Toxic Sisters ~ The Daughters of Henry Viii

Two Sisters

Two sisters, two queens. At first glance, the daughters of King Henry Viii could not be more different. One could say that the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth Tudor is a very difficult one to read. That is an understatement. There's a immense age gap between the two sisters, which deeply separates them.

Mary's childhood was steeped in the Catholic Church. To her, religion meant everything. Elizabeth, however had a Protestant upbringing, and that made people think of Mary being somewhat old-fashioned, diametrically opposed to having issues of religion. In Tudor England, society at the time of their rule, was ill-equipped to accept female rulers and sovereign. Women were believed to be ruled by their emotions rather than reason. They're very much the weaker sex. It was widely believed that they were incapable of ruling as effectively as men.

One's reign was short, and the other long. One was Catholic, the other Protestant. One was allied to Spain, the other's greatest triumph came in defying them. One was feared as Bloody Mary, and the other celebrated as Gloriana, the Virgin Queen.

There's no doubt Elizabeth had the chance to learn from Mary's mistakes and burrow from her example. Elizabeth's decision not to marry, there's a pragmatic and calculated decision. She's seen how wrong it could go with Mary, and her late mother, Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth is the kind of queen of spin before spin was invented and one of the things she was so successful at was raising Mary's legacy. Many people even forget the fact that Mary was the first crowned queen of England.

One was the daughter of a loved queen, the other a daughter of an unpopular queen but more unites these half sisters than many realize...