Writing Tips | British History: English Consorts

Name: Matilda of Flanders

Birth: c. 1031

Parents: Baldwin V of Flanders, Adela of France

Consort of: William I

Reign: 1066 - 1083 (23 years)

Death: 1083 (aged 52)

Cause: Unknown illness

Spouse(s): William I (m. 1051 - 1083)

Children: Robert, Richard, William II, Adeliza, Cecilia, Matilda, Constance, Adela, Henry I, Agatha

Notes:

• She had gifted William I his flagship, Mora, which he used to invade and conquer England.
• William I had initially bullied her into marrying him, pulling her by her hair. However, their marriage ended up being quite loving, and William I never took any mistresses.
• She is believed to have been involved in the creation of the Bayeux tapestry.
• She was the godmother of Matilda of Scotland, who would later marry her son, Henry I.

Name: Matilda of Scotland

Birth: 1080

Parents: Malcolm III of Scotland, Margaret of Wessex

Consort of: Henry I

Reign: 1100 - 1118 (18 years)

Death: 1118 (aged 38)

Cause: Unknown

Spouse(s): Henry I (m. 1100 - 1118)

Children: Matilda, William

Notes:

• During her Christening, she pulled the headdress off her godmother, Matilda of Flanders, which was taken as a omen that she would be queen one day. 
• She nearly became a nun.
• She was nearly granted a sainthood. 
• She was very charitable and helped out in leprosy hospitals. 

Name: Adeliza of Louvain

Birth: c. 1103

Parents: Godfrey I of Louvain, Ida of Chiny 

Consort of: Henry I

Reign: 1121 - 1135 (14 years)

Death: 1151 (aged 48)

Cause: Childbirth

Spouse(s): Henry I (m. 1121 - 1135), William of Aubigny (m. 1138 - 1151)

Children: Alice, William, Olivia, Reynor, Geoffrey, Henry, Agatha

Notes:

• She was a patron of the arts and literature.
• She betrayed Matilda to King Stephen when Matilda came to visit her.

*Disputed*

Name: Geoffrey V of Anjou

Birth: 1113

Parents: Fulk of Jerusalem, Eremburga of Maine

Consort of: Matilda

Reign: 1141 - 1148 (7 years)

Death: 1151 (aged 38)

Cause: Fever

Spouse(s): Matilda (m. 1128 - 1151)

Children: Henry II, Geoffrey, William, Hamelin, Emma, Mary

Notes:

• His marriage to Matilda was meant to create peace between England, Normandy and Anjou.
• He supported his wife in her claim to the English throne.

Name: Matilda of Boulogne 

Birth: c. 1105

Parents: Eustace III of Boulogne, Mary of Scotland

Consort of: Stephen

Reign: 1135 - 1152 (17 years)

Death: 1152 (aged 46)

Cause: Fever

Spouse(s): Stephen (m. 1125 - 1152)

Children: Eustace, Baldwin, William, Matilda, Marie

Notes:

• She was a supporter of the Knights Templar. 
• She besieged Dover Castle during The Anarchy.
• She captured Matilda's half brother, Robert of Gloucester. 

Name: Eleanor of Aquitaine 

Birth: c. 1124

Parents: William X of Aquitaine, Aénor of Châtellerault

Consort of: Henry II

Reign: 1154 - 1189 (35 years)

Death: 1204 (aged 80)

Cause: Unknown illness

Spouse(s): Louis VII of France (m. 1137 - 1152), Henry II (m. 1152 - 1189)

Children: Marie, Alix, William, Henry, Matilda, Richard I, Geoffrey, Eleanor, Joan, John

Notes:

• Her first marriage to King Louis VII of France was annulled due to them being too closely related.
• She was arrested by her husband, Henry II, for taking part of the rebellion of their sons. She remained imprisoned until his death. 
• She acted as regent of England when her son, Richard I, went on the Third Crusade. 

Name: Berengaria of Navarre 

Birth: c. 1165 - 1170

Parents: Sancho VI of Navarre, Sancha of Castile

Consort of: Richard I

Reign: 1191 - 1199 (8 years)

Death: 1230 (aged 59 - 65)

Cause: Unknown

Spouse(s): Richard I (m. 1191 - 1199)

Children: N/A

Notes:

• Despite being queen, she likely never set foot in England.
• She accompanied her husband, Richard I, during the first parts of the Third Crusade.
• It is possible that her marriage to Richard I was never consummated. 

Name: Isabella of Angoulême

Birth: c. 1186 - 1188

Parents: Aymer of Angoulême, Alice of Courtenay

Consort of: John

Reign: 1200 - 1216 (16 years)

Death: 1246 (aged 58 - 60)

Cause: Unknown

Spouse(s): John (m. 1200 - 1216), Hugh X of Lusignan (m. 1220 - 1246)

Children: Henry III, Richard, Joan, Isabella, Eleanor, Hugh, Aymer, Agnès, Alice, Guy, Geoffrey, Isabella, William, Marguerite 

Notes:

• She was often referred to as a 'siren' due to her notorious beauty. 
• She attempted to unite French providences against the French king. 
• She may have paid some cooks to try and poison the French king. 

Name: Eleanor of Provence 

Birth: c. 1223

Parents: Ramon V of Provence, Beatrice of Savoy

Consort of: Henry III

Reign: 1236 - 1272 (36 years)

Death: 1291 (aged 68)

Cause: Unknown

Spouse(s): Henry III (m. 1236 - 1272)

Children: Edward I, Margaret, Beatrice, Edmund, Katherine

Notes:

• She was very unpopular with the people of London, who frequently threw stones and food at her.
• She was the first and only woman to act as Lord Chancellor in England until 2016.
• She was known for her antisemitism. 
• She was skilled at writing poetry.

