Mary Queen of Scots beheaded - Feb 08, 1587 - HISTORY.com Mary Queen of Scots beheaded Share this: Mary Queen of Scots beheaded Author Mary Queen of Scots beheaded URL Publisher A+E Networks After 19 years of imprisonment, Mary Queen of Scots is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England for her complicity in a plot to murder Queen Elizabeth I. In 1542, while just six days old, Mary ascended to the Scottish throne upon the death of her father, King James V. Her mother sent her to be raised in the French court, and in 1558 she married the French dauphin, who became King Francis II of France in 1559 but died the following year. After Francis’ death, Mary returned to Scotland to assume her designated role as the country’s monarch. In 1565, she married her English cousin Lord Darnley in order to reinforce her claim of succession to the English throne after Elizabeth’s death. In 1567, Darnley was mysteriously killed in an explosion at Kirk o’ Field, and Mary’s lover, the Earl of Bothwell, was the key suspect.

Although Bothwell was acquitted of the charge, his marriage to Mary in the same year enraged the nobility. Mary brought an army against the nobles, but was defeated and imprisoned at Lochleven, Scotland, and forced to abdicate in favor of her son by Darnley, James. In 1568, Mary escaped from captivity and raised a substantial army but was defeated and fled to England. Queen Elizabeth initially welcomed Mary but was soon forced to put her friend under house arrest after Mary became the focus of various English Catholic and Spanish plots to overthrow Elizabeth. Nineteen years later, in 1586, a major plot to murder Elizabeth was reported, and Mary was brought to trial. She was convicted for complicity and sentenced to death. On February 8, 1587, Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded for treason. Her son, King James VI of Scotland, calmly accepted his mother’s execution, and upon Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603 he became king of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Related Videos Elizabeth I | Last Monarch of the Tudors Elizabeth I -Last Monarch of the Tudors Elizabeth I was queen of England from 1558 until she died in 1603. Her reign was called the Elizabethan Age, a very exciting and glorious period in English history, in which England became an important world power. She was born near London in 1533. Her father was Henry VIII and her mother Anne Boleyn, the second of the king’s six wives. When Elizabeth was 3 years old her mother was beheaded because she was accused of having a relationship with someone else. Elizabeth had an elder half sister Mary, and a younger half brother Edward. King Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church because the pope would not let him divorce his first wife. Henry then founded the Church of England and made his country protestant. Although Henry cared very little about Elizabeth during her childhood she received a good education and was taught well in history and philosophy. She learned many languages, including French, Italian and Latin. When Henry died in 1547 his only son, Edward, became king but the boy king died six years later. Mary became queen and made England a Catholic country again.

She didn’t like Elizabeth and thought that she was plotting against her. She sent her half sister to prison in the Tower of London for two months. When she was released , she had to live in the countryside. Mary died in 1558 and Elizabeth succeeded her. She became very popular and many people thought that she would bring back peace and stability in a time of conflict. Elizabeth was a cautious and clever queen; she knew a lot about economics and had good advisors . She returned England to Protestantism but she was not a radical religious reformer. Elizabeth I Although there were many young men who wanted to marry her, Elizabeth stayed alone and had no children. This was a threat to the English monarchy because without children her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, would inherit the throne . She was a Catholic and a friend of France. Elizabeth was aware of this danger and had Mary sent to prison for many years. She was executed in 1587. Elizabeth gave her country a lot of self confidence . During her reign it built up its sea power and ships sailed across the seas to trade in the New World. At that time Spain controlled much of the trade in the New World.

Elizabeth sent Sir Francis Drake and other sea captains to raid Spanish ships and seize gold and other treasures that the Spanish had captured . This was too much for Philip II of Spain so he decided to attack England. After years of preparation he put together a strong fleet of ships called the Spanish Armada. In 1588 the Armada sailed into the English Channel . In the battle that lasted for nine days the British defeated the Spaniards because their ships were smaller and faster. Only a few of them managed to get back to Spain. Elizabeth had celebrated the greatest victory of her reign . The Elizabethan Age was also an age of art and culture. Many musicians, scholars and writers came to her palace. William Shakespeare was the greatest writer of the period and wrote some of the world’s finest plays and poems. ( Elizabethan Theatre ) The last years of Elizabeth’s reign were troubled by scandals and revolts . Parliament started to criticize the queen and health problems made her weaker. She died on March 24, 1603 at the age of 69. At her wish, Mary Stuart’s son, James VI of Scotland became king of England and the two countries were united .

accuse = to say that someone has done something bad or committed a crime advisor = a person who helps you because they know a lot about a subject although = while attack = to start using guns and other weapons against an enemy aware = here: know battle = the fight between armies in a war behead = to cut off a person’s head break—broke = here: to end a relationship capture = to catch a person and keep them as a prisoner care =to be worried about cautious = careful celebrate =to do something special and have fun at an event decide =to choose to do something divorce = to end a marriage economics =the study of the way money and goods are produced and used elder = older English Channel = the water between England and France execute = to kill someone as a punishment fleet = a group of ships found—founded = start something new glorious = wonderful, great including =as well as, together with inherit = to get from someone after their death manage to = to do something that is difficult plot = to make a secret plan against someone preparation =to make plans for something that is going to happen radical =extreme raid = to go to a place and steal things receive = get reign = the period when someone is king or queen release = to

 set free scholar = an intelligent and well-educated person seize = take , get hold of self confidence = you are sure that you can do things well Spaniard = someone from Spain stability =not changing, always staying the same succeed = to be the next person to become king or queen threat = danger throne = the power and position of being king or queen trade = to buy and sell things treasure = valuable things like jewels and gold troubled =worried James VI & Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots Home Page This site would not be complete without some insight into Mary's relationship with her son, James VI of Scotland and I of England.

Without attempting to give a full account of James's life, I have nevertheless included a summary of it and tried to depict the sort of person that he was. On the left are pictures of James at various stages of his life and on the right, pictures of those who influenced his life. Just click on any of them to view larger versions. James aged 8 Mary gave birth to James on 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle. It was a difficult birth and the child that was born was frail. Rumour soon spread which would haunt James for the rest of his life. The first of these rumours was that James was not Lord Darnley's child but Bothwell's. This can be dismissed by the fact that at the time of his conception, Mary was still infatuated with Darnley, and by the child's resemblance to his father. Secondly, there is a theory that James actually died at birth and was replaced by one of Erskine, Lord of Mar's child. This is substantiated by the remains of a baby skeleton found within the walls of Edinburgh Castle in the 18th century. This again is highly unlikely.

On 17 December 1566 James was christened at Stirling Castle according to Catholic rites. Darnley was as per usual absent, and so was the godmother, Queen Elizabeth I who merely sent a gold font and a representative who remained outside in protest of the Catholic ceremony. While incarcerated at Lochleven Mary, under duress, signed her abdication in favour of her son. James aged only 13 months, was crowned on 29 July 1567 in a Protestant church outside Stirling Castle. Mary's half-brother, the Earl of Moray, finally reached his goal by becoming Regent. By May 1568 Mary had escaped from Lochleven and retreated to England after the Battle of Langside. Moray was assassinated in 1570 and the Earl of Lennox, Darnley's father, took over as Regent. He died in a foray in 1571 before James's very eyes. He was succeeded by the Earl of Mar and then by the Earl of Morton in 1573.

