10 Ridiculous Rumors about Historic Royals

[Music] 10 ridiculous rumors about historic Royals the public loves a good story about the salacious private lives of the Rich and Famous and Royals often really did get up to some jaw-dropping behaviors but sometimes a grain of rumor can be so enthralling that it snowballs into an unshakable myth if you ask the average person what they know about Catherine the Great they are likely to say isn't she the one who was crushed under a horse many are still convinced that Queen Elizabeth the first was really a man and Marie Antoinette will forever be linked to the misquote let them eat cake today let's explore 10 commonly believed myths about historic Royals explain how the rumors got started and separate what is Gospel from what is just gossip Anne Belen was a witch with six fingers Anne Belen was a minor Noble and not especially beautiful she was not the type of woman anyone would have expected to become Queen of England but when Henry VII annulled his marriage to Catherine of Aragon for failing to Bear him a son it was Anne whom he took to be his second bride because the pope refused to dissolve the King's first marriage Henry split with the Catholic church and established the Church of England with himself as its head many it devout Catholics died as Martyrs rather than accept the King's new edict rumors flew that Anne was a witch who was using dark magic to seduce the king off the path of righteousness in reality Anne resisted the king's advances but he wouldn't leave her alone and while she was a devout Protestant it was egotistical Henry who spearheaded the conversion and demanded his people except his queen or die and two disappointed Henry by giving birth to a daughter Elizabeth her second child was miscarried when her enemies conjured up false evidence of adultery and incest the King was all too eager to have his wife beheaded so that he could marry again and sexually sinful accusations and Hasty execution poured fuel on the theory that she was a sorceress and that the king had finally escaped her clutches during the reign of aeon's daughter Elizabeth the Diabolical rumors gained a tangible detail Nicholas Sanders a Catholic priest who wanted to discredit the Queen by attacking her mother wrote in his 1585 book that Anne had a sixth finger Polydactyly is a genetic mutation in modern Europeans it occurs in about one per 1300 babies in in the Middle Ages women accused of Witchcraft were routinely stripped so that inquisitors could check their bodies for a devil's Mark any mole or scar was a sign of a deal with the devil and a teat at which a witch is familiar would suckle a sixth finger would certainly qualify English love song Green sleeves is often attributed to Henry VIII it is said that Anne wore long green sleeves to conceal her extra digit but Henry didn't actually ride the folk tune which first appeared in 1580 well after his death If Anne did have a sixth finger superstitious Henry would never have given her a Second Glance recent historians have worked hard to dispel the image of Anne as a temptress though the popular image of her is derived from hyper-sexualized novels and dramas and the portrayal of Anne as a witch lingers her portrait can be seen hanging in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Mary the first was Bloody Mary Henry VII and Catherine of Aragon's only surviving child succeeded to the throne in 1553 after her younger brother Edward VI died at just 15. like her mother Mary was a staunch Catholic and resented her father's Protestant Church her priority as Monarch was to return her Nation to the path of righteousness and make everyone Catholic again but undoing her father and Brother's work was harder than she'd hoped she ordered three prominent Protestants to be publicly burned at the stake including Thomas cranmer who had facilitated her parents divorce about 800 wealthy Protestants fled the country those who remained became targets of persecution Mary enacted hearsay laws which allowed local governments to execute people in a witch-hunt atmosphere altogether 200 and 80 Protestants were burned to the stake gaining Mary a great deal of hatred and the nickname Bloody Mary but was Mary the first so much bloodier than her contemporaries her 280 victims are less than her successor Elizabeth the first who killed 650 and both body counts pale in comparison to their father Henry VIII who executed a staggering 57 000 people and when it comes to be heading close family members Mary did reluctantly order the beheading of her cousin Jane gray who was a political Pawn in a plot to take the throne but Elizabeth ordered the death of her cousin Mary Queen of Scots under similar circumstances meanwhile Henry murdered two of his wives Anne Berlin and Catherine Howard because they hurt his feelings so why do we say Bloody Mary and not bloody Henry first there's good old misogyny and after Mary died at 52 Elizabeth converted the nation back to protestantism the winning religion writes history so Mary the first will forever be remembered as Bloody Mary the Queens grusa moniker became part of popular culture with a spooky children's Legend and a vodka and tomato juice cocktail in the game young people dare each other to stare into a mirror in a dimly lit room and repeat the name Bloody Mary three times according to Legend This Will evoke the spirit of Mary who will grab the child and drag them into the mirror this game has no historic link to Mary Tudor but was invented by Victorian children the cocktail was named after a Parisian dancer who in the 1920s worked at a cabaret called bucket of blood Elizabeth the first