Regal Style: From Eleanor of Aquitane to Queen Elizabeth II

3:30 PM, May 25 2012

By John Jannuzzi

This weekend, Queen Elizabeth II will be celebrating her diamond jubilee. In other words, it's her 60th anniversary as the Queen of England. There's been much buzz about style and the House of Windsor lately, thanks to lovebirds Kate Middleton and Prince William. But Queen Elizabeth II is just one of many great ladies in England's history. The monarchy dates back thousands of years, each with their own style—from dress to policies.

Reign: 1533-1536

To be one of Henry VIII's wives was to be a dead queen walking. They all had their own style of life and ruling, but none is remembered so much as Anne Boelyn. She was Henry's second wife after Catherine of Aragon, a conservative Catholic Spanish queen. Anne was raised in France, where she learned "worldly" things and when she returned to England, she ensnared the King. Political intrigue surrounded her reign and she eventually lost her head, which was rarely without her famous "B" necklace.