Name: Eleanor of Castile

Birth: 1241

Parents: Ferdinand III of Castile, Joan of Ponthieu

Consort of: Edward I

Reign: 1272 - 1290 (18 years)

Death: 1290 (aged 49)

Cause: Malaria

Spouse(s): Edward I (m. 1254 - 1290)

Children: Unnamed girl, Katherine, Joanna, John, Henry, Eleanor, Unnamed girl, Joan, Alphonso, Margaret, Berengaria, Unnamed girl, Mary, Unnamed son, Elizabeth, Edward II

Notes:

• She accompanied Edward I on the Ninth Crusade. 
• During the Second Barons' War, she was imprisoned in Westminster Palace.
• Her marriage with Edward I was famously happy, with them unable to be apart from each other, and they frequently travelled and played games together.
• She extorted a lot of property from wealthy Jewish landowners. 
• She was a patron of literature.
• She designed many royal gardens and decorations. 

Name: Margaret of France

Birth: c. 1279

Parents: Philip III of France, Maria of Brabant 

Consort of: Edward I

Reign: 1299 - 1307 (8 years)

Death: 1318 (aged 39)

Cause: Unknown

Spouse(s): Edward I (m. 1299 - 1307)

Children: Thomas, Edmund, Eleanor

Notes:

• Edward I was 40 years her senior.
• She interceded on behalf of many people, saving them from harsh punishments from the king.
• She reconciled Edward I with his eldest son and became good friends with him.
• She named her daughter 'Eleanor' in honour of her husbands first wife, Eleanor of Castile.

Name: Isabella of France

Birth: c. 1295

Parents: Philip IV of France, Joan I of Navarre

Consort of: Edward II

Reign: 1308 - 1327 (19 years)

Death: 1358 (aged 63)

Cause: Unknown

Spouse(s): Edward II (m. 1308 - 1327)

Children: Edward III, John, Eleanor, Joan

Notes:

• She was often side-lined by her husband, Edward II, in favour of his male favourites, gifting his potential male lovers with the queen's own jewels, and she stated that her husband preferred the beds of his male favourites to hers. This greatly insulted her family.
• Her father had to interceded to make sure Edward II was properly caring for her.
• She was injured when her tent burned down during her travels in 1313.
• Many of her servants and friends were killed by Scottish invaders, which she blamed Edward II for, and the couple separated afterwards. Her lands were confiscated and her youngest children were removed from her care.
• She plotted a rebellion against her husband and likely began an affair with Roger Mortimer in 1325.
• Edward II surrendered to her and her supporters in 1327, with the crown being passed to her son Edward III while she acted as regent. 
• Mortimer was executed when her son finally came to power, and she had a mental breakdown soon afterwards.
• Her son, Edward III, kept her under house arrest for a few years afterwards.

Name: Philippa of Hainault 

Birth: c. 1310 - 1315

Parents: William I of Hainault, Joan of Valois 

Consort of: Edward III

Reign: 1328 - 1369 (41 years)

Death: 1369 (aged 54 - 59)

Cause: Oedema

Spouse(s): Edward III (m. 1328 - 1369)

Children: Edward, Isabella, Joan, William, Lionel, John, Edmund, Blanche, Mary, Margaret, Thomas, William, Thomas

Notes:

• She was extremely popular with the people of England and was well-respected.
• She established the textile industry in Norwich and coal mining in Tynedale.
• Some of her children were killed by the Black Death.
• She rallied English troops and fought against the Scottish invasion of England, capturing King David II of Scotland and imprisoning him for 11 years.

Name: Anne of Bohemia

Birth: 1366

Parents: Charles IV Holy Roman Emperor, Elizabeth of Pomerania 

Consort of: Richard II

Reign: 1382 - 1394 (12 years)

Death: 1394 (aged 28)

Cause: Bubonic plague

Spouse(s): Richard II (m. 1382 - 1394)

Children: N/A

Notes:

• Her marriage to Richard II was heavily criticised as she brought no dowry with her.
• Upon her arrival in England, her ships broke apart when she disembarked, and this was interpreted as a bad omen. 
• She and her husband were reported to be very much in love with each other.
• Despite being unpopular at first, the people of England came to love her, especially since she managed to save many people from her husband's wrath, and became known as 'Good Queen Anne.'
• After her death, Richard II appeared unable to cope, demolishing the palace she had died in, and was noticeably more cruel and erratic in the years afterwards, ultimately leading to his own demise.  

Name: Isabella of Valois

Birth: 1389

Parents: Charles VI of France, Isabeau of Bavaria

Consort of: Richard II

Reign: 1396 - 1399 (3 years)

Death: 1409 (aged 19)

Cause: Childbirth 

Spouse(s): Richard II (m. 1396 - 1400), Charles of Orléans (m. 1406 - 1409)

Children: Joan

Notes:

• Her marriage to Richard II was to ensure peace between England and France.
• She was only 6 years old when she married her first husband, Richard II, however, this was under the condition that the marriage would not be consummated until she was 12 years old. 
• Her husband, Richard II, did not see his 6 year old wife as a disadvantage, believing he could easily mould her.
• Her toy dolls acted as bridesmaids.
• She and Richard II actually became close best friends during their marriage and he would frequently spoil her with toys and other gifts. 
• When Richard II was deposed, she was imprisoned and the new king of England, Henry IV, wanted to marry her to his son, but she refused and was eventually returned to France where she would go on to marry again.

Name: Joan of Navarre

Birth: c. 1368

Parents: Charles II of Navarre, Joan of Valois

Consort of: Henry IV

Reign: 1403 - 1413 (10 years)

Death: 1437 (aged 69)

Cause: Unknown

Spouse(s): John IV of Brittany (m. 1386 - 1399), Henry IV (m. 1403 - 1413)

Children: Joan, Isabelle, John, Marie, Margaret, Arthur, Gilles, Richard, Blanche, Unnamed child, Unnamed child

Notes:

• She acted as regent of Brittany when her first husband, John IV of Brittany, died.
• Her second marriage to Henry IV of England was a love-match and not politically arranged.
• She was reported to be quite corrupt. 

Name: Catherine of Valois

Birth: 1401

Parents: Charles VI of France, Isabeau of Bavaria

Consort of: Henry V

Reign: 1420 - 1422 (2 years)

Death: 1437 (aged 35)

Cause: Unknown illness

Spouse(s): Henry V (m. 1420 - 1422), Owen Tudor (m. 1428 - 1437)

Children: Henry VI, Edmund, Jasper, Margaret, Edward

Notes:

• She was the younger sister of Richard II's second wife, Isabella of Valois.
• She was widowed early into her first marriage with Henry V, leaving their new-born son as king of England.
• While living in the king's residence, she began an affair with an employee, a Welshman named Owen Tudor, and they eventually married.
• The Tudor dynasty is descended from this line.  

Name: Margaret of Anjou 

Birth: 1430

Parents: René of Naples, Isabella of Lorraine 

Consort of: Henry VI

Reign: 1445 - 1461 (16 years) then 1470 - 1471 (1 year)

Death: 1482 (aged 52)

Cause: Unknown

Spouse(s): Henry VI (m. 1445 - 1471)

Children: Edward

Notes:

• She founded Queens' College at the University of Cambridge in 1448.
• She became a key leader of the Lancastrian faction in the Wars of the Roses.
• Her numerous defeats and the death of her son left her heartbroken, and was later imprisoned once her husband, Henry VI was deposed of for the final time and murdered.
• Her ransom was eventually paid by her cousin, King Louis XI of France.
• She lived the rest of her life in France in poverty, having lost everything.

Name: Elizabeth Woodville

Birth: c. 1437

Parents: Richard Woodville, Jacquetta of Luxembourg

Consort of: Edward IV

Reign: 1464 - 1470 (6 years) then 1471 - 1483 (12 years)

Death: 1492 (aged 55)

Cause: Bubonic plague

Spouse(s): John Grey (m. 1452 - 1461), Edward IV (m. 1464 - 1483)

Children: Thomas, Richard, Elizabeth, Mary, Cecily, Edward V, Margaret, Richard, Anne, George, Catherine, Bridget

Notes:

• She was born to a family of the gentry, thus making her the first commoner to become a royal consort of England.
• Her first husband, John Grey, ironically, fought on the side of the House of Lancaster.
• She was described as the most beautiful woman on the island of Britain.
• Her second marriage to King Edward IV took place in secret and was very embarrassing and scandalous at the time. 
• She was very unpopular and was even accused of witchcraft by her brother-in-law, George of Clarence. 
• After Edward IV's death, their children were proclaimed as illegitimate on the grounds that Edward had already been lawfully engaged to someone else upon their marriage.
• Her two eldest sons by Edward IV, Edward V and Richard, became the famous 'Princes in the Tower', whose disappearances have never been solved.
• She was present at the birth of Henry VIII.

Name: Anne Neville

Birth: 1456

Parents: Richard Neville, Anne Beauchamp 

Consort of: Richard III

Reign: 1483 - 1485 (2 years)

Death: 1485 (aged 28)

Cause: Tuberculosis

Spouse(s): Edward Prince of Wales (m. 1470 - 1471), Richard III (m. 1472 - 1485)

Children: Edward

Notes:

• She was raised alongside her future husband, Richard III, and his brother.
• Her first husband, Edward Prince of Wales, was the son of King Henry VI and Queen Margaret of Anjou.
• Richard III and his brother, George of Clarence frequently fought over who would marry her after the death of her first husband. At one point it is even alleged that George disguised her as a servant and hid her before Richard III came to retrieve her.
• When her only son, Edward, died in 1484, both she and Richard III were consumed by grief and she fell ill as a result. 
• On the day she died, there was a solar eclipse, which was viewed as a bad omen. 
• There were rumours that Richard III had poisoned her, but these are unsubstantiated. 

Name: Elizabeth of York

Birth: 1466

Parents: Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville

Consort of: Henry VII

Reign: 1486 - 1503 (17 years)

Death: 1503 (aged 37)

Cause: Postpartum infection

Spouse(s): Henry VII (m. 1486 - 1503)

Children: Arthur, Margaret, Henry VIII, Elizabeth, Mary, Edmund, Katherine

Notes:

• She was named a Lady of the Garter in 1477.
• Her brothers were the famous Princes in the Tower.
• She was declared illegitimate by Richard III when he seized the throne. 
• Her marriage to Henry VII united the House of York and House of Lancaster, ending the Wars of the Roses.
• Technically speaking, she had a stronger claim to the English throne than her husband.
• Despite the marriage being political, they both fell in love with each other, and Henry VII was not known to have taken any mistresses. 
• She was the model for the queen typically seen in a deck of cards.