was actually a man Elizabeth was a far more effective leader than her sister Mary she was astonishingly intelligent and forceful taking the reins of power and stunning her male counselors who expected a queen to be a pushover during her 44-year Reign England prospered in wealth culture and world power before her no one including her own father thought that a woman had the mental or emotional capacity to rule even after gloriana's glorious Reign many couldn't comprehend her success or the fact that she refused to marry and give birth to children so conspiracy theories emerged that Elizabeth must have been a man in Disguise this blatantly misogynistic concept has endured Bram Stoker of Dracula Fame wrote in his 1910 book famous imposters that the real princess Elizabeth death had died of illness in childhood her nurses fearing the Wrath of the king quickly dressed the nearest Ginger child a peasant boy in the princess's gown when Henry VII who rarely saw his daughter was fooled the nurses went all in and trained the boy to carry himself like a lady this Theory holds no water Henry had other children who died young of illness and their caregivers were not blamed or punished however deceiving the King by swapping out his child would have meant a death sentence what's more Elizabeth was constantly surrounded by ladies in Waiting who helped her dress bathe and relieve herself it would have been impossible for her to conceal from them if she had actually been a man Maids were even bribed to inform ambassadors about the Queen's periods which by the way were regular in 1985 our backend published a paper titled Queen Elizabeth the first a case for testicular feminization he argued that Elizabeth had a syndrome which meant she appeared externally female but actually had X Y chromosomes internal testicles and no uterus there were rumors during Elizabeth's lifetime that her Anatomy was atypical in some way but these were whispered by male ambassadors to slander her for refusing the suits of the monarchs they represented Elizabeth's real reasons for refusing to marry were more psychological her own mother had been murdered by her father and according to the laws of the time if she wed her husband would become king and take all her power to this day women of power and influence are Beyond Comprehension to sound and are routinely accused of being men in Disguise in this Elizabeth the first is in good company with Michelle Obama Lady Gaga and many others Queen Juana was Loca Juana of Castile is still popularly known as Juana la loca or Joanna the Mad after her only Brother Juan died of illness she became a soul heir to the kingdoms of both her mother Queen Isabel of Castile and her father King Fernando of Aragon at 16 her mother subjected her to torture to shake her of her rebellious teenage religious doubts she was wed to fill up the handsome son of the Holy Roman Emperor she fell desperately in love with him though he had a Wandering eye Juana often flew into jealous rages and sank into depressions she supposedly stabbed one of her husband's Mistresses in the face with a pair of scissors when her mother Isabelle died Juana became a queen of Castile but her husband and father fought over her kingdom both exaggerated stories of Juana's mental institute ability in their bids for control the tug of war ended when Philip died suddenly of illness or possibly poisoning at 28. Juana pregnant with her sixth child refused to leave his open coffin and kissed and embraced his corpse during the week's long journey to his tomb in Granada the queen insisted that they travel only at night so no women would be overwhelmed with desire for her dearly departed of course this whole story was likely exaggerated or even made up entirely by her father who now had a clear path to controlling Castile he locked his widowed daughter up in the Royal Palace of Santa Clara when Fernando died Juana became queen of Aragon but she had no idea that Spain had been United under her her son Charles pressured her to sign Spain over to him far from grateful he married off his youngest sister Catherine to the king of Portugal depriving his mother of her only remaining companion after 45 years of solitude and misery Juana died at the age of 75 but was she truly mad historians have speculated that she may have suffered from depression bipolar disorder psychosis or schizophrenia she did come from a notoriously inbred family and many of her ancestors and descendants experienced mental illness however many of the reports of Juana's actions were likely propaganda spread by her father husband and son in order to steal her throne Catherine the Great loved horses literally Empress Catherine II of Russia really did have numerous human lovers she was taken from Poland as a naive 16 year old girl and wed to the Future at Tsar Peter III he was mentally ill abusive and probably impotent but Catherine was blamed for failing to Bear an heir she soon wised up and began having secret Affairs most likely none of her four children were fathered by Peter in 1762 she overthrew her husband with the help of her lover Gregory orlov and had herself crowned Zarina orlov likely strangled Peter in prison during Catherine's 34 year reign she patronized culture and science founded cities universities and theaters and built Russia into one of the greatest powers of Europe all the while she maintained a long-term relationship with her dearest friend Gregory potemkin and had a rotation of young and handsome men at her back and call when she grew tired of a boyfriend they left her service with generous pensions lands and titles she helped one former lover to become