Queens Who Were Really Weird People

Women haven't always had it as good as men. Most of the time any power they might have had was through their husbands. But whether they ruled as a consort or in their own right, many ladies wielded power, and ruled people and governments. And while they left their indelible mark through reforms, economic stability, and peace, they also managed to be just as crazy as some of the men in charge. 

There are plenty of women throughout history who were completely bizarre on their own merits — although admittedly for some, their unusual behavior and actions were simply against the social norm at the time. From wearing pants to sexual exploits to obsessions with death, these are just some of the queens who were considered really weird people.

Empress Elizabeth ruled Russia in her own right and was the aunt-in-law of Catherine the Great. Someone with absolute power can do anything she wants and what Elizabeth wanted was for her court to cross-dress.

The problem was that Elizabeth thought she had fabulous legs, but the style of the day, big hoop skirts for women, meant that she couldn't show them off. Men's clothes, on the other hand, had breeches and tights that really exhibited their form. Since she was in charge and didn't want to be the only one who looked different, she would throw huge balls were everyone had to cross-dress, or else.

According to "St Petersburg and the Russian Court, 1703-1761," the young Catherine actually enjoyed these parties. She might have been the only one, besides the empress. The male style of clothing wasn't flattering on all women, especially the older ladies who were noted as having "short, fat legs." But it was the men who really had it bad. To go from the relatively form-fitting clothing they usually enjoyed to giant hoop skirts meant they had no idea how to maneuver their huge bulk while walking, let alone dancing. They were also expected to wear women's hairstyles, which amounted to huge wigs.

With a change so drastic, accidents were bound to happen, like when Catherine was knocked over while dancing and fell under a man's hoop skirt. Amazingly, these balls didn't continue after Elizabeth died.

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom was completely obsessed with death. Fortunately for her, lots of important people in her life died while she was in charge, like her mom, daughter, and most famously her husband. After he died Deseret News says she ordered the "longest mourning in modern times" and this is back when a random uncle dying meant you had to wear black for at least a year. She would never fully escape from her sadness, wearing widow's weeds for the rest of her life. It was a completely morbid obsession.

In more rock 'n' roll news, she also regularly took cocaine and opium, according to Beardy History. But those were legally available at the time. You can't compare today's illegal drug use to what was basically prescription medication. Well, fortunately Queen Vic also dabbled in some controversial stuff, namely chloroform.

Contrary to popular perception, the Queen liked the horizontal tango. A lot. This meant she was pretty much constantly pregnant while her husband was alive. During the birth of her seventh child she was given chloroform and loved it so much she requested it at the births of her next two children.

Chloroform was such a controversial drug at the time that when word leaked out of the palace that the Queen had indulged in some happy juice, the population was shocked. The famous medical journal The Lancet insisted the rumors could not be true, but they were.

Marie Antoinette is probably one of the most famous queens ever. She was married to Louis XVI and lived an opulent lifestyle, at least until the point where they chopped off her head. She had everything in her life handed to her. Literally, there were dozens of people following her around handing her things whenever she asked. This apparently got unbearable and she looked for a way to escape. Unfortunately, the way she chose seemed like she was ridiculing actual normal French people.

She had her own mini-palace built for her on the grounds of Versailles, but according to Château de Versailles, this wasn't enough. She also wanted a place where she could really get away, a place that was her idea of how poor people lived. So she built herself a fake village.

Modern Nation says this included 11 different cottages, as well as a lake, a watermill, a working dairy, a windmill that doesn't mill anything, a barn and various other "peasant" type buildings. Marie Antoinette wasn't just half-assing this. She expected her guests to totally buy in to the fantasy of being a poor farmer or whatever. Women were told to ditch their fancy ballgowns for something simple and common. She even brought her kids to learn about farming. Her bonding with the peasant class wasn't enough to save her losing her head, but she tried.

These days, most royal families are more style than substance. While we all might be excited about Meghan Markle marrying Prince Harry, there is little chance that they could order your head chopped off. Instead it will be a nice wedding and a fun thing to avoid thinking about your own life for a few hours.

But head honcho Queen Elizabeth could still throw her weight around when she wanted to. If you were the (mostly symbolic) queen of a whole country, you would probably ask for lots of crazy things.

One of the worst things about clothes is breaking in new shoes. When you do a lot of standing, your shoes can pinch your toes something terrible. The Evening Standard says she had a servant specifically to try out her shoes for a while to make them comfier when she started wearing them.

Then there are the sandwiches. According to The Daily Beast, when Queen Elizabeth or members of her family ate sandwiches they'd better not have crusts or corners on them. This bizarre tradition supposedly started over 150 years ago when Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert (yes, the guy that piercing is named after) decided it would be bad luck to eat anything that looked even vaguely like a coffin. That meant your standard square-shaped sandwiches had to go. Albert has been dead a long time, but for some reason his quirky rule lives on.

Like Joanna "the Mad" of Castile, Maria Eleonora may have had serious mental problems, possibly suffering from postnatal depression. But at the time, she just came across like she was completely bananas.

The queen knew it was her job to give birth to a son and that she kept failing at it. When she finally gave birth to a healthy, if slightly weird-looking, baby girl, no one told her for a couple days to keep her from the inevitable shock. At least she took it in stride when she did find out. According to Mad Monarchs, her reaction was, "Instead of a son, I am given a daughter, dark and ugly, with a great nose and black eyes. Take her from me, I will not have such a monster!" That's pretty much any sane woman's response to having a daughter, right?

But Maria was really not down with having a girl, and amazingly bad things kept happening to the baby. A wooden beam once "mysteriously" fell on the cradle. Another time she "accidentally" fell down the stairs. Then there was the time a nurse dropped her straight onto a stone floor, injuring her shoulder. Even the father wouldn't give the poor baby a break, instead raising her as a boy. After her husband died, Maria spent the rest of her life worrying about becoming poor, while her daughter reigned.