On 30 September 1553 England’s first undisputed Queen regnant left the Tower of London to be crowned. She headed for the Palace of Westminster first in a procession through the city. Mary had given Elizabeth a prominent role in the proceedings. It would be an amazing event, to showcase the monarch’s magnificence and power, even [read more]
On top of a hill in the south of the Netherlands lie what remains of Castle Valkenburg. It was probably the birthplace of Beatrice of Falkenburg, who was born circa 1254 as the daughter of Theodoric II, Count of Falkenburg and Berta of Limburg. Beatrice was just 15 years old when she became the wife [read more]
Buckingham Palace is perhaps one of the most recognizable landmarks. The building dates from 1703 when it was named Buckingham House. It was owned by the Duke of Buckingham until King George III purchased it for his growing family with Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Most of their children were born there, including Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom, Elizabeth of [read more]
Of the many executions ordered by Henry VIII, surely the most horrifying was that of sixty-seven-year-old Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, hacked to pieces on the scaffold by a blundering headsman. From the start, Margaret’s life had been marred by tragedy and violence: her father, George, Duke of Clarence, had been executed at the order [read more]
Mary had become Queen of England in 1553, and she had married Philip of Spain in July 1554. She was at 37 years old at the time, and that was considered to be near the end of her childbearing age. So if she wanted to have children, and she did desperately, she would need to [read more]
Catherine was born in 1638 into the House of Braganza; Portugal’s most important noble family. In 1640, Catherine’s father was proclaimed King John IV of Portugal after a revolt of the nobility led to the deposition of the Habsburg King Philip III of Portugal and IV of Spain. Catherine had a quiet and sheltered childhood, [read more]
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