The Strozzi household was a bustling place. Caterina lived surrounded by women and children, bound by the rules of the nursery, governed by the daily rhythms of eating, playing, sleeping, and, in a Catholic Europe still barely touched by Protestantism, praying in a Catholic way, a Latin way—the only way, as far as the Medici and the Strozzi were concerned. She learned to walk and run along sunbaked terraces and among the sculptures and chestnut trees inspired by fashionable Medici gardens, lush designs that Clarice had brought to Rome. Sweets and smells and color from a Renaissance garden formed her senses, teaching her the flavor of melon, the scent of rosemary, the perfume of roses, the touch of billowy hydrangea. Medici and Strozzi tastes began to train her child’s eye. She learned about beauty yet didn’t even realize it was happening.8 It is the nature of hereditary monarchy that the suitability of royal children as rulers or consorts is a lottery. Elizabeth I went her own determined way as the Virgin Queen, with remarkable success. In the 17th century, Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated and exiled herself to Rome where she became a patron of the arts and enjoyed multiple affairs. In the 18th, going one better, Queen Caroline didn’t abdicate, swanned off to the Med, hooked up with the low-born Milanese Bartolomeo Pergami, and still retained such popularity in England that George IV could not remove her title. These three young queens, however, are not the sort to tear up the rule book. Catherine, consort and regent of France, her daughter Elisabeth and daughter-in-law Mary dutifully marry and try their best (in trying circumstances) to bear the necessary children. As Chang admits, neither Elisabeth nor Mary had Elizabeth Tudor’s brilliance. Nor did they match Marguerite of Navarre’s literary accomplishments or Renée de France’s important patronage of Calvin. That does, however, give us a chance to find out what it was like to be a rather average woman thrust into a role for which you had to develop the aptitude swiftly or face trouble. Mary, Queen of Scots' story begins in Scotland and ends in England. A queen turned traitor, from the confines of her English prison she longs for the idyll of her childhood in France.

It would be her first public speech to the world, in which she remarked “and when peace comes, remember it will be for us, the children of today, to make the world of tomorrow a better and happier place.” Women could face opposition as monarchs due to their gender. In 1558, the same year as Elizabeth I’s accession, the Scottish religious reformer John Knox published The First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, which derided female rule as “unnatural” and ineffective. Together, Catherine, Elisabeth, and Mary lived through the sea changes that transformed sixteenth-century Europe, a time of expanding empires, religious discord, and populist revolt, as concepts of nationhood began to emerge and ideas of sovereignty inched closer to absolutism. They would learn that to rule as a queen was to wage a constant war against the deeply entrenched misogyny of their time. By 1525, the Italian Wars had brought King Francis to new lows. In February of that year, Charles V’s Imperial troops pummeled French battalions in the disastrous battle at Pavia, slaughtering the flower of French nobility and sending Francis himself into Spanish captivity. Although the exact timing remains unclear, it was likely from his Spanish prison that Francis wrote to his trusted counselor and general, John Stewart, Duke of Albany, urging him to visit the new pope. While in Rome, suggested Francis, Albany might make a little side trip to the Strozzi villa. Chang has provided a remarkable account of women’s place in power and their struggles and challenges. Each of these women experienced distinctly unique problems, while also undergoing familiar prejudices that still exist. Young Queens is a fascinating read for history lovers as well as those who enjoy political and courtly intrigue." — David Arndt, The Free Lance-StarOrphaned from infancy, Catherine de’ Medici endured a tumultuous childhood. Married to the French king, she was widowed by forty, only to become the power behind the French throne during a period of intense civil strife. In 1546, Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Elisabeth de Valois, who would become Queen of Spain. Two years later, Catherine welcomed to her nursery the beguiling young Mary Queen of Scots, who would later become her daughter-in-law.

The world has lost the Queen - Britain’s longest-serving monarch - who led a truly extraordinary life, from a young unassuming princess to a symbol of endurance and loyalty. Alluring, gripping, real: an astonishing insight into the lives of three queens, stepping out from the shadows of the patriarchy - we meet them on their own terms Read More The Princess of Wales is looking for a new Private Secretary after the frontrunner for the job pulls out Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret in the garden of their wartime country residence (Windsor) in January 1941 Credit: PA In September 1517, he wrote to the young Lorenzo II de’ Medici, scion of the Florentine banking clan and the pope’s nephew. “I hope … to marry you to some beautiful and great lady,” he ventured, “one who would be a relative of mine and of great lineage so that the love I bear you would grow and strengthen even more.” “I would have no greater desire,” replied a coy Lorenzo, “than to take this lady from Your Majesty’s hand.”*2

February 6, 1952 was the day that changed Queen Elizabeth’s life forever: her father, King George VI, suddenly died at their Norfolk home of Sandringham. With his passing came a transfer of power to his daughter. She was only 25 years old.

Even when the women do get involved in affairs of state, the propensity of the period for conveying the most important messages orally means that we never learn exactly how Catherine and Elisabeth managed their diplomatic talks, nor whether their tactics were substantially different from those a father and son might have deployed in a similar situation. We do learn that both Elisabeth and Mary, in different contexts, found advice and support from noblewomen and ladies-in-waiting. This caused problems when Elisabeth’s favourite, Madame de Vineux, threatened to supplant Madame de Clermont, who Elisabeth’s mother Catherine trusted to guide her. Later, isolated after her move to Scotland, the young Mary found herself lobbied by the Countess of Lennox to marry the countess’ son, Henry Darnley, only for him to prove a most unsuitable husband. Victoria was another teenage queen, just 18 at her accession in 1837. Her uncle, William IV, supposedly was determined to hang on long enough to avoid a royal minority council governing for Victoria until she came of age. Young Queens is informative and meticulously well researched. I found it a little hard to follow the chronology at times as three life stories are being told simultaneously, including a timeline may have been useful. I would also have loved to see family trees and images of the portraits mentioned. However the book is very well written and the author really brings the three women to life. I especially enjoyed the story of Catherine graffitiing her unfinished portrait! It was also interesting to see a different side to Philip II as I’d only really known of him as the (mostly absent) husband of Mary I. The Queen’s reign has also been laced with happy memories, including many weddings. The most recent was her granddaughter Princess Beatrice’s in 2020, which took place amid the coronavirus pandemic, with the Queen and Philip having to stand socially distanced away from the happy couple. Unlike the two long-lived Elizabeths, Mary II died only five years later, provoking public outpourings of grief at the untimely death of their young queen. Mary’s unexpected death also left her grieving husband William III, with whom she had shared the dual monarchy, to rule alone.A brutal and inventive fantasy that is as addictive as it is horrifying.' Marissa Meyer, NYT bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles on Three Dark Crowns From the time the infant Caterina disappeared into the Strozzi villa in Rome until her appearance at the gates of the Le Murate convent in 1527 when she was eight, there is hardly a trace of her in the archives. Clarice Strozzi was a kind and attentive foster mother, but she left no letter describing her young niece, no portrait of the girl, or at least none survives. We are left to imagine and wonder. These were formative years for Caterina, who, growing up among her cousins, developed lifelong attachments to her Strozzi kin. It was in Clarice’s home that the tiny orphan enjoyed something of a family, and there that she learned what it meant to be a Medici.