NE W
Discover britain’s heroes & villains
Book of
BRITISH ROYALS
SIXth edition
Digital Edition
Trace the turbulent history of Britain's monarchy from 1066 to the present day
William I
King John
Mary I
James I
Elizabeth II
96
British Royals
Contents 8 T he birth of the British monarchy How the union of England and
Scotland shaped the monarchy
12 William I The famous conqueror, and the story of his momentous reign
16 William II
Discover the story of this hardhearted soldier-king
18 Henry I A king who was keen to rule 20 King Stephen The unfortunate king’s history of usurpation and civil war
22 Henry II K icking off the Plantagenet dynasty with style
24 Richard I
The tale of Lionheart’s reign
finally cemented Henry’s reign
54 H enry V
Why the Battle of Agincourt was a defining moment for this king
60 Henry VI A shy, charitable king, who was never destined for greatness
66 Edward V
A ‘Prince in the Tower’ whose fate has never been discovered
68 Richard III A notoriously ruthless king, and the last of the Plantagenets
74 Henry VII
Bosworth’s victor, Henry laid the foundations of the Tudor dynasty
38 Henry III
88 Edward VI
40 Edward I A tale of conquest that led to the
90 Lady Jane Grey The tragic tale of the young
42 Edward II
92 Mary I
44 Edward III
96 Elizabeth I
46 Richard II
106 James I
consolidation of democracy
One of history’s most unpopular kings, and his murderous end
A mightily successful ruler and military leader
Immortalised by Shakespeare, but consumed by revenge
32
who began the War of the Roses
80 Henry VIII The tale of a warrior king with a
A boy-king who grew into one of the longest-reigning monarchs
18
64 Edward IV Stylish and promiscuous, the king
32 King John The controversial king with a
strong legacy – the Magna Carta
6
52 H enry IV H ow the Battle of Shrewsbury
bone to pick with the church
Henry VIII’s precious only son, who died all too early
queen of just nine days
How the first Tudor queen gained her ‘Bloody Mary’ moniker
A turbulent reign from one of history’s great women
The King of England and Scotland, subject to a failed murder attempt
146 68
118
Contents
170
136 George III
A British-born patriot with good intentions, but poor results
140 George IV
How ‘Georgie Porgie’ followed the tumultuous reign of his king father
112 Charles I How the first king to be convicted 144 William IV of treason met his end T he true rebel king of Britain’s history, and his fascinating story 116 Charles II A controversial ruler with 146 Queen Victoria mistresses and disastrous wars The fearsome queen who consolidated the Empire 118 James II T he ruler whose beliefs meant he 154 Edward VII was ousted by his own family V ictoria may not have approved of him, but the population did 120 William III & Mary II 156 George V The dynamic duo who took the A monarch whose reign was throne from the Catholic king
124 Queen Anne A queen who longed for power beyond her own capability
128 George I The king that couldn’t speak
English and warred with the Scots
132 George II Disliked by his family, George II
sought approval from the people
defined by the conflict of WWI
162 Edward VIII The king known better for his
abdication than his short reign
166 George VI A king who famously conquered problems with speech
170 Elizabeth II The current monarch, whose
reign has been record-breaking
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British Royals
1189-1199
Richard I Born to royalty but educated in the charnel gutter of war, Richard embodied the religious fanaticism in his quest to claim the fabled Holy Land
F
They call this one, this man-mountain stepping or almost a year the mighty city of Acre held off his ship onto the dusty dry shore, the Lionheart, firm. Despite wave after wave of Christian and he is here to kill them all in the name of his knights pouring all their religious fervour and god and glory. The passage had been long and military might into its ancient walls, it had painful, featuring storms, shipwrecks and a mad held back the tide and somehow halted the despot who threatened to derail the Third Crusade progress of the foreign hordes that now threatened before it had even begun. No matter, King Richard to overrun the entire Near East. the Lionheart and his army had survived More and more men came; the attacks the trip across the Mediterranean Sea were relentless. When the first army and reached the Holy Land. After had been held at bay, the city’s Despite being months of pursuit and planning, inhabitants thought they were King of England, they were primed to fulfil their safe, that the invasion was mission, Richard’s mission, defeated. However, then yet it’s thought that God’s mission, to take the Holy another army landed and the Richard didn’t speak Land and cut a path to the city’s main artery, its port, was English, and only holiest of all cities, Jerusalem. taken. The city’s defences