British Monarchy

The royal family has no shortage of exquisite jewels. Due in part to the reach of the British Empire, monarchs have amassed caches of gemstones from around the world, along with <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/surprising-things-queen-elizabeth-ii-owns/mallory-weiler" target="_blank">other treasures</a>. Some are placed in ceremonial objects like the <a href="https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/the-crown-jewels/#gs.h3lkhn" target="_blank">Crown Jewels</a>; others are worked into more wearable accessories. Tiaras may not be daily adornments for the princesses and duchesses of the various noble houses of England, but few objects are more intimately associated with <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/weird-rules-royal-family-must-follow/eric-eidelstein" target="_blank">royalty</a>.

From <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/rare-princess-diana-photos/katejacobson" target="_blank">Princess Diana&#39;s</a> family heirloom to a treasured piece worn by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, here are some of the royal family&#39;s most memorable - and beautiful - tiaras.

The Most Beautiful Tiaras Belonging To The British Royal Family

General

Sarah Hatheway

Royalty

With a nickname like &quot;The Virgin Queen,&quot; it&#39;s no surprise that England&#39;s Queen Elizabeth I chose to remain single her entire life. But why did Elizabeth I never marry?

Nothing about Elizabeth&#39;s <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/why-queen-elizabeth-is-tough-english-ruler/setareh-janda" target="_blank">life was conventional</a>. She was born in 1533 to King Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn. After her mother&#39;s fall and execution in 1536, Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and her position became precarious;&nbsp;it was clear that she was never meant to be queen. Instead, she watched as her younger half-brother ruled as Edward VI from 1547, followed by their older half-sister Mary I from 1553. Five years later, it was 25-year-old Elizabeth&#39;s turn,&nbsp;as she inherited the crown in 1558 when Mary passed. The once-illegitimate daughter of an executed noblewoman had become queen of England.

Elizabeth&#39;s marital decisions were equally unconventional. As a young queen, Elizabeth was under intense pressure to marry. So, who did Queen Elizabeth I marry? No one. Queen Elizabeth I&#39;s husband was England. But why did Queen Elizabeth never marry? She had <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/personal-life-of-queen-elizabeth-i/melissa-sartore" target="_blank">personal and political</a> reasons for doing so, since taking a husband almost certainly would have shaped her rule, whether she wanted it to or not. Though she never lacked suitors, Queen Elizabeth I believed that it was better to go it alone.

The Actual Reasons Queen Elizabeth I Never Married

The Actual Reasons Why Queen Elizabeth I Never Married

Setareh Janda

Lists about some of the most extraordinary women who made history, forever changing the world and how we see it.

Well-Behaved Women

Feminism

Princess Isabella is one of many Braveheart characters that are&nbsp;based on historical figures. Like the character in the film, the historical Queen Isabella was the daughter-in-law of Edward I, the brutal English king who set his sights on Scotland. But the similarities stop there: Braveheart's Princess Isabella&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/historical-figure-inaccuracies-in-movies/isadora-teich" target="_blank">barely resembles</a>&nbsp;the historical Queen Isabella. Worse,&nbsp;Braveheart completely strips her of all her glorious complexity and power by reducing her to <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/true-story-of-william-wallace-execution/nicky-benson" target="_blank">William Wallace</a>’s love interest. The historical Isabella's&nbsp;wild life was a lot more interesting than Braveheart lets on.Who was the real Queen Isabella of France? Intelligent, beautiful, and strong, she was the leading lady of one of the most dramatic chapters in&nbsp;14th century English history. Born a French princess in the late 13th century, 12-year-old Isabella became Queen of England when she married 23-year-old King Edward II in 1308. But she never intended to be a royal consort&nbsp;that sat on the sidelines, especially as she saw her husband's popularity sink. She soon earned the nickname “the She Wolf” when she engineered a daring rebellion against Edward.The tale of Isabella of France the rebel queen has all the ingredients of a <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/most-historically-inaccurate-movies/genevieve-carlton" target="_blank">Hollywood epic</a>. Of all the terrible&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/historical-mistakes-errors-and-inaccuracies-in-braveheart/machk" target="_blank">inaccuracies in Braveheart</a>, the erasure of Queen Isabella’s story of romance, murder, and rebellion&nbsp;is the most unforgivable.

