| [00:05.00] |
1953, a coronation fit for a King |
| [00:10.00] |
But it's a young Queen |
| [00:11.00] |
who's about to be crowned. |
| [00:13.00] |
And the crowd roars its approval |
| [00:17.00] |
The fact that she's a woman attracts no comment |
| [00:20.00] |
and she will go on to reign over us for six decades |
| [00:25.00] |
But England's Queens haven't always been greeted with such adoration. |
| [00:31.00] |
The first woman who sought to be crowned Queen in her own right |
| [00:35.00] |
here in Westminster, |
| [00:36.00] |
800 years earlier, |
| [00:38.00] |
received a very different response |
| [00:41.00] |
She wasn't met by cheering crowds |
| [00:44.00] |
Instead, she was chased away from the capital by an angry mob |
| [00:51.00] |
That's because throughout our history |
| [00:54.00] |
women and power have made an uneasy combination. |
| [00:58.00] |
Never more so than the Middle Ages |
| [01:00.00] |
when a King was a warrior who had to fight to win power |
| [01:05.00] |
battle to keep it. |
| [01:09.00] |
But despite everything that stood in their way, |
| [01:12.00] |
a handful of extraordinary women did attempt to rule Medieval England |
| [01:18.00] |
This series is about the Queens |
| [01:21.00] |
who challenged male power |
| [01:23.00] |
and the fierce reactions they provoked. |
| [01:28.00] |
When they pursued power like Kings, |
| [01:30.00] |
these royal women were criticised and condemned |
| [01:33.00] |
Most graphically of all, |
| [01:34.00] |
they've been vilified as She-Wolves |
| [01:37.00] |
These are the stories of the She-Wolves of England. |
| [01:41.00] |
And to explore them is to realise just how far we've come, |
| [01:45.00] |
and how little has changed. |
