5. Isabella II was a lazy, moody teenage girl who just happened to be the Queen of Spain
Queen Isabella II ascended to the throne of Spain when she was just an infant. She would rule for 36 years, even if during the first few of these, power lay in the hands of a regent. When she did finally assume full control of the country herself, she was still a teen and singularly unfit for the job. Indeed, Isabella II’s reign was one of unrest, intrigue and turmoil, and the whole of Spain undoubtedly breathed a sigh of relief when she finally abdicated.
When King Ferdinand VII died in 1833, his daughter, Isabella assumed the crown. This was despite the fact that she was only a three-year-old child. From the very start, her status was fiercely contested. Her uncle, Don Carlos, believed he was the rightful heir to Ferdinand’s crown and his followers, the Carlists, agreed. The dispute led to an all-out civil war that would drag on for seven bloody years. Through it all, Isabella enjoyed a pampered upbringing while her mother ruled in her place – and made herself extremely rich in the process.
When Isabella turned 13, she was declared of age and assumed the full powers and responsibilities of the throne. According to most accounts, she was ill-educated, ignorant and, though cheerful, often lazy. Her marriage to the impotent hypochondriac Prince Francisco de Asis was a huge failure. Isabella took many lovers and rumors of her incompetence and infidelity spread throughout Spain and the rest of Europe. Nevertheless, with the support of the Spanish Army, she held onto power for three decades.
Eventually, the generals who were once loyal to her, including her favorite lover, abandoned her. In 1868, Isabella II abdicated the throne in favor of her son, himself still a teenager. She moved to France and lived in exile until her death in 1902. These days, her reign is seen as one of scandal, intrigue and decadence, with the teenage queen often pictured as vain, stupid, overweight and incapable of doing the job she inherited at such an early age.
