1580: Edward VII of England is greeted by happy news from his wife when Queen Victoria announces a new pregnancy. The Queen is very happy; she has wanted a baby after the death of Princess Elizabeth. This then ends with a baby boy who is named George and a baby girl named Margaret, who becomes the shining light of Queen Victoria’s eye. This is fine until, two months later, as the Queen prepares to end her confinement she dies. While some suspect poisoning, many simply realise that she was always a weak, sickly girl and the twins must have been a final blow of sorts to the Queen.
But that isn’t the only royal pregnancy story that is noted. Prince Jasper, the court’s 16 year old heartthrob, still there from the Christmas celebrations (Edward can’t really deny him a place in court when 7 year old Cecily never leaves) gets Lady Grace Howard pregnant. As a relative of the Duke of Norfolk the Howards as a whole act as if this disgraces the entirety of the family while the King simply goes ‘boys will be boys’. But Prince Jasper is an honourable sort of boy, and when the news of Lady Grace’s pregnancy comes out he promptly marries her and then tells the King. The King then refuses to go to the christening of little Lord John. Edward is not happy, so Jasper, Grace and John leave for the country, where they can play family until Edward likes them again. But Edward is now angry, and has a temper that almost matches his mother’s famed fury.
But this is just one of the things that happen in England. Another is that little princess Catherine dies. A favoured child of her father, the King goes into a deep depression, having lost his Queen and Favourite princess. The only one who can see him is Princess Cecily, who encourages him to deal with these problems by putting his energies into something he enjoys, money. So the court, which had been slowly becoming more opulent and comfortable, became the most frugal in all of Europe. He taxed his courtiers for almost everything that they made him pay in palace upkeep. Even his mistress wasn’t spared, having to sell her jewels to stay at court for a while until Edward had her move into his apartments to cut down the cost of her living at court.
In Scotland, Prince Thomas and King Consort Robert begin their regency and surprise everyone by being more competent than the Queen. While this is good for the country and the future at large, it is a massive pain to the ears of Mary Stuart, who believed that the country should do best under the rightful monarch, not the consorts. But she was already in France, and she didn’t really want to leave.
Other than that, there was also the death of Princess Antoinette, who fell down a flight of stairs and broke her neck. While some rumoured that her ‘jealous’ sister Matilda, who was seen with her sister and was known to argue regularly, it was generally seen as an unfortunate accident that occurred due to the negligence of the maid in charge of them at that time (the maid was fired).
In France, there was celebrations and sadness when Sigismund III of Poland and Mary I of Scotland both arrived within two days of each other. While the Scottish Queen arrived with much celebration, more like a homecoming than anything else, the Polish Monarch was very sad and went immediately to his sister’s bedside, not leaving for a week. When her eventually did leave, he spent time with his niece and nephew, saying that he would be proud to have them as children of his own. But the most surprising thing that happened was he began to spend time with Margaret de Valois, saying that:
“This French Princess is all but perfect.”
Seeing a chance to do his sister well, King Henri offered to wed his sister to the King right there in France, adding that a dowry could be argued later. The King of Poland proved susceptible, seemingly falling for the French Princess and, in an act of love that many thought he was incapable of when not related to his sisters, he married the French Princess without a definite dowry. But this happiness was dowsed when Queen Barbara died, leaving her sister Maria a wreck and the King barely holding on with Margaret.
In Navarre, Queen Elizabeth died giving birth to twin boys, named John and Henri. A blow to King Henri III of Navarre, he immediately looked for a mother for his children, hoping to fill the hole that Elizabeth had left with a new woman. He sent word to Spain and requested the hand of either Princess Isabella of Princess Catarina Maria, to which he was answered with a ‘sure’. The negotiations began, with the two well-loved princesses excited that one may be a Queen soon.
In Spain, King Phillip is out riding when he is attacked by bandits, who steal very little but manage to break his arm and both leg when the horse throws him off during the attack. While he feels that he won’t die any time soon, the country makes ready for regency for Phillip: Prince of Asturias, who is a very carefree type of character who doesn’t look forward to ruling such a huge empire. But Phillip seems to recover, and in all the hullaballoo many seem shocked when the Queen becomes pregnant. But she does and gives birth to a small girl named Manuela.
While all this is going on, Princess Anne gives birth to a son, who is named Phillip Ferdinand and becomes beloved by the King in his weakened state. The only person who doesn’t seem impressed by the red-haired, brown-eyed babe is Phillip: Prince of Asturias. He can’t understand why everyone is falling over themselves for the baby who might not even live to Christmas and can’t even talk. Give him an adult over a baby anytime, thank you very much.
In Portugal, Queen Elisabeth (called Isabella by the court) is surprised to find that she is pregnant, when she has only shared her husband’s bed three times since their marriage. But she sees this as god shining down on their union and excitedly announces to King Sebastian while at court. The King is not thrilled, stating that:
“I loved João and Luisa so much, how can I share that love with another babe.”
Not caring about her husband’s dour mood, Queen Elisabeth begins to prepare for the birth of ‘her little Edward’ as she calls her unborn baby, having decided on a name the moment she found out she was pregnant. This all goes smoothly and the baby boy is born and, of course, named Edward. The Queen has fun dressing him and, when the King gives the ok, is allowed to breastfeed her son. While not exactly love, there relationship gets better due to that.