James was brought up under the strict Presbyterianism of his senior tutor, George Buchanan, staunch enemy of Mary, in the stern atmosphere of the Mars, his guardians. The result was a highly intellectual and well-educated young man with a wry sense of humour but with a craving for love which was to be his downfall. He inherited some of his mother's traits. James did not inherit his parent's good looks. He was of middle height but he was born with bent legs which impaired his walking throughout his life. Nevertheless, James developed the same love of horse-riding and the outdoors as his mother had.Like her he enjoyed a glamorous court life, surrounding himself with poets and musicians. He was also very fond of pun games, a tendency which Mary displayed herself in her embroideries . James was characterised by a mixture of self-confidence and self-indulgence. He was a misogynist but needed to produce heirs. He married Anne of Denmark and had seven children although only two survived. His marriage was described as being as happy as a royal marriage could be. It is safe to assume that marital relations continued for at least sixteen years despite James's obvious sexual preferences.

Aged 13, James had experienced his first romantic feelings with a French connection of the Stuarts, Esme Stuart Sieur d'Aubigny. The latterquickly rising to Duke of Lennox and having the Earl of Morton arrested and executed in 1581 for his role in the murder of Lord Darnley. On 22 August 1582, the Earl of Gowrie kidnapped James and forced him to issue a proclamation against Esme. James was devastated. He later became infatuated with Robert Carr, a very good-looking young man of Scottish descent and twenty years his junior. They met at a tournament during which Carr broke his leg. James attracted attention to them by fussing over him and kissing him in public. Thanks to James's devotion Carr became the first Scot to enter the House of Lords and considerably wealthy. His most outstanding quality however was insolence. Then followed George Villiers, James's greatest love, whom he liked to call his "sweet child and wife". George too was handsome but arrogant and corrupt. And so, just as his mother's love life had scandalised her contemporaries, so did his. James asked no questions about his mother.

He would never see her again after her quick visit in April 1567 and George Buchanan instilled in his mind the portrait of an adulteress and a murderess. He received few of the gifts that she sent him from her prisons in England and was deprived of any maternal love. Against this background, his indifference towards his mother finds an explanation. Fontenay, Mary's emissary, reported rightly or not, that James did love his mother. There are also conflicting stories about James's feelings towards Mary. Upon her death some report that he said "Now I am sole King", and some that he retired without eating, others still that he remained totally impassive. James's conscience seems to have nagged him about the subject of his mother later on in life. He derided George Buchanan's lies about Mary in his book "Detection", he instructed Camden to give her due honour for her sufferings, and castigated Moray in his "Basilikon Doron". In 1612 he had Mary's body transferred to Westminster Abbey on the suggestion of Northampton, a secret catholic. It nevertheless remains that James conveniently rejected his mother's appeals to rule jointly and form an Association, giving preference to an alliance with Elizabeth.

It is hard not to see in that a rather self-centred and opportunist character. The Juggle and Rule Principle Being born in Scotland and spending the first 36 years of his life there gave James an advantage which his mother had been lacking. Mary had been baffled by the deviousness of her times and the warring factions of the Scottish nobility. James, on the other hand would master the art of keeping his options open at all levels. James had inherited a poor country divided by religious factions and Stewart rivalry with the Crown. Parliament, known as the Estates, consisted of a single and weak chamber. James's main claim was that the Sovereign's right was derived straight from God. He favoured the Episcopalian Church with bishops and the King at its Head. Presbyterians however claimed that the ecclesiastical power was above the Crown. Nevertheless, both sides co-existed in relative harmony during his reign. His juggle and rule principle involved enlisting the help of Catholics such as Huntly and Lord Maxwell to protect himself against the Presbyterians, but secretly so as not to offend the Protestant Elizabeth and her valuable financial resources.

On the other hand, he would restore Presbyterianism to sweet-talk its ministers into counteracting the power of the Catholics. The lawlessness of the Scottish aristocracy was a little more difficult to deal with. James felt that it was time for a middle party: "Between foolish rashness and extreme length, there is a middle way". He thus proceeded to turn his attention to the middle classes while placating co-operative Lords with lands and forcing uncooperative ones out of the country. There followed a period of economic growth and political stability long overdue which lasted for forty years. Unfortunately, this prosperity did not stretch to the King's own finances. James by then, had his eyes seriously set on the English Crown. James's claims to the English Throne It is true that James's existence in itself was the fruit of Mary's efforts to produce an heir who would acquire the English Crown which she herself could have had claim to. However, James's greed in this respect shows a rather sinister side of him. The argument finds its source in Henry VIII's will. According to this will, no alien was to succeed to the Crown of England. James, being three-quarters Scottish and one-quarter French was therefore excluded.

His father's brother had had a daughter, Arbella Stuart who was English and was a very strong contestant to the Crown. She was English but had weak protestant views. As a child, she had kept Mary company during her incarceration in England and Mary had been so fond of her as to make provisions for her in her will. James first made sure that she did not marry and when she finally eloped with William Seymour, grandson of Lady Catherine Grey, he had her imprisoned in the Tower where she died in 1615. It has been suggested that James's ascension to the English throne had been plotted for a long time by Cecil, Elizabeth's secretary, through secret correspondence with James. Whatever the case may be, Elizabeth died peacefully on 24 March 1603 and James was naturally proclaimed King. The court of King James was a stark contrast to the court of Queen Elizabeth. James was neither used to nor enjoyed ceremony. His response to his people's welcome was "God's wounds, I will pull down my breeches and they shall also see my arse".

Drunkenness was rife and in 1606, when the King of Denmark came to visit, it spread to the ladies while the performers staggered in corners unable to finish their performance. Further, James had no experience of the English Parliament. The latter was responsible for legal grants, direct taxation and the Crown was badly indebted. Coupled with James's generosity towards all of those whose love he attempted to buy, it was a recipe for disaster. James would dissolve Parliaments upon Parliaments forever disputing the meaning of royal prerogative and in vain trying to obtain more funds for his ventures. James also clashed with the Puritans whom he associated with the Scottish Presbyterians and who became the party of dissent. At the same time, he failed to relax laws against Catholics and conjured up Spain's displeasure. By the Great Contract he struck a deal with Parliament in order to curb his debts but the English began to romanticise Elizabeth and her reign. In 1605, Guy Fawkes and others tried to blow up the monarch by placing gunpowder in a room next to the House of Lords the day before James was due to open Parliament.

