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You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience. View this post on Instagram. Height: 5' The royal family's matriarch got the line started with her petite stature, and she remains the shortest reigning royal in British history.
Height: 5'4 The current reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, benefited from her dad's taller stature to gain a couple extra inches on her mom. Height: 5'5 Eugenie stands an entire inch taller than her sister, Beatrice, which still makes her shorter than both her father and her mother. Height: 5'6 At her height, Meghan is significantly shorter than her husband, Prince Harry. Height: 5'6 Princess Anne — the daughter of Queen Elizabeth — and Meghan Markle are actually the same height, which is pretty interesting considering how tall other members of Anne's family are.
Height: 5'9 Although she's not related to the rest of the Windsors by blood, Kate Middleton, wife of Prince William, definitely still measures up. Height: 5'10 While he is not quite as lofty as his father, Prince Philip, Prince Charles is still quite a bit taller than his mom. Height: 5'10 Princess Diana infamously made herself look shorter while posing with Prince Charles during their marriage, despite the two being the exact same height.
Height: 6' The recently disgraced royal Prince Andrew clocks in at 6 feet even, just like his dad. Height: 6' Prince William and Prince Harry have both granddad Philip and their mom Diana's side of the family to thank for bringing the royals over the 6-foot mark.
Height: 6'2 The younger of the "heir and the spare" duo measures in just a tad shorter than his big brother, William. Cookie Information. Your Privacy. Your Privacy When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. Cookie Settings.
Cookie Settings Always Active. Strictly Necessary Cookies. Strictly Necessary Cookies Always Active. Back Button. Filter Button. Consent Leg. Select All Vendors. Select All Hosts. This was perhaps a conscious attempt to distance herself from Mary, a typical Catholic princess who dressed in all the glittering and garish finery she could afford.
It was Elizabeth who dressed plainly, most often in severely cut black or white gowns. She wore each color to great effect. She had matured into a tall, slender and striking girl, with a fair, unblemished complexion and the famous Tudor red hair. She wore her hair loose and did not use cosmetics. When she traveled about the countryside, crowds gathered to see her, a Protestant princess renowned for her virtue and learning, her appearance modest and pleasing. In this respect, she was emulated by her cousin Jane Grey.
Two days later she left St James for Whitehall Palace, her procession accompanied by a grand collection of nobles. The visit was a marked success for Edward was open in his affection. In that matter, Elizabeth remained distant, preferring to let her siblings argue without her.
This is discussed in great length at the Lady Jane Grey site. Simply put, Dudley believed he would be supported because Jane was Protestant and the English would not want the Catholic Mary on the throne.
Of course, the question arises — Elizabeth was Protestant, so why not put her on the throne instead of Jane? The main reason is that Dudley was well aware that Elizabeth Tudor would not be his puppet, unlike Jane Grey whom he had married to his son Guildford. As for Edward VI, he went along with the plan because of two main reasons: Elizabeth was illegitimate so there might be resistance to her rule and, as a princess, she might be persuaded to marry a foreign prince and England would fall under foreign control.
Jane was already safely wed to an Englishman. He was primarily determined to preserve the Protestant regime in England.
He believed this was necessary for his personal and political salvation. He was also practical. He disinherited Mary because of her Catholicism; however, it was officially sanctioned because of her illegitimacy. So the throne would pass to the legitimate — and Protestant — Lady Jane Grey. As most know, she ruled for just nine days before Mary became queen of England.
Dudley attempted to place Mary and Elizabeth in his power while Edward was dying. He knew that if he imprisoned the two princesses, they would be unable to rouse popular support against his plan. But if that failed, he was determined to prevent them from seeing Edward, especially Elizabeth. She then wrote her brother a number of letters, inquiring about his health and asking permission to come to Court.
These were intercepted as well. She may have been warned of his intentions — more likely she guessed them. She refused the summons, taking to her bed with a sudden illness. As a further precaution, her doctor sent a letter to the council certifying she was too ill for travel. As for Mary, Dudley had told her that Edward desired her presence; it would be a comfort to him during his illness.
Conscious of her sisterly duty, Mary set out for Greenwich from Hunsdon the day before Edward died. Soon enough, events moved too quickly for the princess to be his primary concern. It was being whispered that Dudley had poisoned the king to place his daughter-in-law on the throne. Of course, this was untrue since Dudley needed Edward to live as long as possible for his plan to work. The young king lived for a few more weeks though he suffered terribly. Finally, on 6 July , Edward VI died.
Immediately, Dudley had Jane Grey proclaimed queen, an honor she had not sought and did not want. Mary rode to East Anglia, the conservative section of England where her support would be strongest.
Eventually she would realize the true extent of her support. She sent another note to Dudley, telling him she was too ill to travel. Suffice to say, he was overthrown and executed and Mary Tudor, at the age of thirty-seven, was declared queen of England in her own right. It was rumored that Dudley had sent councilors to her, offering a large bribe if she would just renounce her claim to the throne. When word reached her that Mary was finally queen, she sent a letter of congratulation to her sister and set off for London.