the king of Poland but women of the 18th century were not supposed to be in control of their sexuality and Catherine was widely slandered by her enemies the worst rumor of all came after her death at the age of 67. it was claimed that the empress had died in in the midst of a lewd act with a horse that her favorite amount was suspended above her when the ropes snapped and the animal crushed her to death this astonishing story is of course completely fictional and born out of misogyny and Prejudice it was widely circulated in satirical Publications in Britain and France enemies of Russia similar slander involving horses was commonly used to paint Russians as barbaric Catherine the Great actually suffered a stroke while at her desk she was carried to bed where she died the next day the 2020 drama the great made light of this ridiculous equine rumor and included ladies of the court naying at Catherine Marie Antoinette said let them eat cake the youngest daughter of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa arrived in France as an innocent 15 year old bride to the Future King Louis XVI she lived a sheltered life at the Palace of Versailles ignorant of the desperate Poverty of the French people the queen amused herself with socializing gambling and outrageous fashion she also gave generously to Charities and adopted six poor orphaned children France's Financial woes were the result of costly Wars an expensive extended royal family and the unwillingness of the aristocracy or clergy to relinquish their financial privileges the queen was not solely to blame for the economic depression that spurred the French Revolution but her decadent spending made her a scapegoat pamphlets adopt her Madame deficit and it was widely circulated that when she was told the French people had run out of bread she responded let them eat cake this phrase has become synonymous with Marie Antoinette but she never uttered it this quote originally appears in philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau's autobiography Le confession he writes I recall the stopgap solution of a great princess who was told that the peasants had no bread and and who responded brioche brioche is a sweet bread enriched with eggs and butter ingredients which were rare for the poor the great princess to which Rousseau refers could not have been Marie Antoinette his book was completed in 1767 three years before she arrived in France nevertheless many believed the queen did say let them eat cake and her reputation for ruinous spending and callousness towards her starving people led her to the guillotine in 1793 at the age of 37. this famous misquote was referenced in the 2006 biopic Marie Antoinette Napoleon told Josephine don't wash in the wake of the French Revolution Corsican General Napoleon Bonaparte leveraged his military power to become emperor of the French he conquered much of Europe but his heart had been conquered by a woman Josephine while he was away with the Army he sent home numerous letters dripping with affection and lust among the ample smut Napoleon's most famously suggestive memo to Josephine was I will return in three days don't wash this quote is celebrated by olfactophiles and frequently cited in articles on human sexuality it certainly fits the pattern of The Emperor's Amorous letters over 250 of which have been cataloged but this particular quote cannot be found among them undoubtedly some messages have been lost and the 1981 book Napoleon letters to Amor a Josephine claims the quote is genuine but both Napoleon and Josephine were the subjects of boundless unflattering rumors starting Wars all over for your app does tend to earn one a few enemies the insinuation that Napoleon and Josephine were unhygienic fits right in with other myths about them including that he was abnormally short at five foot two inches he was average height for a man of his time that he shot off the nose of the Sphinx during Canon practice though illustrations from before his birth show that the nose was already gone and that Napoleon's little Corporal was removed during his autopsy mummified and is still privately owned that one may be true but as the allegedly shriveled one-inch appendage has never been DNA tested we do not know for sure much like his famously smelly sentiment to Josephine unless the original is found and verified we will never know Prince Albert had a Prince Albert piercing Queen Victoria and her German husband Albert of socks Coburg and gotha were some of the most famous prudes in history but when a certain below the belt piercing became known as a Prince Albert myths about the consort's secret kinky side grew supposedly Albert was well endowed which didn't fit with the 19th century fashion for tight trousers so he installed a dressing ring in order to keep things tucked away both he and Regency Dandy Beau brummell have been credited with the invention of the dressing ring and it is said that tailors would inquire a Victorian gentleman do you dress to the left or the right similar covert piercings do have a long history they were Illustrated in the Kama Sutra written in India in 400 BCE in Europe sailor culture involves piercing and tattoos and even ladies including Victoria did have pierced ears but it is unlikely that the prince consort whose primary role was to Father Ayers would have put his Royal Family Jewels at risk at a time before antibiotics the urban legend actually goes back to the 1970s when Doug Malloy published a pamphlet to promote his friends West Hollywood piercing studio Malloy claimed Roman centurions attached their capes to nipple rings and that Prince Albert sported a