This plot was betrayed by an anonymous letter and continues to be celebrated every year on 5 November. It has been suggested that Cecil was behind this or that the government knew about it but was waiting for the most appropriate moment to uncover it, i.e. the opening of Parliament. James remained in constant fear for his life. James, The Visionary In many ways, James was ahead of his times. His love of wildlife and in particular his obsession with lions prompted him to import exotic animals into Britain which were kept in the Tower of London. He introduced horse-racing and bred horses with the finest Arab blood. One of James's pet hates was smoking which he desecrated in his book "Counterblaste to Tobacco". In 1600 he insisted on starting the Scottish New Year on 1st January like the rest of Europe, while England continued to celebrate it on 25th March for another century and a half. He translated the Bible which became the Authorised Version of the Bible. But behind this religious lay a fanatical hatred and pathological fear of witchcraft, epitomised in his other book " Demonology " (external site).

The most notorious witch trial in Scotland, The Trial of the Berwick Witches, revolved around a group of people who were accused of stirring up a storm in an attempt to drown James and his new wife on their voyage back from Denmark. He made proposals for unity in Great Britain and economic integration which did come to be realised although not in his lifetime. James was responsible for the building of magnificent halls in England such as Hatfield Hall. Shakespeare's plays, some of which were based on him such as MacBeth, were avidly attended by James. He visited Oxford University where he got drunk with undergraduates, and Cambridge University where the reception was cooler. He granted the founding Charter of Edinburgh University in 1582 and considered himself its godfather. James also started the British Empire by his plantations in Massachusetts, Bermuda, Newfoundland, Guyana, India and the East Indies. He founded the Virginia Company, a plantation of mulberry trees destined to feed silk worms. The worms however never reached Virginia.

Demise "Look not for the softness of a down pillow in a crown, but remember that it is a thorny piece of stuff and full of continual cares." The Thirty Years War hit Europe when James was aged 54 and in bad health. James, like his mother before him, suffered from the Stuart disease porphyria. This unpleasant illness which manifested itself by abdominal and rheumatic pain and mental disturbance did not prevent him from being reunited with his native country Scotland in 1617. He depuritanised the Scottish church and by his "Book of Sports" made it permissible to dance, play and drink church ales. That same year a Sir Walter Raleigh was let out of prison to search for gold up the Orinoco. The expedition ended in disaster when he clashed with the Spaniards and had to be executed. James was branded a puppet in the hands of the Spanish Ambassador Gondomar. James's pro-catholic policies and Spanish alliance combined with protestant negotiations were severely criticised in England. His belief in peaceful government was classified as leniency or fear and the East India company brought out James's worst faults: laziness in conducting business, favouritism and incompetence with money.

His son Prince Charles formed a coalition with another of James's handsome young favourites, the Duke of Buckingham, to challenge his father's policies. By 1620 the Great Depression had brought economic collapse and the decline of trade to England. In 1623 James reluctantly consented to Charles and Buckingham to go to Spain to woo the infanta Anna Maria. However the whole expedition failed miserably. In 1625 James collapsed with porphyria or a stroke which left him speechless. Buckingham was later accused of having poisoned him by treating him with "homeopathic" remedies. He died on 27 March 1625 aged 59. His autopsy revealed sound vitals and a head "full of brains" but his blood was described as wonderfully tainted with melancholy. His funeral was held at Westminster Abbey, the most glamorous and expensive of its time and later a model for Cromwell's funeral in 1658. The position of his body remained unrecorded until, 250 years later, Dean Stanley instituted a search. James's body was found in the tomb of Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch. The Earl of Mar Our worst monarch? Britain's spoilt for choice...

| Daily Mail Online Our worst monarch? Britain's spoilt for choice... comments They include, among their number, the vain, the greedy and the downright corrupt. There are adulterers, swindlers and cowards. Yet this group also shares one thing in common. In their own lifetimes, they were the most powerful individuals in the land. English Heritage has just conducted a poll to find Britain's Most Useless Monarch and it's a pretty crowded field. The eventual 'winner' has just been announced as George IV. His lazy, spendthrift nature and unpleasantness to his wife Queen Caroline seems to have won him the accolade. But so terrible have many of our kings and queens been that a closer look at their misrule serves to illustrate just how blessed we are to live in a more enlightened age. So here, in ascending order of uselessness, is my own list of those who have disgraced the throne. Morally suspect monarchs: King Stephen (l) was corrupt, Mary Tudor (c) was bigoted, and Henry VIII (r) was psychotic No. 10 is James I, who has been described as a 'foul-mouthed, conceited pacifist without royal dignity'.

This was particularly proved when he kissed one of his male favourites full on the lips during his own coronation. It couldn't have been a pleasant experience, because historians report that due to some physiological abnormality the king's tongue was too big for his mouth, and kept lolling out. It was James who sent the great Elizabethan seafaring hero Sir Walter Raleigh to the scaffold in order to appease the Spanish, and filled his government with Scottish friends he had brought south with him, to the exclusion of better-qualified Englishmen. (Remind you of anyone in power today?) If anyone deserved a Gunpowder Plot against him in 1605, it was James. But we are often better off with the devil we know. Because coming in at No. 9 is James's grandson, James II, who failed to learn the lesson of the English Civil War - which had cost his father, Charles I, his head - and continued to believe in the Divine Right of Kings.

By trying to force Roman Catholicism on to the British Isles, he deservedly lost his throne in 1688, and in a fit of pique he dropped the Great Seal of England into the River Thames as he fled London for France, idiotically believing that this would somehow prevent his son-in-law and daughter, William and Mary, from governing successfully. At least James II did not manage to plunge his country into a particularly long civil war, like No 8 on my list, King John (1167-1216), who fought against his own barons, on one occasion so disastrously that he lost his baggage train in quicksand in the Wash. Two more candidates for Britain's Most Useless Monarch: George IV (l) was indolent, while Edward VIII (r) was petulant 'John was a bad character,' writes one chronicler. 'His country had some experience of his selfcentred double-dealing. Nobody with sense trusted him. It followed that his unsanctioned promises were worthless.' He is best remembered for the Magna Carta, which enshrined many freedoms we still enjoy today but which he had to be forced to sign by his nobles.

Yet at least John stayed on the throne, unlike our No. 7, Edward VIII, a profoundly irresponsible monarch who put his love affair with Mrs Simpson before his duty to the Empire. Knowing that he was going to abdicate the next month, Edward nonetheless outrageously told the unemployed miners of South Wales in November 1936 that: 'Something should be done to get them at work again.' This raised hope among them that the Government might save their jobs, which Edward knew was not the case. Edward VIII was not a psychopathic murderer, however, unlike No. 6, an appropriate position for Henry VIII as it was also the number of wives he had, most of whom he harried, bullied and generally maltreated. To behead not one but two wives, and to invent the whole concept of divorce in order to get shot of two more, would win Henry a place in any list of rogues. But it was his cruel, cynical brutality towards everyone who crossed him in life - male as well as female - that makes Henry VIII particularly unpleasant. When he knew he was dying, he had the handsome, intelligent young poet the Earl of Surrey executed beforehand, supposedly for treason, but really because he was jealous of his looks, talent and charm.

