June 02, 2026

Asexual Royals from History

29 minutes

Throughout history, across cultures and in every walk of life, there have always been people with varied sexual attractions, or lack there of. Asexuality, in particular, has only been identified and studied since the early 20th century. People in the past did not have the concepts, terminology or relative freedom we have today. So those who might now identify as asexual had a limited understanding of what they were experiencing. This makes it difficult for historians to identify people from the past who may have been asexual. Sexual attractions and relationships of every variety often left evidence, like steamy love letters and reports from others. But a lack of sexual desire was much less likely to be expressed. Sexuality, particularly among royals and especially among women, was often not a matter of choice. Princes and Princesses had to marry and reproduce with whoever their parents told them to. In many cases, particularly when young princesses were wed to much older kings, their own desires were invalid. So unless they risked their lives by having an affair, we can’t know if they were secretly lusting after the stable boy, the kitchen maid, or if they just wanted to be left alone to enjoy a slice of cake.

As with all of my LGBTQIA+ videos, I am sensitive about outing people posthumously. These people are no longer able to tell us their own stories, and we must therefore rely on journals, letters and reports from others, which can’t give us a complete picture. But despite the gaps in our knowledge, these people deserve to have their stories told. I think it is incredibly important for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities to see themselves represented in history and to know that they are not alone in the world or in time. And I have had many requests to do a video about ace royals from the past. So today let’s meet 6 royals from history who’s experiences and actions indicate that they may have been asexual.

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Intro Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell

Music: Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 - Classical Whimsical by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100303

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

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By Lindsay Holiday

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