BCE 200's Queen Martia Proba of a Celtic Tribe 

Her seat of power was in London, and she was holding the reins of government so wisely as to receive the surname of Proba, the Just. She especially devoted herself to the enactment of just laws for her subjects, the first principles of the common law tracing back to her; the celebrated laws of Alfred, and of Edward the Confessor, being in great degree restorations and compilations from the laws of Martia, which were known as the "Martian Statutes".

Around 60 Military Leader Queen Aife of Alba in Scotland 

In Celtic mythology she was a female warrior from Alba. She gave her lover, Cuchulainn, his spear, Gae Bulg. They had one son, Connla.

11... Politically Influential Countess Gertruda of Guines in Wales 

She was a Welsh revolutionary who raised an army to rebel against the oppressive regime of King John. She was captured on the battlefield and died as his prisoner.

1216-18 Hereditary Sheriff Lady Nicola de la Hay of Lincolnshire and Constable of Lincoln Castle 

Succeeded father together with Phillip Mar of Nottingham. She defended her territory against attacking forces during  the rebellion against King John. She was married to Gerad de Camville and lived (circa 1160-ca.1218).

1234-90 Lady Devorguilla MacDowall of Galloway in Scotland (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

Her father, Lord Alan FitzRoland of Galloway, was the last of the MacFergus dynasty of quasi-independent Lords of Galloway in the southwest of Scotland. He was also hereditary Constable of Scotland. When he died his possessions were divided between her and her two surviving sisters. She passed the Lordship of Galloway and heirship of the crown to her son John I Balliol, King of Scotland (1992-96), by her husband, John, 5th Baron de Balliol and her son John Balliol was king of Scotland for four years. Devorguilla endowed a college for the poor, which later became Balliol College. Her mother was Margaret of Huntingdon, the daughter of David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, grand-son of the Scottish king David I. She lived (circa 1210-90).

1282-1337 Hereditary Princess Gwenllian of Wales, Gwynedd and the royal family of Aberffraw 

The last trueborn Princess of Wales was the daughter of Llywelyn the Last and his cousin Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of Simon de Montfort. Her mother died in childbirth at the palace of Pen-y-Bryn, in Abergwyngregyn near Bangor, Gwynedd on 12 June 1282, and her father was killed at Irfon Bridge a few weeks later, becoming therefore the only child of the marriage. There were no sons to inherit the title of Prince of Wales, but as the daughter of Prince Llywelyn, she was the heiress of the Princes of Gwynedd and the royal family of Aberffraw. She thereby was the Princess of Wales and as a result represented considerable danger to the king of England. Were it not for their close family ties it is likely that the king would have arranged for her too to be killed. Instead, the king, Edward I, had her hauled off to Sempringham Convent in Lincolnshire, where she spent over 50 years incarcerated. Edward kept the title of 'Prince of Wales' for the crown, bestowing it upon his son Edward who was crowned in Caernarfon in 1301 aged 17 years. Hence the title passed as a grace title bestowable by the English monarchy. She lived (1282-1337).

1286-90 Queen Regnant Margaret of Scotland and The Orkney Islands 

With the sudden death of Alexander III, Scotland was left without an obvious heir to the throne. At first, Margaret's step-grandmother Yolande declared that she was pregnant with a legitimate heir, countering the claims of two powerful nobles, Robert Bruce (grandfather of the future Robert I of Scotland) and John Balliol, each of whom wanted the throne for himself. When it was discovered that Yolande was not really pregnant, it was decided that Alexander's only surviving descendant, his three-year-old granddaughter Margaret, would ascend to the throne under a regency of six nobles. She was the daughter of Eric II of Norway and his wife Margaret, daughter of Alexander III, who died in childbirth. Fearing that a young and powerless queen would invite civil war between the rival claimants to the throne, the Scottish nobles appealed to Edward I of England to intervene. Eager to extend his own influence in Scotland, Edward arranged the Treaty of Birgham in 1290, by which Margaret was betrothed to his son the Prince of Wales (later Edward II of England), in return for an assurance of Scottish independence though he would serve as ward for the young queen. She set sail from Norway to her new realm in the autumn of 1290, but took ill during the stormy voyage and died soon after reaching the Orkney Islands around September 26. With her death, the House of Dunkeld came to an end. Her corpse was taken to Bergen and buried beside her mother in the stonewall, on the north side of the choir, in Christ's Kirk at Bergen. In the two years that followed, Scotland was left with 14 claimants to the throne. Once again, Edward was asked to intercede. His efforts to exert his own authority over the country eventually led to the First Scottish War of Independence. Also known as "The Maid of Norway", she lived (1283-90).

