She Was a Royal Diplomat and de-facto Queen of England
When Henry II died in 1189, Richard the Lionheart became king of England and he released his mother from prison. After sixteen years of confinement, Eleanor was still as vibrant and active as she always had been. She was in her late sixties, and she became the most important woman in the realm by becoming a valued advisor, diplomat, and regent in the reigns of both of her sons who succeeded to the throne, Richard and John.
Richard trusted his mother in many aspects of his government. He was not in England when his father died, passing the crown to him, so Eleanor served as regent until he could get there. She stood in for her son as the important lords and nobles came to pay homage to their new king. Richard sent Eleanor to Navarre to collect his bride Berengaria, showing how highly he valued her.
When Richard left England in the beginning of the 1190s to go on the Third Crusade, he left Eleanor and a regency council in charge of the government. Although she didn’t have an official post, she was one of the most powerful women and influential figures of the realm. Eleanor proved to be a brilliant multitasker: she influenced the regency council, and she managed to stem her son John’s grasp for power in his brother’s absence. When Richard was taken prisoner on his way home from the Crusades, Eleanor raised the ransom money and traveled to Germany herself to negotiate her son’s release. After returning home, she reconciled her sons to each other in May 1194.
By 1199, when she was almost eighty years old, Richard had died and her youngest son John became king of England. The new king signed a peace treaty with King Philip II of France that ended the hostilities between the two countries and arranged a marriage between one of John’s nieces by his sister Eleanor of Castile to Philip’s son Louis. John sent his mother to Castile to choose Louis’ new bride. This diplomatic move turned out well for Eleanor’s granddaughter, Blanca: she became a powerful royal consort to her husband, Louis VIII, and a very influential queen regent to her son, Louis IX.