Elizabeth I and the François, the Duke of Anjou

Anjou was certainly Elizabeth's last true suitor, as he came courting when he was 24 and 46. Like most of her courtships, she was probably certainly stringing him along to scare the Spanish into what she might do if she found it necessary. Public opinion was against any such match, and either way, I'm not sure if Elizabeth I would've seriously considered it. But considering Elizabeth later sent Leicester to the Netherlands, if Anjou wasn't so incompetent, and Leicester properly funded, they may have been able to scare the Spanish. The Dutch at this point had not yet flirted with independence, and preferred to offer the sovereignty to the Low Countries first to Anjou and later to Elizabeth herself. Some of the Queen's Councillors favored the match as if Anjou succeeded in the Lowlands, it would mean a friendly government in that area, removing Spain from England's doorstep. Anjou's demands were rather amiable; he didn't demand any toleration for Catholics but rather the right to hear mass privately, along with his position in England being recognized in some position. Elizabeth certainly seems to be fond of him, if her poem, On Monsieur's Departure lends any credence.

Is there any way the match might have been brought about? If the Spanish prove overly aggressive, the pervasive Francophobia in English society might be mooted long enough that opposition to the match is able to be overcome. French support might be necessary in such a situation. Elizabeth certainly did not want to marry, but probably found herself quite lucky in the realm of foreign policy: she used it as a credible threat but never had to follow through with it. What if she had too in this case? Completely unrealistic or possible if the circumstances present it? Say a more aggressive Spain, and more cooperation between England and France regarding Anjou's campaigns in the Netherlands? If he has a stroke of luck, perhaps backed up by English men and monies, he might be able to score some victories instead of completely humiliating himself.

The marriage would certainly be interesting from a geopolitical point of view, especially if Anjou lives to succeed Henri III. Elizabeth was in her 40s at that point, but apparently still capable of having children. More than one would be unlikely though, so that still creates a difficult situation of a potential union between England, the Netherlands (positing in this scenario that Anjou continues to hold the sovereignty of the Low Countries) and France. It's probably one of the most unlikely matches to be carried through, but if it did, it'd be quite interesting. If Elizabeth and Anjou had a son, it makes matters worse: a daughter would be a bit more tolerable, as she could succeed in England and the Bourbons would still succeed in France. There's still the issue of the Netherlands which would go from being Spanish dominated to French dominated... creating a huge mess in the early 16th century where England finds it's self at odds with French--all because of a marriage that was suggested to contain Spanish ambitions. Or they could end up being childless, which is totally likely. England still falls to the Stuarts, Bourbons succeed in France, and the Dutch go their own way, perhaps offering the sovereignty to the Bourbon Kings or the Stuarts.

Probably one of the weirdest PODs to be suggested, but it's always fascinated me. Of course Elizabeth had never wished to marry, but I think if she had been backed into a corner, she might've for reasons of state. It'd certainly produced a less independent Netherlands, as before the Republic they were intent to reject their sovereign, Philip II, merely for another. Just seems like an interesting POD to completely turn the 17th century upside down.
 
The match between Elizabeth I and Francis of Alençon, Duke of Anjou, could indeed be interesting. It also seems a plausible match as Elizabeth publicly enjoyed Monsieur's company and nicknamed him "the Frog". However, the many difficulties that could be linked to this marriage (impopularity of the match, religious differences, age gap between the spouse (Elisabeth could be her suitor's mother!)) make me think it has few chances of happening.

Even If it does happen, Elisabeth and François' chances of having a child are very low: Elisabeth is nearing her 50s and past that point, women generally experience menopose. Thus, Elisabeth's fertility by that point is very low and chances of her getting pregnant are thus extremly low.
If a child is indeed born, he has chances of suffering from health problems: the older the mother (or father), the higher are the risks for such thing to happen. That doesn't mean it would incapacitate his ability to rule, but that might be a problem in his later rule.