Isabella &quot;The She Wolf&quot; Was A Force To Be Reckoned With,&nbsp;But Braveheart Erased Her From History

Isabella "The She Wolf" Was A Force To Be Reckoned With  – And Braveheart Erased Her Story From History

Royal Family

Princess Anne, the only <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/life-of-sarah-ferguson-duchess-of-york/cleo-egnal?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">daughter of Queen Elizabeth</a> II and Prince Philip, may not receive as much scrutiny from the general public as her older brother Prince Charles or nephews Prince William and Prince Harry, but she&#39;s still had an eventful life. From making the British Olympic team as an equestrian, to nearly being&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/attempted-kidnapping-of-princess-anne/cleo-egnal" target="_blank">kidnapped</a>&nbsp;just weeks after her wedding, to being nominated for a Nobel Prize, the Princess Royal has packed a lot of living into her&nbsp;years.&nbsp;

Blunt and often sharp-tongued, and with little use for pretense,&nbsp;she is considered one of the most popular members of the British royal family in the eyes of the general public&nbsp;and has&nbsp;earned the informal title of being the hardest-working royal. And she managed to carry out her royal duties while providing her children with a fairly normal childhood (well, as normal as one can have as a member of the British royal family),&nbsp;keeping them more or less out of the spotlight.

Here is more about the Princess Royal, who, as of this writing, is 14th in line to inherit the British throne.

Facts About Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth II’s Overlooked Daughter

TGWrites

Kings & queens, princes & princesses. They're made of blood and bones like the rest of us, but they're told they can do whatever they damn well please. Sometimes, this causes problems.

Royal Pains

Despite the fact that she was quite tiny, Queen Victoria&nbsp; looms large over most&nbsp;of the 19th century. She was every bit a woman of her time, engaging in the overblown sentimentality and <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/odd-victorian-mourning-rituals/amandasedlakhevener" target="_blank">culture of death</a> so pervasive during the age that bears her name. When she died at 81, the queen left secret, detailed instructions on how to handle her body and what items to place in her coffin. There are, indeed, a number of&nbsp;strange Queen Victoria&nbsp;death&nbsp;facts worth exploring.

Victorians had something of an obsession with death and <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/victorian-death-and-mourning-customs/lisa-waugh" target="_blank">death rituals</a>. One reason this was true was because people of the era literally lived in close proximity to death. Aspects of the Industrial Revolution shortened life expectancy, even in an age when 40 was considered old. Dead bodies were cleaned and prepared for burial by family members, and the corpses were put in their parlors for viewing.&nbsp;Friends and loved ones created jewelry made from the hair of the deceased;&nbsp;furniture and doorways were draped in black crepe;&nbsp;and even photos were taken of the dead, dressed and seated in chairs with other family members, as though they were still alive. Or families would gather for photos, all dressed in black,&nbsp;around a portrait of the dearly departed, sorrowful looks on every face.&nbsp;Death and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/collections/life-after-death" target="_blank">all that came with it</a> hovered far more closely to the living than it does today.

This was also the age of Romanticism, an artistic, literary, and cultural tradition that focused on both the natural and unnatural world. Some Victorians expressed a strong interest in the paranormal, the spectral, and otherworldly. Sentimentality and emotion also held sway during the 19th century. It&#39;s no wonder, really, that Queen Victoria&#39;s death wishes were anything but simple.

The Morbidly Creepy And Straight Up Weird Contents Of Queen Victoria's Coffin

The Morbidly Creepy Contents Of Queen Victoria's Coffin

Cheryl Adams Richkoff

Exploring the real people, historical events, and behind the scenes of Netflix's series that follows the life of Queen Elizabeth II and her family.

The Crown

British

<a href="https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a29849010/princess-alice-battenberg-the-crown-real-life/" target="_blank">Alice of Battenberg</a>, mother to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and mother-in-law to Queen Elizabeth II, was very much like <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/real-life-images-that-inspired-the-crown/rachel-souerbry" target="_blank">the figure depicted</a> in Season 3 of The Crown. She was born in Windsor Castle, spent much of her life living in Greece, and was generally regarded as a kind soul.

Alice of Battenberg lived many lives during her 84 years - she was wife to Prince Andrew of Greece, an exiled princess in Paris, a rescue worker during WWII, and a nun. She was born deaf and spent time in an asylum, just as the show indicates, but there are many more details about her fascinating life and her family&nbsp;that veer&nbsp;away from - and enhance - what The Crown would have you believe.

Princess Alice of Battenberg's Real Life Was Even More Dramatic Than What You Saw On 'The Crown'

Who Was Alice Of Battenberg?

Melissa Sartore

Get to know the fascinating family headed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and comprised of her four children, eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren—some of whom may someday become the King of England.

