddy or May, but behind the scenes Bertie, Victoria, and their staff were making arrangements. Victoria determined that May would make a "good sensible wife." She was not a beauty like Alix or Helene but she pretty with charming manners. Plus, she was more mature, more worldly and more steady. Most importantly, May had a great deference for the Crown. The Queen was assured that both Eddy and May would do as they were expected. 

Perhaps exhausted by the drama of his thwarted love matches, Eddy proposed to May in early December 1891 while both families were visiting a country house. The couple dutifully set for engagement portraits. By the time May returned to London, she was besieged by throngs of people longing to see the woman who had won the prince's heart. Newspapers around the world speculated on their romance. 

There was a whirlwind of preparations for an early spring wedding that preoccupied much of May's time. The couple and their families were often together over the holiday season. In fact, the Tecks were at Sandringham after the New Year when Eddy started feeling ill. Despite a flu epidemic, Eddy continued to participate in the lively outdoor activities that were always part of a Wales house party. Then, one day, he was too ill to go out. Doctors were called. The family and May attended his sick room but his flu worsened into pneumonia. The whole country was hushed as they awaited news of their bright young prince, praying for his recovery. May sat quietly beside him as he, in his delirium called out for Helene.  

On January 14, days before his 28th birthday and weeks before his wedding, Eddy was gone. May laid her planned bridal bouquet on his coffin and bid farewell to the man she did not love and the crowned future that had been hers for just a moment.

Sixteen months later she married a man she would love. Seventeen years after that, she would become Queen. (See my post, Royal Love Triangle: Eddy, Georgie and Mary)

Queens of Britain Series: Elizabeth I

Welcome to the Queens of Britain series. In 2024, the blog will spotlight the reigning queens from the island of Great Britain. Check back each month to learn about the women who led their nations.

Portrait after Levina Teerlinc at National Portrait
Gallery via Wikimedia Commons

For the last 400 years, Queen Elizabeth I has been celebrated as Gloriana and Good Queen Bess. Her comparatively placide 45-year reign followed the political and religious tumult of her father's and siblings' reigns and preceded the political and religious unrest of her Stuart successors, who would actually lose the monarchy within two generations.

The First Elizabethan Age was marked by England's rise as an empire, including the triumph over the Spanish Armada and a series of religious compromises that prevented the kind of warfare that continued to rock her contemporaries on the Continent. Brilliant at using diplomacy, symbolic artistic depiction, and the stagecraft of majestic pageantry, Elizabeth the real person is elusive. 

Her rise to the throne was rarely a certainty until the very moment of her succession. Her childhood and young adulthood consisted of cycles of abandonment and real danger. Throughout all of it, Elizabeth developed a level of cautious circumspection that neither of her parents ever displayed.

Born 10 months after her father King Henry VIII married his second wife Anne Boleyn was a cherished disappointment. Both parents adored her, but the fact that she was not a boy placed the couple in a precarious position. Henry had spent years attempting to annul his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon because he was convinced God was unhappy with that union. The evidence of God's disapproval was that he and Catherine had only a female child. The birth of another female child to his second wife was not what he expected. By the time Elizabeth was two, the second marriage had soured to the point that Henry was willing, nay eager, to believe trumped accusations of adultery. In a space of just 15 days, Anne was arrested, tried, and beheaded.

In the runup to Anne's execution, it was determined that she had bewitched the King and therefore their marriage was invalid. Like Catherine of Aragon's daughter Mary before her, Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. She was not yet three years old. Less than two weeks later, Henry married again to Jane Seymour, who presented him with the much-desired son before dying of childbed fever.

The young Elizabeth was raised by primarily by governesses and tutors while her father made his way through more wives. The central figure of her childhood was governess Kat Ashley, who remained a close friend and companion until her own death in 1565. The little girl has a very advanced education, especially for a girl, but the daughters of the Tudor Dynasty were all similarly learned. Elizabeth knew nine modern and ancient languages. By the end of her life, she may also have added the national languages of her kingdom to the list: Welsh, Irish, Cornish, and Scottish. 

Princess Elizabeth

presumably by William Scrots via Wikimedia Commons

Her father's final wife, Catherine Parr, sought to unite the royal children into a family. Both Mary and Elizabeth were welcomed under her care along with Jane Seymour's son Edward. When Henry VIII died a few years later in 1547 and young Edward became King, 13-year-old Elizabeth remained in Catherine's care at first, even after Catherine married Thomas Seymour. Thomas' attentions to the precocious and blossoming adolescent quickly grew to a state that we would call "inappropriate" today. He would come to her chamber in his nightclothes, frequently tickled her and slapped her playfully on her bottom. At first, Catherine would sanctioned and even joined in the horseplay, even holding Elizabeth down once while Thomas cut the young girl's dress to shreds. Once Catherine found the two in an embrace, her eyes were opened to the danger of the situation. Whether she blamed Thomas or Elizabeth is unknown, but it was Elizabeth who was sent away.

When Catherine died after childbirth a few months later, Kat Ashley suggested Elizabeth might marry Thomas herself. Elizabeth declared that she would not. It was not long until Thomas, who schemed to take control of his nephew King Edward's governance, found himself without a head.

