by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, detail from the frontispiece of the illuminated manuscript Talbot Shrewsbury Book; Credit – Wikipedia

Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York was a claimant to the English throne, the leader of the Yorkist faction during the Wars of the Roses, the father of King Edward IV of England and King Richard III of England, and the great-grandfather of King Henry VIII of England and his sister Margaret Tudor. Through Margaret Tudor, Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York is an ancestor of the British royal family and many other European royal families.

Born on September 21, 1411, Richard was the youngest of the three children and the only surviving son of Richard of Conisbrough, 3rd Earl of Cambridge and his first wife Anne Mortimer. Both Richard’s parents were descendants of King Edward III of England. Richard’s paternal grandparents were Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (son of King Edward III), and Isabella of Castile (daughter of King Pedro of Castile and León). His maternal grandparents were Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March (a great-grandson of King Edward III) and Eleanor Holland (a great-great-granddaughter of King Edward I of England).

The White Rose of the House of York; Credit – Wikipedia

The House of York, a cadet branch of the House of Plantagenet, descended from two sons of King Edward III: in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III and from a female line of Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, Edward III’s second surviving son. These two lines came together when Richard’s mother Anne Mortimer, a great-granddaughter of Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence married Richard’s father Richard of Conisbrough, a son of Edmund of Langley, Duke of York. (A House of York family tree can be seen at Wikipedia: House of York.)

Richard had two elder siblings:

• Isabel of Cambridge (1409 – 1484), married (1) Sir Thomas Grey, had one son (2) Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, had eleven children
• Henry of Cambridge, died in infancy

Richard’s mother Anne Mortimer died shortly after his birth, due to childbirth complications. His father Richard of Conisbrough made a second marriage to Maud Clifford, the divorced wife of John Neville, 6th Baron Latimer, and daughter of Thomas de Clifford, 6th Baron de Clifford, but the couple did not have any children.

In 1414, Richard’s father Richard of Conisbrough was created 3rd Earl of Cambridge but the title came with none of the usual grants of land. As a result, Richard of Conisbrough lacked the resources to properly equip himself for King Henry V’s invasion of France. Perhaps partly for this reason, Richard of Conisbrough conspired with Henry Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham and Sir Thomas Grey to depose King Henry V and place Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, the brother of Richard of Conisbrough’s deceased wife Anne Mortimer on the English throne. Edmund Mortimer was the great-grandson of Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, the second surviving son of King Edward III, and his claim to the throne was superior to the claim of King Henry V and his father King Henry IV (both descended from King Edward III’s third surviving son John of Gaunt,1st Duke of Lancaster) who had deposed his first cousin King Richard II. However, Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March had not been aware of the plot and when he found out about it, he told King Henry V. The three plotters, including Richard of Conisbrough, were arrested, tried, and beheaded in August 1415.

Richard, 3rd Duke of York, stained glass window from St Laurence’s Church in Ludlow, Shropshire, England; Credit – http://www.richardiiiworcs.co.uk/

With the execution of his father, four-year-old Richard was an orphan. The title of Richard’s father was not attainted – after being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason), an act of attainder deprived nobles of their titles and lands. The descendants of the attainted noble could no longer inherit his lands or income. Because his father was not attainted, four-year-old Richard inherited his father’s Earl of Cambridge title. Three months later, little Richard’s paternal uncle (his father’s elder brother) Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York was killed at the Battle of Agincourt, and Richard inherited his paternal uncle’s titles and estates. In 1425, when Richard’s maternal uncle Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March died, Richard inherited the lesser title of Earl of March but the greater estates of the Mortimer family along with their claim to the English throne. Richard of York already held a strong claim to the English throne as a male-line great-grandson of King Edward III.

Richard’s wife Cecily Neville, Detail from the 15th century Neville Book of Hours. The rest of the image shows her mother, Joan Beaufort, along with her daughters; Credit – Wikipedia

After the death of his father in 1415, the orphaned Richard became a royal ward and was placed in the household of Sir Robert Waterton, loyal to King Henry V and King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster. In 1423, Richard became the royal ward of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland who had married (his second wife) Joan Beaufort, daughter of King Edward III’s fourth son John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and his mistress Katherine Swynford, whom he later married in 1396. Ralph Neville had eight children with his first wife and fourteen children with his second wife and so had many daughters needing husbands. As was his right Neville betrothed his youngest child, nine-year-old daughter Cecily Neville to thirteen-year-old Richard in 1424. Richard and Cecily were married by October 1429.

Richard and Cecily had twelve children including two Kings of England:

• Anne of York (1439 – 1476), married (1) Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, had one daughter (2) Sir Thomas St. Leger, Anne died giving birth to a daughter
• Henry of York (born and died 1441), died in infancy
• Edward IV, King of England (1442 – 1483), married Elizabeth Woodville, had ten children including the ill-fated Edward V, King of England and Elizabeth of York, wife of Henry VII, King of England
• Edmund, Earl of Rutland (1443 – 1460), unmarried killed at the Battle of Wakefield, during the Wars of the Roses
• Elizabeth of York (1444 – circa 1503), wife of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, had eleven children
• Margaret of York (1446 – 1503), married Charles I (the Bold), Duke of Burgundy, no children
• William of York (born and died 1447), died in infancy
• John of York (born and died 1448), died in infancy
• George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (1449 – 1478), married Isabel Neville, had four children, George was executed by his brother King Edward IV
• Thomas of York (born and died circa 1450/1451), died in infancy
• Richard III, King of England (1452 – 1485), married Anne Neville, had one son Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales who predeceased his father, Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field
• Ursula of York (born and died 1455), died in infancy

In 1422, 35-year-old King Henry V succumbed to dysentery, a disease that killed more soldiers than battle, leaving his nine-month-old son to inherit his throne as King Henry VI. Over the next decade, Richard was a member of the close circle around the young king, in recognition of his place in the line of succession to the English throne. Richard was third in the line of succession after John, 1st Duke of Bedford and Humphrey, 1st Duke of Gloucester, both brothers of King Henry V and paternal uncles of the young King Henry VI. Richard was knighted by John, 1st Duke of Bedford in 1426. He was present for King Henry VI’s coronation at Westminster Abbey in 1429. Richard came of age in 1432 and was granted full control of his estates. In 1433, he was created a Knight of the Garter.