Name: Catherine of Aragon

Birth: 1485

Parents: Ferdinand II of Aragon, Isabella I of Castile 

Consort of: Henry VIII

Reign: 1509 - 1533 (24 years)

Death: 1536 (aged 50)

Cause: Heart cancer

Spouse(s): Arthur Prince of Wales (m. 1501 - 1502), Henry VIII (m. 1509 - 1533)

Children: Unnamed daughter, Henry, Unnamed son, Unnamed son, Mary I, Unnamed daughter

Notes:

• To this day, it remains a mystery as to whether or not her first marriage to Arthur was consummated, though she always maintained that it wasn't. 
• She raised an army and defeated the invading King of Scotland in 1513, sending the King's bloodstained shirt to her husband, Henry VIII, who was in France at the time.
• She encouraged the education of women and made it fashionable. 
• By 1525, Henry VIII came to believe - after developing an infatuation with Anne Boleyn - that his marriage to her had never been valid, especially due to their failure to produce a surviving male heir, now made even more unlikely by her perimenopausal state. 
• The validity of her marriage to Henry VIII became known as 'the King's Great Matter.'
• To her dying day, she maintained that she was Henry VIII's true wedded wife, and most people in England sided with her - she had always been very popular with the people of England.
• She lived the rest of her life banished from the royal court after Henry VIII broke from Rome and annulled their marriage, also never being allowed to see her daughter again.

Name: Anne Boleyn

Birth: c. 1501 - 1507

Parents: Thomas Boleyn, Elizabeth Howard

Consort of: Henry VIII

Reign: 1533 - 1536 (3 years)

Death: 1536 (aged 29 - 35)

Cause: Decapitation

Spouse(s): Henry VIII (m. 1533 - 1536)

Children: Elizabeth I, Unnamed son, Unnamed son

Notes:

• She worked as lady-in-waiting to Margaret of Austria, as well as Henry VIII's sister, Mary, when she was queen of France, and to Queen Claude of France, and Queen Catherine of Aragon.
• Henry VIII originally wanted her as his mistress, but she refused to sleep with him unless they were married, spurring him on to attempt to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
• She contracted and survived the mysterious sweating sickness outbreak in 1528.
• In 1532, she was granted the title of Marquess of Pembroke by Henry VIII.
• It is believed she may have suffered a pseudopregnancy in her desperation to provide Henry VIII with a son. 
• Public opinion of her was never favourable as she was viewed as a home-wrecker and the driving force behind her husband, Henry VIII's tyranny. 
• People often referred to her as 'the king's whore.' 
• In 1536, she was arrested and charged with treason, adultery, and incest, and ultimately executed by decapitation via sword. The execution was reported to be so swift that her lips were still moving in prayer afterwards.
• She was the first royal consort in England to be executed.
• It is highly likely and agreed upon today that she was not guilty of the charges brought against her. She herself only ever confessed to being hot-tempered in her quality as a wife.

Name: Jane Seymour

Birth: c. 1508

Parents: John Seymour, Margery Wentworth

Consort of: Henry VIII

Reign: 1536 - 1537 (1 year)

Death: 1537 (aged 29)

Cause: Postpartum infection

Spouse(s): Henry VIII (m. 1536 - 1537)

Children: Edward VI

Notes:

• She was known to have a talent for embroidery.
• She worked as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon and Queen Anne Boleyn.
• She married Henry VIII just 10 days after the execution of his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
• She aided in the reconciliation between Henry VIII and his daughter, the future Mary I, after she had been abandoned and neglected after the annulment of her parents' marriage. 
• She attempted to have the participants of the Pilgrimage of Grace pardoned, but was unsuccessful.
• Her labour with Edward VI lasted over 2 days. 
• She did not die in childbirth as is commonly believed, but rather died due to complications, likely an infection, nearly 2 weeks later.
• She was only one of Henry VIII's consorts to receive a queen's funeral.

Name: Anne of Cleves

Birth: 1515

Parents: John III of Cleves, Maria of Jülich-Berg

Consort of: Henry VIII

Reign: 1540 (6 months)

Death: 1557 (aged 42)

Cause: Cancer

Spouse(s): Henry VIII (m. 1540)

Children: N/A

Notes:

• She was originally betrothed to the Duke of Lorraine when she was younger.
• Her marriage to Henry VIII was arranged by Chancellor Thomas Cromwell in order to create a protestant alliance against Charles V Holy Roman Emperor.
• The common misconception that she was ugly was created by Henry VIII, who was offended when she did not recognise him when he disguised himself to meet her. In actuality, most contemporaries describe her as rather beautiful, if not unusual with her German fashion sense.
• Her marriage with Henry VIII was likely never consummated.
• She complied with Henry VIII's wishes for an annulment, and remained on good terms with him for the rest of her life, becoming known as 'the king's beloved sister'. 
• She was also good friends with Katherine Howard, her previous lady-in-waiting, whom Henry VIII had had an affair with and later married after their annulment. 
• She lived the rest of her life quietly in England as a very wealthy woman.

Name: Katherine Howard

Birth: c. 1528

Parents: Edmund Howard, Joyce Culpepper 

Consort of: Henry VIII

Reign: 1540 - 1541 (1 year)

Death: 1524 (aged 19)

Cause: Decapitation

Spouse(s): Henry VIII (m. 1540 - 1541)

Children: N/A

Notes:

• She was a first-cousin of Anne Boleyn.
• Her childhood was harsh, as her father had frequent money issues, and she was often neglected.
• She was likely sexually abused by her music teacher, Henry Mannox, at a young age.
• She was also likely sexually abused by her guardian, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk's secretary, Francis Dereham.
• In 1540, she began work as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne of Cleves.
• As queen, her past abusers would frequently contact her and blackmail her for favours.
• It is possible that she was indeed having an affair with Thomas Culpepper while married to Henry VIII, with the assistance of her lady-in-waiting, Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford.
• She was arrested and executed on charges of adultery and treason. 
• Before her death, she practicing placing her head on the executioner's block. 

