NOTES: Reign: 1553-1558; The only child of Henry VIII and Catherine of
Aragon to survive infancy. She was called Bloody Mary because of a large
number of religious persecutions that took place during her reign.
NOTES: According to Debrett's Kings and Queens of England, birthdate for
her is probably 1501 or 1502 (not 1507 as usually stated). On May 2, 1536, Anne
was imprisoned in the Tower of London on charges of adultery with her brother,
three gentlemen of the privy chamber, and a musician of the court and of
conspiring with these men against the king's life. King Henry was betrothed to
Jane Seymour the day after Anne was beheaded. She was the mother of the future
Queen Elizabeth I.
NOTES: She was a strong, healthy child and escaped the taint of congenital
syphilis which afflicted Henry VIII's other surviving children. Her mother
Anne Boleyn's disgrace and execution led to Elizabeth being declared
illegitimate by Act of Parliament and deprived of her place in the succession
before she was three years old. A later Act reinstated her and the kindness of
her stepmother Queen Catherine brought her back to court where she shared the
tutors of her half-brother Edward, becoming proficient in Latin, French, Italian and
some Greek. She also had some leanings towards the Protestant faith, although by no
means committed at this time. She was the last of the Tudor rulers of England. Her
reign: 1558-1603; At the death of her half-sister, Mary I, in 1558 Elizabeth became
Queen, beginning one of the greatest reigns in English history. From the beginning of
her reign, Elizabeth's marital status was a political concern because there was no
English heir to the throne. Parliament insistently petitioned her to marry, but she
replied with the statement that she intended to live and die a virgin. She became known as
the Virgin Queen. Her statement did not prevent her from toying constantly with the idea of
marriage. She was besieged by royal suitors, each of whom she favored when it was in her
political interest to do so. Her affections, however, were bestowed on a succession of
favorites, notably Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Sir Walter Raleigh and Robert
Devereux, 2d Earl of Essex.
NOTES: She died 12 days after her son's birth. Jane's one memorable act in
the 17 months she was queen was to effect a reconciliation between Henry and
his daughter Mary, whom she had known in her days as maid of honor to Catherine
of Aragon. Ten years and 3 wives later, Henry VIII was laid to rest beside her at
St. George's Chapel, Windsor.
NOTES: Contrary to diagnoses of the period, it is highly likely that Edward
died from complications of congenital syphilis, Henry's legacy to his children.
At fifteen, some of his symptoms of the disease were: eruptions all over his
skin, his air fell out, then his nails and afterwards the joints of his toes and
fingers. He was buried near the tomb of his grandfather Henry VII in Westminster
Abbey, but has no memorial.
NOTES: Anne, who had been sent to Richmond Palace for her health, open air
and pleasure, raised no objection to the divorce proceedings. Henry and Anne
remained good friends after the divorce. Although Henry slept at Anne's side,
the marriage was never consummated and the couple are said to have spent the
night hours playing cards together. The marriage was declared null and void on 9
July 1540, just six months after the marriage.
NOTES: Reign: 10-19 July 1553. The nine days queen. Jane was reluctant to
accept the crown forced upon her by her ambitious father-in-law, but was
publicly proclaimed queen with much pomp after Edward VI's death had been made
public on 10 July 1553. She and her husband were innocent victims of the
overwhelming ambition of their parents and it was only with reluctance and after
much heart-searching that Mary I agreed to their execution.
NOTES: Habsburg king of Spain (1556-98) who ruled the country as the height
of its power and influence and used that power in the service of the Roman
Catholic church and the Counter Reformation. Philip was married 4 times. He
used the Inquisition as a method of control and thousands of Protestants were
killed or or exiled. His desire to return the English to Catholicism as well as
to check their rival maritime power, led Philip to the decision to invade England,
and to that end he ordered the construction of a great fleet (the Spanish Armada).
In 1588 he dispatched the Armada to the British Isles, where it was destroyed by bad
weather and the English.
NOTES: Andrej was sent to London to be educated, and because war
intervened, never returned to his native country. He eventually settle in
Portugal, a country that has always been something of a magnet for dispossessed
European royalty. He now lives in Palm Springs, California with his third wife.
The Prince is a prominent Rotarian, and travels widely around the Pacific as a
representative of Rotary International.
NOTES: A Roman Catholic. Because of Prince Alexander's marriage to Dona
Maria, he is disqualified to the succession to the British Throne (he would
have been 62nd in line, anyway).
NOTES: Grand Duchess Margarita Alice Thyra Viktoria Marie Louise
Scholastica, a member of the royal house of Baden and a niece of the Duke of
Edinburgh.
NOTES: Kira Melita, Feodora Marie Viktoria Alexandra, a member of the
princely house of Leiningen, and a granddaughter of Grand Duke Kiril
Vladimirovich of Russia. Kira is herself descended from Queen Victoria; her
grandmother was the daughter of Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Victoria's son and
Marie of Russia.
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