After the deaths of John, 1st Duke of Bedford in 1435 and Humphrey, 1st Duke of Gloucester in 1447, who were both childless, Richard, 3rd Duke of York was the heir to the English throne. In 1436, Richard was appointed to succeed John, 1st Duke of Bedford as commander of the English forces in France during the Hundred Years’ War. In 1445, King Henry VI married Margaret of Anjou, the niece of King Charles VII of France. Henry VI and Margaret had one child, born eight years after their marriage, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. Edward was the heir to the throne, followed by Richard, 3rd Duke of York.

King Henry VI; Credit – Wikipedia

Shortly before his son was born, King Henry VI had some kind of mental breakdown. He was unable to recognize or respond to people for over a year. These attacks may have been hereditary. Henry’s maternal grandfather King Charles VI of France suffered from similar attacks, even thinking he was made of glass. Sometimes Henry VI also had hallucinations which makes some modern medical experts think he may have had a form of schizophrenia. Porphyria, which may have afflicted King George III, has also been suggested as a possible cause. During Henry’s incapacity, Richard, 3rd Duke of York and the next in line to the throne after Henry’s son, governed as Lord Protector. Richard often quarreled with the Lancastrians at court. In 1448, he assumed the surname Plantagenet and then assumed the leadership of the Yorkist faction in 1450.

King Henry VI sitting (right) while Richard, 3rd Duke of York (left) and Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset (centre) have an argument. From a 19th century book A Chronicle of England: B.C. 55 – A.D. 1485;  Credit – Wikipedia

Even before the birth of Henry VI’s son, factions were forming and the seeds of the Wars of the Roses were being planted. There were differing opinions over how England should conduct the Hundred Years’ War with France. By the early 1450s, the most important rivalry was between Richard, 3rd Duke of York and Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset. Richard argued for a more vigorous approach to the war to recover territories lost to the French. The Duke of Somerset was among those who believed there should be attempts to secure peace by making concessions.

Richard, 3rd Duke of York and Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset also came from two rival cadet branches of the House of Plantagenet. In 1399, Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, the eldest legitimate son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (the third surviving son of King Edward III), deposed his first cousin King Richard II, the son of King Edward III’s eldest son Edward (Prince of Wales) the Black Prince. Henry Bolingbroke became King Henry IV, the first of three kings (along with Henry V and Henry VI) from the House of Lancaster. This bypassed the descendants of King Edward III’s second son Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, with Richard, 3rd Duke of York of the House of York being the current heir of Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence. Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset was a member of the House of Lancaster. He was the grandson of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and his mistress Katherine Swynford, who John of Gaunt eventually married. Originally illegitimate, the Beauforts had been made legitimate by an Act of Parliament but were supposedly barred from the line of succession to the throne. However, there was always the possibility that this could be circumvented. See a family tree, Wikipedia: Family connections and the Wars of the Roses.)

King Henry VI was more interested in religion and learning than in military matters. His wife Margaret was an intelligent, energetic woman and realized that she would have to take on most of her husband’s duties, and so it was Margaret who took over the military reins and aligned herself with Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset. Margaret believed her husband was threatened with being deposed by Richard, 3rd Duke of York who thought he had a better claim to the throne and would be a better king than Henry VI. After Henry VI’s recovery in 1455, Richard was dismissed from his position of Lord Protector, and Margaret and Edward Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset became all-powerful. Eventually, things came to a head between Henry VI’s House of Lancaster and Richard’s House of York, and war broke out.

At the First Battle of St. Albans on May 22, 1455, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset was killed. Afterward, there was a peace of sorts, but hostilities started again four years later. On July 10, 1460, King Henry VI was captured at the Battle of Northampton and forced to recognize Richard, 3rd Duke of York as his heir instead of his own son.

The remains of Sandal Castle; Credit – By Abcdef123456 at English Wikipedia – Photo taken by Abcdef123456; Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.; description page is/was here., CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4380982

In December 1460, Richard, 3rd Duke of York rode to own fortress of Sandal Castle near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. He planned to spend a comfortable Christmas among his own people. Richard settled down to wait for his eldest son Edward, Earl of March (the future King Edward IV) to arrive from Shrewsbury with reinforcements before engaging with the Lancastrians. Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset and Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, leading the Lancastrian army would have liked to besiege Richard at Sandal Castle but they lacked the resources to conduct a siege. They decided that Richard must somehow be lured out of the castle and made to fight before his son Edward arrived with reinforcements. The Lancastrian army available consisted of 20,000 men while the Yorkist army had only 12,000 men.

John Neville, Baron Neville, who had grown up with Richard as he was the eldest son of Richard’s guardian Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, arrived at Sandal Castle with 8,000 men but he deserted to the Lancastrians. Even after this, Richard seriously underestimated the size of the Lancastrian army. As December drew to a close, the discipline of the York army was lax. Many York men were allowed to leave the castle precincts to forage for food, signaling to the Lancastrians that there were supply issues. The York scouts were incompetent as they failed to discover the Lancastrians’ plans.

Around Christmas Day, Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset had a meeting with Richard during which it was agreed that there should be a truce until after the Epiphany (January 6) – but the Lancastrians did not intend to keep the truce. For three days, a Lancastrian herald was sent to Richard with orders to provoke insult him with insults into attacking. On December 29, 1460, the Lancastrians disguised 400 men as Yorkist reinforcements and sent them to join the army at Sandal Castle.

On December 30, 1460, Richard left Sandal Castle. It is not sure why Richard left the safety of the castle. Perhaps a combination of thinking the disguised Lancastrians were Yorkists or planned Richard to lead his men on a foraging expedition. The Yorkists marched towards the Lancastrians located to the north of the castle. As the Yorkists engaged the Lancastrians to their front, others attacked them from the flank and rear, cutting them off from the castle. Richard had no idea that the Lancastrian army was so near or that his army was so outnumbered.

