Who is your favorite English or British royal of all time and why?

[christina01]

I am rather boring and have to choose Diana too. She made me first interested in anything royal. Everything she did seemed to fascinate us all. Second to that would also be Queen Mary QE11 grandmother. I find it fascinating that she was first intended for her brother in law Prince Albert Victor until his demise, then became betrothed to the brother, later King George. I wonder what she must have felt at the time, how odd that must have felt for her. 

[Helena]

I am rather boring and have to choose Diana too. She made me first interested in anything royal. Everything she did seemed to fascinate us all. Second to that would also be Queen Mary QE11 grandmother. I find it fascinating that she was first intended for her brother in law Prince Albert Victor until his demise, then became betrothed to the brother, later King George. I wonder what she must have felt at the time, how odd that must have felt for her. 

I don't think it was too bothersome for May.  She was not in love with Albert Victor nor was she in love with his younger brother, although she grew to love George V after they were married.  One must remember that she was practical and accustomed to Royal marriages that were not love matches.  Queen Victoria arranged her engagement with Prince Albert Victor and it was Queen Victoria who decided she would marry George in consequence.  May was very much in awe of Queen Victoria and unlikely to question the old Queen's wishes.

[getafix]

Welcome Eagle, and here is your first 

G

[episcogal]

I love QEII, of course, but am intrigued by QEII's grandmother, Queen Mary. Very erect woman.

[eagle]

Thank you, Getafix!

[tudorfan]

George III, the king who lost America. Because without the madness of King George, we'd still be a colony.

You got one there!  

[tudorfan]

My favorite is Queen Elizabeth I (1533 - 1603) because she put England first, and not her feelings.  She was a political genius, especially as a woman in a man's world, and put England on the map as a formidable European power.  She was also very very brave having to deal with several life threatening crisis during her youth, and from the Catholic Church who wanted her dead so that Mary Stuart could take over her throne.  I also admire that she was not brought up with a silver spoon in her mouth as she was bastardized by her father, and her mother was executed.  Most children today never have such dysfunctional and sad childhoods, but it made her a very strong woman who learned from her mistakes and used them to better herself.  She also never married, which I find remarkable in her day and age.  She was truly an independent mind and a woman who even made the Pope fear her. 

Her story and those of her half-siblings is a remarkable piece of history. Mary and Elizabeth Tudor had to pay a heavy price for being the daughters of two very different but fascinating women.

They also had to pay the heavy price of #1) being not only daughters (females without a male sibling at first), but #2) being the daughters of Henry VIII - who was a tyrant IMO.  I will only say that Henry did see to it that both women were well educated, but I think he ruined Mary, while the same qualities that destroyed one daughter made the other much stronger - Elizabeth. 

[Lolly]

Normally I'd say Elizabeth the first, but for general women-kick-ass-ness I have to go farther back to Matilda, daughter and heir of Henry I who very nearly managed to get the throne for herself by staging a war against her cousin. When that failed, she worked to make sure that her son Henry II got the throne.

And then there's Mathilda's daughter-in-law Eleanor of Aquitaine, who got up to some awesome hijinks. She managed to get an annulment from her first husband, then sent messengers to Henry II and demanded that he come over and marry her. She ruled England in her son Richard's name while he was off crusading.

What cool women.

[bumbershoot]

I also have a fondness for Victoria. I think she gets a bad rap for allegedly being so, well, Victorian. She was a lusty Hanoverian and one of the things that endears her to me is her unbridled passion for Albert. Her descriptions of the time they spend together in the early days of their marriage are, by the standards of the time, totally hot.  And I betcha money Bea got some of those genes, too.

[TLLK]

My favorite is Queen Elizabeth I (1533 - 1603) because she put England first, and not her feelings.  She was a political genius, especially as a woman in a man's world, and put England on the map as a formidable European power.  She was also very very brave having to deal with several life threatening crisis during her youth, and from the Catholic Church who wanted her dead so that Mary Stuart could take over her throne.  I also admire that she was not brought up with a silver spoon in her mouth as she was bastardized by her father, and her mother was executed.  Most children today never have such dysfunctional and sad childhoods, but it made her a very strong woman who learned from her mistakes and used them to better herself.  She also never married, which I find remarkable in her day and age.  She was truly an independent mind and a woman who even made the Pope fear her. 

Her story and those of her half-siblings is a remarkable piece of history. Mary and Elizabeth Tudor had to pay a heavy price for being the daughters of two very different but fascinating women.

They also had to pay the heavy price of #1) being not only daughters (females without a male sibling at first), but #2) being the daughters of Henry VIII - who was a tyrant IMO.  I will only say that Henry did see to it that both women were well educated, but I think he ruined Mary, while the same qualities that destroyed one daughter made the other much stronger - Elizabeth. 

I agree. I wonder at times that since had to endure more of Henry's destructive behavior if it just robbed her of any confidence. She went from beloved child to bastard to being back within the family fold for most of her life.

[tudorfan]

My favorite is Queen Elizabeth I (1533 - 1603) because she put England first, and not her feelings.  She was a political genius, especially as a woman in a man's world, and put England on the map as a formidable European power.  She was also very very brave having to deal with several life threatening crisis during her youth, and from the Catholic Church who wanted her dead so that Mary Stuart could take over her throne.  I also admire that she was not brought up with a silver spoon in her mouth as she was bastardized by her father, and her mother was executed.  Most children today never have such dysfunctional and sad childhoods, but it made her a very strong woman who learned from her mistakes and used them to better herself.  She also never married, which I find remarkable in her day and age.  She was truly an independent mind and a woman who even made the Pope fear her. 

Her story and those of her half-siblings is a remarkable piece of history. Mary and Elizabeth Tudor had to pay a heavy price for being the daughters of two very different but fascinating women.

They also had to pay the heavy price of #1) being not only daughters (females without a male sibling at first), but #2) being the daughters of Henry VIII - who was a tyrant IMO.  I will only say that Henry did see to it that both women were well educated, but I think he ruined Mary, while the same qualities that destroyed one daughter made the other much stronger - Elizabeth. 

I agree. I wonder at times that since had to endure more of Henry's destructive behavior if it just robbed her of any confidence. She went from beloved child to bastard to being back within the family fold for most of her life.

Mary was considered one of the most evil rulers for all of the burnings, but I do think she suffered with mental issues due to her dysfunctional and traumatic upbringing.  It's a pity, because I think she could have had potential, but her father ruined her.  Elizabeth's upbringing was traumatic and dysfunctional from the age of 3, when Anne Boleyn was beheaded.  I find it remarkable that she not only survived that, but she became who she was despite what she had suffered.  Edward unfortunately never had a chance to be his own person because he died too young, and he was surrounded by men that used him for their own corrupt efforts. 

[sweets7908]

I have two favourties: Margarita Armstrong- Jones (HM's great- nice) and Lady Louise Windsor (HM's granddaughter) they are utterly adorable!

[luvcharles]

Charles wins hands down for me.

I first saw him when he came to Australia to go to school in the 1960s and I have admired him ever since - except for marrying Diana, which I always believed would end badly - said so to friends and family at the time of the engagement - they were just so unsuited.

[LadyBunion]

Oh, why, Pippa of course!  PIPPA!



What?   

of course ! Queen Philippa  ? (wife of Edward III)

[devin22]

Diana hands down. She was a spirited woman and had a lot of ballz.