Victoria Windsor - 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒔 & 𝔦𝔫𝔣𝔞𝔪𝔬𝔲𝔰
Meet the famous Cecily Cavendish
Cecily Cavendish was the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, a powerful noble family and close friends of the crown. As a result, Cecily was brought up in close proximity to the royal children. Originally intended as a playmate for the princesses, she in fact ended up forming strong relationships with all the young Windsors. Gentle and sweet, she spent the majority of her childhood in the royal palace rather than her own home, close to the Windsors than she ever was the Cavendishes.
As a teenager, Cecily fell in love with the crown prince of England. he reciprocated her feelings, and the King and Queen, out of fondness for the girl they already loved as a daughter, granted them permission to wed, and the two became engaged as soon as they came of age.
Prior to the wedding, the Crown Prince was called away to a foreign country on official matters. Whilst returning to England, his retinue was ambushed by hostile forces. Only a few men escaped. They didn’t know if the prince was dead or alive, nor who their assailants were. The prince was missing, and though the King and Queen searched frantically, there was no clues to his whereabouts - none but a letter, arriving mysteriously at the palace with his ring in the envelope, declaring him to be dead.
England had no choice but to accept that their prince would never return to them - but Cecily refused to. Distraught by the mere suggestion of his demise, she refused to marry another, refused to move on with her life, and refused to give up hope that her betrothed would not be returning to her.
After several years, England was plunged into shock when their prince returned alive and well. Cecily was finally able to marry the an she loved, ho she had never given up on. Her loyalty to her fiancé earned her the nickname “the patient princess”.
Cecily is held up as a model of true love by many romantics in England, with young lovers across the country taking inspiration in the story of Lady Cavendish and her prince. The two went on to rule the country together, and are known to history as two of the most beloved and popular monarchs in English history.
Meet the Infamous King Henry X
When Henry was born, it seemed unlikely he would ever ascend the throne. His grandfather was the ruling monarch, but Henry was the child of the king’s second son, and his uncle, The crown prince, has four children of his own. Being seventh in line, Henry was fated to be little more than a forgotten duke, whose lineage would eventually fade into obscurity.
That all changed when Henry was 10 years old. A sickness ravaged through England, attacking noble and peasant alike. The royal family wasn’t spared tragedy. Within three days of one another, the crown prince, all of his four children, and the king himself were dead. Three weeks after that, Henry’s father passed away too. At 10 years old, Henry was crowned King Henry X of England.
Underage, and with no parents to fight for his rights, Henry spent the remainder of his childhood and teenage years as a glorified hostage. Nobles, grasping for power, fought each other for control of him, and he was afforded little freedoms nor choice. By the time he came of age, he was a mistrustful, paranoid young man with a cold and callous heart.
Henry was determined not to fall victim to the manipulations and control of others again. He was the king, and he would have absolute power. He reigned for 27 years in total, in which time, he became a tyrant, dissolving parliament to rule absolutely, spending the treasury on his own whims, and doing little in the way of actual governance. During that time, England descended into chaos.
It was his brother who brought him down, in the end. Richard Windsor was far more just and responsible than his brother, and, with the support of a coalition of nobles, eventually stormed his brother’s palace and forced him to abdicate. Richard went on to become King Richard IV, and spent the bulk of his reign trying to bring stability to England once more. Henry himself lived out his remaining 20 years in prison. Whilst restrictions were initially tight, he was eventually afforded freedoms, and was allowed to wonder throughout the castle he was held at and its grounds at will. He grew into a solitary figure, and spent his days drawing and gardening. He died at 57 of natural causes.