Then, there is the situation in France. François' brother, King Henri III, is married to the beautiful but sterile Louise de Lorraine. Even if he was pushed to divorce her, Henri III probably won't as he was deeply in love with his wife. This means his sucessor is likely to be his brother François d'Alençon, who would be married to the Queen of England... And, considering the next in line after François d'Alençon is the protestant King Henri III of Navarra (OTL Henri IV of France), the situation is certainly not going to please the Arch-catholic Guise or the Hapsburgs. The marriage has chances of sparkling a Religious War in France and will probably push for Henri III of France to ally with his brother and cousin agaisnt the Guise and Philip II.

The main problem will show up at Henri III's death... The following questions will arise for the succession:
1) Is François d'Alençon still alive? If yes, then he will become King François III of France, leading to an Anglo-French Personal Union until the death of either François or Elizabeth. If not, then we have to look at the next question:
2) Did Elizabeth and François had children? If not, then the heir of the French King (be it Henri III or François III) will be a Bourbon while that of Elizabeth will be James VI of Scotland like OTL. If yes, then arises the following question:
3) How many children did they have? The likiest option will be one. Two is a very obscure possibility while three or more seems ASB in my eyes. Then comes the next question:
4) What is (are) the gender(s) of the child(ren)? A son can inherit technically both Kingdoms of France and England, which will cause a problem as Anglican England won't accept a Catholic King while majorly Catholic France won't accept a Protestant King. A daughter solves the question as she can inherit England only. More than one child would resolve the problem by giving France to one and England to another, but the possibility is low and it still requires at least one son for it to work.

Another problems shows up if François III does succeed Henri III but had no children from Elizabeth... The Guise and the Catholics won't accept Elizabeth as their queen and will push François III to divorce and remarry, something he probably won't do unless he and Elizabeth agree. If they do out of raison d'état, then we're good. If they don't, then we have a problem as Elizabeth only died in 1603 OTL: François and the French can't know that but that means by the time Elizabeth will be dead, François will be in his 50s or around so. The more he will age, the more he will face opposition from the Guise and Catholics who won't accept a Bourbon as heir if said Bourbon isn't Catholic.

Although this scenario as interesting results, I don't think it likely to happen or to last: there are too many variables. Even a greater Hapsburg threat doesn't make me think it would result in François d'Anjou's marriage to Elizabeth. Franco-English alliance against common ennemy is plausible, the marriage is nearly if not totally ASB.
 
The match between Elizabeth I and Francis of Alençon, Duke of Anjou, could indeed be interesting. It also seems a plausible match as Elizabeth publicly enjoyed Monsieur's company and nicknamed him "the Frog". However, the many difficulties that could be linked to this marriage (impopularity of the match, religious differences, age gap between the spouse (Elisabeth could be her suitor's mother!)) make me think it has few chances of happening.

Even If it does happen, Elisabeth and François' chances of having a child are very low: Elisabeth is nearing her 50s and past that point, women generally experience menopose. Thus, Elisabeth's fertility by that point is very low and chances of her getting pregnant are thus extremly low.
If a child is indeed born, he has chances of suffering from health problems: the older the mother (or father), the higher are the risks for such thing to happen. That doesn't mean it would incapacitate his ability to rule, but that might be a problem in his later rule.

Then, there is the situation in France. François' brother, King Henri III, is married to the beautiful but sterile Louise de Lorraine. Even if he was pushed to divorce her, Henri III probably won't as he was deeply in love with his wife. This means his sucessor is likely to be his brother François d'Alençon, who would be married to the Queen of England... And, considering the next in line after François d'Alençon is the protestant King Henri III of Navarra (OTL Henri IV of France), the situation is certainly not going to please the Arch-catholic Guise or the Hapsburgs. The marriage has chances of sparkling a Religious War in France and will probably push for Henri III of France to ally with his brother and cousin agaisnt the Guise and Philip II.