Monument to Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York on the place of his death; Credit – By SMJ, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13540643

Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York was pulled down from his horse and killed. Richard’s second son, 17-year-old Edmund, Earl of Rutland had been fighting with him. Edmund attempted to escape over Wakefield Bridge but was overtaken and killed, possibly by the Lancastrian John Clifford, 9th Baron Clifford to avenge his father’s death at the First Battle of St Albans. After the battle was over, some Lancasterian soldiers retrieved Richard’s body, propped it up, and crowned it with a garland of reeds. They then pretended to bow and said, “Hail king without a kingdom!” Lord Clifford ordered the corpses of Richard and his son Edmund to be decapitated and ordered a paper crown to be placed on Richard’s head. The heads of Richard and Edmund were then displayed on pikes over Micklegate Bar, the main entrance of the city of York. The bodies of Richard and Edmund were quietly buried at Pontefract Castle in Pontefract, Yorkshire, England.

Richard’s eldest son King Edward IV of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Richard’s eldest son Edward was now the leader of the Yorkist faction. On February 3, 1461, Edward defeated the Lancastrian army at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross. Edward then took a bold step and declared himself king on March 4, 1461. His decisive victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton on March 29, 1461, cemented his status as King of England. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on June 29, 1461. However, the former king, Henry VI, still lived and fled to Scotland. There were back and forth reigns of King Edward IV and King Henry VI. Edward IV reigned from 1461 – 1470 and Henry VI reigned from 1470 -1471. The final decisive Yorkist victory was at the Battle of Tewkesbury on May 4, 1471, where Henry VI’s son Edward, Prince of Wales was killed. Henry VI was returned to the Tower of London and died on May 21, 1471, probably murdered on orders from Edward IV. Edward IV reigned until his death in 1483.

Church of St Mary and All Saints, Fotheringhay; Credit – By Theroadislong – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37346663

On July 30, 1476, during the reign of Richard’s son King Edward IV, the remains of Richard and Edmund were reinterred at the Church of Saint Mary and All Saints in Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire, England in a grand ceremony attended by Richard’s sons King Edward IV, George, Duke of Clarence, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future King Richard III) and many noblemen. Thomas Whiting, Chester Herald of Arms in Ordinary, has left a detailed account of the events.

At the entrance to the churchyard, King Edward waited, together with the Duke of Clarence, the Marquis of Dorset, Earl Rivers, Lord Hastings and other noblemen. Upon its arrival the King ‘made obeisance to the body right humbly and put his hand on the body and kissed it, crying all the time.’ The procession moved into the church where two hearses were waiting, one in the choir for the body of the Duke and one in the Lady Chapel for that of the Earl of Rutland, and after the King had retired to his ‘closet’ and the princes and officers of arms had stationed themselves around the hearses, masses were sung and the King’s chamberlain offered for him seven pieces of cloth of gold ‘which were laid in a cross on the body.’ The next day three masses were sung, the Bishop of Lincoln preached a ‘very noble sermon’ and offerings were made by the Duke of Gloucester and other lords, of ‘The Duke of York’s coat of arms, of his shield, his sword, his helmet and his coursers on which rode Lord Ferrers in full armour, holding in his hand an axe reversed.’

When Richard’s wife Cecily Neville, Duchess of York died in 1495, she was interred next to her husband as her will directed. After the choir of the Church of Saint Mary and All Saints was destroyed during the Reformation, Queen Elizabeth I ordered the removal of the smashed York tombs and then created the present York tombs. Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and his wife Cecily were the great-great-great-grandparents of Queen Elizabeth I.

The tomb of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and his wife Cecily Neville, to the left of the altar; Credit – Visit to Fotheringhay – Part 3, Exploring the Church of St Mary and All Saints

The Beaufort line eventually did produce a King of England. On August 22, 1485, at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the last king of the House of York and the Plantagenet dynasty, King Richard III of England, the youngest son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, lost his life and his crown. The battle was a decisive victory for the House of Lancaster, whose leader 28-year-old Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, became the first monarch of the House of Tudor as King Henry VII. Henry VII was a great-great-great-grandson of Edward III, King of England through the line of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, the eldest child of John of Gaunt (son of King Edward III) and his mistress Katherine Swynford who he later married.

The bloodline of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York remains alive among European royalty. His granddaughter Elizabeth of York, the daughter of his son Edward IV, King of England, married King Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch. Through their daughter Margaret Tudor, Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York is an ancestor of the British royal family and many other European royal families.

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Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Church of St Mary and All Saints, Fotheringhay – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St_Mary_and_All_Saints,_Fotheringhay> [Accessed 1 August 2022].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_of_Conisburgh,_3rd_Earl_of_Cambridge> [Accessed 1 August 2022].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_of_York,_3rd_Duke_of_York> [Accessed 1 August 2022].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Edward IV of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-iv-of-england/> [Accessed 1 August 2022].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2015. King Henry VI of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-henry-vi-of-england/> [Accessed 1 August 2022].
• Jones, Dan, 2012. The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
• Weir, Alison, 1995. The Wars of the Roses. New York: Ballantine Books.
• Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry Beaufort was an English prelate and statesman who was Bishop of Lincoln (1398 – 1404), Bishop of Winchester (1404 – 1447), a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church (1426 – 1447), and Lord Chancellor of England three times (1403 – 1405, 1413 – 1417, and 1424 – 1426). Born circa 1375, Henry Beaufort was the second of the three sons and the second of the four children of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and his mistress Katherine Swynford, whom he later married as his third wife in 1396. The surname of Henry and his three siblings is derived from the now-demolished Beaufort Castle, a property in Champagne, France that John of Gaunt had sold years before. John of Gaunt likely felt it was a safe name to give to his illegitimate children by Katherine Swynford.

