Commoner Queens of England 

Not English but one of the most dramatic, real life Cinderella stories in history is Catherine I of Russia. She was born a peasant in Prussia, was captured in war and sent to Russia to be a domestic worker, became the mistress of the czar, married him in secret, became his official queen and then inherited his title and ruled Russia after his death.

My favorite has to be Elizabeth Woodville. She survived the wars of the roses and while she lost her precious boys she managed to make her daughter Elizabeth Queen of England by marriage to henry VII to help the Tudor dynasty and her blood remains on the family to this day! Bravo! 👸👸👸👸

if only charles married camila first , diana would have been still alive and happy...both the parties would have been happy instead of going through all that trauma.

Katherine Howard is my favorite of Henry VIII's wives. She truly deserved so much better. She was just a teenager manipulated and hurt by so many powerful men.

Charles unfortunately felt he had to do what the family wanted. Remember at that time Diana had to be examined by a dr to verify she was a virgin ! That’s how antiquated they were. I was horrified for her. She was in love, he wasn’t, and he made her very unhappy. Rest in peace Princess ❤

If we are counting Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon as aristocratic, Anne neville and Katherine Howard should be counted as nobles as well one was a male line granddaughter of a duke and the other was the daughter of an earl

I would not call Catherine Howard a commonner. She might not be the daughter of a peer, but she was still the niece of a duke, and a member of the ancient and noble Howard dynasty.

None the queens mentioned here can be called commoners. This term is meant only for the peasants who didn't had any luxury of having a family coat of arms. All of the queens listed here came from the lower ranks of aristocracy, which isn't enough to classify them as commoner. A marriage of an aristocrat with a true commoner would have been considered as a morgnactic marriage in medieval era.

Elizabeth woodville's background is being scrutinized more because the yorkists won. Her mom Jacquetta was married to Henry V's brother so she was Henry VI's aunt and her sister is married to Margaret of Anjou's uncle so she had close connections to both the Lancastrian King and queen of England. The sticking point is her second husband who is ranked lower. The Woodvilles are somewhat similar to the Tudors. The female matriarch had the name and prestige (catherine of valois, margaret beaufort and jacquetta) and their Tudor husbands and Richard Woodville were somewhat ranked lower than them. The fate scripwriters were on point when the Woodvilles and Tudors agreed to unite and take down Richard III.

I like the way you framed Catherine Howards story. I've watched many Tudor documentaries and they never show enough sympathy for her. She was taken advantage of and abused by most of the men in her life. She was so young and has such a tragic tale.

I just love getting the historical "tea" from you lindsay. The ammount of information you manage to convey is AMAZING! Your story telling skills are incredible. British history always seems so much more interesting than ANY other!. Keep the tea flowing. I'm here for it.

I read the title as “Common Queers of England” and got so excited lmao

You've picked a common misconception about Henry VIII's break from Ronme. It was nothing to with Protestantism, he just refused to see the Pope as head of the church and made himself head of the Catholic church in England.

Last time I was this early Anne Boleyn still had her head.

I feel so much for the Charles, Camilla, Diana circle. Privileged aside no one deserves to be in such a situation. Let people marry who they love.

About the time that then-Prince Frederik of Denmark met Mary, who is now his Queen, there was a movie calked The Prince & Me about an American university student who meets a fireign exchange student from Denmark and falls in love and it turns out he's the Danish prince (heir to the throne etc). The timing of the movie was interesting because Mary was constantly in the news here in Australia at the time!

I always found it funny that a marriage could be called void if the couple actually never did the deed. Even if a priest blessed them, no sex= no marriage 😂

Justice for Princess Dianna 👑

50% were all married to the same guy 😂 ohh henry

Thank you so very much Lindsey Holiday I definitely appreciate some interesting content to watch because I’m an Anglophile and appreciate almost all things British 🙌🏾 !!!!

While they have no royal titles of any sort, I would still say they are more then commoners because they had enough money and reputation to have connections to get into the eye sight of a royal. I would say a commoner would be more along the lines of Edward's wife Sophie. She didn't come from any kind of money and worked her way through life. If Edward didn't have an interest in television and film, those 2 never would have met by any chance. Now THAT is a Cinderella story of finding your prince charming. Lol

Just by seeing the title already i'm excited! Your english history videos are My favorites lindsay! Im a proud anglophile and a HUGE fan of yours❤❤❤❤❤❤

Edward IV belonged to the upper nobility before he became king. His father was Duke of York and Edward was directly descended from Edward III.

