Mary became Queen of Scotland before she was a week old and Queen Consort of France at age 17. By the time she was 25, her position of Queen Consort of France had ended with the death of her husband, and she had been forced to abdicate the Scottish throne. She fled to England in 1568 and spent the next 19 years as the Catholic alternative to be Queen of England. She married three times and had a son, who became King of Scotland as an infant and eventually became King of England as well. In a time of Kings, Mary was daughter of a King, wife of a King, mother of a King.

Elizabeth was born heir to the throne of England, a title she lost when her mother fell from favor. Elizabeth spent the rest of her father’s reign illegitimate and barred from the succession by Act of Parliament until the Third Succession Act in 1543 put her back in the succession—after her half-brother and half-sister. She was under suspicion during both of her siblings’ reigns, experiencing accusations of treason and time in the Tower of London. She came to the throne at age 25 and ruled England alone for 45 years—the only Queen of England to never marry. She held the throne in the face of rebellions at home and threats from abroad. However, she died without an heir and eventually left her throne to the son of her rival.

But that’s only the basics. Who were these women and what were their reigns like? What is success for a Queen? In a world that demanded men on the throne, how did Elizabeth and Mary make their own way and who, ultimately, was most successful?

History shows us what's possible.