were spent six months in To the disgrace of all of tested once more, with an even Christendom, Jesus’s city had more ferocious attack battering his nation fallen four years previous to the at the doors and calling for blood. Saracen Ayyubid hordes, which was Luckily for those within, once more now not only ruled by Christianity’s archthe city held off the mass of warriors, its nemesis Saladin, but also defiled by their very infidel leaders repelled. Then, with the new year’s sailing season, another presence within its hallowed walls. The city, which had been safely held in Christian hands for almost invader arrived by sea with a fresh bloodthirsty 100 years since the First Crusade had established army. He was followed in May by yet another, with the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1099, had been tens of thousands of soldiers joining the infidels’ ordered to be retaken by none other than the Pope camp outside the walls, swelling their numbers. in Rome. Richard, a devout and deeply religious They attacked again and the losses on both sides king, had heeded the call. Here he now stood, were massive. The lack of food and supplies ready to do his duty to the one true god. in the city, and the spread of disease Conquering Acre was merely the first within the invaders’ camp drove step in wrestling Jerusalem from both sets of warriors to extremes, Saladin’s grip. stoking the fires of faith that lay After a particularly So far the city’s capture and within their hearts to pursue wider crusade had been in the bolder acts of violence. fantastic feast, Richard hands of a number of other Today is the eighth day of impulsively knighted leaders. These included Guy June 1191 and, as Acre slowly his cook of Lusignan – a proud Poitevin suffocates in the oppressive knight and the supposed rightful heat of the Levant’s summer king of Jerusalem through his months, yet another fleet is marriage to Sibylla of Jerusalem – landing in the city’s once-prosperous and King Philip II of France, who had port, this time with one of the biggest helped raise the ‘Saladin tithe’ to pay for the forces the city has ever seen. If the ruler of crusade. The Duke of Austria, Leopold V, had Acre, the great Saladin, doesn’t send meaningful overall command of the imperial forces. There had reinforcements soon, the city will fall and the gates been yet more leaders at the siege’s instigation to the Holy Land will be wrenched open.
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Richard I
Richard the Lionheart
English, 1157-1199 King of England from the 6 July 1189 until his death, Richard I was the third of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. At 16, Richard took control of his own army and thanks to a series of victories over rebels threatening his father’s throne, developed a reputation as a great military leader. Following his father’s death and his own coronation he launched the Third Crusade.
Brief Bio
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British Royals
Royalists
Troops 14,000 Infantry 12,000 Archers 2,000
01 Spies observe Hotspur at Berwick Field
Hotspur based his army on a low hill in a predominantly open area sown with peas. The pea stems were wound together in order to trip up advancing horses and men. 01
02 The king marches
Henry and his army marched in formation, divided into two battalions: the vanguard (including the archers) were led by the Earl of Stafford, with the king in charge of the main army, and his son Prince Henry joining with another force from the south.
03 Final attempts at negotiations Henry IV of England Leader
Having usurped Richard II as king of England, Shrewsbury would prove to be the biggest challenge to his rule. Strengths Strong and capable. Weakness Unable to mobilise as many men as he’d have liked.
Disguised knight Key unit
One of Henry’s strategies was an attempt to focus enemy attention elsewhere, prompting him to disguise two knights as him. Strengths An effective decoy for the king. Weakness Only effective as long as they’re alive; potential for enemy to see through the ruse quickly.
Henry offered the rebels a chance at safe conduct if they could work things out, but the Earl of Worcester, sent in Hotspur’s stead, refused to negotiate.
Key weapon
The standard weapon for the royal infantry, it was interchangeable with other pole-type weapons, like bills or daggers. Strengths Highly versatile. Weakness Required high amounts of skill to wield effectively.
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02
04 Initial assault
The Stafford-led Royal vanguard led the assault. Despite incurring heavy casualties from the rebel archers, the vanguard managed to engage them in contact after the archers ran out of arrows, thus sapping their strength. Regardless, the king’s men were beaten back and retreated, with Stafford being killed in the process.