Name: Katherine Parr

Birth: 1512

Parents: Thomas Parr, Maud Green

Consort of: Henry VIII

Reign: 1543 - 1547 (4 years)

Death: 1548 (aged 36)

Cause: Postpartum infection

Spouse(s): Edward Burgh (m. 1529 - 1533), John Neville (m. 1534 - 1543), Henry VIII (m. 1543 - 1547), Thomas Seymour (m. 1547)

Children: Mary

Notes:

• She was named after Catherine of Aragon, who was also her godmother. 
• Both she and her step-children by her second marriage were held hostage during the Pilgrimage of Grace.
• After her second husband died, she became part of Lady Mary's (later Mary I) household.
• During her time as queen, she also became a writer and a bestselling author.
• She was nearly arrested in 1546 for heresy, but she managed to find out what was going on and beg for her husband, Henry VIII's forgiveness. Henry VIII would then beat the armed guard away from her when he came to arrest her.
• She nursed Henry VIII during the later years of his life.
• After the death of Henry VIII, she was finally able to marry the man she had been in love with for years, Thomas Seymour, the brother of Henry VIII's third wife, Queen Jane Seymour.
• She was the guardian of Elizabeth I after Henry VIII's death, however, she would ultimately end up participating in the psychical and mental abuse inflicted on the teenage Elizabeth by her husband, Thomas Seymour. 
• When she noticed this abuse had turned sexual, she sent Elizabeth I away.
• After 3 previous marriages, she finally conceived a child with Thomas Seymour, giving birth to a girl, only to die later from childbirth related complications.
• It is unknown exactly what happened to her daughter. She likely lived in disgrace after the execution of her father, and died young. 

*Disputed*

Name: Guildford Dudley

Birth: c. 1535

Parents: John Dudley, Jane Guildford

Consort of: Jane

Reign: 1553 (9 days)

Death: 1554 (aged 19)

Cause: Decapitation

Spouse(s): Jane (m. 1553 - 1554)

Children: N/A

Notes:

• He suffered a nasty case of food poisoning due to a mistake made by a cook during his wedding to Jane.
• He comforted his wife, Jane, when she was offered the crown of England and reluctantly accepted.
• He argued that if his wife was queen, then he should become king, and a few ambassadors and members of the court did acknowledge him as such. 
• He was quickly imprisoned when Mary I took the crown.
• Both he and Jane pleaded guilty to the crime of high treason, however, Mary I was reluctant to execute them, but ultimately was convinced they were too much of a threat to her position.
• His wife, Jane, watched his execution before she too was executed hours later.

Name: Philip II of Spain

Birth: 1527

Parents: Charles V Holy Roman Emperor, Isabella of Portugal

Consort of: Mary I

Reign: 1554 - 1558 (4 years)

Death: 1598 (aged 71)

Cause: Cancer

Spouse(s): Maria of Portugal (m. 1543 - 1545), Mary I (m. 1554 - 1558), Elisabeth of Valois (m. 1559 - 1568), Anna of Austria (m. 1570 - 1580)

Children: Carlos, Unnamed daughter, Unnamed daughter, Isabella, Catherine, Joan, Ferdinand, Charles, Diego, Philip III, Maria

Notes:

• He was the great-nephew of Queen Catherine of Aragon, and first-cousin-once-removed of his second wife, Mary I. 
• He was the monarch of the Kingdom of Spain and oversaw the height of the Spanish Empire, with his reign becoming known as the 'Spanish Golden Age'.
• His wife, Mary I, was originally betrothed to his father, Charles V Holy Roman Emperor.
• He was technically a co-monarch rather than a consort, however, Mary I held the ultimate authority in England and Ireland, while he held the ultimate authority in the Spanish kingdoms.
• He was not popular with the people of England, especially after his wars with France lost England it's last mainland land ownership, Calais. 
• After the death of his wife, Mary I, he attempted to marry her sister, Elizabeth I. 
• During the 1590s, he repeatedly attempted to invade England with the Spanish Armada, which was famously destroyed by storms in 1596. 

Name: Anne of Denmark

Birth: 1574

Parents: Frederick II of Denmark, Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow

Consort of: James I (VI)

Reign: 1603 - 1619 (16 years)

Death: 1619 (aged 44)

Cause: Oedema

Spouse(s): James I (VI) (m. 1589 - 1619)

Children: Henry, Elizabeth, Margaret, Charles I, Robert, Mary, Sophia

Notes:

• When some of her friends had been dismissed from court over rumours of violence, she protested by staying in bed for 2 days and going on hunger strike, despite being pregnant.
• She shot and killed her husband, James I's, favourite pet dog during a hunting session.
• She nearly died during the birth of her youngest daughter, Sophia.
• She loved taking part in masque balls.
• She was known to take part in performances, sometimes offending the audience.

Name: Henrietta-Maria of France

Birth: 1609

Parents: Henry IV of France, Marie of Medici

Consort of: Charles I

Reign: 1625 - 1649 (24 years)

Death: 1669 (aged 59)

Cause: Opium overdose

Spouse(s): Charles I (m. 1625 - 1649)

Children: Charles, Charles II, Mary, James II (VII), Elizabeth, Anne, Catherine, Henry, Henrietta

Notes:

• Her father was assassinated when she was just a baby.
• She struggled to learn English and to integrate into English society, which, along with her Catholic faith, made her unpopular with the people of England.
• She often had a spending problem and frequently borrowed money in secret.
• She hired dwarves as her court jesters.
• During the English Civil War, she would often attempt to raise support for her husband, Charles I.
• She often pushed her husband to refuse compromise with parliamentarians. 
• After her husband, Charles I, was executed, both she and their children were exiled to France.
• She did return to England a few times after the monarchy restoration, and often quarrelled with her son, James (later James II), over his first marriage to Anne Hyde. 