Henry was a strong monarch, however, unlike the utterly pathetic bisexual Edward II and Richard II, who tie for fourth place. Edward II scandalised the court and angered his father Edward I by his passionate attachment to the courtier Piers Gaveston, whose greed and arrogance was plain to everyone, except the besotted Edward. After Gaveston was assassinated by the nobles, Edward became infatuated with another courtier, Hugh Despenser, on to whom he lavished land and riches. When finally Despenser fell from power in January 1327, Edward II was captured and killed at Berkeley Castle, reputedly by the insertion of a red-hot poker into his rectum, in order to conceal the murder. A nasty way to go, but if anyone deserved it, it was he. Tying at joint fourth is Richard II, who just like Edward II, fell under the influence of a disastrous favourite, Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who historians record was 'a silly, vain, irresponsible man'.

It was in Richard II's time that disastrous foreign adventures bankrupted the government, causing him to try to raise the hated poll tax, which led to the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. And so we arrive at the finalists in our royal gallery of shame. In third place comes English Heritage's top choice, George IV, whose self-indulgence, hatred of his kindly father, 'mad' George III, swinishness to his (admittedly dreadful) wife Princess Caroline, and appalling over-spending during straitened times, meant that the newspapers openly celebrated his death in 1830. Indolent and obese (he was nicknamed 'the Prince of Whales'), his scandalous private life - he married his mistress illegally - and his refusal to allow his wife to attend his coronation held up the monarchy to widespread ridicule. In second place comes Mary Tudor (1516-1558), who cruelly burned at the stake no fewer than 300 Protestants - each execution having her personal sanction.

A puppet ruler for her hated religious fanatic husband, Philip II of Spain, Bloody Mary was responsible for the burning to death of the saintly Bishop Nicholas Ridley and the preacher Hugh Latimer. For these and other crimes, she deserves the dishonour of being our worst ever queen. In my opinion, however, the most useless British monarch of all time was someone of whom few have even heard. King Stephen usurped his uncle Henry I's throne in 1135, outmanouevring both his own elder brother Theobald and the rightful heir, Henry's daughter the Empress Matilda. He seized the Treasury, crowned himself, gave Cumbria to the Scots to buy them off, paid Danegeld to appease the Danes and then plunged Britain into a series of four civil wars between 1138 and 1154. These left the country ravaged, impoverished and weaker than at any other time before or since. It is a doleful list of cruelty, disaster and failure. But we should remember that monarchy is, by its very nature, something of a lottery. And just as Britain has had the misfortune to endure some very bad rulers, so too have we enjoyed some truly great ones.

Indeed, we are particularly blessed to have a reigning monarch today who undoubtedly stands in the top five, alongside such illustrious predecessors as Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, Edward III, George V and George III. Hard-working, devout, dutiful, good-natured and respected throughout the world, the Queen is everything a nation looks for in a head of state. If she has her mother's longevity - and there is every indication from her state of health that she does - she will beat Queen Victoria's record reign of 63 years, seven months and three days on the throne, on September 16, 2015. If monarchy's a lottery, our age may just have struck the jackpot. Frequently Asked Questions | Britroyals Frequently Asked Questions When did the last British King fight in a battle? George II was the last British King to lead his army in person, during the War of the Austrian Succession, at the Battle of Dettingen in Bavaria, 27th June, 1743.

The last English King to die in battle was Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire on 22 August 1485 defeated by Henry Tudor who became Henry VII ending the Wars of the Roses between the Houses of York and Lancaster and starting the Tudor dynasty. The last British King to die in battle was James IV of Scotland killed at the Battle of Flodden Field in Northumberland on 9 September 1513 when the Scots invaded England hoping to take advantage of Henry VIII's absence in France, but were defeated by English forces under Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey. How far back can the British Royal Family trace their roots? Is Queen Elizabeth II really directly descended from Alfred the Great? She is the 32nd great granddaughter of King Alfred who 1,140 years ago was the first effective King of England. He ruled from 871 to 899. I thought that American Independence was in 1776. Why is it quoted as 1783? The Continental Congress of the 13 American colonies declared independence in 1776.

However, the war continued and independence from Britain was not achieved until the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Was George III really mad? For most of his reign King George III was an astute king and politician with a strong sense of duty. Later in his reign he suffered from recurrent and eventually permanent mental illness. This baffled medical science at the time, although it is now generally thought that he suffered from the inherited blood disease porphyria. He suffered his first attack in 1788 and by 1810 was unfit to rule. In 1811 his son George, Prince of Wales, became Regent for 9 years until his father died in 1820. Who would now be King or Queen if Edward VIII had not abdicated? Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 less than a year after becoming King to marry Wallis Simpson. His younger brother Bertie became King George VI and was the father of the present Queen Elizabeth II . He died in 1952, and Edward who had no children died in 1972. So even if Edward had not abdicated Elizabeth would now be Queen.

She would have come to the throne in 1972 instead of 1952. Why did Edward VIII have to give up the throne to marry a divorcee but Prince Charles is still in line to the throne? Royals who are divorced or marry divorcees do not lose their position in the line of succession. Edward VIII had a number of affairs with married women including Wallis Simpson who was already divorced and still married to her second husband. His parents King George V and Queen Mary did not approve and refused to meet her. When George V died Prime Minister Baldwin made it clear that the Government, popular opinion in the country and the oversees Dominions (now the Commonwealth nations) did not approve of his plans to marry Wallis. Social attitudes towards divorce and a women looking for a third marriage were considered scandalous at the time, and if Edward married against the advice of his Ministers it would have caused the Government to resign and a constitutional crisis. Edward chose to abdicate. The 1772 Royal Marriages Act requires members of the Royal Family to obtain permission from the Sovereign to marry. Queen Elizabeth II gave her permission for Prince Charles to marry Camilla, and more recently for Prince William to marry Catherine Middleton.

Would Princess Diana have become Queen? If Prince Charles had become King during their marriage then she would have been his consort with the title Queen Diana. They divorced in 1996 and she died in a car crash in Paris on 31st August 1997. Although popularly known as 'Princess Diana' this was not her title - because she became a princess by marrying Prince Charles her title was Princess Charles Philip Arthur George, Princess of Wales, or more simply Diana, Princess of Wales. Who is Prince Henry shown as fourth in line to the Throne? What about Prince Harry? Prince Harry's name is Henry Charles Albert David . Harry is his nickname Is Kate Middleton the first commoner to marry an heir to the throne? The Queen's husband Prince Philip is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria, Diana's family had titled ancestry and Camilla is the granddaughter of a baron. Prince William's wife Catherine (Kate) nee Middleton comes from a middle class background with no aristocratic or titled connections. She is not however the first commoner to marry a future king.