All British monarchs since King Henry IV are descended from Henry’s father John of Gaunt. In fact, most European monarchies are descended from John. The Houses of Lancaster, York, and Tudor were all descended from John of Gaunt’s children:

• King Henry IV (Lancaster: father of King Henry V, grandfather of King Henry VI)
• Joan Beaufort (York: grandmother of King Edward IV and King Richard III)
• John Beaufort (Tudor: great-grandfather of King Henry VII)

During the Wars of the Roses, the battle for the English throne pitted the House of Lancaster and the House of York against each other.

Henry’s father John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry Beaufort’s paternal grandparents were King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England. His maternal grandmother is unknown but his maternal grandfather was Paon de Roet, a knight from the County of Hainault (now part of Belgium and France) who first came to England in 1328 when Philippa of Hainault married King Edward III of England.

Henry’s mother Katherine Swynford; Credit – http://kettlethorpechurch.co.uk/katherine-swynford/

Henry had three siblings:

• John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (circa 1373 – 1410), married Margaret Holland, had six children. The Tudor dynasty was directly descended from John as he was the great-grandfather of King Henry VII of England. John’s daughter Joan Beaufort married James I, King of Scots, and was an ancestor of the Scots House of Stuart and the English House of Stuart.
• Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter (circa 1377–1426), married Margaret Neville of Horneby, one son who died young
• Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland (circa 1379–1440), married (1) Robert Ferrers, 5th Baron Boteler of Wem, had two daughters (2) Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, had fourteen children. Through her daughter Cecily Neville, Joan was the maternal grandmother of two English kings from the House of York, the brothers King Edward IV and King Richard III.

Henry had three half-siblings from his mother’s first marriage to Sir Hugh Swynford (circa 1340 – 1371), a knight in service to John of Gaunt:

• Blanche Swynford (1367 – circa 1374), died in childhood
• Sir Thomas Swynford (1368 – 1432), married (1) Jane Crophill, had three children (2) Margaret Grey, no children
• Margaret Swynford (born c. 1369), became a nun at Barking Abbey in 1377 with help from her future stepfather John of Gaunt, where she lived the religious life with her cousin Elizabeth Chaucer, daughter of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer and Katherine’s sister Philippa de Roet

King Henry IV of England, Henry’s half-brother from his father’s first marriage to Blanche of Lancaster; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry had seven half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to the wealthy heiress Blanche of Lancaster:

• Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of Portugal (1360 – 1415), married King João I of Portugal, had nine children
• John of Lancaster (c.1362/1364), died in infancy
• Elizabeth of Lancaster (1364 – 1426), married (1) John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke  (2) John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, had six children  (3) John Cornwall, 1st Baron Fanhope, had two children
• Edward of Lancaster (born and died 1365)
• John (born and died 1366), died in early infancy
• King Henry IV of England (1367 – 1413), married (1) Mary de Bohun, had six children including King Henry V of England  (2)  Joanna of Navarre, no children
• Isabella of Lancaster (born 1368), died young

The effigy of Catherine of Lancaster, Queen of Castile, Henry’s half-sister from his father’s second marriage to Constance of Castile; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry had two half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Infanta Constance of Castile:

• Catherine of Lancaster, Queen of Castile (1372 – 1418), married King Enrique III of Castile and León, had three children. Through their son Juan II of Castile, Catherine and Enrique III are the grandparents of Isabella I, Queen of Castile and great-grandparents of Catherine of Aragon (daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon), the first wife of King Henry VIII of England.
• John of Lancaster (1374 – 1375), died in infancy

Henry and his siblings likely spent their early years at Kettlethorpe Hall in Kettlethorpe, Lincolnshire, England, a property that had belonged to the first husband of Henry’s mother, Sir Hugh Swynford, who had died in 1371. Kettlethorpe was a small, quiet village, close to the city of Lincoln but 150 miles from London. It would have been a perfect place for John of Gaunt to carry on a discreet affair and have his illegitimate children raised as he had made a second marriage in 1371 and Katherine was a recent widow.

Two years after the death of his second wife Constance of Castile, John of Gaunt married his mistress Katherine Swynford, Henry Beaufort’s mother, on January 13, 1396, at Lincoln Cathedral in England. After the marriage of Katherine and John, their four children were legitimized by both John of Gaunt’s nephew King Richard II of England and Pope Boniface IX. After Henry Bolingbroke, John of Gaunt’s eldest son by his first wife Blanche of Lancaster, deposed his first cousin King Richard II in 1399, and became King Henry IV, he inserted the Latin phrase excepta regali dignitate (except royal status) in the documents that had legitimized his Beaufort half-siblings and supposedly that phrase barred them from the throne. However, many disputed and still dispute the authority of a monarch to alter an existing parliamentary statute on his or her own authority, without the further approval of Parliament.

John of Gaunt treated his Beaufort children as cherished members of the family but he was careful that the provisions he made for them would not interfere with the Lancaster inheritance reserved for his legitimate children. Instead, he found other forms of income for them through marriages and for his second son Henry, through the church. Because of John of Gaunt’s cautions, his Beaufort children were held in great affection by their half-siblings.

Henry was destined from an early age to have a career in the Roman Catholic Church. At that time in the Church, there were benefices, ecclesiastical offices that bestowed an income on its holder. A prebend was a type of benefice connected with a cathedral or a collegiate church (a church administered by a chapter of canons). In January 1390, when Henry was about fifteen years old, he was given the wealthy prebend of Thame in the Diocese of Lincoln. In August 1390, Henry had been given the prebend of Riccall in the Diocese of York. The additional wealthy prebend of Sutton in the Diocese of Lincoln was given to Henry in January 1391.

It was not at all unusual for teenagers to be granted church offices at this time. The benefices would provide for Henry’s living expenses and his education. Beginning in the academic year of 1390 – 1391, Henry attended Queens College at the University of Oxford to study civil and canon law. After his year at Oxford, Henry was sent to Aachen, a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, to continue his studies in civil and canon law.