On 29 July, she entered the capital with mounted men wearing the green and white Tudor colors. On 31 July, Elizabeth rode with her attendant nobles along the Strand and through the City to Colchester, the same path her sister would take. It was here she would receive her sister as queen. They had not seen each other for about five years.
Elizabeth, Mary believed, was never to be trusted. After Anne died and Elizabeth, too, was declared illegitimate, Mary found other reasons to hate Elizabeth, chief among them religion.
But at her accession, the moment of her great triumph, she was prepared to be conciliatory. Mary ordered that Elizabeth share her triumphal march through London. Their processions met at Wanstead on 2 August. There, Elizabeth dismounted and knelt in the road before her sister. Mary dismounted and raised her sister, embracing and kissing her with affection. She even held her hand as they spoke. Their two parties entered London together, the sisters riding side by side. The contrast between their physical appearances could not have been more striking.
Mary, at thirty-seven, was old beyond her years. An adulthood passed in anxiety and tribulation had marred her health and appearance.
Elizabeth was nineteen years old, taller than her sister and slender. While Mary was richly attired in velvets covered in jewels and gold, Elizabeth was dressed in her usual strikingly severe style. And since Mary was thirty-seven, quite old to have a child, Elizabeth was viewed as her probable heir. As such, she was cheered as much as the new queen. She was once again accorded a place of honor amongst the English ladies, though not the highest position as was her due.
The Imperial ambassador Renard reported that she spoke often with the French ambassador de Noailles. For his part, de Noailles reported that Elizabeth complained her coronet was too heavy and made her head ache. He replied to her that, God willing, she would soon wear a heavier crown. This was dangerous talk, as Elizabeth soon discovered. It was simply impossible for Mary to forget the past, etched so acutely upon her spirit. She could not like Elizabeth, nor trust her.
Elizabeth responded to this emotional hostility by retreating to Hatfield. There she continued her studies and attempted to remain safe in the morass of English politics. But however much she might wish for peace, she was not to have it. And there was soon much reason for discontent. There was a series of bad harvests. Prices rose and discontent spread. This was yet another example of her inability to forget the past.
Philip represented the homeland of her beloved mother, and a chance to bring all the weight of the Holy Roman Empire to bear upon the heretics of England. Mary was determined to turn back the clock on twenty years of religious reform and make England a Catholic nation again.
Understandably, her subjects were less than thrilled. Even English Catholics did not want their country to become a powerless appendage of the Hapsburg empire. Elizabeth conformed outwardly to the Catholic faith. But she could not distance herself too much from her Protestant supporters. Wyatt had written to Elizabeth that he intended to overthrow Mary but his letter was intercepted, as was a letter from de Noailles to the king of France. His letter implied that Elizabeth knew of the revolt in advance, and repeated rumors that she was off gathering armed supporters.
The government was able to suppress the rebellion before it spread very far and Wyatt was arrested. She was understandably frightened and ill; she sent word that she could not travel. They traveled quite slowly, covering just six miles a day. Elizabeth kept the curtains of the litter pulled back as she entered the city, and the citizens were able to see her pale, frightened face.
She had good cause for her fear; the heads and corpses of Wyatt and his supporters were thrust upon spikes and gibbets throughout the city. The queen waited for her at Whitehall but they did not meet immediately. She was questioned by the unfriendly bishop of Winchester, Stephen Gardiner, but she was not intimidated.
She denied any involvement in the rebellion and repeatedly asked to see the queen. But she was told that Mary was leaving for Oxford where she would hold a Parliament. Elizabeth would be leaving Whitehall as well, though at first the council could not decide where to send her. No councilor wanted the responsibility of keeping her in close confinement at their homes; it was too unpleasant and potentially dangerous.
And so Gardiner and Renard had their way and she went to the Tower of London. The earl of Sussex and the marquess of Winchester were sent to escort her from Whitehall. Elizabeth was terrified. The mere mention of the Tower was enough to shatter her already fragile nerves.
She begged to be allowed to write to her sister, and the men agreed. The letter was long, rambling, and repetitious — proof of her fear and trepidation:. I have heard in my time of many cast away for want of coming to the presence of their Prince….
Therefore once again kneeling with humbleness of my heart, because I am not suffered to bow the knees of my body, I humbly crave to speak with your Highness, which I would not be so bold to desire if I knew not myself most clear as I know myself most true.
And as for the traitor Wyatt, he might peradventure write me a letter but on my faith I never received any from him; and as for the copy of my letter sent to the French king, I pray God confound me eternally if ever I sent him word, message, token or letter by any means, and to this truth I will stand it to my death. The letter had taken too long to write; they had missed the tide. They could wait a few hours and take her to the Tower in the darkest part of night, but the council disagreed.
There could be an attempt to rescue her under cover of darkness. They decided to wait until the next morning, Palm Sunday, when the streets would be nearly deserted since everyone would be in church.
Meanwhile, her letter was sent to Mary who received it angrily and refused to read it through. She had not given permission for it to be written or sent, and she rebuked her councilors fiercely. The next morning, 17 March , arrived cold and grey; there was a steady rain. She was accompanied by six of her ladies and two gentleman-attendants.
