The Most Tragic Queens in History

These queens and princesses lead a stormy life, full of adventurous and complicated romance, intrigue, scandals and contest for power. They all live a tragic life and eventually died young in a tragic way. Here are the lists. 

Mary Queen of Scot (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587)

“In my end is my beginning”

She was made Queen of Scotland on 14 December 1542 at the age of 7 days following the demise of his father King James who died at the age of 30.

Her ignorance of her politically dangerous position in the country which severely divided between Catholic and Protestant supporter, her poor choice of husbands and the contest of power to win both England and Scotland throne with her cousin Queen Elizabeth I of England had eventually ruined her and lead to her execution.

Her first marriage to Dauphin Francis, the king of French is short lived. She then returned to Scotland and married Lord Darney. The married was scandalous. Darney was killed in an explosion that allegedly had been arranged by James Hepburn, who would become Mary’s next husband. In 1567, she was abducted and allegedly raped by Bothwell, a Protestant supporter, and finally agreed to marry Bothwell to secure her throne. The lords of Scotland confronted Mary and Bothwell. She was imprisoned by the lords. Mary escaped imprisonment and raised a small army only to be defeated by the lords. She fled to England and soon imprisoned by Elizabeth I.

She was only 24 years old when the imprisonment began and 44 years old when executed in 1587. During her imprisonment she said her famous word “in my end is my beginning”

Cleopatra VII of Egypt (69 BC – 30 BC)

From so many Cleopatras in the Egypt Empire, the one that is most famous for her tragic life is Cleopatra VII. Her ambitions, drive for power, adventurous romance and her scheming mind lead to her tragic death but yet she left the most romantic love story in history.

The contest of power amongst the member of Egypt Empire was very cruel, Cleopatra had to defense herself against one of her sister who tried to poison her, murder another sister and married his younger brother, Ptolemy XIII, to win the throne of Egypt.

Later she dismissed her brother as husband and co-ruler causing rebellion throughout the country which finally succeeded to put Ptolemy back in reign.  Luckily for Cleopatra Ptolemy made big mistake in killing Ptolemy, thus enraging Julius Caesar. Caesar seized Egypt and Cleopatra took advantage of this situation by liaising with Julius Caesar. The affair produce 1 child, Caesarion and the throne back to Cleopatra’s hand.

Soon after the assassination of Caesar, she started her famous affair with Mark Anthony and having 3 children 3 with him. Anthony actions in Egypt enraged Octavian who then invaded Egypt. Mark Anthony, having been deserted by his armies, committed suicide. Heartbroken, Cleopatra also killed herself by letting her be beaten by snakes.

Marie Antoinette of France (1755 –1793)

I was a queen, and you took away my crown; a wife, and you killed my husband; a mother, and you deprived me of my children. My blood alone remains: take it, but do not make me suffer long.

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Marie Antoinette was also known as Madame Deficit. Her lavish lifestyle made her the scapegoat of France diminishing economy. She was hated because of her extravagant and careless expense over her small circle of friends while the nation was undergoing starvation.

She was born with all of the advantage of being the royal family of Austria Empire. Her mother, Queen Marie Therese of Austria arranged her marriage with Louis XVI, the king of French. It is her boring married life to Louis XVI which caused her to seek pleasure with his friends in lavishly careless ways. Let’s just say that she is married the wrong man, and also living in the wrong period of French history.

Her romantic life was also tumultuous. Trapped in unhappy marriage, she was involved in various flirting with the member of her court, and the most famous was her affair with Axel Fersen. Her unfortunate situation was multiplied by the death of her son and daughter due to hereditary diseases and the failure of her planned escapade to Austria. The royal family was captured in Varennes and headed back to Paris in a humiliated situation. The queen hair all turned to grey from the fright of the journey.

In 1792, the royal family was imprisoned.The King was esecuted in 1793. Marie Antoinette was forced to separate with his son, daughter and sister in law. Her health started to fail; she lost her eyesight, lost much of her weight, and surely lost her charm and beauty. Her last days of life were full of terror as she has to witness the butchered body of her aristocrat friend Madame Lamballe through her windows. Many aristocrats had been executed or died in prison during this time.

In 1796, her trial began. It was again full of terror and humiliation. The verdict was clear; she was to be executed by the guillotine. She was only 38 years old when beheaded, but her figure had been so much altered from the most glamorous extravagant figure in Europe to a shabby old looking woman dressed like peasant. She was carried in a garbage cart and her body was dumped in an unmarked grave.

Anne Boleyn of England (1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536)

She married King Henry VIII of England secretly in 1533 in scandalous situation. Henry VIII was already married to Queen Chaterine of Aragon when he began flirting with Anne. To be able to marry Anne, Henry VIII broke relationship with the Vatican who had denied the annulment of his marriage to Queen Catherine.

The church finally annulled the King’s marriage to Queen Chaterine. Chaterine of Aragon lost her title as Queen and Anne was crowned in 1533. Ironically, 3 years later, Henry VIII did the same thing to Anne as he did to Queen Chaterine when he demand the annulment of his marriage to Anne and marry his 3rd wife, Jane Seymor. So much was the King’s hatred for Anne, as he declared that his marriage to Anne was product of witchcraft.

Soon after the King abandoned her, she was betrayed by her once royal friend, Thomas Cromwell who arranged a plot against her. Anne was captured and accused of adultery, incest and high treason. Despite lack of convincing evidence Anne was found guilty for all charges and sentenced to death. She was not alone, several others of her friends and brother who had been accused of committing adultery and incest with her was also executed.