The Winter Queen

Elizabeth Stuart, 1596 - 1662, was the daughter of James VI and I, King of Scots, England, and Ireland, and his wife, Anne of Denmark.

She was named after Queen Elizabeth I of England.  Her grandmother was Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth's younger brother became Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

In 1613 she married Frederick V, Count Palatine of the Rhine.  Both of them had been related to Henry II of England.  They moved to Prague and in 1619 they were crowned the King and Queen of Bohemia.

In 1620 their reign was ended by their defeat at the Battle of White Mountain which triggered the Thirty Years' War.  As their reign only lasted one year, Elizabeth is remembered as the Winter Queen, zimní královna.  In 1621, she became an Electress, a queen in exile, and lived in the Hague.

Frederick died in 1632 during the war.  He and Elizabeth has 13 children.  The royal families of Spain, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden and the Netherlands, plus the former royal families of Greece, Romania, Germany, and Russia are all descendants of the Winter Queen.

Her grandson became George I of Great Britain.  Through different paths, Elizabeth II, the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom is a direct descendent of the 10th and 11th generation.