05 Henry attacks
Sword
06
With much of the vanguard either killed or deserted and the rebel forces pressing the attack, it fell to Henry to lead the assault. On his mark, his trumpeters gave the signal for the main bulk of his army to charge, with Henry leading the assault, meeting the rebel forces at the bottom of the slope. The fighting here was especially fierce, with the king being the main target of the rebels’ attacks.
attacks 06 Prince on flank
At the same time as the main assault, the king ordered Prince Henry to attack Hotspur’s army on the flanks in order to divert the destructive archers from the main force. The attack went well, weakening Henry’s forces and decimating the archers. However, the prince was grievously injured when an enemy arrow struck him in the face and penetrated his skull just below his visor, although he would ultimately recover from this wound.
Henry IV
10
Rebels retreat
Leaderless and conscious of the lack of mercy they would receive in a land in which they were now defeated traitors, the rebel forces fled, with the wounded left behind being dispatched by the royalist forces.
10
07 08 09 05
09 Hotspur killed
Although they mowed down many men, Hotspur’s charge was gradually slowed among the masses, and he was cut down from his horse and killed. The rebels initially thought they’d killed the king after slaying his standard bearer, but Henry revealed himself to proclaim that “Harry Percy is dead.”
Rebels
Troops 14,000 Infantry 13,000 Archers 1,000
Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy Leader
The primary leader of the rebel forces, Hotspur led his forces into battle against the king. Strengths Well-trained archers. Weakness Lacking expected support from Glendower and Northumberland.
04 03
Archers Key Unit
Hotspur charges towards the king
With his forces rapidly diminishing and archers faltering under the two-pronged assault from the royalist forces, Hotspur decided that desperate times called for desperate measures. After gathering 30 of his most trusted men, including the Earl of Douglas and his uncle, the Earl of Worcester, they mounted their horses and charged directly at Henry’s men, with the aim of cutting the king himself down.
In the nick of time, Henry’s close ally, the Earl of Dunbar, realised what was about to happen. Subsequently, he shouted at the king to fall back, which he did, in the process narrowly avoiding being caught up and killed in the inexorable charge of Hotspur and his men.
Bow and arrow Key weapon
A weapon that has lived on in folklore, at short range arrows could penetrate armour, and had a killing range of about half a mile. Strengths Long range and difficult to defend against. Weakness Requires large supply of arrows.
© Alamy; Sayo Studio; Look and Learn
07
08 Dunbar orders king to fall back
Large quantities of archers comprised both forces, but it was arguably Hotspur who used his to the most effect. Strengths Devastating in their large numbers. Weakness Vulnerable once arrows have been used up.
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British Royals
Battle of the Spurs 16 August 1513
The Battle of the Spurs was so named for the speed with which the French cavalry fled
Henry and his English forces had been laying siege to the town of Thérouanne since July 1513. Following the embarrassment at Gascony, he had finally arrived in France to lead his army to great conquest. He camped close, but not too close to the city, and laid siege. A stalemate ensued until French action on 16 August tipped the scales. The French forces had seen Maximilian’s Holy Roman Army join Henry’s and decided that the time had come to attempt a counterattack. On the morning of 16 August, French light cavalry, a few thousand strong,
Westminster on 30 April 1527 was a sign that his mind was elsewhere. Henry was desperate to be separated from Catherine and marry Anne Boleyn. He had no interest in a divorce and instead wanted to prove that it had been illegal to marry his brother’s widow. This would soothe the good Catholic in him, but it set him against Charles V, who was appalled by what the accusation said about his aunt, Catherine. However, circumstances were not in Henry’s favour; Charles had attacked Rome in retaliation for the League’s advances. Pope Clement VII was now his prisoner and Catherine’s nephew made his influence felt. Clement gained his freedom in December, but the emperor had no interest in peace talks with the League. Once again, Charles had frustrated Henry’s plans and he declared war with the Holy Roman Emperor in January. However, England lacked the finances to do any more than declare itself at war; it’s unlikely that this worried Charles too much. The situation in Europe finally resolved itself in 1529 with the Treaty of Cambrai. However, Henry’s determination
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attacked the invaders’ positions. However, word had reached the Holy League’s camp of the planned attack and a trap had been prepared, leading to a brutal skirmish. It was an attack that was ultimately doomed to fail, with Henry and Maximilian’s combined forces coming to roughly 30,000 men. The speed with which the surviving French rode away led to the name of the battle. It was not a significant military victory in any other term than morale. Henry had been looking for a victory to claim in France, and this encounter was the first real
battle of his campaign. He celebrated it but the actual gains from the Battle of the Spurs and the subsequent fall of Thérouanne would impress nothing but his ego. At great financial expense, Henry’s dreams of Agincourt came a little closer.