Elizabeth lived with her own household at Hatfield House for the rest of her Protestant brother's reign and through the turbulent nine days of her cousin Lady Jane's brief stint on the throne. When her older half-sister Mary reasserted her right to the throne, Elizabeth rode into London at her side. 

Not surprisingly, their unity was short-lived. Always cautious, the Protestant Elizabeth conformed to Mary's demands that she worship as a Catholic. However, the English people had grown increasingly Protestant. As Mary began persecuting Protestants and married the Catholic King Philip II of Spain, her opponents focused on Elizabeth. This placed the young woman in danger. Mary could not trust her. After Wyatt's rebellion in 1554, Mary imprisoned her innocent half-sister first in the Tower of London and then in Woodstock. With no evidence against her, Elizabeth was granted mercy and recalled to court to witness the birth of Mary's first child in 1555. This was the first of two false pregnancies for Mary, who died in November 1558 after naming Elizabeth her heir.

The 25-year-old Queen Elizabeth showed wisdom beyond her years. In one of her first acts, she signaled her intention to put aside religious persecutions. Officially Protestant, she mixed a bit of Catholicism into her personal religious observations. Most importantly, however, she saw the futility and high cost of religious strife. 

The next greatest question of Elizabeth's reign was whom she would marry. It was almost inconceivable that a woman would remain single or that she would attempt to rule without a husband. Her two immediate predecessors were both married. It is hard to know Elizabeth's true intentions but she used the possibility of her marriage as a lynchpin in her governance and her foreign policy. She would string along potential suitors in negotiations, sometimes for years. The one man she might have married was her longtime friend Robert Dudley, whom she is thought to have loved. However, his first wife's death under mysterious circumstances -- some even accused Elizabeth of having her murdered -- made the choice too politically controversial. Nevertheless, she prevented him from remarrying for years. When she discovered he had secretly married Lettice Knollys, she was enraged. She never forgave Lettice, but she remained fond of Robert, whom she had created Earl of Leicester.

On the foreign marriage mart, she turned down a proposal from Mary's widower but held out her potential hand to the King of Sweden, the King of Denmark, an Austrian archduke, the future King of France, and that French king's younger brother. The last of these, Francois Duke of Anjou might have been the most serious. Elizabeth was already in her 40s at this point and the duke was two decades younger. It is unlikely that creating an heir featured much in her decision-making. 

By Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger
via Wikimedia Commons

In 1563, after Elizabeth suffered a serious bout of smallpox that left her scarred and might have killed her, Parliament pushed her to name an heir. She steadfastly refused to do so and attempted to exert strong amount of control over any cousins who might potentially succeed her, including the reigning Queen of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots. When Mary abdicated her own throne and fled to England seeking Elizabeth's protection, Elizabeth had her kept under house arrest and later, with good cause, accused her of treason and had her executed. (See my post Killing Queens: A Bloody Tudor Heritage)

Instead, Elizabeth came to be celebrated as The Virgin Queen, whether technically true or not. She also gained the nickname Gloriana, in her later reign, as England began to exert its place around the expanding globe. Spain had dominated the expansion of overseas territories for most of the first century after the Spanish monarch's sponsored the voyages of Christopher Columbus. The riches they brought back from the New World had made Spain a formidable power. Elizabeth authorized privateers to harass the Spanish ships and redirect their wealth into her coffers. In 1588, Elizabeth's former brother-in-law King Philip set out to use his power to bring England to its knees. A bit of bad weather helped the English defeat the large Spanish Armada. 

This pivotal moment in history helped set England on the path to becoming the British Empire, upon which the sun never set. Under Elizabeth, the first English colonies were established in Virginia, named in honor of the Virgin Queen. The creation of the East India Company also spurred more English exploration and trade across Asia. 

Back home, the relative stability and increasing wealth of the nation helped to spur a great cultural revival. Poets and playwrights abounded. Spenser, Marlowe, and Shakespeare all rose to prominence.

Elizabeth's 44-year reign was the third longest up to that point in history. Basking in the praise of her courtiers and the strength of her political power, she continued to refuse to name an heir almost to the very last moment. It was only after her advisor Robert Burghley persuaded King James VI of Scotland to appeal to Elizabeth's vanity that she finally agreed for James to be her successor. James was Mary Queen of Scots son and a grandson of her aunt Margaret Tudor, who had married King James V of Scotland. 

The Tudor dynasty that had gained the throne through violence and bloodshed in 1485 ended in 1603 with a peaceful transfer of power to the king of an enemy nation. Finally, the crowns of England and Scotland were on the head of a single monarch. Amazingly, it was an achievement gained not by war nor by marriage, but by one woman's steadfast refusal to marry and her ability to build a nation that was both rich and powerful. 

QUEENS OF BRITAIN SERIES
Boudica, Queen of the Iceni 
Empress Matilda 
Margaret Maid of Norway 
Lady Jane Grey
Queen Mary I
Queen Elizabeth I
Mary Queen of Scots 
Queen Mary II - coming soon
Queen Anne - coming soon
Queen Victoria - coming soon
Queen Elizabeth II - coming soon

MORE ABOUT ELIZABETH
Elizabeth I on British Monarchy
Queen Elizabeth I Facts and Myths on Royal Museums Greenwich
Why Was Queen Elizabeth I So Important? on English Heritage