Queens Consort at Westminster Abbey

Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror. Her husband was crowned here on Christmas Day 1066 and her coronation followed in May 1068. The service asserted that she was divinely placed by God, shared in royal power, and blessed her people by her power and virtue.

Edith married Henry I in the Abbey on 11 November 1100 and was crowned queen at the end of the ceremony, taking the regnal name Matilda. She often acted as regent of England during her husband's frequent absences for military campaigns in France.

• About Matilda

Following Matilda's death, Henry I married Adeliza of Louvain in January 1121 and she was crowned a week later. Adeliza was a great patron of the arts and literature and supported the rise of French poetry in the English court.

A countess in her own right, Matilda of Boulogne was crowned queen of England on 22 March 1136. She had been pregnant when her husband, King Stephen, was crowned the previous December and joined him in England for her own coronation after giving birth to their son William.

Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the most powerful women of the Middle Ages. She inherited vast estates and became queen of France when she married Louis VII in 1137. She was later crowned queen of England in the Abbey alongside her second husband, Henry II, in December 1154.

A granddaughter of Louis VI, Isabella of Angoulême married King John when she was around 12 years old. She was crowned in the Abbey two months after her marriage, on 8 October 1200. She was mother to the future Henry III, and after John's death married Hugh X of Lusignan.

Eleanor of Provence was a French noblewoman who married Henry III in Canterbury Cathedral in 1236. They had never met before the wedding. After the ceremony, they travelled to the Abbey for Eleanor's coronation. She acted as regent while Henry was abroad in 1253.

Eleanor of Castile and Edward I were crowned in the Abbey on 19 August 1274, twenty years after they married. They were devoted to each other and after her death, Edward erected twelve memorial crosses along the route of Eleanor’s funeral procession to the Abbey.

• About Eleanor of Castile and Edward I

Isabella of France was a powerful and divisive figure in 14th-century England. After years of in-fighting, she deposed her husband, Edward II, in favour of their son, Edward III. She acted as regent on his behalf before he forcibly took the throne for himself in 1330.

Philippa of Hainault was the queen of Edward III and one of his closest political advisors throughout their forty-year marriage. She was crowned in 1330 and acted as regent while the king was away at the Hundred Years' War. She was a popular figure known for her compassion.

• About Philippa of Hainault and Edward III

Richard II was devoted to his wife, Anne of Bohemia, and she was crowned in the Abbey two days after their wedding here in January 1382. The Liber Regalis - an illuminated manuscript with instructions for the coronation service - is thought to have been written for her coronation.

• About Anne of Bohemia and Richard II

After Anne's death, Richard married Isabelle of France. This was a political union, arranged when she was just seven, to ensure peace between their two countries. After Richard was deposed and died, Isabelle married the Duke of Orleans before dying in childbirth at the age of 19.

Joan of Navarre was crowned queen of England after her marriage to Henry IV in 1403. A wealthy widow of noble descent, she was an unpopular figure in the English court. After the king's death she was imprisoned for three years by her stepson, Henry V, accused of sorcery.

French princess Catherine de Valois married Henry V in 1420, a union made in the hope of securing peace between England and France. She died in 1437 and was buried in the Abbey. Her wooden funeral effigy survives and is on display in our museum.

• About Catherine de Valois and Henry V

Margaret of Anjou married Henry VI in 1445. She was a leading figure on the Lancastrian side in the Wars of the Roses, known for her courage and ambition. After defeat by the Yorkist Edward IV in 1471 and the deaths of her husband and son, she returned to France, dying in poverty

Elizabeth Woodville married Edward IV secretly in 1464. During the Wars of the Roses, she twice took sanctuary at the Abbey with her children, giving birth to the future Edward V here. Edward would later join his brother, Richard, Duke of York, as one of the Princes in the Tower.

• About Elizabeth Woodville

Anne Neville was crowned in the Abbey with her husband, Richard III, in July 1483 - the first joint coronation for 175 years. The couple walked barefoot on a ribbon of red cloth from Westminster Hall to the Abbey for the service. She died in 1485 and was buried in the Abbey.

• About Anne Neville

Elizabeth of York married Henry VII in 1483, uniting the Houses of Lancaster and York and bringing the Wars of the Roses to an end. Despite the marriage being a political arrangement, they came to be devoted to each other and are buried together in the Abbey's Lady Chapel.

• About Elizabeth of York and Henry VII

On 11 June 1509, Henry VIII married his widowed sister-in-law Katherine of Aragon and they were crowned later than month. After their famous divorce he married Anne Boleyn (beheaded), Jane Seymour (died), Anne of Cleves, (divorced), Catherine Howard (beheaded), and Catherine Parr, who survived her husband

Anne Boleyn is the only other of Henry VIII's six wives to have had a coronation, and is the only queen consort crowned with St Edward's crown. Henry had Anne investigated for treason and she was executed in 1536 when her daughter, the future Elizabeth I, was two years old.

• About Anne Boleyn

Anne of Denmark was crowned with her husband, James VI and I, in July 1603, uniting the kingdoms of Scotland and England. She was a shrewd politician and a great patron of the arts, commissioning architect Inigo Jones to build the Queen's House at Greenwich.

• About Anne of Denmark and James I

The Coronation of James II and Mary of Modena was held in April 1685. A cultured figure, Mary was a lover of literature and a keen rider. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, Mary, James and their son fled to exile in France and she became known as 'the queen over the water'.

As the wife of George II, Caroline of Ansbach was queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Electress of Hanover. She was politically influential, and acted as regent four times while her husband was in Hanover. The king was devoted to her and never remarried after her death.

• About Caroline of Ansbach and George II

Britain's longest-serving queen consort is Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She was the wife of George III and was consort for 70 years. They were crowned in 1761 and had had 15 children. Charlotte was a patron of the arts and a keen botanist who helped to expand Kew Gardens. 

William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen were crowned together in the Abbey in 1831. They had no surviving children but were fond of their niece, the future Queen Victoria. The Australian city of Adelaide, founded during William's reign, was named after her.

Alexandra of Denmark married Edward VII in 1863. They were crowned together in the Abbey in 1902 after he ascended the throne on the death of his mother, Queen Victoria. She loved fashion and was an accomplished photographer. She had six children, including the future George V.

• About Alexandra of Denmark

Mary of Teck and George V were married in London in 1893. Mary supported her husband throughout the First World War and was present in the Abbey for the funeral of the Unknown Warrior in 1920. She lived until 1953, seeing her granddaughter, Elizabeth II, ascend the throne.

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon married the future George VI in the Abbey in 1923. She became queen consort following the abdication of Edward VIII, making her husband king, and they were crowned together in 1937.

• About Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon