George I was proclaimed King of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 August 1714, but he did not set foot in his new realm until 18 September. He was a king with little title to the throne via blood, but the only one Parliament would tolerate. George was a student of the Enlightenment, a progressive… Read more The First Georgian King Arrives in His New Kingdom
On 8 September 1761 King George III married Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, whom he had first met less than six hours before the wedding, in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace. Remarkably, the two feel deeply in love and both remained faithful throughout their 57 years of marriage. George had been come king on… Read more The Marriage of King George III and Queen Charlotte
Queen Elizabeth I was born on 7 September 1533 in Greenwich Palace, the first and only living child of Henry VIII of England and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Her mother would be murdered and Elizabeth herself declared illegitimate just 2.5 years later, in May 1536, but she would survive the reigns of her father,… Read more The Birth of Gloriana
The public funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales took place 20 years ago today, on 6 September 1997. I, along with an estimated two billion other people, watched it on television. I cried. I cried because such a caring mother had been taken away from her little boys who loved her so much. I cried… Read more Thinking of Lady Diana
King Henry VIII of England became engaged to Anna of Cleves on September 4, 1539. The union was a failure, but Anna was lucky, inasmuch as the king annulled their marriage without demanding her head for it. The man who had arranged the match, however, was not so fortunate. The man who ran Henry’s government for him, Thomas Cromwell,… Read more Cleves, Cromwell, and Crazysause
Science has proven that nice guys do NOT finish last, but this wasn’t the case for Medieval kings. For monarchs in the Middle Ages it was survival of the fittest — and the fittest were those who were capable of ruthless, blood-curdling violence. It is that hard-core capacity for annihilating the perceived enemy that makes… Read more The Life and Death of Henry V
One of my personal historical favorites is Queen Philippa of Hainault, the wife and consort of King Edward III. Philippa was the second daughter born to William I, Count of Hainaut, and his wife, Joan of Valois, Countess of Hainaut. A lot of historians, and websites, list her birthday as 24 June 1314, but this… Read more Philippa of Hainault, a Most Excellent Queen
Yolande of Aragon was born on 11 August 1384 to King John I of Aragon and his second wife, Yolande of Bar. She was not only a king’s daughter, through her mother she was also the granddaughter of King John II of France. As a well-dowered and noble bride, she was a marriage prize from… Read more Yolande of Aragon, Queen of Four Kingdoms and Preserver of France
When you research royalty in history, it is mostly about how desperately they needed to be fertile. The last thing a royal wanted was a way of preventing conception. The ideal was as many kids as fast as possible, with all-star standouts such as Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (10 births/9 surviving), Queen Eleanor of Castile… Read more No More Crocodile Dung!
The Wars of Scottish Independence were long, bloody, and brutal. A major turning point in the English’s favor during the first of these wars was on 20 July 1304, when King Edward I of England accepted the surrender of Stirling Castle. The castle was a military gateway into Northern Scotland, and the site of one… Read more Warwolf? Warcastle!