The Winter Queen who secured the throne

Elizabeth Stuart was the daughter of King James I and Queen Anne of Denmark, the sister of King Charles I, and the aunt of King Charles II and King James II. While she was only a queen herself for little over a year, her lineage would set up a future dynasty in Britain. 

Princess Elizabeth was born to the King and Queen of the Scots in 1596, a younger sister to Prince Henry Frederick. Elizabeth was close to her elder brother in her early years, until they were each sent to live with different aristocratic families. Their lives changed in 1603 when their father inherited the throne of Queen Elizabeth of England. 

In 1605, the Gunpowder Plot sought to place the young Princess Elizabeth on the throne as a puppet queen after forcing her to convert to Catholicism, though the plot was foiled. 

Princess Elizabeth was a popular choice for European royal suitors in the early seventeenth century; King James eventually settled on the Protestant Frederick, Count Palatine of the Rhine. The couple married in 1613 in one of the biggest celebrations in Europe. 

In 1619, Frederick was offered the throne of Bohemia and then became King Frederick of Bohemia in August with Elizabeth becoming Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia. 

Frederick only held the throne for a year, with his reign ending by war on 8 November 1620. Elizabeth was known as the Winter Queen, for her short tenure, for the rest of her life. 

Although Elizabeth lived the rest of her life in exile, her lineage would greatly impact the British throne. 

Elizabeth’s youngest daughter became Sophia, Electress of Hanover. Sophia was chosen as the Heiress Presumptive to the English and Scottish thrones after the Glorious Revolution in 1688, as she was the closest Protestant relative in the line of succession. 

Although Sophia died two months before Queen Anne died, Sophia’s son became King George I. All British monarchs from King George I have been Sohpia’s descendants.