1295-1307 Princess Joan of Acre, Lady of Glamorgan and Wales 

She was born in Acre (Akko) in Palestine as daughter of King Edward I of England (d. 1307) and Leonor of Castilla and Leonwhile her parents were travelling to the Middle East on the Ninth Crusade. At least part of her childhood she spent in France with her maternal grandmother, Jeanne de Dammartin, Countess of Ponthieu. She was betrothed as a child to Hartman, son of King Rudolph I of Germany, but he died in 1282 after drowning in the Rhine. She then married Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford, and was mother of Eleanor de Clare (1292-1337), who became Lady of G. and W. in 1314. After Gilbert's death, she clandestinely married Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer, a knight in her household, in 1297. Her father was enraged by this lowly second marriage, and her husband was thrown in prison but was released in 1297, and allowed to hold the title of Earl of Gloucester and Hereford during her lifetime. Princess Joan had 8 surviving children with her 2 husbands and died while giving birth to a stillborn child, after having lived (1272-1307).

1306-26 Military Leader Lady Christian Bruce in Scotland

During the Wars of Independence and the reign of Edward I, Lady Bruce defended Kildrummy Castle when it was besieged by David of Strathbogie, who served English interests. Strathbogie fell in battle, and it was left to his widow to defend (for seven months) the island fortress of Lochindorb against three thousand vengeful Scots." (Information given by Geoff Cook). Christian was the sister of King Robert I and her sisters Marjory Bruce and Mary Bruce were also warlike, as was the Bruce supporter Isobel, Countess of Buchan.

1306 "Enthroner" Lady Isabel Macduff in Scotland   

She exercised the right of her house, and brought the sanction of ancient usage to the ceremony, by leading King Robert the Bruce to the place of coronation. Her brother, Duncan, Earl of Fife, was an allie of the English and was married to Mary de Monthermer, niece of Edward I. of England. She was later captured by the English and placed in a cage on the walls of Berwick, while her brother and his wife were captured by Bruce and imprisoned in the castle of Kildrummie in Aberdeenshire, where the Earl died in 1336. Isabel was married to John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, was an ardent Scottish patriot. After four years she was rescued by Bruce's forces.

1314-17 Lady Eleanore de Clare of Glamorgan and Wales 

She was daughter of Princess Joan of England, who was Lady of the two territories until 1307. Eleanore lived (1292-1337).

1333-63 Countess Elizabeth de Burgh of Ulster 

Succeeded her father, William de Burgh. Her husband, Lionel Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, (1347-68), was Earl of Ulster 1352-68. He was succeeded by their daughter, Philippa. 

1334 Military Leader Countess Agnes Randolph of March and Dunbar in Scotland 

Also known as Black Agnes, she was married to Patrick, fourth Earl of Dunbar and second Earl of March. In her youth she fought for the Bruce, but is better remembered for the later defence of her castle. In 1334 she successfully held her castle at Dunbar against the besieging forces of England's Earl of Salisbury for over five months, despite the unusual number of engineers and elaborate equipment brought against her. After each assault on her fortress, her maids dusted the merlins and crenels, treating her foes and the dreadful siege as a tiresome jest. She was daughter of the great Randolf, 1st Earl of Moray and in 1346 she inherited from her brother the Earldom of Moray and the Lordships of Annandale and the Isle of Man and lived (circa 1300-ca.69).

1338-77 Lord Marshall of England Margaret Plantagenet of Norfolk
1338-99 Territorial Duchess of Norfolk 

Jointly with the Lord High Constable she headed the College of Arms, the body concerned with all matters of genealogy and heraldry, although the Earl Marshall's connection with heraldry came about almost accidentally. In conjunction with the Lord High Constable he had held a court, known as the Court of Chivalry, for the administration of justice in accordance with the law of arms, which was concerned with many subjects relating to military matters, such as ransom, booty and soldiers' wages, and including the misuse of armorial bearings. The Marshall, as eighth Officer of State, has to organise coronations and the State Opening of Parliament. Norfolk was an autonomous fiefdom from the Norman conquest She was daughter of Thomas "Brotherton" and Alice de Hales. Married to John de Segrave and mother of  (d. 1353) and mother of Elizabeth de Segrave (1338-75), and held the duchy jointly with her grandson, Thomas II de Mowbray (1366-97-99), the father of Margaret Mowbray, Duchess of Norfolk. Margaret Plantagenet lived (circa 1122-99).

1368-82 Territorial Countess Philippa Plantagenet of Ulster 

Daughter of Countess Elisabeth de Burg of Ulster and Lionel Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence. Married to Edmond Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster (1368-81). 

