伊莎贝拉与玛格丽特1

1953, a coronation fit for a King

But it's a young Queen

who's about to be crowned.

And the crowd roars its approval

The fact that she's a woman attracts no comment

and she will go on to reign over us for six decades

But England's Queens haven't always been greeted with such adoration.

The first woman who sought to be crowned Queen in her own right

here in Westminster,

800 years earlier,

received a very different response

She wasn't met by cheering crowds

Instead, she was chased away from the capital by an angry mob

That's because throughout our history

women and power have made an uneasy combination.

Never more so than the Middle Ages

when a King was a warrior who had to fight to win power

battle to keep it.

But despite everything that stood in their way,

a handful of extraordinary women did attempt to rule Medieval England

This series is about the Queens

who challenged male power

and the fierce reactions they provoked.

When they pursued power like Kings,

these royal women were criticised and condemned

Most graphically of all,

they've been vilified as She-Wolves

These are the stories of the She-Wolves of England.

And to explore them is to realise just how far we've come,

and how little has changed.