In 1397, Pope Boniface IX issued a papal bull making twenty-two-year-old Henry Beaufort the Dean of Wells Cathedral in Somerset, England, most likely at the request of Henry’s father John of Gaunt. It was at this time that John of Gaunt pressed Pope Boniface IX to legitimize his four children by his former mistress Katherine Swynford whom he had married in 1396. The pope was more than eager to grant the influential John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster his wish. In early April 1397, Henry was ordained as a deacon, and later that month, he was appointed Chancellor of Oxford University.

On February 27, 1398, in a move that astounded many, twenty-one-year-old Henry was named Bishop of Lincoln by his first cousin King Richard II of England who had received a papal bull from Pope Boniface IX instructing him to do so. Despite thirty being the required age for bishops, John of Gaunt had again pressed Pope Boniface IX, and again wishing to gain favor with John of Gaunt, the pope agreed. Henry resigned from the position of Chancellor of Oxford University and on July 14, 1398, he was consecrated as Bishop of Lincoln.

Henry Beaufort, while Bishop of Lincoln, fathered an illegitimate daughter with an unknown woman. Jane Beaufort and her husband Sir Edward Stradling were both named in Beaufort’s will. Sir Edward held several government positions over the years which he may have owed to the influence of his father-in-law.

• Jane Beaufort (1402 – 1453), married Sir Edward Stradling, had one son and one daughter

In 1403, four years after his half-brother Henry Bolingbroke deposed their mutual first cousin King Richard II and became King Henry IV, Henry Beaufort was appointed Lord Chancellor of England for the first of three times. On November 14, 1404, he was appointed Bishop of Winchester. Henry Beaufort was a trusted advisor to his half-brother King Henry IV (reigned 1399 – 1413) and his nephew King Henry V (reigned 1413 – 1422). He played an important role in English history during the first half of the fifteenth century and became extremely wealthy and influential in the process.

King Henry V of England; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1421, King Henry V named Henry Beaufort the godfather of his only child, the future King Henry VI. On August 31, 1422, thirty-five-year-old King Henry V, a warrior king, the victor against the French at the Battle of Agincourt, determined to conquer France once and for all, succumbed to dysentery, a disease that killed more soldiers than battle, leaving a nine-month-old son to inherit his throne. The infant King Henry VI was entrusted to the care of his great uncles, Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester and Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter.

King Henry VI’s accession – It is likely that Henry Beaufort is in this drawing; Credit – Wikipedia

During the minority of King Henry VI, Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester was a leading figure on the regency council. In 1424, Beaufort was appointed Chancellor of England for the third and final time but was forced to resign in 1426 because of disputes with King Henry VI’s other uncles, in particular Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. Pope Martin V appointed Beaufort as a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in 1426.

There is often confusion over Beaufort’s participation in the trial of Joan of Arc, who is famous for her role in the Siege of Orléans and the coronation of King Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years’ War against England. After successfully leading several French military actions, Joan of Arc was captured, handed over to the English, convicted as a heretic, and burnt at the stake in 1431. Twenty-five years later, her conviction was formally overturned, and she became a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in 1920. Although an 1825 painting by Paul Delaroche shows Henry Beaufort interrogating Joan of Arc, she was actually interrogated by Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, the judge in the trial of Joan of Arc, and there is no evidence that an encounter with Beaufort ever took place. The full record of the trial, which lists all those who took part in Joan of Arc’s trial on a daily basis, shows that Beaufort was not at the trial nor the execution. His only appearance was on May 26, 1431. On that day, afraid of what would happen to her in English hands, Joan relented and signed a document in which she admitted to her charges.

Tomb of Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester; Credit – By Scrivener-uki – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8755532

Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester died on April 11, 1447, aged 71 -72, at Wolvesey Castle, also known as the Old Bishop’s Palace, in Winchester, England. He was buried in the chantry he had founded at Winchester Cathedral. His tomb has an effigy of him wearing the red robes of a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and a wide-brimmed hat.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Henry Beaufort – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Beaufort> [Accessed 30 June 2022].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2022. John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/john-beaufort-1st-earl-of-somerset/> [Accessed 30 June 2022].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2017. John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/john-of-gaunt-1st-duke-of-lancaster/> [Accessed 30 June 2022].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/katherine-swynford-duchess-of-lancaster/> [Accessed 30 June 2022].
• Jones, Dan, 2012. The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
• Weir, Alison, 2009. Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster. New York: Ballantine Books.
• Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Katherine Swynford; Credit – http://kettlethorpechurch.co.uk/katherine-swynford/

Katherine Swynford was the long-time mistress and the third wife of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, the fourth but the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. The descendants of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt are significant in English and Scottish history. The Tudor dynasty was directly descended from their eldest son John Beaufort, great-grandfather of King Henry VII of England, the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Katherine and John are the great grandparents of King Edward IV and King Richard III from the House of York. Their granddaughter Joan Beaufort married James I, King of Scots, and was an ancestor of the Scots House of Stuart and the English House of Stuart.

Born Katherine de Roet in circa 1350, probably in the County of Hainault, now part of Belgium and France, she was the daughter of Paon de Roet, a knight from Hainault who first came to England in 1328 when Philippa of Hainault married King Edward III of England. Katherine’s mother is unknown. Katherine’s father Paon de Roet remained in the service of Queen Philippa in England. He took part in the Hundred Years’ War, including at the Battle of Crécy and the Siege of Calais. In 1349, Paon de Roet returned to Hainault, where he served Margaret II, Countess of Hainault, Queen Philippa’s sister. In 1351, Paon de Roet accompanied Margaret II, Countess of Hainault, when she was forced to flee to England due to a civil war with her son. Paon de Roet returned to the County of Hainault in March 1352 but shortly thereafter, all mention of him disappears.

