In the last millennium, there
have been only six female sovereigns: Mary I and Elizabeth I, Mary II and Anne, and Victoria and Elizabeth II, who celebrated her eightieth birthday in 2006.
With the exception of Mary I,
they are among our most successful monarchs. Without Mary II and Anne, the
Glorious Revolution of 1688 might not have taken place. Elizabeth I and
Victoria gave their name to an age, presiding over long periods when the country
made significant progress in the growth of empire, prestige, and power.
And most recently, Elizabeth
Alexandra Mary, or ‘Lilibet’ to close family, was born in London on 21 April
1926. Like her parents, Elizabeth was heavily involved in the war effort during
the Second World War, serving in the women’s branch of the British Army known
as the Auxiliary Territorial Service, training as a driver and mechanic.
Elizabeth and her sister
Margaret anonymously joined the crowded streets of London on VE
Day to celebrate the end of the war. She married her cousin Prince
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and they had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew
and Edward. When her father George VI died, Elizabeth became Queen of seven
Commonwealth countries: The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka).
Elizabeth’s coronation in
1953 was the first to be televised, serving to increase popularity in the
medium and doubling television license numbers in the UK.
On 9th September 2015,
Elizabeth became Britain’s longest-serving monarch, ruling longer than her
great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria who reigned for 63 years and 216 days.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
died at Balmoral on 8th September 2022 at the age of 96. She was the longest
reigning monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, celebrating her Platinum
Jubilee in June 2022.
All of them have far-reaching
legacies. Each faced personal sacrifices and emotional dilemmas in her pursuit
of political power. How to overcome the problem of being a female ruler when
the sex was considered inferior? Does a queen take a husband and, if so, how
does she reconcile the reversal of the natural order, according to which the
man should be the master?
A queen’s first duty is to
provide an heir to the throne, but at what cost? In this richly compelling
narrative, Maureen Waller delves into the intimate lives of England’s queens
regnant in delicious detail, assessing their achievements from a female
perspective.