1377-circa 88 Territorial Countess Margaret Mormaer of Mar, Lady  Garioch, Chief of the Clan of Mar in Scotland (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

Succeeded her brother, Thomas Mormaer, 9th Earl of Mar (circa 1330-1377). She had married William, first Earl of Douglas, who was succeeded by their son, James. 2. Earl of Douglas and Earl of Mar and Garioch in right of his mother, and when he fell, leading the Scots at the battle of Otterburn. She was succeeded by her daughter, Isabel, who became owner of the Earldom of Mar and the Lordship of the Garioch and became the owner the unentailed lands of the House of Douglas.

1377-85 Politically Influential Dowager Princess Joan of Kent of Wales in England, Hereditary Countess of Kent, Baroness Wake de Lydell 

Her husband, Edward, Prince of Wales died in 1376, and the following year her son succeeded as King Richard II, who reigned under Council of Regency until he came of age in 1390. Joan was daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, earl of Kent, youngest son of Edward I, and Margaret de Wake, 3rd. Baroness Wake of Lydell, whom she succeeded upon her death of the plague in 1973. Joan early gained wide note for her beauty and charm and became known as the Fair Maid of Kent. Her marriage to the earl of Salisbury was annulled on the grounds of a precontract with Sir Thomas Holland, whom she then married and became mother of four children. Upon the death of her brother in 1353 she became Countess of Kent in her own right. In 1361, after Holland's death, she married Edward the Black Prince, by whom she had two sons, Edward (1365–70) and Richard. In 1378 she was instrumental in halting proceedings against John Wyclif, though there is insufficient evidence to determine if she accepted his doctrines. As long as she lived, she was probably the principal influence on her son Richard II. She lived (1328–85).

Circa 1388-1408 Territorial Countess Isabel Douglas of Mar, Lady Garioch, Chief of the Clan of Mar in Scotland (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

In 1390, Robert III. granted to his brother-in-law, Sir Malcolm Drummond, Lord of Mar in right of his wife, the 11th Countess, a licence to erect a tower on the lands of the Castletown of Braemar. The King, in 1393, granted to Sir Malcolm by charter, forty pounds sterling per annum from the great custom of Aberdeen, until the King shall give him forty pounds worth of lands. In 1402 he was murdered by Alexander Stewart. In the summer of 1404 Alexander Stewart captured her castle and forced her to sign a charter on August 12, 1404. She revoked the charter later that year, but on marrying him, she gave him the earldom for life; the King confirmed her last action the next year. She lived (c. 1360-1408)

1390-1401 Politically Influential Queen Anabella Drummond of Scotland 

She was very powerful during the reign of her husband, Robert Johan Stuart of Kyle, who was partly paralyzed. In 1398 she had her son, David, Duke of Rothsay appointed regent. Her husband was succeeded by second son, James I. She lived (1350-1401).

1415-31 Lady Philippa de Mohun of the Isle of Wright 

1437-39 Regent Dowager Queen Joan Beaufort of Scotland (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

After her husband, James I, was murdered, she reigned on behalf of their seven-year-old son James II. Despite her efforts he became the pawn of two unscrupulous Scottish lords, Sir William Crichton and Lord Livingstone. The Black Douglas entered the fray and succeeded in defeating and executing Livingstone. Crichton, in turn, manipulated James into killing the Black Douglas. Eventually, James II defeated the Douglas family at the battle of Arkinholm. Daughter of John Beaufort and Margaret Holland, she had eight children by James I of Scotland and one with her second husband, James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn (circa 1383-circa 1451)  John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl. (d. 1445).

1445-49 15th Territorial Countess Anne de Beauchamp of Warwick, Lady of Glamorgan and Wales 
1447-49 Lady of the Isles (Dependency of the English Crown)

As the only daughter of Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick and 14th Earl of Warwick, she was heir to the Warwick and the Despenser lands, the latter trough her grandmother, Isabel Depenser. When she died in January 1449, aged only five, her heir was her aunt Anne Neville, her father's only sister in the full blood. His half-sisters were barred from any claim through common law to her estates. None the less a royal license dated 12 July 1449 described Margaret, Eleanor, Elizabeth and Anne as joint heiresses of Richard Beauchamp, but on July 23 of the same year, the king granted the title of Earl of Warwick to Richard and Anne Neville, declaring she was Henry Beauchamp's heir. Anne de Beauchamp lived (1443-49). 

