The Queen of Wessex Twice

Childhood and Betrothal

I was there on a hot April evening in the Year of Our Lord 855 when there was much fanfare. I wandered through the busy streets of Paris with my two ladies and four bodyguards, along with my dearest sister, three-year-old Rotrud while clutching my worn-down teddy bear. I was eleven, and could not stay still in the palace, knitting and sewing, and hated even more when I had to sit down and sew tapestries with my mother, the respected and honourable Queen Ermentrude. My mother came from a high-ranking family, and was the only daughter of Odo I of Orléans.

Unlike my mother, I was very active, and was often out with my younger sister Rotrud, exploring every corner of Paris, so when King Æthelwulf came with his eldest son, Æthelbald, to visit the French court in Paris, my father, the great King Charles II of France, was more than delighted to put me in charge of introducing the father and son duo to Paris. However, he had an even greater plan in mind, which was that I would catch the eye of Æthelbald, who was ten years my senior.

My mother welcomed the king and his son to the royal palace, first showing them the gardens. "This is the orchid, the most famous and beautiful flower of them all," my mother said to King Æthelwulf, and he nodded his head in agreement before taking a glance or two at Ermentrude. "Well, I believe your beauty has always been comparable to the orchids," Æthelwulf replied, making Ermentrude blush in embarrassment. As time went on, it was obvious that King Æthelwulf was flirting with my respected mother.

At tea time, I finally sat down for once. I glanced at Æthelbald, before asking, "What are you doing in my father's kingdom anyway?" I spoke with a singing voice, which I was usually praised for. "I have stopped here while on my way to visit his holiness the Pope Leo IV," he answered. His voice was calm and almost singsong, although I believed that he was a victim of his father King Æthelwulf's constant anger outbursts. While I was busy talking to Æthelbald, I did not hear what my mother had been discussing with King Æthelwulf.

***

I was informed to visit my father's chambers at nighttime two weeks later. I was still puzzled at why King Æthelwulf had not left with his son to visit the sick Pope already. However, when I finally arrived at my father's chambers, the news that he was about to share with me shocked me to the core.

He first asked me to sit beside him. Once I did, he revealed the truth. "Judith, you are to become the Queen of Wessex in three months' time." At first, I did not understand what he was saying. Me? An eleven-year-old girl was soon to become the Queen of Wessex? I was puzzled and confused.

"Papa, what do you mean by that?" I asked.

"You will be married to King Æthelwulf in three months."

My father looked down at his feet and sighed. Meanwhile, I took some time to absorb all the information which was being told to me.

"I don't want to, Papa. I don't want to be married to a sixty-year-old man, I want to stay here with you, with Mama, with Rotrud, and-"

I was cut off before I could finish.

"It is confirmed." My father said in a stern voice.

Hearing those three words, I broke down in tears, imagining myself standing beside a grumpy, angry old man at the altar. I ran out of the chamber, sobbing and covering my face as my ladies quickened their footsteps and trailed behind me.

I was furious. How could my father betray me like that? I had loved him dearly my whole life, and due to politics, my childhood had been stolen by my father and an old man! I could not sleep the whole night and lay in my bed, tossing and turning.

The next day, I refused to get out of my bed and escort King Æthelwulf. I finally relented when my father dragged me out. When I saw Æthelwulf, I glared at him. His son, Æthelbald, sensed my anger and distressedness and finally broke the ice by asking what was wrong.