Monarchs, Mistresses and Murders Quiz

Answer: Anne Boleyn

Anne and Henry were married on 25th January, 1533, in a little used turret in Whitehall with only three witnesses present. Dr Rowland Lee, one of the royal chaplains, had been summoned there at an early hour supposedly to celebrate mass. When he arrived he was told to perform the nuptial rites.

Henry assured him that the Pope had agreed to his divorce and that he had a dispensation for this marriage, so the chaplain, though hesitant, performed the ceremony. Elizabeth I was born seven and a half months later.

Answer: Westminster Abbey

In 1043, Winchester was the still the ancient capital of the kingdom. Westminster Abbey did not exist. Legend has it that Edward had a vision in which St Peter told him to rebuild and extend the abbey on Thorney Island, in the Thames a few miles west of London. (Benedictine monks had worshipped there from the middle of the tenth century).

It was designed for future coronations with a central space called 'the theatre' from which radiated nave, transepts and choir to the four corners of the compass. The building of Westminster Abbey was to last literally until Edward's dying day. He was too ill to attend the opening but he was buried there in January, 1066.

Answer: The Maypole and The Elephant

When George came England to take the throne he brought with him his son, who would become George II, his secretaries, his African servants and his mistresses, Ermengarda Melusina von Schulenburg (The Maypole) and Sophia von Kilmansegg (The Elephant). He did not bring his wife as she was imprisoned in the castle of Ahlden in Germany because she had taken a secret lover and planned to elope with him. Double standards!

Answer: William II

William II, commonly known as 'Rufus' or 'The Red King' because of his ruddy face and flaming ginger hair was a cruel and unpopular king. He was constantly in dispute with the Church and is reputed to have lived a dissolute life. On the day before his death the Abbot of Shrewsbury preached a vehement sermon against the king and prophesied divine vengeance.

The next day, while out hunting with his friend, Sir Walter Tyrrel, he was shot and killed by an arrow that had supposedly glanced off the deer that the lord was aiming at. Tyrrel fled the country and never returned.

It was rumoured that his brother, who succeeded him as Henry I, had been involved in his death.

Answer: Mary Stuart

Mary, Queen of Scots, was born in the Palace of Linlithgow on 8th December, 1542. Her father, King James V had dreamt that he would lose his arms and then his head and believed that this was fulfilled when, the previous year, his two sons had died in infancy and he had lost the Battle of Solway Moss.

He was only thirty years old when he was struck with a fatal illness. Six days before his death he found that he had a daughter. He believed the royal Stuart line was finished. His dying words are reputed to be "Adieu, farewell.

It came with a lass, it will pass with a lass." With his death she became queen.

Answer: yes

The king and queen were just 80 yards from the five bombs that landed in the quadrangle of Buckingham Palace in the middle of the morning of that day. Three other bombs landed in the forecourt, gardens and the palace chapel which was completely destroyed.

The royal couple lay on the floor as debris fell around them and water sprayed everywhere as the mains burst and the underground sewers were smashed. The palace was hit by bombs and rockets nine times during the war.

Answer: Hardecanute

After the death of King Canute, who was well-regarded during his reign, his son Harald succeeded him, but when he died Hardecanute came over from Denmark, with a fleet of 62 warships, to take the throne of England. His rule was unnecessarily harsh as he had been invited to come and would have faced no opposition.

He was known for his gluttony and hard drinking and during the wedding feast of one of his Danish lords he fell into a convulsion and died. Paul de Rapin-Thoyras in his "History of England" says that Hardecanute was probably poisoned but, as no one lamented his death, no inquiries were made.

Answer: Sir Walter Raleigh

Sir Walter was executed on 29th October, 1618, in Old Palace Yard at Whitehall. He was an adventurer as well as a writer and a poet and no doubt enjoyed the life that he led but I think that he was ill-used by the monarchs he served. In spite of his successes in Ireland and his excursions to the New World in her name, Elizabeth imprisoned him when he married one of her ladies-in-waiting without permission.

He was imprisoned by James I for his supposed part in a treasonous plot and was held in the Tower of London from 1603 until 1616.

He was released to go back to Guiana to search for gold deposits. It was a condition of his release that he not break the peace treaty with Spain. Lawrence Kemys, his lieutenant, against Raleigh's orders, attacked and burnt the Spanish settlement of Santo Tome.

As Raleigh was in charge of the expedition he was responsible for Kemys' acts and James I, under pressure from the Spanish, signed his death warrant.

Answer: Earl of Sandwich

On Wednesday, 7th April, 1779, Martha Ray was leaving Covent Garden when a man dressed in a black clergyman's suit rushed out of the shadows, tugged at the back of her gown and, as she turned, shot her in the side of the head killing her instantly. The Earl, John Montagu, first Lord of the Admiralty, was very unpopular because of the poor performance of his men against the rebellious American colonies.

There had been minor demonstrations and threats on both the earl and his mistress's lives. In fact the murder was personal, not political, for the killer was James Hackman, an Anglican minister and Ray's former lover.

Answer: Alice Keppel

Alice Keppel was the publicly acknowledged mistress of Edward VII. While Prince Charles' wife, Diana, said that there was no room for three in a marriage to Queen Alexandra it was more important to maintain the image of a civilised union. Status and propriety were of utmost importance in those days. Mrs Keppel and Queen Alexandra always treated each other with every courtesy. Mrs Keppel helped the king to choose exquisite jewels as gifts for his wife. The queen was gracious enough to invite Mrs Keppel to attend her husband's death bed.