1449-50 Territorial Hereditary Countess Anne de Beauchamp Neville of Warwick, Lady of Glamorgan and Wales  
1471-87 Lady of the Isles (Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Brechou, Herm, Jethou and Sark) (Dependencies of the English Crown)

1460-63 (†) Regent Dowager Queen Mary of Guelders of Scotland 

After the death of her husband, of James II, she was regent for her son, James III, and her adviser, James Kennedy, bishop of St. Andrews. After their deaths, James was seized (1466) by the Boyd family, who ruled Scotland until 1469. In that year James married Margaret, daughter of the Danish king, and began to rule personally. Maria de Gelders was daughter of Duke Arnold Gelders and Catherine of Cleves and lived (1432-63).

1464-83 Politically Influential Queen Elizabeth Woodville of England 
1475 "Guardian of the Keeper of the Realm"

In 1464 she was married privately to King Edward IV, who reigned (1461-70 and 1471-83). Apparently she was a greedy, unscrupulous woman who insisted on the King showering lands and wealth on all her relations. In 1470 her husband was in exile and she had to take sanctuary at Westminster. In 1475 her infant old son, the later Edward V, was appointed "Keeper of the Realm" and she was named his guardian during her husband's absence from the country. When her husband died she attempted to play a part in the regency but instead her marriage was declared invalid and she took sanctuary again. The most extraordinary point in her career was reached when the wily Richard III tempted her to come to his Court again and she went through some sort of reconciliation with him. Henry VII never trusted her and, in 1487, she went to reside in the nunnery at Bermondsey on a pension. She was daughter of Sir Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, and Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford, of the house of Luxemburg, and had first been married Sir John Grey of Groby, a Lancastrian, who fell at St. Albans in 1461. By him she had two sons. With Edward she had 10 children, among whom was Elizabeth of York, who married Henry VII and the "Princes in the Tower", Edward V and his brother, Richard, Duke of York, who were murdered, apparently, by their uncle, Richard III. She lived (1437-65).

1476-81 Territorial Countess Anne Mowbray of Norfolk (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

Norfolk was an autonomous fiefdom from the Norman conquest. She was the only child of John Mowbray, 4th. Duke of Norfolk. She was only three years of age when her father died, leaving her heiress to the vast Mowbray estates. At the age of three she was married to king Edward IVs younger son Prince Richard, Duke of York. (1473-83). She died of the plague and died in 19 November 1481 a month before her ninth birthday and two years before the disappearance of the Princes. She lived (circa 1472-81).

1485-1509 Politically influential Lady Margaret Beaufort in England 

She was influential during the reign of her son, Henry VII Tudor, who inherited the throne through her - and his wife, Elizabeth of York. Margaret was the daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and Margaret Beauchamp, and was married at the age of about 7 to John De La Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, but the union was later dissolved. Henry VI, who had no children always looked upon the Beauforts as possible heirs and, in 1455, married the 12-year-old Margaret to his own maternal half-brother, Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, who died 1556, the same year their son was born. She, soon afterward, married Henry Stafford, the second son of the Duke of Buckingham, and submitted to the Yorkist rule; but, after the Battle of Tewkesbury, she was obliged to send her son, Henry to seek refuge in Bretagne. Margaret's fourth husband was a pronounced Yorkist, Thomas, Lord Stanley, afterwards Earl of Derby; but his final defection from Richard III on the field of Bosworth secured the victory to his stepson, Henry VII. Margaret, though she seldom appeared at her son's court, remained his constant correspondent and one of his wisest advisers. She took vows of religion in 1504, but continued to live out of a nunnery. Also a very learned person, she lived (1441-1509).

1513-14 Regent Dowager Queen Margaret Tudor of Scotland (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

After her husband, James IV of Scotland, was killed, she became regent for her infant son, James V, but her marriage in 1514 to Archibald Douglas, 6th earl of Angus, led to the loss of the regency to John Stuart, duke of Albany, who soon obtained custody of the king, and Margaret fled to England. She returned in 1517, during Albany’s absence, and shortly thereafter she became estranged from Angus. James was proclaimed king in 1524 but was for several years virtually a prisoner of Angus. In 1527, Margaret obtained a divorce from Angus and soon married Henry Stuart, later Lord Methven. The following year James escaped from Angus and joined his mother and Methven, and they were for a time his chief advisers. A plan of Margaret’s for a meeting between her brother Henry VIII of England and her son led James to accuse her of betrayal in 1534. They were further estranged by James’s refusal to allow her to divorce Methven. She lived (1489–1541).

