Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians
Æthelflæd, daughter of Alfred the Great, married Æthelred of Mercia to form an alliance between Wessex and Mercia. After Æthelred 's death, she ruled as Lady of the Mercians and won many victories against the Vikings, expanding Saxon territory and helped form the English nation.
Eadgifu of Kent
Eadgifu was the third consort of Edward the Elder, though her significance really came as queen mother, when she was a leading advisor for both of her sons as kings, helping to secure their succession to the throne. She promoted monastic reform and patronised up-and-coming stars such as Dunstan and became the first of only two queen grandmothers in English history.
Ælfthryth
Ælfthryth was the controversial consort to Edgar the Peaceable, the bête noire of Dunstan, but the first truly powerful Saxon queen, a leading figure in the monastic reform movement, one of Edgar’s chief advisors and the first woman to be crowned and anointed Queen of England. She also fought a succession battle to have her son crowned king, was the subject of numerous blockbuster scandals, and ruled as virtual regent for her son for several years.
Emma of Normandy
Emma of Normandy was queen to two English kings (a Saxon and a Viking, Cnut), effectively a co-ruler with the latter as part of a North Sea Empire. After his death, she fought a succession battle with Cnut’s other wife and son, eventually securing first her Viking and, then, Saxon son on the throne. She defined her own legacy by commissioning her own history of the period, the Encomium Emmae Reginae.
Matilda of Scotland
Matilda of Scotland was the daughter of the King of Scots but celebrated as an Anglo-Saxon princess, whose marriage to Henry I helped restore the Saxon royal line to England. She proved a highly influential queen, often acting as regent in Henry’s absence and being a noted cultural and religious patron who proved highly popular with the people.
Matilda of Boulogne
Matilda of Boulogne was consort to King Stephen – an unsuccessful king, but kept afloat thanks to her efforts. She governed Boulogne as Countess in her own right, and when Stephen’s reign nearly came unstuck during the Anarchy, literally rode to his rescue, restoring him to the throne.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was consort to Henry II and the top-scoring consort. Previously married to the King of France (whom she accompanied on a crusade), she left him for Henry, helping him become ruler of a vast Angevin Empire (the left of France). Imprisoned for fifteen years after supporting a rebellion against Henry, she then ruled England on behalf of Richard the Lionheart, keeping the country together while he was on a crusade (and subsequently imprisoned), then helped John to the throne after Richard’s death.
Isabella of France
Isabella was consort of Edward II, providing support in his conflict with the nobles over Piers Gaveston but refused to be sidelined by the Despensers. She used her international links to invade England, overthrowing her husband, installing her son as king and ruling as regent with her ally (and possible lover) Roger Mortimer, before being overthrown by her son and living a long and comfortable semi-retirement.
Margaret of Anjou
Margaret was the original “She-Wolf of France,” stepping into the breach when her husband, Henry VI, proved incapable of ruling. She took a lead in the Wars of the Roses, supporting the rights of her husband and son against the ambitions of York, at times effective ruler of the country.
Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville was consort to Edward IV, a Lancastrian widow who met the king on the road and was so beautiful that he married her, almost losing the throne as a result. She presided over a magnificent court but lived a life of high drama, twice forced into sanctuary, suffering the loss of most of her family (most notoriously the Princes in the Tower) but surviving to see her daughter become the first Tudor consort.
Katherine of Aragon
Katherine of Aragon was the daughter of two monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella (the founders of Spain) and the first of the Six Wives of Henry VIII. For many years, they were happily married, with Katherine a popular and effective queen, overseeing the defeat of a Scottish invasion as regent in 1513. However, a failure to have a living son saw Henry seek an annulment, but Katherine’s resistance made him wait six years to marry Anne Boleyn, turning the country on its head with the Reformation.
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII, usurping Katherine by capturing Henry’s heart and helping to find a way to annul the marriage. She was a religious reformer, a key figure in the Reformation that saw England break from Rome, one of the biggest changes in English history. Her remarkable rise was matched by her fall, with her tempestuous relationship with Henry and failure to produce a son seeing her become the first English queen to be executed.
Katherine Parr
Katherine Parr was the sixth wife of Henry VIII, the second-longest serving and one of the most impactful. She restored his daughters to the succession, served as regent while he was out of the country (a model for Elizabeth I’s queenship), and was a key figure in the Reformation, publishing her own works and helping to shape the religious settlements of Edward VI and Elizabeth I.
Henrietta Maria
Henrietta Maria was the notorious wife of Charles I. Deeply unpopular due to her active efforts to promote Catholicism, she was one of the key factors in the outbreak of the Civil War. She was also one of the major leaders in the royalist cause, raising supplies and troops and marching at the head of an army. She suffered the execution of her husband but lived to see the restoration of the monarchy through her son, Charles II.
Caroline of Ansbach
Caroline of Ansbach was consort to George II, highly cultured and intellectual (an acolyte of the philosopher Leibniz) and exerting great influence over her husband in an alliance with Britain’s first Prime Minister, Robert Walpole. Highly successful as a regent and a patron in art, culture and science (the smallpox vaccine), the major blot on her copybook was her bizarre hatred for her own son, Frederick.
Caroline of Brunswick
Despite his best efforts, Caroline of Brunswick was consort to George IV. After a failed marriage, Caroline lived scandalously in Europe, but when George became king and tried to end the marriage, she returned to England in dramatic fashion, staking her claim to be queen, with the Trial of Queen Caroline one of the most dramatic events of the era.
Prince Albert
Prince Albert was consort to Queen Victoria, and although only alive for half of her reign, had a profound impact on it. Despite opposition, he achieved great influence in an effective co-monarchy with Victoria, promoting and overseeing numerous good causes and public works (most notably the Great Exhibition) and reshaped the royal family into the model that still exists today, with a focus on public works and being a ‘model family’ for the nation.
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was consort to George V and played a key role during the First World War, throwing herself into a range of public works and helping to modernise the monarchy through royal visits and extensive patronage of charities and societies. She became a grand matriarch for the Windsor dynasty, seeing it through two world wars and the Abdication Crisis, as well as becoming only the second Queen Grandmother in British history.
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was consort to George VI, and possibly the most consistently popular member of the royal family during the Twentieth Century. She helped George come to terms with becoming king after the Abdication Crisis, then was a beacon of popular resistance to the Nazis during the war. In her fifty years of widowhood, she was a busy and popular figure as Queen Mother, tireless in her public duties and alcohol consumption.