Verdict
The victory at the Battle of the Spurs did more for Henry’s ego than it did for the outcome of his campaign, essentially proving to be an incredibly expensive display.
“ Overjoyed at having the queen he lusted after, Henry realised that a Europe united against him was dangerous” to end his marriage had made enemies out of his old allies. Francis offered to plead his case to the new Pope Clement, but he was more concerned with cementing his own alliance with the Holy See. Anne Boleyn’s pregnancy pushed Henry into taking decisive action and his marriage to Catherine was annulled by Thomas Cranmer in 1533. In the eyes of the English court, his secret marriage to Anne was now completely legal. Finally, Henry was recognised as Head of the Church and abolished the right of Appeal to Rome. England was no longer Catholic and the pope had no more influence over the king. Although he was overjoyed at finally having the queen he lusted after, Henry realised that a Europe united against him was a dangerous prospect
indeed. He tried to take advantage of the frequent arguments between Charles and Francis, but in 1538 the excommunication order for Henry was finally delivered and the pope declared that the Vatican would support anyone who deposed the English king; his death was something God would turn a blind eye to. Luckily for Henry, Charles was busy with the Ottoman Empire and, if Francis planned to attack England, he had no intention of doing so alone. Henry knew that the differences between Francis and Charles would prevent them from ever remaining allies for long. He just had to be patient. Finally, in 1542, they declared war and Henry could return to the battlefield. By this point Henry was obese, sickly and prone to violent rages. The war gave him a sense of
Henry VIII
The Siege of Boulogne 19 July – 18 September 1544
into months. Henry wrote to his wife (number six, Catherine Parr) praising the strength of his opponents, but it was only a matter of time before the French were forced to surrender, which they did after Henry’s forces tunnelled beneath the walls. However, Henry’s triumph would be short-lived. He learned that Charles, fearful of the Ottoman threat and caring little about Henry’s personal ambition, had made his own peace treaty with France without England. Henry returned home to attend to Scotland, leaving Boulogne occupied, and Francis began preparations for a counterattack.
Verdict
Henry may have taken the city, but the financial cost was enormous. Although Charles’s treaty led to threats of a French invasion, Francis’s attempts ultimately failed.
purpose and Charles was finally back on his side. For all their past differences, now there were no personal reasons why Henry and Charles could not resume their alliance. Catherine of Aragon had passed away and, by executing Anne Boleyn, Henry had removed the insult to Charles’ honour. Across the Channel, Francis wasn’t sitting idly by and he knew how to keep Henry distracted. Scotland had proved to be a continual thorn in Henry’s paw during his attempts to invade France, attacking every time his attention was focused across the Channel. Having hoped that James V would be a more amenable ally than his predecessor, Henry was livid when Scotland refused to follow him in separating from Rome. When James did not appear at the diplomatic talks at York in 1541, outright conflict followed. Following a minor Scottish victory at the Battle of Haddon Rig in 1542, the two armies met at Solway Moss. In a brutal echo of Flodden Field, the Scottish army suffered a humiliating defeat. James V died of fever about two weeks later and Henry, once again buoyed by such a decisive victory, turned his attention to France. Henry was taking no half measures and invaded France on two fronts. Stretching his finances as far as they would go, he sent troops to Montreuil under the Duke of Norfolk, while another force attacked Boulogne under the Duke of Suffolk. While Norfolk failed, Suffolk succeeded. Henry himself arrived to take charge of the siege which lasted from July until September when the city fell. He basked in the glory of a French city claimed, but his elation was short-lived. Henry was forced to turn his attention back to Scotland, where a rebellion had sprung up. His retaliation was so brutal that it became known as the ‘Rough Wooing’.
The Rough Wooing December 1543 – March 1550
The Rough Wooing was the result of Henry’s failed attempt to subdue Scotland while he turned his attention to France. Although he might have won a huge victory at the Battle of Solway Moss, Henry’s hopes that the Scottish would be amenable to peace proved to be ill-founded. He had given them his terms, but Henry may as well have given them a blank piece of paper, as Scotland declared its renewed allegiance to France. At the time, Henry was planning his invasion with Charles V and could not afford to be distracted by yet another full-blown conflict with his neighbours in the north. Deciding against open battle, Henry commanded that a force should sail north and show the Scots how furious he was. It was led by Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, who was told to “Burn Edinburgh town, so razed and defaced when you have sacked and gotten what you can of it, as there may remain forever a perpetual memory of the vengeance of God.”
