King Henry VIII & Queen Elizabeth I

Daughter, Outcast, Queen

Elizabeth Tudor was three years old when her father, King Henry VIII, had her mother the Queen killed and had Elizabeth ruled to be illegitimate. Overnight the toddler fell from Princess and future sovereign to royal bastard. The perceptive little girl noticed her reduced status at once, asking her governess why she had gone from being "my lady princess" to "my lady Elizabeth."

Like most royal children of the time she lived largely apart, in a separate household away from her father's court. Elizabeth saw her father rarely, and her servants had to write plaintive letters to get new clothing for the rapidly growing girl.

Gradually her status as princess was restored, and Henry's will made Elizabeth third in line to the throne, after her brother Edward and sister Mary.

Elizabeth kept no private journal, and we don't know what complex feelings she had about her father. In public, at least, she took great pride in being the daughter of King Harry, who was remembered fondly by the people of England.

Whatever she really thought of him, Elizabeth was much like her father, from her taste for learning to her personal magnetism and even her red hair. Elizabeth ascended to the throne at age 25. Soon after, the Spanish ambassador wrote home that "she gives her orders and has her way just like her father before her."

Neither Henry nor Elizabeth herself ever reversed the ruling that she was illegitimate.

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