Elizabeth III Winton
From Honorverse
Elizabeth Adrienne Samantha Annette Winton, publicly known as Elizabeth III, Queen and Empress of Manticore, Duchess of Basilisk, was the sixteenth reigning monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the first reigning monarch of the Star Empire of Manticore.
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[edit] Family
Elizabeth was the daughter of King Roger III of the House of Winton and Queen Consort Angelique. She had one younger brother, Michael. (HH8) Her father was killed by agents of the People's Republic of Haven, causing her to inherit the throne at an early age. She immediately neutralized the conspirators while preventing any word of the true cause of King Roger's death from leaking, which would have caused an immediate war Manticore could not hope to win. (HHA2.3: QG)
[edit] Reign
Upon taking the throne at an early age, she immediately neutralized the conspirators behind her father's death while preventing any word of the true cause of King Roger's death from leaking, which would have caused an immediate war Manticore could not hope to win. She threw her support behind accelerating her father's military buildup, as well as building a system of allies that could give the SKM the strategic depth to face the PRH.
In 1903 PD, Queen Elizabeth was willing to go far to find allies, especially with Grayson, she had the government send loans, equipment, and personnel to bolster that system's defenses and industrial base. She found staunch domestic allies in Prime Minister Summervale, head of the Centrist Party, and the Crown Loyalists. The support of the House of Commons and tenuous control of the House of Lords allowed her to conduct a frantic campaign to prepare for war.
Her reign was dominated by war with Haven; she relentlessly prosecuted a war against the People's Republic after the failure of their sneak attacks, only to be prevented from utterly smashing the People's Republic by domestic political turmoil masterminded by Oscar Saint-Just.
In the cease-fire following the first war, she distrusted the reformed Republic on principle, seeing it as the same star nation that murdered her father, uncle, and Prime Minister. She utterly despised the coalition government in power during the cease-fire, which was mainly motivated by self-interest, desire for political power, and fear of the alliance between the Crown and the Commons. With the end of the cease-fire in Operation Thunderbolt, the Centrists were returned to power, and she began another war against Haven, this time with far stronger domestic support.
In the second war, Queen Elizabeth III remained convinced that the government of Haven was just like the Legislaturists or the Committee. She desired nothing more than the total destruction of Haven as an interstellar power, to ensure that it could not attack the Star Kingdom again.
Queen Elizabeth had a ring of guards similar to the Protectorate Security Detachment of Grayson. In the aftermath of the Second Battle of Yeltsin's Star, Queen Elizabeth extended her gratitude and thanks to Captain Honor Harrington by having her knighted into the Order of King Roger as a Knight's Companion. (HH2)
[edit] Character
Elizabeth was known to hate the People's Republic of Haven to the extent that she opposed Haven in nearly everything. (HH1) While she had excellent reasons for doing so, her hatred was not entirely rational, and she was incapable of considering Haven in an objective manner. Elizabeth was utterly loyal to her friends, devoted to her subjects, and determined to do what she considered to be right. However, she possessed an impressive ability to hold a grudge against those who harmed or neglected her family, friends, or subjects. Her grudge holding abilities has been described by Honor Harrington. "Holding a grudge so long that it dies of old age, were upon she takes it to a taxidermist and has it mounted." (HH2)
She is probably one of the rare childhood treecat adopties, when she was adopted by her treecat Ariel.
Her name among treecats was Soul of Steel. (HHA3.4: CoW)
[edit] References
| Preceded by Roger III | Queen of Manticore (1883 PD – ) | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by no previous holder | Empress of Manticore (1921 PD – ) | Succeeded by Incumbent |
