11. Mary I of England needed a husband to cement her grip on power, and found one in the younger Prince Philip of Spain
The daughter of Henry VIII, Mary was 37-year-old when she finally ascended to the throne. What’s more, she was unmarried and childless. So, one of Mary’s first acts as England’s first queen regnant was to seek out a husband – and she found the ideal candidate in a dashing young Spanish prince around a full decade her junior. Arrangements were made between the courts of England and Spain and in 1553, Mary and Philip were wed. The marriage was met by protests across England. Far from being concerned about the age gap, many were concerned that England would become a secondary power, controlled by the Habsburgs.
In the end, however, Mary and Phillip just didn’t get on. Phillip spoke no English, so they were forced to converse in basic Spanish and a mix of Latin and French. Before long, they weren’t even speaking to one another. Phillip hardly visited his older wife, preferring to stay in his native land. More importantly, the union remained childless. So, when Mary died in 1558 at the age of just 42, the throne did indeed pass on to Elizabeth I. Just as Mary had feared, the new Queen devoted much of her energy to ridding England and Ireland of Catholicism.