Poem: "The Queen of Thrones"
This poem came from the November 6, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from e_scapism101. It was sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. You can read more about Catherine Parr online.
The Queen of Thrones
Catherine Parr served as
Queen consort of England and Ireland,
the last wife of King Henry VIII.
She was the most-married English queen,
having a total of four husbands in her lifetime.
She helped reconcile Henry with
his daughters from his first two marriages,
who later became Queen Mary I
and Queen Elizabeth I,
and influenced his passage of
the Third Succession Act in 1543
that restored them to the line of succession.
She grew close to Henry's three children
and personally managed the education
of both Elizabeth and Edward.
Following Henry's death,
she became Elizabeth's guardian.
She wrote the first book ever published
by an English queen under her own name,
Prayers or Meditations, followed by
The Lamentations of a Sinner.
Hers was a subtle authority,
a creeping influence
cast across this throne and that
as the people she touched
came into their power.
In court,
everyone looked at
the monarchs and the thrones,
not at the woman behind them
but she was there anyway.