I would argue Camila is not more popular at all but Charles has done a great job keeping her name out of the press negatively and instead throws his sons and their wives to the wolves.

Queen Camilla has grown on me and I’m a big Princess Diana fan. The fact she is supporting King Charles during his cancer diagnosis and taking up his responsibilities shows her dedication. 😅

As for Anne if Cleves, Henry did NOT reject her because of her looks. Basically what happened is that when they first met she didn't recognize him as he was in disguise and no one told her he liked to do this. He flirted with her, some accounts say he kissed her, and she rebuffed him, not knowing he was the king. He was embarrassed and left and then she was told that the man she had rejected was actually the king. The king returned, dressed as a king but by then it was too late. She had wounded his ego. So in order to save face he said not so flattering things about her (but he never said she was ugly or looked like a horse!).

Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Jane Seymour definitely were NOT commoners (that's a common misconception especially with Anne- i'm pretty sure most of the other women on this list weren't either but my main area of expertise is in the Tudor period)- commoner implies that they had no royal ties and came from humble/poor beginnings but that couldn't be further from the truth (to even be a guest at court you had to have royal ties and/or wealth and be on good terms or at least not bad terms with the monarch(s) and have some connection to someone there plus keep in mind that the monarchs during that time period spent almost of their time at court or other properties (the rare times they didn't was battle) were actual commoners other then those working for them wouldn't even be around it's not like the movies where royals are going around average every day people they were only surrounded by other royals and/or the rich and powerful in their palaces so of course they're only going to interact with those types of people not unless it's a fluke meeting like Elizabeth Woodville but that's the exception not the rule). Catherine Howard came from the old well known powerful Howard family on top of being a cousin to Anne Boleyn, Anne Boleyn had ties to the Howard family through her mother's side (her uncle her mother's brother was Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk) and her father's side could be seen as commoner but not recently generations back her ancestors amassed great wealth and her father was trusted by Henry VIII and the court in general long before Anne was on the scene (the fact that he married a Howard speaks volumes about that), and Jane Seymour was a descendant from a king was related to Henry VIII and to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Almost everyone back then during that time was related in one way or the other so it's very easy to debunk. The only outlier would be Catherine Howard because of her horrible upbringing nothing like the standard royal but even then she was still related to royalty. Them being a commoner or not sadly isn't the issue but the fact that they had the great misfortune of marrying that evil POS Henry VIII 😕 I'm really passionate about the Tudor period so couldn't help myself 🤣

Idk what the algorithm did but I haven’t seen your videos on my feed in a while. I love your content so much. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Can't wait for Catherine, Princess of Wales' time as a Queen Consort.

Jacquetta of Luxembourg wasn’t the daughter of the duke of Luxembourg, she was the daughter of Peter I de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol. They are called “of Luxembourg” because they were members of a distant branch of the House of Luxembourg which originated in Luxembourg but went on to rule Bohemia, the HRE, Hungary and many other states.

Lindsay, please make a video detailing the wars of the roses!

I've never even thought about Prince William's children's future spouses before. But now that I have, I feel strongly that William and Catherine will do a wonderful job of... not vetting exactly... but making sure any prospective spouse (especially Prince George's) fully understands the expectations of royal life and feels prepared to take on that role.

Elizabeth Woodville actually had a lot of noble and royal blood in her veins -mainly through her mother Jacquetta of Luxembourg -the house of Luxembourg was very royal and members of this house even attained the rank of Holy Roman emperors -the highest possible rank of European royalty. She was even descended from English kings via the Italian part of her ancestry (The Balzo) family who were descended from an exiled Englishman who took refuge in Italy.

😍❤❤😍 I'm so excited every Tuesday!! Thank you so much 💓 💗 ❤😊

Elizabeth Woodville was such a smart woman

Queen Mathilde of Belgium was not born a commoner. Her father was a Belgian count (and her mother hailes from Polish aristocracy).

Thank you!

On your family tree, the photo of Queen Victoria's "gay wife" Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz bears a striking resemblance to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha.