The main problem will show up at Henri III's death... The following questions will arise for the succession:
1) Is François d'Alençon still alive? If yes, then he will become King François III of France, leading to an Anglo-French Personal Union until the death of either François or Elizabeth. If not, then we have to look at the next question:
2) Did Elizabeth and François had children? If not, then the heir of the French King (be it Henri III or François III) will be a Bourbon while that of Elizabeth will be James VI of Scotland like OTL. If yes, then arises the following question:
3) How many children did they have? The likiest option will be one. Two is a very obscure possibility while three or more seems ASB in my eyes. Then comes the next question:
4) What is (are) the gender(s) of the child(ren)? A son can inherit technically both Kingdoms of France and England, which will cause a problem as Anglican England won't accept a Catholic King while majorly Catholic France won't accept a Protestant King. A daughter solves the question as she can inherit England only. More than one child would resolve the problem by giving France to one and England to another, but the possibility is low and it still requires at least one son for it to work.

Another problems shows up if François III does succeed Henri III but had no children from Elizabeth... The Guise and the Catholics won't accept Elizabeth as their queen and will push François III to divorce and remarry, something he probably won't do unless he and Elizabeth agree. If they do out of raison d'état, then we're good. If they don't, then we have a problem as Elizabeth only died in 1603 OTL: François and the French can't know that but that means by the time Elizabeth will be dead, François will be in his 50s or around so. The more he will age, the more he will face opposition from the Guise and Catholics who won't accept a Bourbon as heir if said Bourbon isn't Catholic.

Although this scenario as interesting results, I don't think it likely to happen or to last: there are too many variables. Even a greater Hapsburg threat doesn't make me think it would result in François d'Anjou's marriage to Elizabeth. Franco-English alliance against common ennemy is plausible, the marriage is nearly if not totally ASB.

Yeah, the marriage is definitely out there--even if Spain is more aggressive, France and England probably agree to a mutual alliance against Spain. The marriage was supposed to bring the alliance to fruition, but I believe IOTL the alliance was brought about without it. It's just an interesting situation because it'd turn the late 16th century Europe upside down. When François first came courting, Elizabeth apparently was examined by her doctors and they declared she was still capable of having children--this was when she was 46, in 1579. The whole engagement dragged on, so the marriage would have to occur quite soon (which won't happen), otherwise they wouldn't have any children at all. So even if they did marry, it'd probably be around 1581-1582, and any children would certainly be out of the question by then. There's a narrow window, and it'd quickly close. If they get lucky, they might have one child together. That's about it. But even without the marriage, it'd still be interesting to see a surviving Anjou with English aid manage to secure himself in the Netherlands. Now that I think about it, the marriage is quite unlikely... it's just one of those questions I like to mull over from time to time, as it would've had grave consequences on the geopolitical situation. I agree with you though, an alliance forced by an more aggressive Spain seems more likely than her marriage being carried out.
 
Intriguing POD...

If their (single!) child is a daughter, then she could marry the next in line to the French Throne outside of her immediate parentage in order to keep the 'Dual Monarchy' alive....?

Another potentially weird item is what happens is Francois somehow dies before Elizabeth (field of battle etc). The daughter-heir marries then there is a generation gap between the two kingdoms rulers...
 
Intriguing POD...

If their (single!) child is a daughter, then she could marry the next in line to the French Throne outside of her immediate parentage in order to keep the 'Dual Monarchy' alive....?

She "could", in the same way that Elizabeth "could" have married Ivan the Terrible. The simple problem here is that there is no appetite for this to happen - in fact the opposite; neither the English nor the French would WANT this to happen. Personal Unions between two large countries, especially between two natural rivals, were virtually unanimously a massively unpopular prospect to all involved. There's a reason why Personal Unions didn't happen often (and when they did it was often by mistake) and that's because they were overwhelmingly negative affairs for the countries involved. I mean, what exactly do England and France have to gain from the Union? By contrast, they have a great much to lose, particularly relating to religious harmony.
 
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