" Dear future generations,

I am Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France and then of England, the one nicknamed the grandmother of Europe. As I write these lines, I watch from my fortress my troops confronting those of my first husband's son. A battle whose outcome matters little, for fate is truly sealed. The future marriages of my grandchildren will establish my descendants at the head of both kingdoms.

For the first time in my life, I feel the need to lay down my arms, to drop the mask. Faithful wife, loving mother, my true story is not one of blood, but one of the womb and the miracle of Saint-Émilion. Everybody thought I was barren, by its grace I was able to give birth and become the woman I am today. Allow me, over a drink, to tell the story...

I married for the first time at the age of thirteen to King Louis VII of France, who was himself seventeen. We were two strangers, two orphans whom fate had locked in a dungeon following the deaths of our respective fathers. Not only did we have to learn to live together, but we also had to produce a male heir to ensure the succession of the crown. Living in Paris, my life was punctuated by prayer, reading, and discussion, but above all by the growing anxiety of not seeing my mission fulfilled. For seven years, my belly remained flat, and the situation worsened further as my husband, overwhelmed by political intrigue, rarely shared my bed.

It was during a trip near Bordeaux, to Saint-Émilion, that a glimmer of hope appeared. This small vineyard, named after a saint renowned for his miracles throughout the centuries, still housed, deep in a cave, the stone seat on which he meditated. The village monks invited me to sit there, just like him, and pray for my future child. It was then, in the silence of contemplation, that two doves appeared, circling around me in a courtship display. A miraculous sign, confirmed nine months after my return to Paris by the birth of my daughter, Marie.

Relieved not to be sterile and fulfilled by my happiness as a mother, I was nevertheless forced to accompany my husband on crusade, to give as soon as possible the heir that the kingdom awaited. A disastrous journey, which cost the lives of the majority of our soldiers and our love. Viper tongues took advantage of a strategic disagreement between Louis and me, to spread the infamous rumor that I had cheated on him with my uncle. Driven mad with jealousy, he committed the irreparable by using force against me. Also, back in France, the birth of our second daughter passed like a clearing in a storm. 

I was a mother again, but without a crown prince, the kingdom was on the brink of collapse. I then made the decision to divorce Louis and two months later marry his enemy, the King of England, Henry II. A fiery and authoritarian man who ultimately allowed me to fulfill my role by bringing eight new children into the world, including five sons. While our personalities were perfectly suited in private, the hold he exerted over my lands and those of our sons gradually became stifling. I tried to free myself by pushing them to revolt, in vain. Henry's knights triumphed over ours, and he imprisoned me for fifteen years to prevent me from challenging him again. It took me until the day of his death to finally regain my freedom and my power.

I now reign alongside my youngest son, over a territory stretching from northern England to the foothills of the Pyrenees. The legend of my miraculous pregnancies has spread, and women from all walks of life come to Saint-Émilion to sit on the stone seat where it all began. I have every hope that this custom will endure for centuries, that it will continue to inspire couples who make the courageous choice to become parents. Even more than being queen, being a mother is what connects me most strongly to my people. Like them, I suffer when my children cry, and my heart beats when I hear them laugh. There is only one way in which I feel superior to ordinary mortals: I am both freer and more submissive than they dare to be.

Fiercely defending my right to do as I wish with my body and my lands, I have always bowed with humility to divine will and my maternal duties. I am grateful to my husbands for all they have given me, and I hold no grudge against them. Many peace treaties were signed with Louis, and I vowed to be buried alongside Henry, for marriage is by nature an indissoluble covenant. While a contract can be torn apart, blood ties cannot be undone. No matter the disputes and separations, family is a flame that never goes out. It is that flame that lights the world. I promise you this.

By the Grace of God,

Her Majesty the Queen,

Eleanor of Aquitaine"