This was the traditional entrance for prisoners returned to their cells after trial at Westminster. The sight terrified her and she begged to be allowed entry by any other gate.
Her request was refused. She was offered a cloak to protect her from the rain but she pushed it aside angrily. She still refused to enter the Tower. Her room was on the first floor, and had a large fireplace with three small windows. Down the passageway from the door were three latrines which hung over the moat. It was not as destitute or uncomfortable as she had feared, but it was still the Tower of London and she was a prisoner.
Elizabeth spent just two months in the Tower of London, but she had no idea that her stay would be so brief — and it did not feel particularly brief. She truly believed some harm would come to her and she dwelt most upon the possibility of poison. She knew Mary hated her and that many of her councilors constantly spoke ill of her, encouraging either her imprisonment or execution. They, too, had lived in the Tower under threat of execution; both had been convicted of treason. But Mary had always been fond of Jane and was close friends with her mother Frances; she allowed her cousin to live very comfortably in the Tower while her fate remained undecided.
Mary probably intended to release Jane as soon as the country settled under her own rule. But Renard wanted both Jane and her husband executed. He warned Mary that the emperor would not allow Philip to enter England as long as Jane lived. She was a traitor, and it was only a matter of time before the Protestants tried to place either Jane or Elizabeth upon the throne.
And so Jane and the equally unfortunate Guildford Dudley were executed. It was abundantly clear to Elizabeth that her position was precarious and dangerous. During the first weeks of her imprisonment, she was allowed to take exercise along the Tower walls but when a small child began to give her flowers and other gifts, Brydges was told to keep her indoors. Elizabeth had always been active, both physically and mentally. She chafed at her confinement and its boring routine. Still, the stress — which she handled with outward aplomb — took its toll on her physical health.
She lost weight, and became prone to headaches and stomach problems. Ironically enough, it was the impending arrival of Philip of Spain which led to her freedom. Renard had urged Mary to execute Jane and imprison Elizabeth so that Philip would be safe in England.
Philip, however, was far more sensitive to the political implications of such an act. If she made an unpopular decision, it would be blamed upon his influence. He knew, too, that the Protestant faith was still popular in the country, and that Elizabeth embodied its greatest hope. If she were harmed in any way, his arrival in England would be even more unpopular and dangerous.
His intention was to wed Mary, be crowned king of England, and find a suitable husband for Elizabeth, preferably one of his Hapsburg relations.
Then, if Mary died without bearing a child, England would remain within the Hapsburg sphere of influence, a willing and useful adjunct of the empire. Accordingly, Philip wrote to Mary and advised that Elizabeth be set at liberty. She did not die, of course, but she was still frightened and lonely. He had come to the Tower on 5 May as the new Constable, replacing Sir John Gage, and his arrival had caused Elizabeth no end of terror.
From Richmond, Bedingfield took his cowed charge to Woodstock, a hunting-lodge miles from London and once favored by her Plantagenet grandfather, Edward IV. She was neither officially under arrest nor free, a nebulous position which confused nearly everyone. She could not be received at court, but she could not be set at liberty in the countryside.
And so Bedingfield was essentially her jailer, but not referred to as such; and Woodstock was her prison, but also not called such. The journey to Woodstock certainly raised her spirit. Flowers, sweets, cakes and other small gifts were given to her. At times, the reception was so enthusiastic that Elizabeth was openly overwhelmed. It was now clear to her that the English people loved her, perhaps as much as they did Queen Mary.
But the love of the people was small comfort when faced with the dilapidation of Woodstock. The main house was in such disrepair that Elizabeth was lodged in the gatehouse. The queen had ordered that her sister be treated honorably and given limited freedom; Elizabeth was allowed to walk in the orchard and gardens. She also requested numerous books. After a few weeks, her initial fear of Bedingfield had settled into a bemused appraisal of her jailer.
She now recognized him for what he was — a conscientious, unimaginative civil servant with a difficult assignment. They got on tolerably well, and Bedingfield even forwarded her numerous letters to the Council and the queen. Elizabeth was concerned that her imprisonment in the countryside would remove her too much from the public eye and her ceaseless letter-writing was an attempt to reassert her position as princess of England.
Mary did not read the letters and angrily order Bedingfield to stop sending them along. He recommended the services of Drs Barnes and Walbeck. Elizabeth refused to allow their examination; she preferred to commit her body to God rather than to the eyes of strangers, she told Bedingfield. Finally, on 7 July, Mary finally sent permission to Woodstock for Elizabeth to write to her and the Council about her various concerns.
Elizabeth was petulant and took her time with the composition of this most important letter. It was a pointed reminder that despite her deprived circumstances, she was still next in line to the English throne. The Council heard the document uneasily. Mary, however, had other matters on her mind. The handsome, fair-haired 27 year old King was already a widow with a male heir; his first wife Maria of Portugal had died in childbirth in after two years of a marriage.
He was a conscientious and pious man who impressed all who met him with his discipline and work ethic. But he also had a tendency toward religious asceticism which worsened as he grew older. As a child, he had accompanied his father to the inquisition in Spain, watching impassively as heretics were burned alive.
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