Aka "Started from the Bottom, Now We're Here." 😅

I didn’t know queen Victoria married her grand mother! Lol 19:04

There hasn't been a King or Queen of England for over 300 years and King Henry I of England married Princess Matilda of Scotland. Also, anyone not born within the royal family is considered a commoner, even if they are aristocracy.

I'm not sure if Prince Albert's name is suppose to be Charlotte's at 19:09????

I love all these queens. I have always had a great fascination with Elizabeth Woodville and her daughter, Elizabeth Of York. I feel great compassion and empathy for Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard and the other wives of Henry as well. Proud to be a commoner myself.

Can you do a video on royals with cancer? Including The King The Princess Of Wales Queen Mother George VI?

Thanks!

I've always had a soft spot for camilla, the heart wants what it wants, and she was vilified for gaining the love of and loving the wrong man.

Woodville ambitions got in the way

Make one About King cosort😊😄

Might have just been a slip of the tongue but I just wanted to clarify: Diana's father was the Earl Spencer not the Earl OF Spencer. I don't actually know what the difference is but apparently there is one.

28:25 Not quite true. The heir to the principality of Liechtenstein is married to Duchess Sophie of Bavaria, the heir to the grand duchy of Luxembourg is married to Countess Stephanie de Lannoy, and the King of the Belgians (whose heir is currently unmarried) is married to Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz, the daughter of a baron (now a count).

EBL (QEQM) held out because she wanted to marry Edward... G asked her at least 5 times before she "accepted".. and by time 5, she was "knocking on" & it was obvious the life she'd have. Turned out OK for them in the end.

Elizabeth Woodville and Anne nevile are my favourite ❤❤❤❤

Elizabeth Woodville was the daughter of a royal duchess.... I wouldn't necessarily call her common. Yes I know it was with Jacquetta of luxembourg's second husband but she was still a duchess, far from being "common" What this means is that she was an extended member of the Royal family.

Awesome Queens

I love how 4 of them were king henry viii’s wives

Only last week I discovered that the Earl or Warwick is my 17th great grandfather, Queen Anne was our great aunt 😂 so extremely random!! Me and my sister have been gathering our family tree and it turns out that we’re related to both the Yorks and the Lancasters.. 😅 (ew) It’s truly fascinating stuff! I’m just annoyed that I grew up a peasant without a castle 😂

Thanks👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🌹

My favorite is Elizabeth Woodville.

20:52 Everyone in that room looks like cousins 😭

Pretty much all of these women were from aristocratic families, even if they were lower level or aristocratic through only one parent. I think the first truly commoner queen will be the current Princess of Wales.

Dorothea Jordan (Bland) never was married to William IV. While they had 10 children together, she was just his mistress. He married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen only when the "heir to the throne" sweepstakes started after Princess Charlotte's death (same for Edward of Kent and Victoria of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha who won the contest). Also, when William married in 1818, his father was in his final mental breakdown and Prince George was Regent. The Royal Marriage Act of 1772 was prompted by the marriage of Henry, Duke of Cumberland (brother of George III) and not George's son(s). Queen Mary's father was not considered a royal as he was the product of a morganatic marriage, and she was not thought suitable for even the most minor German royal. Sorry, but you seem to be missing one important thing in this video: to the royals it didn't matter if you were an aristocrat or a laborer, you were a commoner (royals or commoners with nothing in between).

I’m amused that Elizabeth I gets just a few seconds mention here🤷🏼‍♀️

Queen Elizabeth II was not 24 when she became Queen, she was 25 when she succeeded her father and became Queen.

Coburg is not pronounced like the animal "bear." It is pronounced like "burger" minus the "-er."

It is so rude of many mainstream media outlets to refer to The Princess of Wales as “Kate Middleton”. If she had wanted to retain her maiden name, she would have done so - but she didn’t. The only conclusion one can draw is that this is a slight, because she was not of Royal - or upper class - birth.

