Dark History of the Kings and Queens of England

433 Pages·2012·24.66 MB·English

by  Brenda Ralph Lewis

DARK HISTORY OF THE
KINGS & QUEENS OF ENGLAND
BRENDA RALPH LEWIS
This digital edition first published in 2012
Published by
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Copyright © 2012 Amber Books Ltd ISBN: 978 1 908696 36 6
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CONTENTS
Introduction
CHAPTER 1
CONSPIRATORS AND CONQUERORS: A DIRTY BUSINESS – The Normans
CHAPTER 2
UNHOLY ALLIANCES – The Plantagenets Part I
CHAPTER 3
CRUSADING KINGS AND TROUBLESOME BARONS – The Plantagenets Part II
CHAPTER 4
LOVERS, LAND AND TREASON – The Plantagenets Part III
CHAPTER 5
INSANITY, CIVIL WAR AND CHILD MURDER – The Plantagenets Part IV
CHAPTER 6
CONSPIRACY AND BLOODSHED – The Tudors Part I
CHAPTER 7
DECAPITATION AND DIVORCE – The Tudors Part II
CHAPTER 8
TURMOIL, TERROR AND FATAL ILLNESS – The Tudors Part III
CHAPTER 9
GLORIANA AND GORE – The Tudors Part IV
CHAPTER 10
ROUNDHEADS AND REGICIDE – The Stuarts Part I
CHAPTER 11
A NOT-SO-MERRY MONARCHY – The Stuarts Part II
CHAPTER 12
MISTRESSES AND MADNESS – The Hanoverians Part I
CHAPTER 13
BATTLE ROYAL – The Hanoverians Part II
CHAPTER 14
SCANDAL BEHIND CLOSED DOORS – The House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
CHAPTER 15
A LOOSE CANNON – The Windsors Part I
CHAPTER 16
A MODERN MONARCHY? – The Windsors Part II
Index

INTRODUCTION
T
he British royal family is considered by many to be the most
prestigious in the world.
Yet its sensational and often lurid past contains deeds so dark and dastardly
that they were covered up and remained secret for centuries.
Over the last thousand years or so, many of the kings and queens of England
have played their part in betrayals, regicides, plots, treason, atrocities, and
revolts. The English throne has been usurped four times. There have been five
pretenders to the crown, two of them impostors. Four kings have been forcibly
deposed. All were subsequently murdered. One of them was publicly executed.
Kings and queens of England have been responsible for thousands of
executions and deaths. Tudor king Henry VIII set out to exterminate every
surviving member of the Plantagenets, the dynasty that preceded his own. And
Henry’s daughter, Queen Mary I, burned 300 Protestants at the stake.
English royalty was a regular target for conspiracies and assassination
attempts. Queen Elizabeth I was at constant risk from plotters who wanted to kill
her and replace her with her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. The Gunpowder Plot
of 1605 was a Catholic conspiracy to blow up King James I, his government and
the Houses of Parliament.
Two kings of England went mad. One was kidnapped, and another was
mercilessly bullied by his own nobles. King Henry VIII, who married six times,
hounded his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to her death in 1536. Later, he
executed his second and fifth wives.
While King George IV was Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, he
incurred so many debts that he had to be bailed out – twice – by Parliament. His
father, King George III, derived little pleasure from his family of 15 children,
many of whom were enveloped in scandal. Two of his offspring were suspected
of incest, and his sons provided him with an army of illegitimate grandchildren.