IN TRIUMPH’S WAKE

Uniquely conceived, well-argued comparison study of three epochal matriarchs—Queen Isabella of Castile, Empress Maria Theresa and Queen Victoria—and the daughters who didn’t measure up.

Three sad stories make it clear that anxiety of influence made it impossible for the offspring of these great lady monarchs to meet their mothers’ standards. Catherine of Aragon was the youngest daughter of Queen Isabella and Ferdinand, who united Spain and consolidated their power by expelling the Jews and the Arabs, instigating the Inquisition and funding Columbus’s journey to America. Their well-educated daughter was just 15 when she was sent to England to wed Arthur, Prince of Wales, who died so soon after the nuptials that she was promptly married off to his brother. Her marriage to Henry VIII might have endured happily if an heir had survived. Though Henry was determined to marry Anne Boleyn, Catherine proudly refused to agree to an annulment, dying unbending and in banishment as England’s once-strong relations with Spain and Rome lay in tatters. Marie Antoinette was a perennial disappointment to Empress Maria Theresa, resolute defender of Hapsburg territories against Prussian encroachment and a prolific matriarch (she gave birth to 16 babies in 19 years). The empress hoped the alliance of her youngest daughter with the Dauphin of France would bring Austria closer to the Bourbons. In fact, it did the opposite: The pretty teenager, who preferred diversions to intellectual pursuits, was soon detested as l’Autrichienne and later blamed for provoking the French Revolution. Vicky, Queen Victoria’s firstborn and favorite child, was more intelligent and accomplished than her brothers. She made a love match with Prince Frederick Wilhelm of Prussia, and prospects seemed good for a further extension of England’s influence, but she was thwarted by Bismarckian intrigue and resentment of her liberal sympathies. Using royal progeny as pawns on the foreign chessboard turned out to be a dicey proposition in all three cases.

Bending over backward to make a sympathetic case for the underachieving offspring, Gelardi (Born to Rule: Five Reigning Granddaughters of Queen Victoria, 2005) delivers substantial, accessible European history.