Edward had actually married an Englishwoman before Elizabeth, which is what made his marriage to Elizabeth invalid. Eleanor Talbot was the daughter of a great family and much more similar in rank to her cousin Anne Neville although she was not the heiress that Anne was. It would have been a very suitable marriage for Edward as Earl of March. She would have also been a good "Unity Candidate" for queen as well; a number of her family were Lancastrians and her father "Old Talbot" was the most celebrated general of his era in the French wars and well-beloved nationwide. Although Warwick the Kingmaker may have objected, because Eleanor's mother and aunts were in a property dispute of grand scale with Warwick and his wife.

Wait wait wait... Where did this story about Anne Neville becoming a cook come from? Yes George Duke of Clarance kept Anne out of sight but Anne escaped into sanctuary and married Richard. Richard got Anne's half of the Warwick fortune as Midlham Castle was part of Anne's portion of the inheritance.

Elizabeth Bowes Lyon was born into a noble family.

Wow just wow 😅

But in Bridgerton, they do have a Cinderella in the book number three

Elizabeth Woodville is legend

Elizabeth Woodville is my favorite

Elizabeth woodville had 2 sons from a previous marriage. What was in it for the boys from royal stepdaddy?

Catherine parr is always a win for me

Hopefully if George will grow up and marry a royal of his own age bracket (ex. Princess Estelle, etc.), there will be a possible another ala "William and Mary" reign (co-rulers)

I have never understood why Charles and Camilla were forced apart. The two of them and poor Deanna were made miserable because the Royal Crown insisted the bride had to be a virgin? How medieval…

So was the Queen Mother a good person? Or was it more like compared to Walis (a Nazi collaborator) she was better by comparison?

Elizabeth Woodville is the maternal grandmother of Henry viii

princess diana used to work as a teacher before getting married.

Wait what about Mary Queen of Teck?

I would love a video just about mary the second, i dont know too much about her and its only entertaining when its you talking about it 😂

I thought William IV was guilt tripped down the aisle after Princess Charlotte died and George III had no legitimate grandchildren. Although he and Adelaide did have a contented companionship.

Wasn’t Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon common??

Why is Kate Middleton not considered a commoner? Her parents worked

0:34 figures On brand for those two... RIP Diana 🌹🕯

Wait a second back me up: if the queen was on the throne first and she married a king wouldn’t that him a hing consort?

❤

Richard III did NOT consider marrying his niece. In fact he actually outright denied any intention of marrying her. We also don't know if he was behind the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower (but likely not). These are rumors first started by Tudor propagandists that persist to this day. The Princes in the Tower had already been declared illegitimate by the time Richard took the throne, and Richard himself didn't even have them declared illegitimate, there were a whole bunch of advisors/politicians/nobles who didn't like the Woodvilles, THEY had the princes declared illegitimate because of years long rumors of Edward IV marrying in secret before marrying Elizabeth Woodville. It's because of this that the princes were declared illegitimate. This declaration made Richard the ONLY remaining legitimate male heir and so the crown was given to him and he was declared King. But some Lancastrians were still secretly plotting against the Yorks, it's likely they who had something to do with the Princes in the Tower going missing, then after Richard was killed in battle they quickly blamed him for the princes' fate. Henry Tudor was a Lancastrian so having people scheming behind the scenes on his behalf and making Richard an easy scapegoat seems far more likely.

I am royally early!

I might be wrong, but aren't nobility technically 'commoners' as well? I know they are seen as higher than us common folk, but I was under the impression that members of he peerage and their families are technically 'commoners' as well. Does anyone know?

When Henry married Katherine parr hed given up on a son as Katherine had already been married without having any children

FYI Queen Elizabeth II became Queen on February 6, 1952, and was crowned the following year on June 2, 1953. Queen Elizabeth II was 25 years old when she became Queen of England

🎉

I think this may be an American point of view. None of these women would be considered commoners in England. A commoner queen would be if Nell Gywnn got crowned

Camilla's grandfather was literally a baronet, she's about as "common" as caviar.

These are interesting. However, they do go to reinforce my thesis that "royalty" only belongs in fairy tales - mostly because most of their lives are so Grimm. The idea that someone is special because their blood is special is not only ridiculous, but scientifically impossible.

She is not a commoner. She is of royal decent. I am related to Camilla, Diana, and Charles. And their parents.

19:06 Prince Albert of Sax Coberg Gotha is given the wrong name 🫣

Richard never tried to marry his niece

Genuine question, how are the Nevilles considered peasants?