The invasion of France fell apart when Charles signed another continental peace treaty that excluded England. Francis had no intention of making peace with Henry and mounted an invasion in the summer of 1545. It was a very real threat but, fortunately for Henry, the attack was a dismal failure and Francis was forced to retreat. The Treaty of Camp brought an end to the years of war in Henry’s reign, as England, France, Scotland and the Holy Roman Empire agreed to peace in 1546. He died a year later, sickly, angry and defeated. So what does Henry VIII’s history as a military
Towns and villages were to be burned down and destroyed, and the king’s strict instructions as to what to do with anyone who opposed Hertford were clear; he was commanded to continue “putting man, woman and child to fire and sword, without exception, where any resistance shall be made against you.” Hertford obeyed his liege’s orders with relish, sending frequent reports of his conquests back to his king, and capturing Edinburgh and the nearby port at Leith. However, France did not sit idly by, but instead sent forces to help Scottish counterattacks. This dual campaign of aggression between England and Scotland would only be (temporarily) halted by the Treaty of Camp in 1546.
Verdict
Although it had the immediate effect that Henry wanted, which was to give a show of force and wrath, the Rough Wooing only served to deeper entrench hatred and distrust of the English.
commander show us? It shows him to be a man unable or unwilling to grow out of the romantic, heroic dreams of his youth. He was constantly fighting for the glory that he saw for himself and for England. In his mind, France was English property that no one before him had been able to claim. He saw himself as the king who would bring it under English rule, and it was a childhood dream that became an adult delusion. By joining with allies who had no interest in his dream, and reacting rashly to insults, real and imagined, Henry spent many years at war with little to show for it.
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The Siege of Boulogne would be the closest thing to an unqualified victory that Henry would get in all his years of war with France. However, the conquest of a single city at tremendous expense tells us that unqualified is not really the most accurate adjective to use. Henry had been waiting for an excuse to resume hostilities with France and he eagerly joined his old ally (and old enemy) Charles V when war broke out in 1544. He raised a huge invasion force to set sail across the Channel. The English force was split into two;=, attacking Montreuil and Boulogne, with Henry himself joining the latter. While the attack on Montreuil failed, the Siege of Boulogne, though lengthy, would result in success. The siege began on 19 July and the English forces quickly took the lower part of the city. However, they were unable to breach the castle walls and the siege stretched from weeks
Charles Brandon, First Duke of Suffolk, was left to defend Boulogne after Henry returned to England
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British Royals her birth, Victoria became fifth in line for the throne, and the first in line of the next generation. The prince regent loathed his brother Edward so much that he found the thought of a child of his inheriting the throne utterly detestable. Although he agreed on the surface, standing in as godfather at her christening, he used his power to forbid any pomp or ceremony and also made a blacklist of ‘unacceptable’ names for the newborn – all of which happened to be used by the royal family. When the archbishop enquired what name she could be given, the regent reportedly retorted, “Alexandrina.” This instance at the young child’s christening, and her very name itself, began a tradition that Victoria would have to endure for many years: being pushed and led by men who wished to control her life. The prince wanted this child to garner no attention, he wanted her quietly and invisibly tucked away in a manor house until she could marry a foreign prince, and for a while, he would have his way. Victoria’s father adored her, and to the chagrin of his brother was quick to show her off at any occasion. Unfortunately, Edward died just eight months after her birth, leaving her with her mother and excessive debt. With Victoria only third in line to the throne, the displaced mother and daughter were offered just a suite of rooms in the dilapidated Kensington Palace to live in. The duchess had a choice – return to her native Coburg with assured income from her first marriage, or take a chance on Victoria’s possible ascension. However uncertain it may have been, she chose the latter. From the beginning, the duchess believed her child was fated for greatness. She was still young, beautiful and full of life, but she put all that aside and settled for a life of quiet retirement and devotion to her daughter. The duchess was encouraged in no small part by her constant companion – John Conroy. He had served as Victoria’s father’s equerry, and after Edward’s death became a close confidant and adviser to her mother. Conroy was a soldier who had attracted disdain through his skill to expertly dodge any actual battles. Although Conroy had been set up with a marriage designed to raise his position in society, he judged this inadequate and viewed Edward and his family as his ticket to power.
