Isabella of Valois

Isabella of Valois (1387-1410) was queen consort of England from 1396 to 1400.

She was the older sister of Catherine of Valois (wife of King Henry V of England) and daughter of Charles the Foolish of France and Isabeau of Bavaria. When she was eight King Richard II of England, a widower, politically married her to make peace with France. It must have been lonely for the little princess so far away from her family, but from time to time her husband visited her and they became friends. When Richard II was imprisoned and murdered, Isabella was ordered by a new king (Henry IV) to move out of Windsor and had to settle into a place called Sunninghill. Henry IV didn't know what to do with her; he then decided that she should marry his son, the future Henry V. But Isabella put her foot down and utterly refused to have anything to do with the prince. Knowing her husband was dead, she went into mourning and ignored Henry IV's demand; eventually Henry let her go back to France. She married again, this time to a proper husband, Charles, Duke of Orleans. Isabella didn't live long, she died in childbirth at the age of 23!