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Twice Royal Lady
by Hilary Green
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Matilda, the legitimate daughter of Henry I, is betrothed at eight to the future Holy Roman Emperor and crowned empress while still a teenager. Widowed in her twenties, she returns to England as her father’s only surviving legitimate heir and is compelled to marry the much younger Geoffrey of Anjou. Their difficult union produces the sons Henry needs to continue his dynasty but gives Matilda little control over her own political future.
When Henry dies, Matilda’s cousin Stephen takes the treasury and crown, forcing her to choose between Angevin obligations and the inheritance sworn to her by the English barons. The novel follows her from royal child and imperial consort to commander in the civil war later called the Anarchy. Her campaign fails to make her queen in her own right, but it establishes the claim through which her son Henry will found the Angevin monarchy.
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