1953, a coronation fit for a King
But it's a young Queen
who's about to be crowned.
And the crowd roars its approval
 The fact that she's a woman attracts no comment
 and she will go on to reign over us for six decades
But England's Queens haven't always been greeted with such adoration.
The first woman who sought to be crowned Queen in her own right
 here in Westminster,
800 years earlier,
received a very different response
 She wasn't met by cheering crowds
 Instead, she was chased away from the capital by an angry mob
That's because throughout our history
 women and power have made an uneasy combination.
Never more so than the Middle Ages
when a King was a warrior who had to fight to win power
battle to keep it.
But despite everything that stood in their way,
 a handful of extraordinary women did attempt to rule Medieval England
This series is about the Queens
who challenged male power
 and the fierce reactions they provoked.
 When they pursued power like Kings,
these royal women were criticised and condemned
Most graphically of all,
they've been vilified as She-Wolves
These are the stories of the She-Wolves of England.
 And to explore them is to realise just how far we've come,
 and how little has changed.