The Royal Family

Explainer

Love her or hate her, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is poised to become the most prominent woman in the United Kingdom&nbsp;when her husband becomes King Charles III. But prominence does not always equal respect. &nbsp;Vilified through her royal affair,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/how-prince-charles-almost-destroyed-british-monarchy/cleo-egnal" target="_blank">Prince Charles</a>&#39;&nbsp;wife took paths of&nbsp;adultery, romance, heartbreak, and controversy to arrive at where she is today.

Born Camilla Shand in 1947, she first entered Prince Charles&rsquo;&nbsp;life in the early &#39;70s&nbsp;&mdash; and never really left. They had a brief, but powerful romance. Though each married other people &mdash;&nbsp;Camilla to Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973 and Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 &mdash;&nbsp;they didn&rsquo;t let these romances get between their rich friendship and, eventually, an affair ensued.

Why did <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/relationship-between-charles-and-diana/veronica-walsingham?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Charles and Diana</a> divorce? Though many factors played a part &mdash;&nbsp;and most people believe their marriage was doomed from the start &mdash;&nbsp;Camilla Parker Bowles cast a long shadow over the marriage. By the mid &#39;90s both marriages ended in divorce, and Charles and Camilla became Public Enemies No. 1 and No. 2 for their adulterous behavior.

The couple&rsquo;s marriage in 2005 made Camilla a permanent fixture in the United Kingdom and brought some respectability to their relationship,&nbsp;but it also showed&nbsp;how high a mistress can rise in <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/british-royal-family-scandals/cleo-egnal" target="_blank">a royal family plagued by scandal</a>.

The Story Of How Britain's Future Queen Consort Got Her Start

Britain's Future Queen Got Her Start By Destroying A Royal Marriage

The Favourite&nbsp;(2018) emerged&nbsp;as a 2019&nbsp;awards season darling largely on the strength of Olivia Colman&#39;s&nbsp;performance&nbsp;as a&nbsp;distressed, disheveled, and severely traumatized monarch who relies on some very committed ladies-in-waiting to help her cope. Was Queen Anne truly as incapable and afflicted as she appears in the&nbsp;Yorgos Lanthimos film?

Of all the British kings and queens, Anne&nbsp;is one of the most overlooked and underappreciated. Unlike some of her more flashy predecessors, she wasn&#39;t a commanding or fiery monarch, and&nbsp;a closer look at Queen Anne facts reveals a complex, painfully human ruler whose life was far more interesting than it initially appears.

Born on February 6,&nbsp;1665, Anne wasn&#39;t supposed to be queen;&nbsp;she was the&nbsp;youngest&nbsp;daughter of the second son of a controversial king. Before she was born, the English monarchy temporarily ended when her grandfather King Charles I became a victim of regicide. When the monarchy was restored in 1660, it was her uncle King Charles II&nbsp;who assumed the throne, not her father.

A series of&nbsp;childless marriages, family tragedies, and political upheavals paved the way for Anne&#39;s ascension to the throne in 1702. The crown passed from her&nbsp;uncle, to her father King James II, to her sister Queen Mary, to her brother-in-law William III, before settling on her head. Though she was married to Prince George of Denmark, Anne remained a queen in her own right without a co-ruler until her passing in 1714. She was&nbsp;the very last monarch from the royal house of Stuart.

Though she ruled for just 12 years, her reign coincided with some of the most significant moments in British history. The court of Queen Anne is remembered for its <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/queen-anne-duchess-of-marlborough-facts/genevieve-carlton" target="_blank">political drama</a> and cultural achievements. Against this backdrop was a quiet woman thrust into a queenly role through circumstances beyond her control.

A Look At Queen Anne, Britain's Most Overlooked Monarch At The Center Of 'The Favourite'

Behind 'The Favourite:' The Real Story Of Queen Anne

Timeline

The life and legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots, remains intriguing more than 400 years after her passing. Her political scheming and personal&nbsp;hardships were colorful enough to inspire several films, including 2018&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/is-mary-queen-of-scots-accurate/melissa-sartore" target="_blank">Mary Queen of Scots</a>, but the fictionalized version can&#39;t compete with the actual events leading to her execution.&nbsp;

After becoming Queen of Scotland when she was just days old, Mary was married into the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/ways-french-monarchy-incited-revolution/setareh-janda?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">French royal family</a>. Widowed as a teenager and a stranger to her homeland, Mary seized her birthright and actively ruled Scotland from the early 1560s until she was deposed in 1567. Mary&#39;s love life was fodder for Protestant naysayers and political rivals alike, and her&nbsp;relationship with her&nbsp;cousin and fellow female monarch, Elizabeth I, was fraught with tension.

