Sixty years ago on 6 February 1952, Queen Elizabeth was crowned the fortieth monarch since William the Conqueror. She is the second longest reigning monarch in English history; only Queen Victoria has reigned longer and that is only by three years. When you have ruled for 60 years, you don’t just celebrate on that one day, but for a whole year. While the majority of the celebrations were in June, many other events will take place throughout the year. Check the Queen’s official website for loads of information. During her reign she launched 21 ships, sat for 129 portraits, sent approximately 45,000 Christmas cards, and received some unusual gifts, such as two tortoises, a 70 year-old bull elephant, and two black beavers.
There is a more serious side to her duties. There have been 12 Prime Ministers that have served under her and she has given her Royal Assent to more than 3,500 Acts of Parliament. She is a patron to over 600 charities and organizations, over 400 of which she has held since she became Queen. To know more about Her Royal Majesty, you might like to read one of the following, Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, Her Majesty: Queen Elizabeth II and her Court, The Real Elizabeth, and Jubilee: Queen Elizabeth II: 60 Years on the Throne or watch the following DVDs: The Diamond Queen and Queen and Country.
While Queen Elizabeth is one of England’s longest reigning monarchs, Lady Jane Dudley’s reign had to have been one of the shortest. She was fifth in the royal line of succession after King Henry VIII. In Coronation of Glory: The Story of Lady Jane Grey, everything was going great in Lady Jane’s life until King Henry’s heir, her cousin, died. It was then that all the maneuvering began to get Lady Jane on the throne before Princess Mary or Princess Elizabeth. Lady Jane won, only to lose the crown 9 days later and her life shortly after. Quite often the path to the throne was not an easy one as shown in the following books: Sovereign Ladies, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth and Mary, The Women of the Cousins War, Magnificent Obsession, and She Wolves: the Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth. The Mequon-Thiensville Community Book Club will meet December 18th at 1:30pm to discuss Sister Queens: the Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile by Julia Fox.
If you would like these historical events to come to life, you might want to try our books in historical fiction. The first two books on our list have received the Man Booker Award. This prize is the world’s most important literary award and is given to the “best novel in the opinion of the judges. The whole aim of this award is to increase the reading of quality fiction and to attract the intelligent general audience.” Any of these books would be a great read: Bring up the Bodies, Wolf Hall, Kingmaker’s Daughter Elizabeth I: a novel, Queen Defiant: a novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine, The Confession of Katherine Howard, The Favored Queen, The Red Queen, The White Queen, The Queen’s Lover, The Lady Elizabeth, The Boleyn Inheritance, Innocent Traitor: a novel of Lady Jane Grey, The Constant Princess, Murder Most Royal, The Queen of Subtleties, A Royal Ambition, The Fifth Queen, and The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn.
Happy anniversary to Her Royal Majesty, may her reign be a long and happy one. Good reading to all who enjoy a look back in history.
Picture courtesy of Easicat
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