Victoria and Albert would go on to have nine children
Victoria’s father was likely wary of him, as he refused, despite much begging, to name Conroy his daughter’s legal guardian upon his death. Although he was unsuccessful in obtaining guardianship of the young royal, his power over her mother meant that he was able to exert his will upon Victoria. Together they created an immensely strict set of rules known as the Kensington System that Victoria was expected to obey every day. Conroy was aware of the duchess’s unpopular reputation, and worked hard to paint her as a doting, caring mother while whispering warnings in her ear about members of the royal family, fuelling her paranoia.
Though she was a bright, affable girl, Victoria’s childhood was constrained and melancholy. Secretly Conroy would bully the young girl, insulting and mocking her at any opportunity, and his power over her mother prevented her from socialising with other children. The duchess likely didn’t mean any ill will towards her daughter, but at a very young age she had lost the man she adored. As a lonely and fragile soul, she quickly fell for the whims of an ambitious man who wanted to use her for his own ends, and it seems she was reluctant to believe the truth. Either way, the situation meant that every aspect of Victoria’s life was controlled
Raising A Future
Victoria was devoted to her pets, especially her spaniel, Dash
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Victoria was never meant to be queen. Her father, Prince Edward, duke of Kent, was the fourth son with a jaded past, and with so many brothers it was assumed he and his children would never see the throne. Victoria’s mother, the duchess of Kent, was a princess of a German Principality, and no doubt wished to bear her husband a son, rather than the solitary daughter they had. With her father’s death less than a year after her birth, her mother became the most dominant figure throughout her childhood. The Duchess was keen to give her daughter a respectable upbringing
befitting any upper-class girl, and she was educated in languages, writing, music, history, drawing, arithmetic, geography and religion. Despite being described as energetic and warm-hearted, Victoria had few friends of her own age and poured many of her thoughts into her nowfamous journals. Victoria’s loneliness only worsened when it became apparent she would inherit the throne. Her mother’s control over her increased massively, contributed to greatly by John Conroy. They created a strict set of rules known as the Kensington System. She was never allowed out
of the sight of an adult, and her entire days were planned down to the minute. These rules were specially designed to keep the girl weak and dependant on her mother and Conroy. However, this failed spectacularly. Victoria possessed a stronger will than they could have imagined, and she grew to resent the system, rules and even her own mother. She saved most of her hate for Conroy, though, later referring to him as a “monster” and “demon incarnate”. When she became queen, Victoria was quick to expel him from her household, and her life, for good.
Queen Victoria
Republican Stirrings When Victoria ascended the throne, it wasn’t just her inexperience that served as a barrier to success, but also her own people. Opinion of the monarchy was at an all-time low thanks to her predecessors and unpopular uncles. This dislike of the royals had been a gradual decline going back to George III, who became the scapegoat for the loss of America. His recurring and debilitating mental illnesses did little to restore faith in the crown, while his son, George IV, made matters worse. Not only were his extra-marital affairs common
knowledge, but he was seen as wasting the tax payers’ money on his own frivolities. George lived a life of heavy drinking and indulgence at a time when his countrymen were fighting the Napoleonic Wars. Far from a national hero, he became a figure of contempt and loathing, with constant public mockery of his obese appearance. One of the king’s aides privately penned, “A more contemptible, cowardly, selfish, unfeeling dog does not exist… There have been good and wise kings but not many of them… and this I believe to be one of the
worst.” By comparison, William IV, Victoria’s predecessor, was initially more popular. His coronation was a simple affair – a far cry from his brother’s extravagance. However, his reign became dominated by the Reform crisis, which ultimtaely diminished his standing. When Victoria was crowned it was to a public who regarded the monarchy as one of “general moral squalor.” It is no stretch to say that she faced increasing Republican opinions, and her battle to regain the trust of her subjects would be a long one.
