Queens of England

I've always been fascinated by the Queens of England. Not just the six women who have worn the Crown in their own right but the women who have played the part of consort to a king. 

Their stories are nearly always more interesting to me than those of the men who gave them power, wealth and prestige beyond anything they'd known before.  From the princesses used as pawns in power games to the ambitious women who won hearts and snatched a crown in the process, their tales have always seemed to be more human and more alive. 

Through the tales of lives lived in dusty palaces or cramped castles, I always gained more of a sense of how the struggles for supremacy and the political manoeuvring that changed the lives of individuals and nations actually played out.

That will become clear, I'm sure, this Sunday, with the start of the major TV adaptation of The White Queen.  The stories of Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort and Anne Neville are at the heart of England's bloodiest war and these three women did more to change the country from medieval to modern than any of the men involved.

And so I decided to create this blog as a place to write and talk about these fascinating women.   I hope others will join me to talk about all these women and compare thoughts and opinions on the parts they played in history, the way they are portrayed now in literature, film and TV and radio and the legacy they have left behind them .