Name: Catherine of Braganza

Birth: 1638

Parents: John IV of Portugal, Luisa of Guzmán

Consort of: Charles II

Reign: 1662 - 1685 (23 years)

Death: 1705 (aged 67)

Cause: Unknown

Spouse(s): Charles II (m. 1662 - 1685)

Children: N/A

Notes:

• She was raised in a convent, and was often viewed as 'sheltered' by those around her.
• Her marriage to Charles II consisted of a secret Catholic ceremony as well as a public Anglican ceremony.  
• She sadly suffered many miscarriages. 
• When she was once delirious with fever, she believed that she was pregnant and had given birth, with Charles II having to comfort her and reassure her that they had 3 children together. 
• Though Charles II had many affairs, he always insisted that she be treated with respect by his courtiers and would often side with her against his many mistresses.
• Many advisors begged Charles II to divorce her, especially after her failed pregnancies, but he always refused. 
• She was very unpopular with the English people at first, but this gradually changed as people came to respect her quiet and dignified personality. 
• She popularized tea parties and tea drinking in England, with tea remaining the popular choice of drink in England until this very day. 
• Charles II asked to see her on his deathbed, but she refused, resulting in Charles begging for her forgiveness for how he treated her during their marriage all the same.  

Name: Mary of Modena

Birth: 1658

Parents: Alfonso IV of Modena, Laura Martinozzi

Consort of: James II (VII)

Reign: 1685 - 1688 (3 years)

Death: 1718 (aged 59)

Cause: Cancer

Spouse(s): James II (VII) (m. 1673 - 1701)

Children: Unnamed child, Catherine, Unnamed child, Isabel, Charles, Elizabeth, Unnamed child, Charlotte, Unnamed child, Unnamed child, James, Louisa

Notes:

• She was not popular in England due to her Catholicism and was nicknamed 'the Pope's daughter.'
• After first meeting her husband, James II (VII), she would burst into tears every time she saw him for a while afterwards, viewing him as fat, old and ugly.
• Her son and heir to the English throne was rumoured to be a changeling. 
• It was the birth of her son with James II that finally pushed England into revolution again, with James II being deposed, due to the fear of a Catholic royal family. 
• She had to escape England with her son in disguise in 1688, being exiled to France by the new co-monarchs, William III and Mary II.  
• After the death of James II while still is exile, she always proclaimed that her son, James, was the true king of England (who would have been James III and VIII), and fought for his cause, which was always ignored in England.
• Her son, James, was eventually expelled from France, and her daughter also died, leaving her to die alone in France in poverty. 

Name: George of Denmark

Birth: 1653

Parents: Frederick III of Denmark, Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Consort of: Anne

Reign: 1702 - 1708 (6 years)

Death: 1708 (aged 55)

Cause: Asthma 

Spouse(s): Anne (m. 1683 - 1708)

Children: Unnamed daughter, Mary, Anne, Unnamed child, Unnamed son, Unnamed child, William, Mary, George, Unnamed daughter, Unnamed child, Unnamed daughter, Unnamed child, Unnamed child, Unnamed child, Unnamed son, Unnamed son

Notes:

• He became a candidate for the Polish elective throne in 1674, however, the fact that he wasn't a Catholic prevented this from happening.
• He had always simply wanted to live a quiet life with his wife, Anne, and their children.
• In 1689, he was given the title of Duke of Cumberland.
• When his wife became queen in 1702, he was appointed Lord High Admiral by her.
• He frequently had to visit spa towns within England due to his asthma. 
• Many of his and Anne's children died upon birth, and none of them would survive into adulthood, and the two of them would frequently be found mourning their children together.
• He was known to be quiet, modest, loved listening to gossip, and loved a drink.

Name: Caroline of Ansbach 

Birth: 1683

Parents: John of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Eleonore of Saxe-Eisenach

Consort of: George II

Reign: 1727 - 1737 (10 years)

Death: 1737 (aged 54)

Cause: Ruptured bowel

Spouse(s): George II (m. 1705 - 1737)

Children: Frederick, Anne, Amelia, Caroline, Unnamed son, George, William, Mary, Louisa

Notes:

• She was orphaned as a young child, and was raised in the Prussian court by her half-brother Frederick, who became the king of Prussia in 1701.
• She was said to be the most sought after princess for marriage in all of Europe due to her intelligence and beauty. 
• Her husband, George II, may have first visited her in disguise in order to inspect her for a possible marriage, as his father, George I, wanted his son's marriage to be a loving one, and wanted to make sure he would be happy with any future potential wife.
• In 1707, she contracted smallpox, and her husband, George II, attempted to nurse her himself, ultimately catching the infection as well; both luckily survived. 
• She often made her husband's mistresses her ladies-in-waiting in order to keep an eye on them.
• In 1714, she became the first Princess of Wales in 200 years.
• Both she and her husband were more popular with the people of England than her father-in-law, George I, as they attempted to integrate with the people of England, whereas George I remained staunchly German in his customs.
• She and her husband often had a rocky relationship with their eldest son and heir, Frederick.
• Her death was famously painful and gruesome. It originally started as an umbilical hernia after the birth of her youngest child, Louisa, that had never been properly treated. This cause her intense pain, especially when her intestines began to stick out through the hernia. She was operated on without any anaesthetic, but her bowel remained clogged. This resulted in her bowel rupturing, or effectively exploding, and killing her soon after.

