The Royal Diaries series takes the famous and sometimes not so famous queens of the past and dive into their childhoods to make a firsthand and sometimes fictional account of their life and times.
Kristiana Gregory takes her readers back to 1139 in France to stand side by side with Eleanor of Aquitaine in Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine as the young princess overcomes some life changing moments.
The thirteen year old Eleanor is the eldest daughter of William X and his heir. She has a younger sister Petronilla, whom she is close to. They girls spend their days with their overprotective grandmother, doing lesson, listening to court gossip and attending royal feasts. Eleanor is lively feisty girl who has romantic dreams of knights in shinning armor and is interested in tales of King Arthur.
Her perfect world is forever changed when her father dies of food poisoning in Spain. She is now in charge of a land that is bigger than that of the King of France. Shortly after, the young Eleanor is married to a young Louis, heir to the French throne. She is moved to Paris to be a part of her husband’s family. Much too soon into their marriage, the young couple learn that Louis’s father has died, making them King and Queen of France.
A historical note is at the end of each Royal Diary book, with a family tree, portraits of the princess and close family members and information about her life after the book ends. Eleanor and Louis had two daughters, Marie and Alix, together and traveled into the Holy Land during the Crusades. They had a very rocky marriage and it was annulled. Eight weeks later, the thirty year old Eleanor married a nineteen year old Henry of Anjou. He became King of England and the couple had eight children. After the death of Herny, her four sons fought for the throne, Richard was king after Henry, then John after him. Little is known of Eleanor’s last years, some accounts say she became a nun. She died in 1202 and buried along side Henry and Richard.
Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine can be found in your local library, the website for the Bergen County Cooperative Library system can be found here
Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine is the eighth installment in Royal month.
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