Elizabeth of Bohemia (1596 - 1662). Elizabeth Stuart was Electress of the Palatinate and briefly Queen of Bohemia as the wife of Frederick V of the Palatinate. Because her husband's reign in Bohemia lasted for just one winter, Elizabeth is often referred to as the Winter Queen. Elizabeth was the second child and eldest daughter of James VI and I, King of Scotland, England, and Ireland, and his wife, Anne of Denmark. With the demise of the last Stuart monarch in 1714, Elizabeth's grandson succeeded to the British throne as George I, initiating the Hanoverian dynasty. Elizabeth was born at Dunfermline Palace, Fife, on 19 August 1596 at 2 o'clock in the morning. King James rode to the bedside from Callendar, where he was attending the wedding of the Earl of Orkney. At the time of her birth, her father was King of Scots only. Named in honour of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the young Elizabeth was christened on 28 November 1596 in the Chapel Royal at Holyroodhouse. During her early life in Scotland, Elizabeth was brought up at Linlithgow Palace, one of the grandest of Scotland's royal residences, where she was placed in the care of Lord Livingstone and his wife, Eleanor Hay. A couple of years later the king's second daughter, Margaret, was placed in their care as well. Elizabeth did not pay particular attention to this younger sister, as even at this young age her affections were with her brother, Henry. When Queen Elizabeth I of England died in 1603, Elizabeth Stuart's father, James, succeeded as King of England and Ireland. The Countess of Kildare was appointed the princess's governess. Along with her elder brother, Henry, Elizabeth made the journey south toward England with her mother in a triumphal progress of perpetual entertainment. On her father's birthday, 19 June, Elizabeth danced at Worksop Manor with Robert Cecil's son. Elizabeth remained at court for a few weeks, but there is no evidence that she was present at her parents' coronation on 25 July 1603. It seems likely that by this time the royal children already had been removed to Oatlands, an old Tudor hunting lodge near Weybridge. On 19 October 1603 an order was issued under the privy seal announcing that the King had thought fit to commit the keeping and education of the Lady Elizabeth to the Lord Harrington and his wife. Under the care of Lord Harington at Coombe Abbey, Elizabeth met Anne Dudley, with whom she was to strike up a lifelong friendship. Part of the intent of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was to assassinate Elizabeth's father and the Protestant aristocracy, kidnap the nine-year-old Elizabeth from Coombe Abbey, and place her on the throne of England-and presumably the thrones of Ireland and Scotland-as a Catholic monarch. The conspirators chose Elizabeth after considering the other available options. Prince Henry, it was believed, would perish alongside his father. Charles was seen as too feeble and Mary too young. Elizabeth, on the other hand, had already attended formal functions, and the conspirators knew that she could fulfil a ceremonial role despite her comparative youth. The conspirators aimed to cause an uprising in the Midlands to coincide with the explosion in London and at this point secure Elizabeth's accession as a puppet queen. She would then be brought up as a Catholic and later married to a Catholic bridegroom. The plot failed when the conspirators were betrayed and Guy Fawkes was caught by the King's soldiers before he was able to ignite the powder. Elizabeth was given a comprehensive education for a princess at that time. This education included instruction in natural history, geography, theology, languages, writing, history, music, and dancing. She was denied instruction in the classics as her father believed that Latin had the unfortunate effect of making women more cunning. By the age of 12, Elizabeth was fluent in several languages, including French, which she spoke with ease and grace and would later use to converse with her husband. She also was an excellent rider, had a thorough understanding of the Protestant religion, and had an aptitude for writing letters that sounded sincere and never stilted. She also was extremely literary and several mementoes of her early love of books exist. As the daughter of a reigning monarch, the hand of the young Elizabeth was seen as a very desirable prize. Suitors came from across the continent and were many and varied.