Name: Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Birth: 1744

Parents: Charles of Mecklenburg, Elisabeth of Saxe-Hildburghausen

Consort of: George III

Reign: 1761 - 1818 (57 years)

Death: 1818 (aged 74)

Cause: Pneumonia 

Spouse(s): George III (m. 1761 - 1818)

Children: George IV, Frederick, William IV, Charlotte, Edward, Augusta, Elizabeth, Ernest, Augustus, Adolphus, Mary, Sophia, Octavius, Alfred, Amelia

Notes:

• She was chosen to be the wife of George III as she was from a small duchy in northern Germany, and it was believed that she would have no interest in power and politics, and after their wedding, she vowed not to meddle in any affairs of the king's.
• George III always insisted they sleep in the same bed, something which was unusual for the time.
• Her husband's mental breakdowns were always attempted to be kept secret from her, however, she did eventually find out and became terrified of being alone with him, finally insisting that she had her own bedroom. When she and their children would visit, he would hold them tightly and refused to let go of them, something which made her very uncomfortable.
• She often quarrelled with her son, the future George IV, over who should rule as regent while her husband suffered mental breakdowns. 
• Her husband's insanity took a huge toll on her, and she was reported to became more short-tempered and depressed during the later years of their marriage. 
• She introduced the Christmas tree into British culture.
• She was close friends with Queen Marie Antoinette of France, and attempted to rescue the French royal family during the French Revolution and provide residence for them in Britain, however, they were ultimately captured and executed.

Name: Caroline of Brunswick 

Birth: 1768

Parents: Charles of Brunswick, Augusta of Great Britain

Consort of: George IV

Reign: 1820 - 1821 (1 year)

Death: 1821 (aged 53)

Cause: Cancer

Spouse(s): George IV (m. 1795 - 1821)

Children: Charlotte

Notes:

• She and her husband, George IV, were first-cousins. 
• In her early life, she was heavily sheltered by her parents, and even faked going into labour in order to make her parents return from a ball they had banned her from attending.
• George IV only agreed to marry her as his father, George III promised to pay off his huge debts if he did. 
• She was notorious for her bad hygiene and lack of decorum.
• She and her husband hated each other. Upon their first meeting, George demanded a glass of brandy, and she declared him to be fat and not as handsome as his portrait. 
• George IV showed up to their wedding heavily drunk.
• During the consummation of their marriage, it was reported that George was so drunk that he fell off his new wife, and she ultimately just left him on the floor where he fell. That was the night their only child, Charlotte, was conceived. 
• In his will, George IV dictated that he would leave his wife one single shilling while his mistress would inherit all of his other possessions and wealth.
• She was very popular with the people of Britain who hated the way George IV treated her, and they enjoyed her more open and down-to-earth nature, much to George IV's chagrin. 
• She adopted and fostered many poor children.
• Their daughter, Charlotte, was often caught in the middle of their quarrels, and at one point was only permitted to see Charlotte once a week, something which upset their daughter so much, she attempted to run away. 
• In 1814, once the French Empire had been defeated, she ran away back to the continent. 
• When their daughter died after childbirth in 1817, George IV refused to inform her of her death, and she finally only heard the devastating news in passing.
• George IV attempted to divorce her numerous times and banned her from his coronation, despite her being his queen consort. The doors were slammed in her face and she had to be escorted away by armed guards.

Name: Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen

Birth: 1792

Parents: Georg I of Saxe-Meiningen, Louise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Consort of: William IV

Reign: 1830 - 1837 (7 years)

Death: 1849 (aged 57)

Cause: Chronic illness

Spouse(s): William IV (m. 1818 - 1837)

Children: Charlotte, Unnamed child, Elizabeth, Unnamed son, Unnamed son

Notes:

• Her marriage to William IV came about as a result of the desperate need for a legitimate grandchild of George III. After the death of Charlotte Princess of Wales (only child of George IV), there would inevitably be a succession crisis if the dynasty produced no legitimate issue, so the rest of George III's sons, including William IV rushed to marry and have legitimate children.
• She was viewed as having a calming effect on William IV.
• None of her children with William IV survived infancy. 
• She was very popular with the British people throughout her reign. 
• She stayed by her husband's side for ten days straight and nursed him on his deathbed. 
• She was the first queen dowager in over 100 years.
• She paid for the construction of St Paul's Pro-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta.

Name: Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Birth: 1819

Parents: Ernest I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Louise of Saxe-Coburg-Altenburg

Consort of: Victoria

Reign: 1840 - 1861 (21 years)

Death: 1861 (aged 42)

Cause: Typhoid 

Spouse(s): Victoria (m. 1840 - 1861)

Children: Victoria, Edward VII, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold, Beatrice

Notes:

• He was the first-cousin of his wife, Victoria, and the two of them were delivered by the same midwife. 
• He attended the University of Bonn. 
• Initially, he was very unpopular with the British people due to only being from a tiny German state, and was viewed as very much beneath his wife, Queen Victoria.
• He became president of the Society for the Extinction of Slavery in 1840.
• Support for him began to grow after he was praised for his calm, dignified and brave response to an attempted assassination of him and Victoria, who was pregnant with their first child at the time.
• The survival of all of their 9 children (which was extremely rare in this era) is often contributed to how much of a hands-on-father Albert became. He ran the nursery himself and was noted as being a kind and patient father, often playing with his children and ensuring the were thoroughly educated and looked after.
• He was outspoken against child labour.
• He became chancellor of the University of Cambridge in 1847.
• He played a major role in the creation of the Great Exhibition of 1851.
• He supported reforms in finance, education, and science, and was known to be quite liberal in his views.
• In his later years, he claimed that he could sense his death was near after a period of illnesses, as well as having a jump from his carriage before it collided with a wagon. 
• Even though he officially died of typhoid fever, his many stomach ailments suggests he may have been suffering badly from Chron's disease, or cancer.
• Victoria never got over his death. She fell into a deep clinical depression, continued to sleep with his clothes for the rest of her life, and most of his items were kept as they had been left.

