Queen Leah of England

### Reign

May 1342 (claimed) - 15 January 13751 February 1354 (acknowledged) - 15 January 137517 November 1372 (official) - 15 January 1375

## Biographical

### Died

12 December 1403
(aged 80)

### Spouse

* King Stephen of England
(m. 1339, wid. 1375)

### Children

* Queen Aurora of England
(daughter)

### Parents

* Prince Jacob of England
* Morwenna, Lady Camelot

### Siblings

* Rachel, Lady Forbedun
(younger sister)

**Queen Leah of England** (1 April 1323 - 12 December 1403) was the last queen of England before its unification with Ulstead. She was the wife and second cousin of King Stephen of England and the mother of Queen Aurora. Through her daughter, she is an ancestor of the royal houses of Schwartsvald, England and Avalor among others.

## Biography

### Background and Childhood

Lady Leah was born in 1323 and raised at Camelot Castle in the East of England. Her father, Prince Jacob of England, Earl of Camelot, was first cousin to the reigning monarch, King Edmund I, and Jacob's father, Edmund was King Edmund I's godfather, uncle and namesake. Her mother was Lady Morwenna of Gwynne, raised at Vyvyan Castle on the Isle of Gwynne. After several miscarriages, Morwenna gave birth to Leah's younger sister, Lady Rachel (1330).

Lady Leah and her sister shared a happy childhood far away from politics and war. Their mother often took them to the Isle of Gwynne and told them lai stories. In later life, Leah decorated a tapestry with embroidered frogs based on her favourite story from childhood.

### Marriage

In 1334, King Edmund I died, leaving the throne to his unpopular daughter Matilda. Matilda was married and had a newborn son and heir, but her rule over her late husband's lands had left her onpopular throughout the land. Her cousin Stephen took to war, claiming her gender made her inelligible for the throne.

To strengthen his claim to the throne, Stephen sought out the hand of Leah, fourteen years his junior. They were both great-grandchildren of King Edward II, and it would urge Prince Jacob to support Stephen and join the rebellion. In 1339, the pair wed on Leah's sixteenth birthday, when Stephen was thirty years old. In 1342, Stephen pronounced himself King of England, and Leah Queen even though they were still battling Matilda's forces.

### Pregnancies and children

Like her mother, Leah greatly struggled to give her husband an heir. The following pregnancies were recorded

1. Miscarriage (September 1339)
2. Miscarriage (January 1340)
3. **Prince Stephen of England** (14 April 1342 - 16 April 1342), lived for only two days.
4. Miscarriage (December 1342)
5. **Prince Jacob of England** (11 September 1343), stillborn
6. Miscarriage (November 1345)
7. Miscarriage (March 1346), it was said this miscarriage occured while Lady Isobel Bucchleuch announced she was pregnant with the King's child.
8. Miscarriage (October 1347)
9. **Princess Adella of England** (7 December 1349 - 10 December 1349), lived for three days.
10. **Princess Rachel of England** (10 December 1350), stillborn.
11. Miscarriage (July 1351)
12. Miscarriage (February 1352)
13. **Queen Aurora, later Queen of England** (20 March 1354), who later married King Philip of England and had five children.

Aurora's christening was attended by most nobles in the land. Though not invited, Matilda showed up with her son and told Queen Leah that her child, being the unlucky thirteenth child, would not survive. She also announced the engagement of her son to Leah's younger sister Rachel. Queen Leah was in tears after these words and never forgave her sister for chosing the enemy.

### Peace and Widowhood

Because of the threat of Matilda's forces, Aurora was sent to live with three nuns at the convent of Saint Claire, very secretly. The King and Queen visited rarely and instead sent the King's illegitimate son Phoebus Fitzroy to look after his half-sister and report to his father and Queen Leah. Despite having waited years to welcome a surviving child, it seems Leah was not close to her daughter and they had only met twelve times or so before 1370, when 16-year-old Aurora returned to court and was betrothed to Prince Philip of Ulstead.

In 1372, Aurora and Philip married. While pregnant with their first child, they were declared King and Queen upon the death of King Stephen. Queen Leah attended the funeral attended by her son-in-law, King Philip of England, and her step-son, Phoebus Fitzroy. Queen Aurora was already in her confinement and could not attend.

It appears that while relations with her daughter were strained, Queen Leah was beloved by her grandchildren. Her eldest granddaughter Queen Rose of Avalor, named her second daughter Eulalia, nicknamed "Lía" or "Leah", who was born just after Queen Leah's death.

At her death, Queen Leah was survived by her daughter, her grandson, her four granddaughters, her three great-grandsons and one great-granddaughter.