1513 Governor of the Realm and Captain General of the King's Forces Queen Catherine of Aragón of England, Wales and Ireland

Following the death of her first husband, Prince Arthur of England, she married his brother Henry VIII. When he went to France on warfare she was appointed regent and led the English troops against the invading Scots at the Battle of Flodden (in Northumberland) and, afterwards, sent over to her husband, in Flanders, a grim reminder of her achievements there: the blood-stained tunic of dead James IV of Scots. In 1520, however, the she went to France alongside Henry and was present at the great meeting of the 'Field of the Cloth of Gold'. Of her four children only the later Queen Mary I survived. In 1533 Henry divorced her and broke with the Catholic church, she was deprived of her titles as Queen of England and was forced to revert to 'Princess Dowager of Wales'. She was kept in confinement but never remained long in one place, for she enjoyed great popularity throughout a Country and there were fears of an uprising in her favour.  She was daughter of Queen Isabel I of Castilla and Ferdinand of Aragón and initially heir to her father, but her sister, Juana La Loca, inherited both Countries. Catherine lived (1485-1536).

1529-35 Politically Influential Queen Anne Boleyn of England

1544 Governor of the Realm Queen Katherine Parr of England 

She was very learned and inclined towards the reformed doctrines and successfully interceded for many so-called 'heretics,' who would otherwise have suffered death. She also induced Henry VII, her third husband, to restore, to Royal rank, the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth whose legitimacy his remarkable matrimonial arrangements had left in doubt. Henry named Catherine as Regent when he designed an expedition to France in 1544. Her main functions, in the last two years of her husband’s reign, were those of his nurse as he suffered agonies of pain from an ulcer in his leg. After his death in 1547, she married Thomas Seymour, Lord Sudley, and died giving birth her first child, named Mary, the year after. She lived (1512-48).

1545 Military Leader Lilliard in Scotland 

She led the Scots at the Battle of Ancrum in one of their last victories over the English forces. She killed the English commander but lost her own life later in the battle.

1552-67 HM Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots
1558-87 Titular Duchess of Touraine (France)

She became Queen of Scotland when she was just six days old. At age five she was sent to France to be brought up in the French court, and eventually married King Francis II, who died the next year, where after Mary returned to Scotland where a series of politically unwise love affairs and her continued adherence to Catholicism in a Protestant country led to trouble and a revolt against her. Forced to flee to England for refuge, she now faced the fears of Queen Elizabeth I who saw her as a rival to her throne. Elizabeth kept Mary under a form of imprisonment for the next 19 years. Watched closely, she was implicated in a series of conspiracies against Queen Elizabeth, and was executed, but her son, Jacob later succeeded as king of England. Mary lived (1552-87).

1554-60 Regent Dowager Queen Marie de Guise of Scotland (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

Married to James V of Scotland and regent for her daughter, Mary Queen of Scots. The daughter of Claude de Lorraine, duc de Guise, she was also known as Mary of Lorraine. Before her marriage to James V in 1538, she had been married to Louis d'Orléans, Duc de Longueville, who died in 1537. When James died in 1542, shortly after his daughter's birth, James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, became regent. By 1554, with French aid, Marie de Guise had replaced the ineffectual Arran as regent, and she made no secret of her desire to bring France and Scotland together. Meanwhile, Protestantism was spreading rapidly in Scotland, and Marie, though at first conciliatory toward the reformers, began a campaign of suppression. In 1559 the Protestants, exhorted by John Knox, rose against the regent and declared her deposed. She received French aid, but the Protestants, allied with the English, proved the stronger force. The civil war was concluded shortly after Marie's death by the Treaty of Edinburgh (1560), which ended the French domination of Scotland and opened the way for the establishment of the Protestant church. She lived (1515-60).

1553 Jane, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England and Ireland

Known as Lady Jane Grey, she was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII through her mother, Lady Frances Brandon, daughter Mary, the younger of King Henry VIII's two sisters. On May 21, 1553, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who exercised considerable power at that point in the minority of King Edward VI, joined with Jane’s father, Duke of Suffolk, in marrying her to his son, Lord Guildford Dudley. Edward VI accepted Jane as his heir and on his death she was proclaimed Queen on July 10 and the Council of the Realm recognized her claim. The rightful heir, Edward's sister, Mary Tudor, had the support of the populace, and on July 19 even Suffolk, who by now despaired of success in the plans for his daughter, attempted to retrieve his position by proclaiming Mary Queen. Jane was later beheaded (as was her husband) in 1554 having lived (1537-54).

1553-58 HM Mary I Tudor, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith 
1553-54 Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England and Ireland 

She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, and restored papal supremacy in England, abandoned the title of Supreme Head of the Church, reintroduced Roman Catholic bishops and began the slow reintroduction of monastic orders. She also revived the old heresy laws to secure the religious conversion of the country; heresy was regarded as a religious and civil offence amounting to treason. As a result, around 300 Protestant heretics were burnt in three years. Her decision to marry Philip, King of Spain from 1556, in 1554 was very unpopular; the protest from the Commons prompted her reply that Parliament was 'not accustomed to use such language to the Kings of England' and that in her marriage 'she would choose as God inspired her'. England suffered during her reign. The economy was in ruin, religious dissent reached a zenith and England lost her last continental territory. She possibly died from cancer, leaving the crown to her half-sister Elizabeth. Mary lived (1516-58).