Katherine had three known siblings:

• Isabel de Roet (circa 1335/1336 – circa 1368), a nun and later canoness at the convent of Saint Waltrude Collegiate Church in Mons, County of Hainault, now in Belgium
• Walter de Roet (before 1338/1340 – circa 1356)
• Philippa de Roet (circa 1346 – circa 1387), married Geoffrey Chaucer, poet, author, and civil servant, author of The Canterbury Tales, had four children

Coronation of Queen Philippa who played a major role in Katherine’s life; Credit – Wikipedia

From 1352, Katherine and her sister Philippa were raised in the household of Queen Philippa, wife of King Edward III of England. This would suggest that their mother was dead. Being raised in the household of the Queen of England, Katherine would have known all the members of the royal family including her future lover and husband John of Gaunt and would have been well versed in court etiquette and protocol. Queen Philippa would have ensured that Katherine received a good education.

Around 1360, Queen Philippa placed Katherine in the household of her daughter-in-law Blanche of Lancaster who was married to John of Gaunt. Blanche gave birth to seven children between 1360 and 1368, and Katherine assisted with their care. Around 1366, a marriage was arranged for Katherine by John of Gaunt at the request of his wife Blanche of Lancaster. Katherine married Sir Hugh Swynford (circa 1340 – 1371), a knight in service to John of Gaunt.

Katherine and Hugh had three children:

• Blanche Swynford (1367 – circa 1374), named for Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster, died in childhood
• Sir Thomas Swynford (1368 – 1432), married (1) Jane Crophill, had three children (2) Margaret Grey, no children
• Margaret Swynford (born c. 1369), became a nun at Barking Abbey in 1377 with help from her future stepfather John of Gaunt, where she lived the religious life with her cousin Elizabeth Chaucer, daughter of Geoffrey Chaucer and Katherine’s sister Philippa de Roet

On September 12, 1368, John of Gaunt’s wife Blanche of Lancaster died at age 23, possibly of the plague or possibly from childbirth complications, while John was away at sea. John married again on September 21, 1371, to Infanta Constance of Castile, the daughter of Pedro I, King of Castile and León. John and Constance had two children, a son who died in infancy and a daughter Catherine of Lancaster who married King Enrique III of Castile and León. Through his daughter Catherine, John of Gaunt is the great-grandfather of Isabella I, Queen of Castile and the great-great-grandfather of Catherine of Aragon (daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon), the first wife of King Henry VIII of England. John of Gaunt is the ancestor of all subsequent monarchs of the Kingdom of Castile and a united Kingdom of Spain.

Three years after the death of Blanche of Lancaster, Katherine also lost her spouse. In 1370, Hugh Swynford went on a military campaign with John of Gaunt to Aquitaine in present-day France. When John of Gaunt returned to England in the fall of 1371, Hugh did not accompany him due to illness. He died in Aquitaine on November 13, 1371. His widow Katherine was given the management of Hugh’s estates in Coleby and Kettlethorpe in Lincolnshire, England.

After the death of her husband, Katherine became a member of the household of John of Gaunt’s second wife Constance of Castile. It is uncertain exactly when Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt became lovers. However, the affair certainly had started by late 1372 as Katherine and John’s eldest child was born no later than 1373.

Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt had had three sons and one daughter. Their children’s surname is derived from the name of the now-demolished Beaufort Castle, a property in Champagne, France that John of Gaunt had sold years before. It is likely that John of Gaunt felt it was a safe name to give to his illegitimate children by Katherine Swynford.

• John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (circa 1373 – 1410), married Margaret Holland, had at least six children
• Henry, Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester (circa 1375 – 1447), unmarried
• Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter (circa 1377–1426), married Margaret Neville of Horneby, one son who died young
• Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland (circa 1379–1440), married (1) Robert Ferrers, 5th Baron Boteler of Wem, had two daughters (2) Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, had fourteen children

John of Gaunt, painting circa 1593, probably modeled after John of Gaunt’s tomb effigy; Credit – Wikipedia

John gave Katherine several estates and a generous allowance. In 1381, because of political necessity, John was forced to break off his relationship with Katherine. The 1371 marriage of John to his second wife Constance of Castile, a claimant to the throne of Castile, had been a calculated plan for England to gain control of the Kingdom of Castile, and John’s relationship with Katherine while being married to Constance was not helping in the plan to gain control of Castile. Constance of Castile died on March 24, 1394, and the English were never able to gain control of the Kingdom of Castile.

Katherine’s coat of arms as Duchess of Lancaster, after her marriage to John of Gaunt: three gold Catherine wheels on a red field. The wheel emblem shows Katherine’s devotion to her patron saint, Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel. Credit – By Sodacan – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27269786

In the early 1390s, even before the death of his wife Constance, John of Gaunt resumed his affair with Katherine. Two years after the death of his second wife Constance of Castile, John married Katherine on January 13, 1396, at Lincoln Cathedral in England. After the marriage of Katherine and John, their four children were legitimized by both John’s nephew King Richard II of England and Pope Boniface IX. After Henry Bolingbroke, John’s eldest son by his first wife Blanche of Lancaster, deposed his first cousin King Richard II in 1399, the new King Henry IV inserted the phrase excepta regali dignitate (“except royal status”) in the documents that had legitimized his Beaufort half-siblings and supposedly that phrase barred them from the throne. However, many disputed and still dispute the authority of a monarch to alter an existing parliamentary statute on his or her own authority, without the further approval of Parliament.

Tomb effigy of the eldest son of Katherine and John of Gaunt, John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset; Credit – www.findagrave.com

The descendants of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt are significant in English and Scottish history. The Tudor dynasty was directly descended from their eldest son John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, great-grandfather of King Henry VII of England. Henry VII based his claim to the English throne on the descent of his mother Lady Margaret Beaufort from John of Gaunt, a son of King Edward III. John Beaufort’s daughter Joan Beaufort married James I, King of Scots, and was an ancestor of the Scots House of Stuart and the English House of Stuart.

Katherine and John of Gaunt’s only daughter Joan Beaufort as Countess of Westmoreland, the wife of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, from an image in the Neville Book of Hours; Credit – Wikipedia

Katherine and John’s only daughter, another Joan Beaufort, was the maternal grandmother of two English kings from the House of York, the brothers King Edward IV and King Richard III. Henry Tudor defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, becoming by conquest King Henry VII of England. Henry VII’s claim to the English throne was strengthened by marrying Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of King Edward IV and the great-granddaughter of Joan Beaufort, Katherine and John’s daughter.