The Duke of Wellington, who was at the first privy council, wrote, “She not merely filled her chair, she filled the room”
Victoria was named Alexandrina after one of her godfathers, Emperor Alexander I of Russia
would be his final birthday banquet in 1836, and, though in line to the throne, all power was William IV proclaimed to all – Victoria and her taken from her. mother included – that he would live at least nine The young Victoria had accepted her fate, but months longer in order to see his beloved niece as she matured, her will began to harden. She was on the throne, preventing her mother acting as lively, effervescent, and growing acutely aware of regent and describing her as “surrounded by evil her position in society and the duty that may one advisers”. Victoria was so shocked she burst into day fall upon her. When Victoria was 13, Conroy had tears. Nine months later, as promised, he was dead. arranged for her to take a tour of the midlands Victoria had turned 18 just weeks before. in order to show her off to the public. Unfortunately for Conroy, the old man’s King William IV, Victoria’s uncle, sheer will had won out. disliked the trips, stating that they Her first On the very morning of portrayed the young girl as his request as William’s death, Victoria, wearing rival rather than his heir, and monarch was for only a dressing gown, was Victoria shared his opinion. informed she was queen. Her She complained that the something that she first request as monarch was for constant appearances were had never before something that she had never exhausting and she quickly fell experienced – an before experienced – an hour ill. Conroy dismissed this illness, alone. At 9am that morning, she but when Victoria contracted a hour alone received Lord Melbourne, the prime fever, he was quick to try and take minster, “quite alone” in her room, where advantage of her weakened state by he kissed her hand repeatedly and spoke pressing his candidacy as her personal with her at length. Later that day at 9pm, she saw secretary. However, Victoria, after years of control him again, writing, “I had a very important and a by a cruel man, told him no. From this day on the very comfortable conversation with him.” Conroy princess grew more stubborn, though she did not had spent 18 years trying to control Victoria with portray it outwardly, and remained the vision of a manipulation; Melbourne, however, had won her perfect Georgian lady. In private, she poured her heart with kind words and charm in under an hour. frustrations into journals and waited for the day she Conroy had placed his bets on a malleable figure, could finally take control of her own life. but in Victoria he had looked in the wrong place. Although the duchess had fallen for them, Upon moving to Buckingham Palace, Victoria did Conroy’s schemes didn’t fool everyone. At what
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1
Marriage
b.1896-d.1986
Wallis Simpson
Order of succession
160
b.1900-d.2002
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Upon the death of George V, Edward took up the mantle as King of England. He never reached his coronation, however – he abdicated on 11 December 1936 in order to marry Wallis Simpson, the scandalous divorced American socialite.
b.1894-d.1972
Edward VIII
1936
2
b.1895-d.1952
George VI
1936-1952
3
Uncover the scandalous lineage of this family line
House of Windsor
The
b.1901-d.2004
Lady Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
b.1900-d.1974
Henry, Duke of Gloucester
b.1882-d.1947
Cousin to Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip, Princess Marina was long considered a style icon among the public. She died of a brain tumour at Kensington Palace in 1968.
b.1906-d.1968
Henry, Earl of Harewood
The only daughter of George V and Mary of Teck, Princess Mary was arranged to marry Viscount Lascelles in 1922. Both Mary and her brother Edward were opposed the marriage, as it wasn’t done out of love. Until her death in 1965, she was a devoted patron to the British Girl Guide Association.
b.1897-d.1965
Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark
b.1865-d.1936
Mary, Princess Royal
b.1867-d.1953
Mary of Teck
George V
1910-1936
1
b.1905-d.1919
Prince John
b.1902-d.1942
George, Duke of Kent
The family portrait of the Windsors on the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s christening, 29 May 1926
British Royals
b.1982
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
b.1947
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
b.1982
William, Duke of Cambridge
Meghan Markle b.1981
b.1984
b.1960
Prince Andrew, Duke of York
b.1930-2017
Antony, Earl of Snowden
Prince Harry
b.1961-d.1997
Diana, Princess of Wales
b.1950
The first son of the Queen, Charles is next in line to the throne. His affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles, later the Duchess of Cornwall after their marriage in 2005, caused controversy, with some monarchists claiming that he should give up his right of succession.
b.1948
Anne, Princess Royal
b.1921
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Princess Margaret was renowned for her status as the ‘party princess’. In 1960 she married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, but they controversially divorced 18 years later.
b.1930-d.2002
Princess Margaret
b.1944
Charles, Prince of Wales
b.1926
Elizabeth II
1952-now
4
Richard
William b.1941-d.1972
b.2018
Unborn baby
b.2015
Princess Charlotte
b.2013
Prince George
b.1964
b.1936
Alexandra
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
b.1935
Edward b.1942
Michael
Windsor
161
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