Notably Anne Hyde first wife of King James II, and Elizabeth Woodville, who married King Edward IV in 1464 and became a key figure in the Wars of the Roses were commoners with no direct connections to nobility. Edward VIII married Wallis Simpson but had already abdicated as King. Why are William and Harry referred to as Wales when their name is Windsor? Members of the Royal Family who are titled His (or Her) Royal Highness do not traditionally need or use a surname. Windsor is the name of the Royal House to which they belong. Their titles are HRH Prince William of Wales and HRH Prince Henry of Wales . During their tours of duty with the Armed Forces, the Princes chose to show their surname as Wales. Members of the royal family who are not HRH (for example Prince Edward's children Louise and James) use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor. Why are Prince Andrew's daughters princesses when Prince Edward's daughter is not? Also why do Princess Anne's children Peter and Zara not have titles? You become a prince by being the son of a prince, or princess by being the daughter of a prince or by marrying a prince.

So Prince Andrew's daughters are Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. The Queen's daughter Princess Anne has the title Princess Royal, but her children Peter and Zara do not have titles. It is traditional that they would have been made a Duke and Duchess or Earl and Countess, but it is understood that Princess Anne asked the Queen not to give her children titles so they could live as private individuals. Prince Edward declined to be made a Duke on his marriage and became Earl of Wessex, so that his wife Sophie is Countess of Wessex. The Royal Family is descended directly from the Anglo-Saxon Kings of Wessex. On their marriage is was anounced that their children would not be titled Prince and Princess but as the children of an Earl, so they are Lady Louise and James Viscount Severn. Why are Roman Catholics excluded from the Line of Succession to the British throne? In 1534 Henry VII I broke with the Church of Rome over his divorce from Catherine of Aragon and made himself Head of the Church of England. Every King or Queen since Elizabeth 1 has held the title 'Supreme Governor of the Church of England' and 'Defender of the Faith'.

As it is a Protestant Church all those in the Royal line of succession and their spouses have to be Protestants. The Act of Settlement (1701) laid down that only Protestant heirs of Princess Sophia, granddaughter of James I, may succeed to the British throne. Neither Catholics, nor those who marry a Catholic, nor those born out of wedlock, may remain in the line of succession. Prince Charles has let it be known that when he becomes King he will take the title 'Defender of Faith' instead of' 'Defender of the Faith' to include faiths other than the established Church of England. In Aprl 2013 the Succession to the Crown Bill 2013 changed the succession laws so that a person is not disqualified from succeeding to the Crown as a result of marrying a Roman Catholic . They will however not be allowed to become a Roman Catholic as the British Monarch is head of the Protestant Church of England. Why are younger brothers higher in the line of succession than their older sisters? The line of succession to the British throne used until recently the system of male primogeniture whereby younger sons have precedence over their older sisters.

So Prince Andrew and Prince Edward are above their older sister Princess Anne in line of succession, and Prince Edward's son James is above his sister Louise. While male precedence may now be considered to be out of line with current 'equal-rights' thinking and is proposed to be changed, it has not prevented some of the most successful and longest reigning British monarchs from being queens including Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II. It does allow the succession to inherit through the female line, so the children of daughters can succeed to the throne as is the case with the current Queen. The French and German monarchies used a system of Salic law whereby females had no right to inherit and could not pass it to their offspring. The last time that the British throne passed to a son in precedence to a first born daughter was when Queen Victoria's son Edward VII inherited the throne over his older sister Princess Victoria. Had she become queen she would have been Queen Victoria II and her son Kaiser Wilhelm II would have also been King William V and ruled over a huge combined British and German Empire.

This could have significantly changed 20th century European history with the 1st World War unlikely to have happened as it did but replaced with other nationalist, republican and fascist struggles leading possibly to the downfall of both monarchies and a changed map of Europe. In Aprl 2013 the Succession to the Crown Bill 2013 changed the succession laws so that a person is able to marry a Roman Catholic and remain in the line of successsion, and the right of male primogeniture no longer applies to children born after 28 October 2011. It meant that if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first child had been a girl and their second a boy, male primogenture would no longer have applied and he would not have had precedence over his older sister. However, their first child born on 22 July 2013 was a boy Prince George so it did not apply. Their second child Princess Charlotte will not lose her place even if she has a younger brother. This current line of succession is shown at Line of Succession. King William IV was 64 years old when he became king in 1830 and succeeded his elder brother George IV.

Prince Charles the current heir to the throne became 68 on 14th November 2016 and is now the longest waiting heir to the throne. Edward VII became king after the death of his mother Queen Victoria in 1901 when he was 59 years and 2 months old. Kings & Queens by age of accession to the throne . Could the Queen choose to pass the throne directly to Prince William? The Queen cannot choose. Prince Charles as her eldest son and Prince of Wales is next in line to the throne and will become King as long as he is living when the Queen dies or should she abdicate. It would require a change to British constitutional law for this not to happen. Will Charles become King George VII? Charles can choose to rule as King Charles III or take another name. Kings often take a different regnal (ruling) name from their first given name. Charles' grandfather George VI was Prince Albert ("Bertie") before he became king, and his great great grandfather Edward VII was also Prince Albert.

King Charles I was beheaded in 1649 after the English Civil War, and Charles II was popularly known as the 'merrie' monarch as he had so many mistresses. Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) the Stuart pretender to the throne styled himself Charles III before he was defeated at Culloden in 1746. It is thought possible that Prince Charles may choose to become King George VII after his grandfather. Will Camilla become Queen? Prince Charles and Camilla were married on 9th April 2005. She was given the title Duchess of Cornwall because of sensitivity following the death of Diana. As the wife of the Prince of Wales her title should be Princess of Wales and, although before the marriage it was announced that she would take the title Princess consort, she is expected to become Queen consort when Charles becomes King. Is there a royal connection between Camilla's family and the royal family? In 1889 Camilla's great-grandmother Alice Keppel was the mistress of Edward VII when he was Prince of Wales. Edward VII was the great-great-grandfather of Prince Charles the current Prince of Wales. Why is the Queen's husband Prince Philip not King Philip?

The husband of a queen is known as a Prince consort and does not become King. Queen Victoria's husband was Prince Albert, and Queen Elizabeth's husband is Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh . The wife of a king is a Queen consort and does take the title Queen although she does not rule as the monarch. The only exceptions were William III and Mary II who ruled jointly from 1689 until Mary's death in 1694. Were Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip related before their marriage? The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are both great great grandchildren of Queen Victoria . The Queen is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria’s eldest son King Edward VII and the Duke of Edinburgh is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Alice. What relation is Queen Elizabeth II to King George III ? George III was her 3rd great grandfather. If you you follow the line of succession on her grandfather's side - George VI (father), George V (grandfather), Edward VII (great grandfather), Victoria (2nd great grandmother) , Edward Duke of Kent (3rd great grandfather), George III (4th great grandfather) - then he was her 4th great grandfather.

