British queens

From Eleanor of Aquitaine to Anne Boleyn, these queens shaped British history...

Catherine Hanley tells the story of Empress Matilda, whose battle for the English throne became known as ‘the anarchy’. (Photo by Jeni Nott for BBC History Magazine)

Empress Matilda: Medieval warrior queen. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Catherine Hanley talks to Ellie Cawthorne about Matilda, the legitimate daughter of Henry I. (Photographed for BBC History Magazine by Jeni Nott).

Catherine Hanley on Matilda: "Honestly, if I were her, I'd have wanted to put my fist through a wall". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Victoria’s pets and animals. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The downfall of Mary, Queen of Scots. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 19th-century portrait of Queen Elizabeth I. (Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images)

Elizabeth I’s love life: was she really a ‘Virgin Queen’?

Mary Queen of Scots, after Nicholas Hilliard, 16th century, National Portrait Gallery, London. (Photo by SuperStock)

Mary, Queen of Scots’ tragic life. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Anne, based on a work by Sir Godfrey Kneller, c1702–10. Anne's reign saw women take centre stage in fierce political debates. (Photo by Bridgeman/National Trust Photographic Library)

Queen Anne's feuding favourites. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Elizabeth II (centre) makes her 2016 Christmas speech (Photo by YUI MOK/AFP/Getty Images). What would queens before her have said in their festive speeches, if they'd had the chance? Clockwork from top right: Elizabeth I (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images); Queen Anne (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images); Mary Tudor (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) and Queen Matilda (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Alternative Queen's Christmas speeches: what would Elizabeth I and Matilda have said?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Victoria, c1860s. Victoria attended her son's wedding in March 1863 wearing full mourning dress – her husband, Prince Albert, had died some 15 months earlier. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Troublesome royal in-laws through history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Henry VIII with Prince Edward, his son by his third wife, Jane Seymour. If the future Henry IX had survived, there may have been no cause for Henry to annul his marriage to Katherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn in 1533, says Amy Licence. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

6 royal births that changed the world (or could have). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Diana, Princess Of Wales, Prince William And Prince Harry visit Thorpe Park amusement park. (Photo by Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images)

How to raise a royal... with Tracy Borman. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Victoria by Lucy Worsley. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Elizabeth I podcast

Inside the mind of Elizabeth I. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

"Queen Victoria was more than just a token ruler of India. Passionately interested in its people and culture, she intervened frequently in Indian politics," says Miles Taylor. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

The LibraryQueen Victoria’s Indians. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Composite image of famous women: Cleopatra, Marie Curie, Mary Wollstonecraft, Madame CJ Walker, Jane Austen, Emmeline Pankhurst, Ethel Smyth, the Virgin Mary, Rosa Parks, Frida Kahlo, Diana, Princess of Wales, Amelia Earhart.

100 women who changed the world

Elizabeth I, shown in a portrait commemorating victory over the Armada

My history hero: Elizabeth I (1533-1603). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Portrait of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. (Photo by Ken Welsh/Design Pics/Corbis via Getty Images)

Princely pleasures at Kenilworth: Robert Dudley's three-week marriage proposal to Elizabeth I. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Jane Seymour: Henry VIII’s favourite queen. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

3 of the most famous royal weddings in history

The future Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Buckingham Palace following their wedding, 20 November 1947. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Royal wedding traditions through history: etiquette, menus and the dress code. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A statue of Æthelflæd which stands in the grounds of Tamworth Castle in Staffordshire. (Photo by Chris Gibson/Alamy Stock Photo)

Æthelflæd: iron lady of Mercia. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Elizabeth’s love rival. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The real history behind Victoria series two

Judi Dench and Ali Fazal in Victoria and Abdul. (Image by Movie Stills DB)

Who was Abdul Karim? Shrabani Basu introduces Queen Victoria's Indian confidant. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

England's Norman queens and the power they wielded: an interview with Alison Weir. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Victoria the matchmaker. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Victoria behind closed doors. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Anne Boleyn in the Tower

Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I in their own words: 5 fascinating letters from Tudor monarchs. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration by Sarah Young

Ælfthryth: England’s first queen

Queen Victoria’s dinners and Henry VIII’s niece. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.