Tomb of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster in Lincoln Cathedral; Credit – www.findagrave.com

John of Gaunt died on February 3, 1399, at Leicester Castle in England at the age of 58. Even though he had married two more times, John was buried with his first wife Blanche of Lancaster at Old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Unfortunately, the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed Old St. Paul’s Cathedral and the magnificent tomb of Blanche and John. Katherine Swynford, John’s widow, survived him by four years, dying in Lincoln, England, on May 10, 1403, at about the age of 53. She was buried at Lincoln Cathedral in Lincoln, England.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Katherine Swynford – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Swynford> [Accessed 26 June 2022].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2017. John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/john-of-gaunt-1st-duke-of-lancaster/> [Accessed 26 June 2022].
• Jones, Dan, 2012. The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Суинфорд, Екатерина — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%83%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%84%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B4,_%D0%95%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0> [Accessed 26 June 2022].
• Weir, Alison, 2009. Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster. New York: Ballantine Books.
• Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Isabella’s first of three husbands, King John of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Isabella, 3rd Countess of Gloucester was the first wife of King John of England. Born circa 1173/1174, Isabella was the youngest of the four children and the second of the two daughters of William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester and Hawise de Beaumont of Leicester. Isabella’s paternal grandparents were Robert FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England, and Mabel FitzRobert, Countess of Gloucester. Her maternal grandparents were Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester and Amica de Gael.

Isabella had three elder siblings:

• Robert fitz William (1151 – 1166), died in his teens
• Mabel fitz William, married Amaury III, Count of Évreux, had one son
• Amice fitz William (? – 1220), married Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford, had four children, their descendants eventually inherited the Earldom of Gloucester

In 1176, King Henry II of England betrothed his youngest son John to Isabella of Gloucester. As Isabella was only three and John was only nine, the marriage had to be delayed. Isabella’s father William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester was a first cousin of King Henry II as his father was the illegitimate son of King Henry I, Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester and King Henry II’s mother Empress Matilda was the legitimate daughter of King Henry I. Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester was Matilda’s chief military support during the long civil war called The Anarchy with their cousin Stephen of Blois (King Stephen of England) for the English throne. Isabella stood to inherit part of her father’s estate along with her two elder sisters because their only brother had died. However, King Henry II disinherited Isabella’s elder sisters so that Isabella would become Countess of Gloucester in her own right and John would eventually receive the whole Gloucester estate. In 1183, when her father died, Isabella became the Countess of Gloucester in her own right.

John’s father King Henry II died on July 6, 1189, and John’s elder brother succeeded their father as King Richard I of England. On August 29, 1189, John and Isabella of Gloucester were married at Marlborough Castle in Wiltshire, England and John assumed the Earldom of Gloucester in the right of his wife. Isabella and John were second cousins as they were both great-grandchildren of King Henry I of England. For that reason, Baldwin of Forde, Archbishop of Canterbury declared the marriage null by reason of consanguinity. Roman Catholic Canon Law prohibited marriage between a couple who were within four degrees of consanguinity. As second cousins, Isabella and John were within three degrees. An appeal was made to Rome and the Archbishop of Canterbury was overruled by Pope Clement III.

On April 6, 1199, John’s childless brother King Richard I died of gangrene from an arrow wound, and John became King of England. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on May 27, 1199. John’s next order of business was to have his marriage to Isabella annulled. Isabella and John were ill-matched and the marriage had produced no children. Isabella had not been acknowledged as queen and the marriage was easily annulled using the grounds of consanguinity. John kept Isabella’s lands and Isabella did not contest the annulment. After the annulment, John granted the title of Earl of Gloucester to Isabella’s nephew Amaury IV, Count of Évreux. When Amaury died without children in 1213, Isabella once again became Countess of Gloucester in her own right and held the title until her death in 1217. In 1200, John married Isabella of Angoulême, the only child of Aymer III, Count of Angoulême, and therefore destined to be Duchess of Angoulême in her own right. John and Isabella of Angoulême had five children including John’s successor King Henry III.

Isabella’s third husband Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent; Credit – Wikipedia

Isabella married two more times. On January 20, 1214, she married Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex. King John charged Geoffrey 20,000 marks to buy her in marriage and to obtain her title, jure uxoris, a Latin term that means “by right of his wife” and so Geoffrey was the 4th Earl of Gloucester. The marriage resulted in no children and Geoffrey died in 1216 in a tournament. In September 1217, Isabella married Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent. However, the next month, on October 14, 1217, Isabella died at age 43 and was buried at Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, England. Isabella’s nephew Gilbert de Clare, the son of her sister Amice and Richard de Clare, became the 5th Earl of Gloucester.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_FitzGeoffrey_de_Mandeville,_2nd_Earl_of_Essex> [Accessed 25 June 2022].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Isabella, Countess of Gloucester – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella,_Countess_of_Gloucester> [Accessed 25 June 2022].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_FitzRobert,_2nd_Earl_of_Gloucester> [Accessed 25 June 2022].
• Unofficial Royalty. 2016. King John of England. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-john-of-england/> [Accessed 25 June 2022].
• Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Queen Elizabeth II, official photo for the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne; Credit – The Royal Family Facebook page

On February 6, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom marked seventy years on the British throne. Celebrations were held in the United Kingdom from Thursday, June 2, 2022 to Sunday, June 5, 2022.

Thursday, June 2, 2002

The Royal Family on the Buckingham Palace balcony witnessing the Royal Air Force fly-past

Trooping the Colour: Queen Elizabeth II did not take the Salute due to her mobility issues. Instead, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge, and The Princess Royal took the salute accompanied by members of the Royal Family at the Birthday Parade on Horse Guards (Trooping the Colour) at Whitehall, London. The Royal Family, including The Queen, witnessed a fly-past by the Royal Air Force from the balcony at Buckingham Palace.