During the last two decades of her life, Mary was essentially a prisoner&nbsp;under suspicion of plotting to seize the English throne. As she walked to the scaffold on her final day, she was surrounded by hundreds of spectators, but the number of people who factored into her demise is vast and complicated.&nbsp;Her long road to the block was peppered with machinations and choices that ultimately led to&nbsp;her <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/decapitation-facts/kellen-perry" target="_blank">decapitation</a>&nbsp;in 1587.

Everything That Had To Happen For Mary Queen Of Scots To Be Executed In Front Of 500 People

Mary Queen Of Scots's Public Execution Timeline

Historical Figures

Kings rule for life, something earned through hereditary, military victory, or even divine right. They protect their subjects, their lands, and their legacies through battle and diplomacy.&nbsp;Many historical kings have been warriors or generals, defending off maurauders or expanding through conquest. Other kings simply sit atop a throne and enjoy lavish feasts among nobles, carefully observing the world around them.

The multifaceted nature of kingship can spark one&#39;s imagination and raise fascinating questions. Historians on the subreddit <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/" target="_blank">AskHistorians</a>&nbsp;can help with some answers, chiming in on&nbsp;historical kings from across the centuries. Check out some of what they had to say below.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Real Historians Answer Questions About Historical Kings We Wish We'd Asked Sooner

Kings seem like they should be noble leaders that we can look up to, but in reality, many of them have pretty weird personalities. With strange requests, questionable romances, and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/historical-royalty-quotes-that-sound-fake-but-are-true/setareh-janda" target="_blank">peculiar quotes</a>, many historical monarchs weren&#39;t quite as&nbsp;regal as we&#39;ve imagined. But at least their unusual legacies keep history exciting for younger generations.

Many of these weird stories about kings seem&nbsp;too farfetched to believe, but then again, they&#39;re too bizarre for someone to make up.

Facts About Historical Kings That Sound Made Up - But Aren’t

Person

Facts  About Historical Kings That Sound Made Up – But Aren’t

Molly Weinfurter

Lists about some of the worst people to ever live and the very bad ways things they did when they let their power go to their heads.

Real Historical Villains

The Medieval Period, AKA the Middle Ages, stretched from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century into the 15th Century, when the Renaissance brought the Age of Discovery.

Welcome to Medieval Times

History

It&#39;s no secret that the word &quot;medieval&quot; evokes negative images, but in the case of these Middle Ages monarchs, those connotations are well-deserved. From <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/most-ruthless-queens/eric-vega" target="_blank">callous queens</a> to cutthroat kings and savage saints, we&#39;re taking a look at the most brutal monarchs from medieval times who <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/medieval-weapons/mike-rothschild" target="_blank">played by their own bloody rules</a>.&nbsp;

So what caused such monarchical madness? Some slaughtered thousands while trying to spread Christianity and expel beliefs they disliked; others nudged tensions between sects of Christianity along, resulting in a mob mentality that took the lives of tens of thousands. Other brutal monarchs, including&nbsp;a number of late medieval Italian royals, enjoyed torturing their enemies in new and creative ways, such as forcing furriers to <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/medieval-diets/kellen-perry" target="_blank">eat hares whole</a> or creating mummy museums by pickling their rivals. Some kings didn&rsquo;t bother disguising their ambitions, and just added&nbsp;to their burgeoning empires by taking city after city and slaying&nbsp;opponents and new subjects wholesale.

Whatever their reasons for taking out their lovers, friends, and enemies, read through this list and vote up the most violent medieval monarchs.

Edward I of England

The Most Brutal Medieval Monarchs

The Most Brutal Medieval Monarchs Who Did Terrible Things

Carly Silver

Elisabeth of Austria&nbsp;was one of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/greatest-warrior-queens-in-history/carly-silver" target="_blank">most powerful monarchs</a> of the 19th century. Remarkably beautiful, Elisabeth, nicknamed Sisi, defied Austrian court traditions. She traveled often and became a beloved figure in both Austria and Hungary.&nbsp;Elisabeth was very concerned with her looks; she engaged in strange beauty rituals and aggressive exercise routines. Elisabeth's iconoclastic ways resulted in&nbsp;her bizarre death at the hands of an anarchist.