1555 Member of Parliament for Gatton Lady Elizabeth Shelley in England 

She was elected as successor to her husband Sir Roger Copley of Roughway, MP for Gatton Surrey, but her son Thomas took her seat. She lived (1534-84).

1558-1603 Elizabeth I Tudor, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England and Ireland 

Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, succeeded her half-sister Mary. Elizabeth was very well educated (fluent in six languages). Her 45-year reign is generally considered one of the most glorious in English history. During it a secure Church of England was established. Its doctrines were laid down in the 39 Articles of 1563, a compromise between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Although autocratic and capricious, she had astute political judgement and chose her ministers well. Her reign also saw many brave voyages of discovery, which prepared England for an age of colonisation and trade expansion, In 1588, aided by bad weather, the English navy scored a great victory over the Spanish invasion fleet of around 130 ships - the 'Armada' which was intended to overthrow the Queen and re-establish Roman Catholicism by conquest, as Philip II believed he had a claim to the English throne through his marriage to Mary I. She was succeeded by James VI of Scotland, and lived (1533-1603).

1567-1625 Politically influential Queen Anna af Danmark of Scotland and England

The newest research shows that she was very influential during the reign of her husband, James VI of Scotland and from 1603 James II of England. She was a shrewd and powerful player in the court politics of Scotland and, later, England. Her influence can be seen in James's choices for advisors and beneficiaries of royal attention. She also developed an alternative court and sponsored many of the other artistic ventures in one of the most productive and innovative periods of English cultural history. James' and Anna's longstanding dispute over the raising of the heir, Henry, caused a major scandal of the time and was suspected as a plot against the king’s safety. In order to assert her own power, Anna actually forced a miscarriage upon herself, an event that is referred to in much hitherto unnoticed contemporary diplomatic correspondence. She lived (1574-1619)

1569 Joint Leader of the Northern Rebellion Lady Anne Somerset in England 

One of the leaders of the Rebellion of the Earls of Northern England revolted against Elizabeth in order to restore Catholicism to England. The rebels hoped to free Mary, Queen of Scots from captivity. Queen Elizabeth put down the rebellion, and her troops killed 3. 000 of the rebels Lady Anne escaped to the Netherlands in 1570 and died here. Marred to Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland (d. 1572). She was daughter of the Earl of Worcester, and lived (1538-91).

1569 Joint Leader of the Northern Rebellion Lady Jane Howard in England 

Another of the rebellion-leaders. Her husband the 6th Earl of Westmoreland, Charles Neville, was another of the leaders of the failed rebellion. In effect she had more to do with raising the troops than her husband did. She was well educated but not the cleverest when it came to understanding political machinations. She was first to urge the rebels to rise up against the queen and yet she expected Elizabeth to pardon her when they failed. She hoped to arrange the marriage of her brother, the Duke of Norfolk, to Mary Queen of Scots and put them both on England's throne. Norfolk was executed for treason in 1572. Jane Howard lived under house arrest for the rest of her life, while her husband fled to the Continent and lived there in exile. She lived (1537-93).

1671-85 Politically Influential Duchess Louise Renée de Kéroualle of Portsmouth in England

French mistress of Charles II of England. She exerted a powerful influence over the king in favour of France until his death in 1685. She was made Duchess of Portsmouth and d'Aubigny in 1673 and was the mother by the king, of Charles Lennox, duke of Richmond. Many English hated her as a French-Catholic menace, she stayed mostly in France after 1685, and lived (1649–1734).

1689-94 HM Mary II Stuart, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England and Ireland 

Her father, James III, had converted to Catholism and had been banned from the country various times. After his succession in 1685 he became increasingly absolutistic and favoured Catholics. In 1688 his first surviving son was born after 15 years of marriage to Maria Beatrice d'Este of Modena. The new Prince of Wales, James Francis Edward was baptized in the Catholic rites, and soon a riot followed and Mary's husband, Willem III van Oranje, the Stadtholder of the Netherlands, invaded the country. James III fled the country and the Parliament excluded Catholics from the succession and elected Mary and Willem as joint sovereigns. They accepted a Declaration of Rights (later a Bill), drawn up by a Convention of Parliament, which limited the Sovereign's power, reaffirmed Parliament's claim to control taxation and legislation, and provided guarantees against the abuse of power. While her husband was directing military campaigns in Ireland and on the Continent, Mary administered the government in her own name, but she relied entirely on his advice. In the periods when he was in England she willingly retired from politics. She was, however, actively concerned with ecclesiastical appointments. Mary became sterile following complications after her first pregnancy ended in an abortion. She died of smallpox, and was succeeded by her husband, who later was succeeded by her sister, Anne. Mary lived (1662-94).