Name: Alexandra of Denmark

Birth: 1844

Parents: Christian IX of Denmark, Louise of Hesse-Kassel

Consort of: Edward VII

Reign: 1901 - 1910 (9 years)

Death: 1925 (aged 80)

Cause: Heart attack

Spouse(s): Edward VII (m. 1863 - 1910)

Children: Albert, George V, Louise, Victoria, Maud, Alexander

Notes:

• As a child, she was often visited by Hans Christian Andersen (creator of fairy tales such as The Little Mermaid), who would tell her and her siblings stories.
• During her wedding to Edward VII, people were restricted in what colours they could wear due to the English court still officially being in mourning after the death of Prince Albert.
• All of her children were seemingly born premature, and its theorized that she may have lied about the due dates of her children as she did not wish for Queen Victoria to be present.
• In 1869, she became the first woman ever to sit and have dinner with the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Abdulaziz.
• She suffered from various disabilities throughout her life, including a limp caused by a rheumatic fever, and deafness caused by otosclerosis.
• She would visit Joseph Merrick, otherwise known as 'the Elephant Man'.
• In 1910, she became the first queen consort to visit the House of Commons during a debate.
• As her husband lay dying, she personally administered him oxygen from a gas cylinder. 

Name: Mary of Teck

Birth: 1867

Parents: Francis of Teck, Mary of Cambridge

Consort of: George V

Reign: 1910 - 1936 (26 years)

Death: 1953 (aged 85)

Cause: Haemorrhage 

Spouse(s): George V (m. 1893 - 1936)

Children: Edward VIII, George VI, Mary, Henry, George, John

Notes:

• She was nicknamed 'May' after the month she was born.
• She was the first official British royal consort to be born in Britain since Catherine Parr.
• She was originally engaged to her husband George V's brother, Albert, but he died during the 1890 influenza pandemic. 
• Her children were abused by one of their nannies which she failed to notice for some time.
• It is believed that her youngest son, John, was hidden away in his own private house in order to hide his epilepsy from the public. 
• She was one of the first members of the British royal family to tour a great extent of the British Empire, a feat that took over 8 months. 
• She strongly disapproved of her son Edward VIII's attempt to marry Wallis Simpson, and viewed her as unfit to be queen consort of Britain. She refused to meet with Simpson and could not understand why her son would choose his love for his girlfriend over his new duties as king after the death of her husband, George V. 
• She played a large role in the upbringing of her grand-daughters, the future Elizabeth II, and Margaret. 
• In 1939, she was involved in a car crash which resulted in her vehicle overturning. 
• She died just ten weeks before the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, and had already insisted that should that happen, the coronation was not to be postponed.  

Name: Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon 

Birth: 1900

Parents: Claude Bowes-Lyon, Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck

Consort of: George VI

Reign: 1936 - 1952 (16 years)

Death: 2002 (aged 101)

Cause: Old age

Spouse(s): George VI (m. 1923 - 1952)

Children: Elizabeth II, Margaret

Notes:

• When her husband, George VI, originally proposed to her, she rejected him in fear of what living life as a princess would mean for her. Afterwards, George VI declared that he would marry no other person, and finally, on his third attempted at proposing, she agreed. 
• Her marriage was viewed as a great way to modernise the British royal family, as it had given them both the freedom to choose each other, and because she was not a member of a royal family.
• She would often help her husband, George VI, with his speech therapy. 
• She became quite popular on the island of Fiji, where after shaking hands with people waiting in line to meet her, also shook the paw of a dog who had been in line.
• She did not get along with her sister-in-law, Wallis Simpson, and simply referred to her as 'that woman.'
• During World War II, she became a symbol in the fight against fascism. She would comfort families whose children had been evacuated from the city, refused to leave London during the bombings, and was trained to use a gun should Britain be fully invaded by Germany. 
• Upon the death of her husband, George VI, she became known was 'the Queen Mother.'
• During her lifetime, she battled both colon cancer and breast cancer at different times.
• She became the first member of the British royal family to live past the age of 100 and was one of the oldest living members.

Name: Philip of Greece and Denmark

Birth: 1921

Parents: Andrew of Greece and Denmark, Alice of Battenberg

Consort of: Elizabeth II

Reign: 1952 - 2021 (69 years)

Death: 2021 (aged 99)

Cause: Old age

Spouse(s): Elizabeth II (m. 1947 - 2021)

Children: Charles III, Anne, Andrew, Edward

Notes:

• He was born on a dining room table in Corfu, Greece.
• He was evacuated in a fruit box in 1922 after his family was banished from Greece after the Trial of Six, which resulted from Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War.
• After being evacuated from Greece, he mainly spent his childhood in France and Britain. 
• His sister, Cecilie, was a member of the Nazi Party. 
• During World War II, he served in the British Royal Navy and was eventually promoted to first lieutenant, and fought in many battles.
• His wife, Elizabeth II, was his third cousin. 
• Originally, his engagement with Elizabeth II was highly controversial due to him being foreign born, having little financial standing, as well as his family's connections with the Nazi Party. 
• His wife, Elizabeth II, forced him to give up smoking.
• Both he and Elizabeth II have the longest royal marriage in British history at 73 years.
• He was the first member of the royal family to fly in a helicopter. 
• He was a patron of over 800 organisations. 
• He attempted to act as mediator between Charles III and Princess Diana during their turbulent marriage. 
• Mohamed Al-Fayed, father of Diana's boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, claimed for many years that Philip had ordered the death of both Dodi and Diana. 
• He is the longest serving British consort and longest serving consort in the world.