dressing ring while this titillating story is false historians have uncovered evidence that Victoria and Albert were not as prudish as we thought they did have nine children after all Victoria gushed in her diary about her wedding night I never never spent such an evening my dearest dearest dear Albert his excessive love and affection give me feelings of heavenly happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before unusually for the time Albert was most likely a virgin on their wedding night and remained faithful throughout his life Victoria and Albert carefully concealed their private Pleasures in order to project an air of moral perfection to the public and their pristine portrayal was protected in death by their daughter Beatrice she transcribed a lifetime of the Queen's journals editing out any unsaintly bits and burning The Originals Victoria's reputation was solidified until her correspondence was recently published painting her as a more complete person who threw temper tantrums roared with laughter and loved sex with her husband Prince Albert Victor was really Jack the Ripper in 1888 the corpses of five sex workers were discovered in Whitechapel London the surgical nature of the slangs LED police to suspect that the killer had medical training and might have been a gentleman one of the most intriguing theories is that he might have been Prince Albert Victor the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and Grandson of Queen Victoria he had a reputation as a Playboy and had already been involved in Scandal when a homosexual brothel was raided and his close friend was discovered to be a client Albert Victor known as Eddie died suddenly at 28 during an influenza pandemic his younger brother would later become a King George V in 1970 Dr Thomas Stowell published an article in the criminologist claiming Eddie was really Jack the rip pepper that he had contracted syphilis while in the Navy and that the infection had driven him to an unhinged hatred for sex workers the royal family knew Eddie was a murderer and ignored it but finally had him committed to a private Hospital on the Sandringham estate there he died not a flu but of syphilis there are a few glaring holes in the story The Royal Family took meticulous notes on the whereabouts of its members and during all five murders Eddie was far from London Stowell claimed that his Source was the private papers of the prince's doctor Sir William Gaul but these papers have never been found another theory claims Eddie was taking painting lessons and became enamored of the artist's model Annie crook she became pregnant and the prince secretly married her but when Queen Victoria found out she ordered Annie committed to an asylum where Dr Gaul performed experiments that drove her insane the baby Alice was rescued by her mother's friend Mary Jane Kelly and taken to a Convent but Mary and her four friends tried to Blackmail the royal family thus Dr Gall murdered the five women to keep them quiet this theory was the basis for the 2001 movie from hell but there is no hard evidence connecting Prince Albert Victor to Jack the Ripper whose identity remains a mystery Elizabeth II had four cocktails a day in 2012 Queen Elizabeth's personal chef Darren McGrady shared with the telegraph what her majesty typically ate in a day he included her favorite drink in the evening she'd normally have a cocktail one part chin and two parts dubonnet a sweet French aperitif which is made from fortified wine herbs and spices and was also the queen mom's favorite Tipple this small glimpse into the Queen's private life was misquoted and exaggerated by Vanity Fair the independent and other newspapers soon articles claimed that Elizabeth starts her day with a pre-lunch gin and dubonnet garnished with a slice of lemon and plenty of ice with lunch she enjoys a glass of wine a cousin claimed that she also sips a dry martini should the mood strike her finally the queen washes down dinner with a glass of champagne the liquor soaked story was now that the queen then 86 had four alcoholic drinks every day totaling six units of alcohol making her a binge Drinker by UK law it's easy to see why the story of an elderly lady Rich beyond measure and holding nebulous political power getting sloshed every day made for a clickable headline but the salacious story just isn't true while the queen May on occasion have indulged in all of the aforementioned Libations she certainly wasn't imbibing all four every day Chef Darren mcrady was eager to set the record straight he told Readers Digest I'm pretty confident she doesn't have four drinks a day she'd be pickled want even more tea on History check out the history Tea Time Podcast available on Spotify Apple podcasts and Google podcasts if you enjoyed this video please like subscribe comment your thoughts and check out my other Royal history videos if you really want to help please consider supporting me on patreon a link is in the description thank you for watching

Channel: History Tea Time with Lindsay Holiday

Views: 591,519

Keywords: history, documentary, royal family, royalty, british history, royal wedding, queen, queens of the world, european royalty, Royal history, Lindsay Holiday, History tea time, History tea time with Lindsay Holiday, royal myths, myths about royals, myths about historic figures, anne boleyn was a witch, catherine the great horse, bloody mary, prince albert victor jack the ripper, prince albert, marie antoinette let them eat cake, Elizabeth ii 4 drinks a day, was elizabeth i a man

Id: USlDrB0I-5Y

Length: 28min 54sec (1734 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 11 2023