1702-14 H.M. Anne Stuart, Queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England and Ireland
1708 Lord High Admiral of England 

Succeeded brother-in-law, William, who had been joint ruler with her sister, Mary II and on 1 May 1707 she presided over the union of the Parliaments of Scotland and England, creating the parliament of Great Britain. She was married to Danish Prince Jørgen (George), she experienced 18 pregnancies between 1683 and 1700, five children were born alive and only one survived infancy - William, Duke of Gloucester, who died in 1700 at the age of 12. She refrained from politically antagonizing Parliament, but was compelled to attend most Cabinet meetings to keep her half-brother, James the Old Pretender, under heel. She was the last sovereign to veto an act of Parliament. The most significant constitutional act in her reign was the Act of Union in 1707, which created Great Britain by finally fully uniting England and Scotland. Her relative, Electress Sophia of Hanover was appointed heir in 1701, but she died a few months before Anne, and her son therefore became king Georg I. She died after a lifelong battle with the blood disease porphyria after having lived (1665-1714).

1705-14 Politically Influential Lady Abigail Masham in United Kingdom of Great Britain 

In 1704 she became Lady of the Bedchamber Queen Anne through the influence of her cousin Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. In 1707 she married Samuel Masham (later a baron), a groom to Anne’s husband, Prince Jørgen (George) of Denmark. Abigail Masham gradually supplanted the Duchess of Marlborough in the Queen’s affection and became the instrument through which Robert Harley, her kinsman, exerted his influence on Anne. In 1714, however, they quarrelled with and she, secured his dismissal as lord treasurer, and assured Viscount Bolingbroke (Henry St. John) of supreme political power. After Anne’s death (1714), she lived in retirement until her death in 1734.     

1717-58 18th Hereditary Lord High Constable and Knight Marischal of Scotland, The 14th Countess of Erroll  

1717-58 18th Hereditary Lord High Constable and Knight Marischal of Scotland, The 14th Countess of Erroll  

1729, 1732 and 1736-1737 Guardian of the Kingdom of Great Britain, and His Majesty's Lieutenant within the same during His Majesty's absence Queen Caroline von Brandenburg-Ansbach of United Kingdom of Great Britain, Co-Heiress of Sayn-Altenkirchen

The power behind the throne during the whole reign of her husband, Georg II (1727-37). She acted as regent on during his trips to Hannover. She aided the career of the British statesman Robert Walpole. Caroline was joint heiress of Sayn-Altenburg, trough her mother, Eleonore Erdmuthe Louise von Sachsen-Eisenach (d. 1696), whose mother, Johanette had reigned as Countess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn-Altenkirchen 1636-1701. In 1741 Caroline's nephew, Carl Wilhelm Friedrich inherited the county, but in 1783 his son, Alexander, and her son, Georg III decided to share the inheritance. Caroline lived (1683-1737).  

1746-47 Rebellion Participant Flora MacDonald in Scotland 

After the defeat of the Jacobite uprising, and its leader "Bonnie" Prince Charlie (Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender) at the battle of Culloden in 1746, Charles was forced into hiding and Flora MacDonald helped him escape. Disguised as a woman, Charles Stuart was smuggled off the Isle of Ulst by Flora and Neil MacDonald (another supporter). There were several close calls during the escape; news arrived that General Campbell had landed on the island to search for the fleeing prince. Soon after Stuart's escape, Flora was labelled as a traitor, tracked down and arrested, and imprisoned briefly in the tower of London.  She later married her fiancé, Allan, and mothered a family of seven children. She immigrated to North Carolina in the 1770s, but they later moved to Nova Scotia after they lost everything supporting the British in the War of Independence. Several years later she returned home to the Britain, where she lived until her death. She lived (1722-90). 

1760-72 Politically Influential Princess Dowager Augusta zu Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha of Wales in United Kingdom of Great Britain 

When her husband, Prince Frederick of Wales, died in 1751 she was named 'Prospective Regent' and she exercised some influence over her son, King Georg III (1738-60-1820), among others trough her close friend, John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute and Georg's closest advisor and sometime Prime Minister. Augusta's husband, Frederick, Prince of Wales, had died 1751, and Georg succeeded his grandfather. Augusta was mother of 9 children, and lived (1719-72).