• Unofficial Royalty: Trooping the Colour

Queen Elizabeth II beginning the beacon lighting

Platinum Jubilee Beacons: Over 1,500 beacons were lit throughout the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom Overseas Territories, continuing the long tradition of celebrating Royal Jubilees, Royal Weddings, and Coronations with a chain of lights across the country. Queen Elizabeth II began the ceremony by touching a globe representing the Commonwealth nations,  sending a chain of lights from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace.

• The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacons

Friday, June 3, 2022

Members of the Royal Family and other guests listen to Prime Minister Boris Johnson speak

Service of Thanksgiving: A Service of Thanksgiving for Queen Elizabeth II‘s 70-year reign was held at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Due to her mobility issues, The Queen did not attend.

• BBC: Queen celebrated at service for ‘staying the course’

Saturday, June 4, 2022

The Princess Royal watches a race with her son Peter Phillips and his girlfriend Lindsay Wallace

The Derby at Epsom Downs: Members of the Royal Family attended the Derby at Epsom Downs. Due to her mobility issues, The Queen did not attend.

• Epsom Downs Racecourse

The audience including members of the Royal Family enjoying the concert

Platinum Party at the Palace: A music concert that was held in front of Buckingham Palace featuring “the world’s biggest entertainment stars.” The Queen did not attend but she would have been able to see the concert from Buckingham Palace.

Sunday, June 5, 2022

The Earl of Wessex joins the crowds taking part in the Big Jubilee Lunch on the Long Walk in Windsor Great Park 

The Big Jubilee Lunch: Communities across the United Kingdom came together for The Big Jubilee Lunch as part of the official celebrations for HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. More than 70,000 Big Lunches were held across the United Kingdom.

Crowds gather to see Queen Elizabeth II stand on the balcony during the Platinum Jubilee Pageant in front of Buckingham Palace

The Platinum Jubilee Pageant: A pageant featuring approximately 5,000 people from across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth was held against the backdrop of Buckingham Palace combined with street arts, theatre, music, circus, carnival, and costumes.

Unofficial Royalty’s Queen Elizabeth II Resources

As a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II’s seventy years on the throne, Unofficial Royalty proudly lists all our resources regarding Her Majesty.

• Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom – Seventy Years on the Throne
• Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
• Longest Reigning British Monarchs
• The Year The Queen Was Born
• Elizabeth: The Firstborn Windsor
• Philip and Elizabeth’s Wartime Service… and Romance
• Wedding of Queen Elizabeth II and Lt Philip Mountbatten, RN
• Transition: The Final Months of King George VI and Accession of Queen Elizabeth II
• Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
• Ancestors of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
• First Cousins of Queen Elizabeth II
• Contemporary Monarchs of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
• A Moment with the Queen
• Elizabeth the White
• Post-Modernism and the Second Elizabeth Era
• Questions I’d Like to Ask the Queen
• The Queen’s Powers
• The Queen and the Presidents

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Princess Lilibet of Sussex, June 2022; Credit – Misan Harriman

Princess Lilibet Diana of Sussex, nicknamed Lili, is the second of the two children and the only daughter of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife The Duchess of Sussex, the former Meghan Markle. Born on June 4, 2021, at 11:40 AM local time at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, Lilibet weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces. Lilibet is named after her paternal great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and her paternal grandmother Diana, Princess of Wales. Lilibet is Queen Elizabeth II’s family nickname, which originated from Queen Elizabeth II’s pronunciation of her name when she was young. Lilibet has dual citizenship from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Lilibet has one elder sibling:

• Prince Archie of Sussex, born May 6, 2019 at Portland Hospital for Women and Children, a private hospital on Great Portland Street in London, England

At the time of her birth, Lilibet was eighth in the line of succession to the British throne after her paternal grandfather Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (now King Charles III), her paternal uncle Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (now Prince of Wales) and his three children, her father Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and her brother Archie. As the daughter of a Duke, Lilibet was entitled to use the courtesy title “Lady” before her given name. However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex decided that their children would not use any styles or titles in accordance with their wish that they live their lives as private citizens.

Lilibet being held by her mother with her father and brother, from the 2021 Christmas card of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex; Credit – Alexi Lubomirski/The Duke and Duchess of Sussex

However, at birth, Lilibet was not entitled to the style and title Her Royal Highness Princess. In 1917, King George V issued Letters Patent changing the rights to the style Royal Highness and the title Prince/Princess. The children of the Sovereign, the children of the sons of the Sovereign, and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales would be entitled to the style Royal Highness and the title Prince/Princess. Exceptions to the rule can be made by the Sovereign. For instance, in 2012, Queen Elizabeth II issued a Letters Patent declaring that all the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales should have the title Prince or Princess and the style Royal Highness. This meant that all the children of Prince William would be HRH Prince/Princess. Under the 1917 Letters Patent, Lilibet would be entitled to the style and title Her Royal Highness Princess, when her paternal grandfather succeeds to the throne. Lilibet would then be a male-line grandchild of the Sovereign.

With the accession of Lilibet’s grandfather as King Charles III on September 8, 2022, Lilibet is a male-line grandchild of the monarch and is entitled to be styled Her Royal Highness Princess Lilibet of Sussex under the 1917 Letters Patent.

• Unofficial Royalty: Are the children of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex entitled to be HRH Prince/Princess?
• Unofficial Royalty: Their Royal Highness Prince and Princess

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had announced on January 8, 2020, that they would step back as senior royals and divide time between the United Kingdom and North America. However, since that time the Duke and Duchess have made a home in Montecito, California in the United States.

On March 8, 2023, it was announced that Lilibet has been christened in a private ceremony at the family home in Montecito, California. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said: “I can confirm that Princess Lilibet Diana was christened on Friday, March 3 by the Archbishop of Los Angeles, the Rev John Taylor.” The Right Reverand John Taylor is the Archbishop of Los Angeles for the Episcopal Church, a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Although Lilibet has technically been a princess since the accession of her grandfather King Charles III, the christening announcement is the first time she has been publicly called a princess.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.