However her grandmother Queen Mary of Teck was also descended from George III - she and George V were 2nd cousins once removed. If you follow Queen Elizabeth's line through her grandmother - George VI (father), Queen Mary (grandmother), Mary Adelaide (great grandmother), Adolphus of Hanover (2nd great grandfather), George III (3rd great-grandfather) - he is more closely related as her 3rd great grandfather. You can see this on the Royal Family tree . How rich is Queen Elizabeth? Her estimated personal fortune is around £350 million (US $435M). The Duchy of Lancaster estate, a portfolio of land, property and assets, is held in trust for the monarch and worth around £348 million. She also owns properties privately that have never been valued, including Sandringham House, Balmoral Castle reputedly worth £160 million and the Castle of Mey. Her investment portfolio in blue-chip British companies is around £110 million, her personal art collection is worth at least £2 million, and she owns personal jewellery and a large stamp collection built up by her grandfather George V.

Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, the Crown Jewels and the Royal Art Collection are held in trust for the nation. The Crown Estate, which manages on behalf of the monarch the property and land owned by the Crown, including properties in Regent Street and St James in London, offshore wind farms around Britain's coast and rural estates in Scotland, is worth around £11 billion and generates £285 million (2014/15) income a year. This income is given to the national Treasury for use in public finances, in return for a grant (£38 million in 2012) for the cost of running the monarchy. This arrangement dated from 1760 when George III gave up the right to the income from the Crown's estates in return for a Civil List paid to members of the Royal Family. In 2013 this changed to a Sovereign Support Grant based on 15% of the income from the Crown Estate.

This means that for the year from April 2016 the nation will keep £242.2 million of the Crown Estates income, and the monarchy will receive £42.7 miilion towards the cost of the Royal household, their travel, attending formal functions and repairs to buildings including Kensington Palace which is the home of Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Does the Queen pay taxes? Yes, in 1992 The Queen offered to pay income tax and capital gains tax on a voluntary basis. Since 1993, her personal income has been taxable as for any other UK taxpayer. Does the Queen rule or does Parliament? The British Monarchy is a constitutional monarchy in which the King or Queen reigns as Head of State but with limits to their power, and the day-to-day government is carried out by Parliament. The political party with the most elected seats in the House of Commons elects a Prime Minister who is invited by the monarch to form a government. A new Parliament is opened by the monarch in an official ceremony, and the Prime Minister during his or her term in office regularly meets with the King or Queen to discuss political matters and events.

How many British Prime Ministers and US Presidents have there been during the Queen's reign? Queen Elizabeth II has worked with 13 different Prime Ministers since she became Queen: Winston Churchill (1951-55), Anthony Eden (1955-59), Harold Macmillan (1959-63), Alec Douglas-Home (1963-64), Harold Wilson (1964-70 & 1974-76), Edward Heath (1970-74), James Callaghan (1976-79), Margaret Thatcher (1979-90), John Major (1990-97), Tony Blair (1997-2007), Gordon Brown (2007-2010), David Cameron (2010-2016) and Theresa May (2016 - present).

There have been 12 US Presidents during her reign: Harry Truman (1945-1953), Dwight Eisenhower (1953-61), John Kennedy (1961-63), Lyndon Johnson (1963-69), Richard Nixon (1969-74), Gerald Ford, (1974-77), James Carter (1977-81), Ronald Reagan (1981-89), George Bush (1989-93), William Clinton (1993-2001), George W Bush (2001-09), Barack Obama, (2009-present). There have been 7 Archbishops of Canterbury and 7 Popes during her reign. Which King or Queen reigned for the longest time? The longest reigning British monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who including today has reigned for 64 years, 11 months, and 13 days which is the longest reign in over 1,200 years of British History.

On 10th September 2015 she surpassed her great great grandmother Queen Victoria who reigned for 63 years, 7 months and 2 days from 1837-1901. See Kings and Queens by length of reign . Which King or Queen reigned for the shortest time? Edward VI named his cousin Lady Jane Grey as his successor and she was proclaimed queen on July 10, 1553 by her father-in-law the Duke of Northumberland. She was 16 years old. Meanwhile Edward's half sister Mary eldest daughter of Henry VIII was also proclaimed queen. The situation was resolved 9 days later on July 19 1553 when Mary arrived in London and was proclaimed as the rightful queen. Mary was crowned Queen on Oct 1, 1553. Lady Jane Grey was executed on February 12, 1554. Another who was not crowned was Edward V . His father Edward IV died on April 9, 1483, but he was usurped by his uncle Richard III who proclaimed himself king 2 months later on June 26 and crowned on July 6, 1483.

The date that Edward died is unknown - he was presumed murdered with his brother in the Tower of London at sometime in September that year. The shortest reigning crowned king was Edmund II for 7 months from 25 April - 30 November 1016. Kings and Queens by length of reign . Which King had the most illegitimate children? Henry I is purported to have had 20-25 illegitimate children by at least six women, but few details are known. Charles II famously fathered numerous illegitimate children, of whom he acknowledged fourteen. His mistresses included Lucy Walter (2 children), Moll Davis (1) , Nell Gwyne (2), Louise de Keroualle (1), Barbara Villiers (6), Elizabeth Killigrew (1), Catherine Pegg (1), Frances Stuart (became the face of Britannia on coins), and at least five others. William IV had 10 illegitimate children born between 1794 and 1807 by his mistress actress Dorothea Bland (known as Mrs Jordan). Is David Cameron descended from royalty? How close would he be in line to the throne?

David Cameron, the previous British Prime Minister, is the great, great, great grandson of Elizabeth Fitzclarence (Jan 17, 1801 - Jan 16, 1856) who was an illegitimate daughter of William IV and his mistress Irish actress Dorothea Bland who was known by her stage name as 'Mrs Jordan'. They lived together for 20 years when he was Duke of Clarence and had 5 sons and 5 daughters. When he became heir to the throne William married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen but they had no surviving children so when he died having no legitimate children his niece Victoria became Queen. David Cameron is the 5th cousin, twice removed of Queen Elizabeth II, but illegitimate lines have no claim to the throne. The Royal Marriage act of 1772, instigated by William IV's father George III, requires members of the royal family to obtain permission from the monarch to marry. So William and Dorothea would have had to get permission from his brother George IV to marry and it would also have required ratification by Parliament.

She was Catholic and would have had to renounce her Catholic faith for William to remain in the line of succession to the throne. In the very unlikely event that they had been allowed to marry and had done so before their children were born then their eldest son George Augustus would have had a claim to the throne. His great grandson Geoffrey Fitzclarence, 5th Earl of Munster, was a Conservative politician in Winston Churchill's government. David Cameron's line through their 3rd daughter Elizabeth would have had only a very remote claim. How big was Henry VIII? When Henry VII I came to the throne in April 1509 he was 17 years old, 6ft 2in tall, and had pale skin, blue eyes and auburn hair. He was physically active and enjoyed sport, hunting and jousting. A Venetian visitor described him as 'His Majesty is the handsomest potentate I ever set eyes on, a vigorous player of tennis, rider of horses, and skilled wrestler'. However he became fatter with age and gluttony.