1830 Regent Queen Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen of United Kingdom and Ireland

Apparently regent shortly after her husband, William IV succeeded to the throne in 1830. She was mother of two daughters, Charlotte (1819) and Elizabeth (1820-21) and three stillborn children. She focused on charity work, cared for widows and orphans, the poor and the sick, and she also introduced the German Christmas to England. She was born as Adelheid zu Sachsen-Meiningen, as daughter of Louise Eleonora, who was regent (1803-21), and lived (1792-1849).

1830 Named Possible Regent Dowager Duchess Viktoria of Sachsen-Saafeld-Coburg of Kent in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

After the death of her second husband, Prince Edward of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767-1820) she became guardian to the heir to the throne, Victoria. In 1830, the Regency Act named the Duchess as regent in case Victoria would be a minor when called to the throne, but Victoria ascended to the throne shortly after her 18th birthday. For a number of years mother and daughter were at odds, but they became reconciled in the end. In her first marriage, she had two children Prince Karl of Leiningen and Princess Feodora. Her brother, Leopold, was first married to the heiress, Charlotte, who died in childbed in 1819 and then became king of Belgium. Viktoria lived (1786-1861).

1837-1901 H.M. Victoria, By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith and Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England and Ireland, Lord of Mann (20.6.1837 - 22.01.1901)
1876-1901 Empress of India (28.04.1876-22.01.1901)

Her titles included the role of Sovereign of The Channel Islands and Lord of Mann. Also Princess of Hanover, Duchess of Braunschweig and Lüneburg. It was during her reign that the modern idea of the constitutional monarch, whose role was to remain above political parties, began to evolve. But Victoria herself was not always non-partisan and she took the opportunity to give her opinions - sometimes very forcefully - in private. After the death of her husband, Albert of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, in 1861, she sank into depression. She was persuaded to open Parliament in person in 1866 and 1867, but she was widely criticised for living in seclusion and quite a strong republican movement developed. (Seven attempts were made on Victoria's life, between 1840 and 1882) With time, the private urgings of her family and the flattering attention of the Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. During Victoria's long reign, direct political power moved away from the sovereign, but she showed that a monarch who had a high level of prestige and who was prepared to master the details of political life could exert an important influence. The mother of nine children, she lived (1818-1901).

1896-1944 Captain and Governor HRH Princess Beatrice of United Kingdom and Ireland of the Isle of Wright 

The ninth child of Queen Victoria, she was private secretary of her mother 1874-1901. She married Prince Henry of Battenberg and after his death of malaria in Ghana, she succeeded him as governor of the Isle of Wright. Mother of three sons and a daughter, the later Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain. Princess Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore lived (1857-1944).

1952- H.M. Elizabeth II of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Defender of the Faith, Head of the Commonwealth 

Until 1953 her title was Queen of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Overseas Dominions. She is head if state in 15 countries apart from Great Britain and as Head of the Commonwealth, she is the front person of the organization of many other former British colonies and territories. She is the first child of The Duke and Duchess of York. Although when born it was unlikely that she would become Queen, events in the 1930s led to her father's Accession and her becoming heir to the Throne. Her reign takes place during a period of great social change, she has carried out her political duties as Head of State, the ceremonial responsibilities of the Sovereign and an unprecedented programme of visits in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and overseas. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary is the mother of three sons and a daughter. Married to Phillip Mountbatten, former Prince of Greece. (b. 1926-).  

1979-90 Prime Minister The Rt. Hon. Margaret Thatcher, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Born Margaret Hilda Roberts, she was MP 1959-90, Parliamentary Secretary of Pensions and National Insurance 1961-64, Secretary of State of Education 1970-74, Shadow Minister of Environment and Housing 1974-75, Shadow Special Minister of Finance and Public Expenditure 1975, Leader of The Conservative Party 1975-90, Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition 1975-79. As Prime Minister she was also First Lord of the Treasury and Minister of the Civil Service. In 1982 she ordered British troops to the Falkland Islands to retake them from Argentina. She took a strong stand against the trade unions during the miner's strike, and moved Britain toward privatization, selling minor interests in public utilities to the business interests. She also introduced "rate capping" which effectively took control of expenditures out of the hands of city councils, part of her policies aimed at reducing the influence of local governments. In 1989, she introduced a community poll tax. In 1990, her cabinet was divided over issues including the European Community, which forced her resignation. When her party leadership was challenged in 1990, she resigned and was Created Baroness Thatcher of Kestaven and became a member of the House of Lords two years later. Mother of twins. (b. 1925-).