The Tragic Life Of Elisabeth Of Austria

Phil Gibbons

For over half a millennium, the mysterious disappearance of the Princes in the Tower - 12-year-old King Edward V and his 9-year-old brother, Richard, the Duke of York - has been considered a&nbsp;treacherous murder committed by their uncle, Richard III. When the death of their father, Edward IV, his young son became king.&nbsp;Within a few short months, however, both children had disappeared without a trace, and <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/rulers-who-executed-members-of-their-own-families/carly-silver" target="_blank">Richard III</a> claimed&nbsp;the crown in 1483. It was a short reign: Richard III died in 1485 fighting&nbsp;against Henry Tudor&#39;s forces in the culmination of the War of the Roses.

Almost 200 years later, in 1674, workmen dug up two juvenile skeletons at the foot of a staircase in the Tower of London. These skeletons were presumably the two young princes, and the remains were interred in Westminster Abbey - but this was not the end of the enduring mystery. New evidence has emerged indicating the remains discovered in the Tower of London may not be the princes, and Richard III&#39;s murderous reputation may be undeserved.

Over 500 years after their disappearance, no one knows&nbsp;exactly what happened to the Princes in the Tower.

The Princes In The Tower Were Supposedly Murdered 500 Years Ago, But Science Might Prove Differently

Historians Thought The Mysterious Disappearance of Two English Princes Was Murder – But New Evidence Just Showed They Were Wrong For 500 Years

Christy Box

Exploring the strange and fascinating lives of rulers, royals, and royalty all around the world and throughout history.

We Will Never Be Royals

A look at real and fictional wedding dresses worn by characters, cartoons, celebrities, and even royalty all around the world.

White Weddings

Trending on Ranker

The 2018 royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle&nbsp;marks another grandiose moment in the annals of royal matrimony. Though celebrity attendees and fancy hats always stand out, everyone always remembers the most beautiful royal wedding dresses. Whether you admit it or not, royal wedding gowns are just another reason <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/why-do-americans-care-about-the-royal-wedding/rylee_en" target="_blank">you obsess over royal weddings</a>. Stunning royal wedding dresses outshine any and all tiaras, crowns, or sassy royal children, and never cease to keep the bride at the center of the ceremony.For the royal wedding of 2018, certain <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/beauty-rules-for-royals/jessica-defino" target="_blank">royal dress codes</a> must be followed by the lucky couple and their guests alike. While this ceremony definitely resembles other regal marriages, plenty of&nbsp;royal <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/wedding-dresses-from-around-the-world/jessica-lawshe?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">wedding dresses from around the world</a> showcase marriage customs atypical from your standard Western-Euro wedding. The best royal wedding gowns appear below, featuring royalty from Asia, Africa, and Europe.You could be the king, but watch the soon-to-be queen saunter down the aisle knowing she looks – and happens to be worth – a million bucks.

The Greatest Royal Wedding Dresses In History

The 25 Most Gorgeous Royal Wedding Dresses In History

Mick Jacobs

Queen Elizabeth and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/life-of-prince-philip-duke-of-edinburgh/melissa-sartore" target="_blank">Prince Philip</a> were married for 70 years in one of history&#39;s&nbsp;longest and most famous royal love matches. Elizabeth fell in love with Philip while visiting Dartmouth&#39;s&nbsp;Royal Naval College in Dartmouth with her family -&nbsp;when she was only 13. Blond, handsome Philip, then 18, entertained the young princess by jumping over the tennis nets;&nbsp;her nanny later&nbsp;commented on how he seemed to be showing off a great deal for her. From that day on, they wrote to each other and Elizabeth kept a photo of him on her wall. But it wasn&#39;t until seven&nbsp;years later, when Elizabeth was nearing 21,&nbsp;that they got engaged during the summer in Balmoral. Friends of the queen have said that since the&nbsp;day they first met, she&nbsp;never looked at anyone else.&nbsp;No one said the same of Philip.

Elizabeth&#39;s&nbsp;father, King George VI, was against the marriage from the start because he thought Philip wouldn&#39;t be faithful to her.&nbsp;And though&nbsp;there&#39;s no hard proof of&nbsp;Philip&#39;s affairs over the years, he&#39;s had the reputation of a ladies&#39; man right up to the ripe old age of 96. But did Prince Philip cheat on Queen Elizabeth? Let&#39;s take a look at the theories put forth in <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/historical-inaccuracies-in-the-crown/setareh-janda" target="_blank">The Crown</a> and the evidence behind some of his famously&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/british-royal-family-scandals/cleo-egnal" target="_blank">scandalous stories</a>.

Did Prince Philip Cheat On Queen Elizabeth Like 'The Crown' Says He Did?

Shonna Wright

Royalty lists at Ranker - The ultimate source for hundreds of royalty lists and rankings