1567: In England, Queen Elizabeth announces a pregnancy. Coming quickly after Princess Anne, this time there is real danger from both the mother and child. During this time the Queen is coddled and pampered in an effort to keep both the mother and child alive, to no avail. In May, the Queen gives birth to a dead baby boy and a frail baby girl. Hurried to be baptised and bathed, the children are named Richard and Margaret. Though frail, the young baby Margaret holds on to life, becoming her mother project as she is fattened up and made healthy by any way necessary.
Other than this, England got a boom in the ‘New World’ when explorer James Welderson discovered a large land mass in the seas past Asia. Populated with strange natives, there was originally a plan to attempt to massacre the peoples of this place in an attempt to take over the land. However, it was decided that they would instead endeavour to connect to the tribal natives and possibly create an area that they could generate much capital for England. The place was named New England and a small group of Englishmen were left to start a small settlement to be entitled Welderstown.
At the same time a group of five hundred people were sent to the ‘New World’, named the Americas by many. Their mission was simple; create a viable town that would run without help of England. If this turned out well, there was a group of one thousand that was waiting for the go ahead to start colonising.
In Spain, Claude de Valois was again pregnant. This was warmly received by the royal family, who were happy that there was going to be many viable heirs for the future. This came in conjunction with the happy news that Queen Catarina was pregnant with her first child by the King. One person who was the most happy was Infanta Carlos, who surprisingly seemed to have been calmed by the presence of his son.
In France, Queen Anna provided the King with a child. A pretty girl, she was named Elisabeth for the King’s dead sister. But the birth of a girl was a disappointment to the King, who had wanted his firstborn to be a son to carry on the line. But, ever the optimist, the Queen remarked:
“She is but one of a future many, my lord. And isn’t she pretty?”
This statement would only prove partially true.
Finally, Scotland was a surprising stable mess. While there was obviously pressure on the Queen to remarry and provide Scotland with an heir, there was also no idea who she would marry. One person remarked that it was unfortunate that she couldn’t marry the 5th Earl of Lennox, Lord Darnley. He was married with three children (Henry b.1561, Mathew b. 1564 and James b.1566) by the lovely Lady Catherine Grey, at the suggestion of Queen Elizabeth of England. His words on the matter were:
“If they were married, the throne would have a stable man at the helm to help the poor Queen.”
But Darnley does have one thing to offer her, a younger brother. Unmarried, the twelve year-old is royal enough to marry a Queen (if you squint your eyes) and would come without the baggage a monarch would bring. But the Queen was adamant this time, no child husbands. Not after last time.