We often talk about the modern world’s obsession with celebrities. People love to talk about the rich and famous. This is nothing new. It’s been a part of human nature since time immemorial. Before we had celebrities to gossip about, we had the royal families. For hundreds of years, people have been busy drawing connections between the royals and the occult. Some of these rumors are completely false, but many have grains of truth.
There are references connecting various royals with the occult going back hundreds of years. Some royals have sought to use the occult, and others spent their lives attempting to battle the perceived forces of darkness. Below are some of the best examples of royals who were connected to the occult in some way or another. We will see that for every royal who sought to benefit from the occult, another was hurt.
Illuminated miniature depicting the marriage of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, ‘Anciennes Chroniques d’Angleterre’ by Jean de Wavrin, 15th century (Public Domain)
Elizabeth Woodville and her Mother
Poor Elizabeth Woodville didn’t have much luck in life. Things started happily enough when she married King Edward IV in 1464, but soon went downhill. In 1471, Edward was ousted from the throne and imprisoned by the Earl of Warwick, who put Henry VI on the throne in his stead.
Soon after, the Earl had Elizabeth’s father executed and accused her mother, Jacquetta, of witchcraft. At that time, any allegation of witchcraft was a serious situation. It was also an excellent way to quickly and efficiently ruin a good woman’s reputation.
Edward was soon back on the throne, but this wasn’t the end of Elizabeth’s woes. Amazingly, Edward added fuel to the fire by investigating his enemy’s accusations. The accusations were found to be false, but the damage was done. By choosing to investigate them at all, he had given credibility to the accusations. Elizabeth and her mother would forever be tainted in the eyes of the public.
Edward passed away in 1483, leaving Elizabeth and his son Edward V behind to fend for themselves. As Edward V was too young to rule, his uncle Richard was made regent. Suspiciously, Edward fell off of the historical map soon afterward, and the next thing we know Richard became Richard III. Not suspicious at all. As if his rise to power wasn’t questionable enough, the newly crowned Richard III soon started gunning for Elizabeth. He claimed she had used witchcraft to seduce her deceased husband.
Since she was never brought to trial, it would appear this was just a publicity stunt by Richard to distract from any of his shady dealings. Sadly, it worked. While Elizabeth ended up outliving Richard’s reign, she never recovered from all the accusations of witchcraft.
Read More – Royals and the Occult: Witchcraft, Astrology, and Mystical Healing [Article From 4/8/22]
