THE CONSORTS COLLECTION

Emma of Normandy - Kings Æthelred II and Cnut

Queen Emma and Queen Edith: queenship and women's power in eleventh-century England (2001)

By Pauline Stafford (Professor Emerita of Early Medieval History, Lilverpool University).

Matilda of Flanders - William the Conqueror

Matilda: Wife of the Conqueror, First Queen of England (2011)

By Tracy Borman

Eleanor of Aquitaine - King Henry II

Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen of France, Queen of England (2009)

By Ralph V. Turner

Eleanor of Provence - King Henry III

Eleanor of Provence (1998)

by Margaret Howell

Eleanor Of Castile - Edward I

Eleanor Of Castile: The Shadow Queen (2014)

by Sara Cockerill

Isabella of France - Edward II

Isabella of France: The Rebel Queen (2016)

By Kathryn Warner

Philippa of Hainault - Edward III

Philippa of Hainault and her times (1910)

By B.C. Hardy

Joan of Kent - Edward the Black Prince

Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent: A Fourteenth-century Princess and Her World (2017)

By Anthony Goodman

*Yes, not quite a consort, but a remarkable royal woman so it gets on the list.

Margaret of Anjou - Henry VI

Margaret of Anjou: Queenship and Power in Late Medieval England (2003)

by Helen E. Maurer

Elizabeth Woodville - Edward IV

Elizabeth Wydeville: The Slandered Queen (2005)

By Arlene Okerlund

Anne Neville - Richard III

Anne Neville: Queen to Richard III (2006)

By Professor Michael Hicks

The six wives of Henry VIII

*This is such a rich and popular field of study that it is a fraught task to recommend one for each of these queens. Instead, two general books will be recommended:

The six wives of Henry VIII (1992) - Antonia Fraser

The six wives of Henry VIII (2010) - Professor David Loades

Philip II, King of Spain - Mary I

The Imprudent King (2014)

By Professor Geoffrey Parker

Anne of Denmark - James VI and I

Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography (2000)

By Leeds Barroll

Henrietta Maria - Charles I

Henrietta Maria (2015)

By Dominic Pearce

Catherine of Braganza - Charles II

Catherine of Braganza: Charles II's Restoration Queen (2017)

By Sarah-Beth Watkins

Mary of Modena - James II

Mary of Modena (1962)

By Carola Oman

Mary II and William III

A special case as this pair were joint rulers

William and Mary (1973)

by Henri and Barbara Van Der Zee

Hanoverian Period in General

The Georgian Princesses (2000)

by John Van Der Kiste

Sophia Dorothea of Celle - George I

The Imprisoned Princess: The Scandalous Life of Sophia Dorothea of Celle (2020)

by Catherine Curzon

Caroline of Ansbach - George II

The First Iron Lady : a life of Caroline of Ansbach (2017)

by Matthew Dennison

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz - George III

Queen Charlotte (1975)

By Olwen Hedley

Caroline of Brunswick - George IV

Caroline and Charlotte: Regency Scandals (2014)

By Alison Plowden

Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha - Victoria

Albert: Uncrowned King (1997)

by Stanley Weintraub

*Yes, a tad beyond the scope of the English Monarchs series but this is an exceptionally good book on an under-rated consort.

Readers of this site have made the suggestion that it include some ‘honourable mentions’ of biographies related to the English Monarch studies of kings and queens.

To that end, the sequence below note significant biographies (or sometimes the only biography) of consorts to the monarchs. Also provided is a list of biographies of the heirs to the throne who died before their father and thereby passed the succession to another.

Note that only two of these books are Yale titles. All the others are listed here because they have been recommended by readers of this website, are clear choices or because I enjoyed them.

HEIRS

William Adelin - sometimes written as William Ætheling

Son of Henry I - died aged 20

No biography found

Henry, the Young King

Son of Henry II - died aged 28

Henry, The Young King (2016)

by Matthew Strickland

Edward of Woodstock, the “Black Prince”  

Son of Edward III - died aged 45

The Black Prince (2017)

by Michael Jones

Arthur Tudor

Son of Henry VII - died aged 15

Prince Arthur: The Tudor King Who Never Was (2016)

Dr Sean Cunningham

Henry Stuart

Son of James VI and I - died aged 18

The Prince Who Would Be King (2017)

Sarah Fraser

Frederick, Prince of Wales

Son of George II - died aged 44

The Royal Griffin: Frederick, Prince of Wales, 1707-51 (1972)

John Walters