His suits of armour show that in 1512 he had a 32 inch waist , which increased to 35 inch by 1520s, and then grew to an enormous 54 inch by 1545. He suffered increasingly of ill health, swelling of the joints and an ulcerated leg claimed to have been caused by a jousting accident. His pain added to his mood swings and unpredictable temper. In 1544 his portrait shows him puffy and bloated. By 1546 he could hardly walk and was carried around on a wooden chair . He had to be winched on to his horse and his armour cut open to accommodate his swollen legs. He is estimated to have weighed 25 stone (350 lbs or 158kg) when he died in January 1547 Why was Queen Mary I known as Bloody Mary? Queen Mary's father Henry VIII split with Rome over his divorce from her mother Catherine of Aragon and made himself head of the Protestant Church of England. When she became queen, Mary sought to re-establish Roman Catholicism as the official religion and carried out persecution of Protestant clergy and followers.

Over 200 died including Thomas Cranmer and several bishops who were burnt at the stake between 1555 and Mary's death in 1558. She was succeeded by her half sister Elizabeth I , daughter of Ann Boleyn, who re-established Protestantism as the official Church of England. How many British monarchs have been killed while they were king or queen? - King Edmund I was killed in 946 during a feast at Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire, by an outlawed robber. - King Edward The Martyr was murdered by members of Aethelred's household at Corfe Castle in 978 - King Edmund II Ironside was assassinated in London in 1016 - King Harold II was killed by an arrow in his eye at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. - King William I The Conqueror suffered a fatal internal injury in 1087 after being thrown against the pommel of his saddle near Nantes in France. - King William II Rufus was killed in 1100 with an arrow while hunting in the New Forest.

Supposedly an accident, it has been suggested that he was shot deliberately on the instructions of his brother Henry. - Richard I The Lion Heart was killed by a crossbow bolt while besieging Châlus-Chabrol in France in 1199. - Edward II was murdered in 1327 at Berkeley Castle on the orders of his wife, Isabella - Richard II was starved to death in 1400 while imprisioned in Pontefract castle. He had been forced to abdicate in 1399 by his cousin Henry IV Bolingbroke. - Henry VI was murdered in the Tower of London in 1471 during the 'Wars of the Roses' between the Lancastrians and Yorkists. - Edward V and his younger brother were imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1483 and never seen again. Their fate remains a mystery but the two princes are believed to have been murdered on orders from their uncle Richard III. - Richard III was killed in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field. - Henry VIII executed two of his six wives, Anne Boleyn in 1536 and Catherine Howard in 1542.

- Charles I was executed by Parliament in 1649 following the Civil War. Scottish Kings killed include James II at Roxburgh in 1460 when a cannon exploded, James III in battle near Stirling in 1488 by supporters of his son, James IV by Henry VIII's forces at Flodden in 1513, and Mary Queen of Scots executed in 1587 on orders from her cousin Elizabeth I. Why was Edward I not Edward IV as he followed Edward the Elder, Edward the Martyr & Edward the Confessor? The practice of using Roman numerals to distinguish kings and queens started only after there had been several with the same name, and particularly when there was a succession of father, son, grandson like Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III. Before then it was common for chroniclers and historians to use sobriquets such as Edward the Elder, Edward the Martyr, Edward the Confessor, Edmund Ironside, Aethelred the Unready, Alfred the Great, Harold Harefoot etc before this became impractical. It would be interesting to consider how the present Queen would be known if she were to be referred to in this way.

'Elizabeth the Great', 'Elizabeth the Steadfast ', 'Elizabeth the Dutiful', have been suggested, as well as 'Elizabeth the Diplomat' for her work and visits to so many countries, 'Elizabeth the Survivor' referring to her reign as the longest in British history,'Elizabeth the Wise', 'Elizabeth the Magnificent', 'Elizabeth the Supreme', 'Elizabeth the Faithful' for her untiring service over 60 years to her people and the Commonweatlh, 'Elizabeth the Enduring', 'Elizabeth the Correct', 'Elizabeth,the Benevolent', 'Elizabeth,the Tolerant', 'Elizabeth the Stalwart', 'Elizabeth the Beloved' and 'Elizabeth Britannia'. If you have a suggestion please contact us . What about King Arthur of the knights of the round table and Camelot? King Arthur is a legend and folklore of a Celtic king who fought to defend Britain from Saxon invaders in the 6th century. There is no historical evidence that he existed. Interestingly, Henry VII sought to revive the legend naming his eldest son Arthur. Unfortunately Prince Arthur died in 1502 aged 15 before he became King. His younger brother Henry followed his father instead and became Henry VIII .

Why was there no king or queen between 1649 and 1660? The English Civil War (1642-1649) was fought between the royalist forces loyal to King Charles I and the parliamentarians led by Oliver Cromwell. The Royalist were defeated at the Battle of Naseby in 1645 and following attempts to organize a Scottish invasion, Charles was caught and executed on January 30, 1649. It was the first time a British monarch had ever been publicly executed in recorded history. After the execution of the King, a republic was declared known as the Commonwealth of England (1649-1653) and then the Protectorate (1653-1658) with rule by parliament under Cromwell. Following his death in 1658, Cromwell was succeeded briefly by his son Richard before the monarchy was restored and Charles II became king in 1660. What is the Stone of Destiny? The Stone of Destiny is a symbolic stone that was used in the crowning of Kings of Scotland at the Palace of Scone in Perthshire, Scotland.

It is a block of sandstone which measures approximately 26 inches long x 16 wide x 11 high which rested beneath the throne. According to legend it was brought to Scotland by Fergus Mor from Ireland, where it had reached by way of Spain and Egypt from the Holy Land. It was used in the crowning of kings from Kenneth MacAlpin in 841 to John Balliol in 1292. In 1296 King Edward I of England took the stone to London where it was kept in Westminster Abbey for use in coronations. In 1950 a group of students stole the stone and took it back to Scotland in two pieces which were repaired by a Glasgow stone mason. They left it at Arbroath Abbey from where it was returned to Westminster Abbey. In 1996 the British Government decided in response to calls by Scottish nationalists to return it to Scotland. It arrived back on St Andrews Day 30 November 1996, almost exactly 700 years after it had been removed by Edward, and is now in Edinburgh Castle. When did Wales become part of the United Kingdom?

Wales became incorporated into England under the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, after it had been annexed by Edward I of England in 1282. Edward dubbed his eldest son Edward Prince of Wales, since which time the eldest son of each English monarch has borne the same title. In the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, Wales became legally part of the Kingdom of England, and subsequently part of the United Kingdom. When did Scotland become part of the United Kingdom? The Crowns of England and Scotland were united in 1603 when James VI King of Scotland became James I King of England. In October 1604, one year later , he decreed that the Royal Title would use the term Great Brittaine to refer to the "one Imperiall Crowne" made up of England and Scotland. However despite James' wishes political union between Scotland and England did not take place until 1707 in the reign of Queen Anne. See union of the United Kingdom . When did Ireland become part of the United Kingdom?

