Royals on the Shelf

In my giant pile of library books at home, I have a couple I grabbed on my customary tour through the non-fiction history section. They are Ungrateful Daughters: The Stuart Princesses Who Stole Their Father's Crown by Maureen Waller, and Becoming Queen by Kate Williams. Ungrateful Daughters is about the last Stuart sovereigns: Queen Mary II and Queen Anne. Their father was James II - the monarch who turned Catholic and fled the country with his infant son. Becoming Queen is about the childhood of Queen Victoria and the untimely death of her cousin Princess Charlotte (George IV's daughter) which led to Victoria's accession to the throne.

After getting these books home, I had a look at my historical bookshelf and realized that I had a number of books about royal women. I had always wondered what I'd do for a thesis if I ever took a History Masters or Ph.D. because my love of history is so far-ranging. Now I realize my theme - historical royal women. I have books on quite of few of England's queens, queen consorts, and princesses from pre-Conquest up to Victoria. Here they are - in historical order!

I begin pre-Conquest with Queen Emma and the Vikings - The Woman Who Shaped the Events of 1066 by Harriet O'Brien and quickly move on to the Plantagenets. I don't seem to have any books about the women of the Norman period - I would especially like a good biography on the Empress Matilda/Maude (mother of Henry II).

Quite possibly one of my favourite royal consorts of all time, and an amazing woman in her own right is Eleanor of Aquitaine, who is immortalized in the excellent Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Biography by Marion Meade. Eleanor was a great heiress to most of France in her own right. She married first King Louis VII of France and upon her divorce married the much younger King Henry II of England, bringing her immense territories under English control. She was the mother of Richard Lionheart and King John. She went crusading and travelled much of Europe. Eleanor ruled Aquitaine herself, despite being imprisoned for years by Henry. And she outlived him - living to around 80 years old. She was a truly amazing woman - not just for her time, but for all time.

For further Plantagenet history, I have Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe by Nancy Goldstone. These four sisters from the humble county of Provence married well and exerted a powerful influence on European royal history. All became queens: Marguerite married the King of France; Eleanor the King of England; Sanchia the King of England's brother, newly crowned King of Germany; and Beatrice the King of France's brother who was made King of Sicily.

And, in the later (and scandalous!) Plantagenets, check out Katherine Swynford by Alison Wier.
Katherine Swynford was the mistress of John of Gaunt - one of the most powerful royal dukes of his day. Later married, their children were legitimized but barred from the throne. However, Katherine became the ancestress of Margaret Beaufort - mother of the first Tudor King, Henry VII.

I have two books on the wives of Henry VIII:
The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser and The six wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir. It is worth having the two books to compare the different points of view different authors have on each of the wives. Henry VIII also had two sisters - Margaret the Queen of Scotland and Mary the Queen of France. You can read about them in Sisters to the King by Maria Perry.

I seem to have skipped the Stuarts entirely but recognize the Georgian period in The Georgian Princesses by John Van Der Kiste. This little book retells the stories of the Georgian Princesses, often forgotten by historians. The aristocrats of this period get a mention in Aristocrats by Stella Tillyard. This book tells the story of the four fabulous Lennox sisters - Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah. Descended from an illegitimate son of Charles II, the four sisters were at the centre of political and fashionable life in the Georgian era.

Then, of course, there's Victoria and her daughters and granddaughters:

An Uncommon Woman by Hannah Pakula - a biography of Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, Princess Victoria - mother of Kaiser William II.

Victoria's Daughters by Jerrold M. Packard - obviously about Queen Victoria's five daughters: Princess Victoria, Princess Alice, Princess Helena, Princess Louise and Princess Beatrice.

Among Queen Victoria's numerous grandchildren were five women who became Queen consorts: Sophie, Queen Consort of Greece (daughter of Princess Victoria); Maud, Queen Consort of Norway (daughter of Edward VII); Alexandra, Tsarina of Russia (daughter of Princess Alice); Marie, Queen Consort of Romania (daughter of Prince Alfred); and Victoria Eugenie, Queen Consort of Spain (daughter of Princess Beatrice). They are profiled in Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria.

Other royal houses are not left out:
Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser
Olga Romanov: Russia's Last Grand Duchess by Patricia Phenix

And a few other interesting ones:

Daughters of Britannia: The Lives and Times of Diplomatic Wives by Katie Hickman. Obviously about women married to British diplomats, written by a daughter of a British diplomat.

Last Curtsey: The End of the Debutantes by Fiona MacCarthy who was one of the debutantes in the last year that debutantes would be presented - 1958.

As you can see - and much to my surprise - I seem to have quite a collection of books about royal women in history. I always knew I liked history, but it wasn't until recently that I realized that I predilection for stories about the experiences of royal women. So many of them have fascinating stories - better than fiction! I have most of the essential time periods covered, but there are a few gaps - time for another library trip!

And, just a note for those of you keeping track and following along at home, yes, it is August and the August bookclub book has been picked. It is The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. Stay tuned for my thoughts and reactions once I've finished the book! (After a few historical non-fiction selections, however.)