Embarkation of the Elector Palatine in the ‘Prince Royal’ at Dover, 25 April 1613.

Context:

‘The Tempest’ was first performed before King James in 1611.  In 1613, it was one of a number of plays that were subsequently performed to mark the marriage of King James’s daughter, Princess Elizabeth Stuart, to Frederick the Elector Palatine of Bohemia.

 

Frederick V, Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia:

1596 – 1632 was, as the son and heir of Frederick IV, Elector Palatine, the Elector of the Rhine Palatinate in the Holy Roman Empire upon his father’s death in 1610.

 

Elizabeth Stuart: Elizabeth of Bohemia

1596 – 1662 Daughter of James 1, sister to Charles 1, grand-mother of George 1.  The Gunpowder plotters intended to kidnap her and put the child on the throne after the assassination of her father and Protestant nobles.  She married Frederick V, King of Bohemia and was known as ‘The Queen of Hearts’ because of her popularity.  I wonder who provided Princess Diana with the the memorable, if unoriginal,  sound bite: “I’d like to be a queen in people’s hearts, but I don’t see myself being queen of this country.”