Ireland became part of the United Kingdom in 1800 when the Act of Union with Ireland was passed by both the Irish and British parliaments Why is Northern Ireland part of the United Kingdom when Southern Ireland is a different country? Northern Ireland, predominantly Protestant, and Southern Ireland, Catholic, split in 1920 with 6 of the 9 counties of Ulster remaining within the United Kingdom, and the remaining 26 counties being given home rule under the Government of Ireland Act. In 1922 the Southern counties became the Irish Free State and then since 1949 the Republic of Ireland. BBC - iWonder - Elizabeth I: Troubled child to beloved Queen Elizabeth I: Troubled child to beloved Queen 1533 1603Elizabeth dies a beloved queen 'Good Queen Bess' Elizabeth I is one of England's greatest monarchs – perhaps the greatest. Her forces defeated the Spanish Armada and saved England from invasion, she reinstated Protestantism and forged an England that was a strong and independent nation. But she had a very difficult childhood and was fortunate to make it to the throne at all. When she was young, her father Henry VIII executed her mother Anne Boleyn.

She was stripped of her inheritance and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. 1533 Born into the Tudor dynasty Getty Elizabeth's parents Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. Elizabeth is born on 7 September in Greenwich Palace. News of her birth causes rejoicing across the country, but is a bitter disappointment to her father Henry. He is desperate for a male heir to continue the Tudor dynasty. Although Elizabeth is made next in line to the throne, the King prays his next child will be male – superseding her claim to the throne. Getty Anne Boleyn awaits her fate in the Tower of London. Elizabeth is two years and eight months old when her mother Anne Boleyn is accused of adultery and beheaded on the orders of Henry VIII. Her father marries Anne’s lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour a week later. Elizabeth is declared illegitimate and removed from the royal succession. Her title is downgraded from 'Princess’ to 'Lady’. Elizabeth is neglected for a number of years until Henry's final wife Catherine Parr takes charge and makes sure she is educated to the highest standards and, crucially, taught the art of public speaking by renowned Cambridge scholar Roger Ascham.

She does perceive how, of herself… she can do nothing that good is, or prevails for her salvation, unless it be through the grace of god… Elizabeth describes a translation of French verse in a letter to Catherine Parr, 1544. 1547 Father dies You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. Simon Schama explains how Thomas Seymour and Elizabeth's relationship developed. A History of Britain by Simon Schama (BBC Two, 2000). Elizabeth is 13-years-old when Henry VIII dies. Her nine-year-old half-brother Edward becomes King. Elizabeth joins the household of her stepmother Catherine Parr. When Elizabeth is caught in an embrace with Parr’s husband Thomas Seymour, she is banished from the house. In 1548 Catherine dies in childbirth and Seymour is subsequently executed for plotting to marry Elizabeth and kidnap Edward VI. When Elizabeth is questioned by the authorities she protests her innocence and escapes prosecution. Imprisoned in the Tower of London Mary Evans Elizabeth held prisoner in the Tower of London. After Edward’s early death in 1553 Elizabeth’s older sister Mary I becomes queen.

Mary returns the country to Catholicism and begins a series of bloody purges of Protestants. 287 are executed during her short reign. Mary’s plan to marry Prince Phillip of Spain sparks an unsuccessful rebellion and Elizabeth is interrogated about her involvement with the plotters. She is imprisoned in the Tower of London before being put under house arrest in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. Remember your last promise and my last demand that I be not condemned without answer and due proof. In a letter Elizabeth beseeches her half-sister Mary not to send her to the Tower, March 1554. 1558 Elizabeth becomes Queen You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. Simon Schama describes Elizabeth I's coronation. Clip from A History of Britain by Simon Schama (BBC Two, 2000). Following the death of her half-sister Mary, Elizabeth succeeds to the throne. She is 25. Elizabeth has inherited a country wracked by religious strife and knows she needs public support to remain queen. The celebrations for the coronation the following year are spectacular. As her procession makes its way through London on its way to Westminster she pauses to listen to congratulations and receive flowers from ordinary people on the street.

I will be as good unto ye as ever a Queen was unto her people. No will in me can lack, neither do I trust shall there lack any power. Elizabeth to the people of London on the eve of her coronation 1559 Falls in love? You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. Simon Schama asks if Elizabeth was really in love with Robert Dudley. Clip from A History of Britain by Simon Schama (BBC Two, 2000). Elizabeth has many suitors but the one who comes closest to winning her heart is Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. The two are very close and she appoints him as one of her most trusted advisors. When his wife Lady Amy Dudley dies suddenly in suspicious circumstances in 1560, rumours start spreading about the nature of Robert's relationship with the Queen. However Elizabeth ignores the rumours. The precise nature of their relationship remains a mystery to this day. Executes Mary, Queen of Scots You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. Simon Schama describes how Elizabeth's spymaster entrapped Mary, Queen of Scots. Clip from A History of Britain by Simon Schama (BBC Two, 2000).

Elizabeth's Catholic cousin Mary, Queen of Scots is under house arrest in Chartley Hall, Stafford as she poses a threat to Elizabeth. Elizabeth builds up an extensive network of spies headed by Francis Walsingham to help protect her. He implicates Mary in a plot to depose Elizabeth and she is tried and convicted of treason. Elizabeth is reluctant to execute her cousin. She doesn’t want to set a precedent by executing an anointed monarch. After months of prevaricating, she finally has Mary beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle. What will my enemies not say, that for the safety of her life a maiden queen could be content to spill the blood even of her own kinswoman? Elizabeth to a Parliamentary delegation begging her have Mary, Queen of Scots executed. 1588 The defeat of the Spanish Armada You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. Elizabeth I makes a rousing speech to the English soldiers gathered at Tilbury. Clip from A History of Britain by Simon Schama (BBC Two, 2000). After the death of Mary, Queen of Scots the Pope urges Philip of Spain to invade England.

England and Spain have long been bitter rivals and Philip launches a great fleet of ships, known as the Spanish Armada. Elizabeth is adamant she will retain her crown and that England will remain free from the influence of Rome. She addresses the troops encamped at Tilbury saying she will fight by their side. The Armada is engaged by the Royal Fleet in the channel and then driven to the North Sea by strong winds. Only half of the 130 ships make it back to Spain. I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too. Elizabeth I, addressing English soldiers at Tilbury, July 1588. 1603 Elizabeth dies a beloved queen Topfoto Elizabeth I, The Weary Sovereign. Elizabeth I dies aged 69. Known forever as 'the Virgin Queen', she remains unmarried and childless until the end. In her final years Elizabeth's reign is beset by problems in Ireland and her failing health. However, the mourning which follows her death is unprecedented. Many ordinary Londoners take to the streets to watch Elizabeth's journey to her final resting place in Westminster Abbey.

As Elizabeth leaves no direct Tudor heir, James VI of Scotland – the son of Mary, Queen of Scots – is named king. The Tudor dynasty that has ruled England for 118 years comes to an end.

Question: The mother and son of which British monarch were both beheaded?
Answer: JAMES I