The King's/Queen's Beasts

One of the features of Windsor Castle near St. George's Chapel are large statues of real and mythical beasts bearing shields.  These are known as the Queen's Beasts.  Each beast and the emblem on the shield it carries represents an important dynasty or family in the lineage of Queen Elizabeth.  Like many other symbols surrounding the monarch, it affirms her right to rule as Queen by virtue of descent.  Display of the King's Beasts as a visual means of asserting power began in the reign of Henry VIII, himself a Plantagenet descendant.  He had imposing statues of the beasts erected in the gardens at Hampton Court Palace.  Since that time, display of the King's/Queen's Beasts has been used during coronations and other royal ceremonies, for the same reason.  The last occasion was Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953.  Those beasts are currently in the Museum of Canadian History in Gatineau, Canada.  As would be expected of a lady with many ties back to the Plantagenets, several beasts were the badges of the Plantagenet family or one of its offshoots.  Specifically, dealing with those beasts with Plantagenet connections, they are.

First and foremost, the Lion of England.  A lion rampant, or rearing with claws outstretched, was a well-known Plantagenet symbol.  The three lions rampant, gold on a red field, was associated with the royal family and the arms of England from at least the time of Richard I, though it wasn't made part of the official coat of arms of England until the reign of James I, another Plantagenet descendant.

The White Greyhound of Richmond was a badge of John of Gaunt as Earl of Richmond.  It was also used by his son, Henry of Bolingbroke, later Henry IV, and a grandson, Henry VII.  The Beast carries a Tudor Rose on its shield, tying the Tudors and Lancastrians together.

Long before Yale was an Ivy League College, a Yale was a mythical beast.  A white leopard-like animal with gold spots and two crescent-shaped horns on its head.  This was the emblem of Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII.  The Yale carries Margaret's portcullis badge, later a well-known Tudor emblem.  The Tudors touted their Plantagenet ancestry every chance they got.

The White Lion of Mortimer was a popular badge of both Edward IV and Richard III.  The lion carries a white rose on a golden sun, a badge also used by both kings.

A griffin is another mythical beat, associated with Edward III, who used a griffin as his personal badge throughout his lifetime, even when he was entitled to the lion of England.  The shield bears an image of the Round Tower of Windsor, where Edward III was born, in addition to oak leaves and a royal crown.

The Black Bull of Clarence is another device of both Edward IV and Richard III that was used extensively by Lancastrians, Yorkists and Tudors.

Edward III and IV are responsible for the Falcon, which bears on its shield the falcon and fetterlock device that was used by both Richard of York and his son Edward IV as a personal emblem.  A fetterlock is a form of shackle, the bar of which can be displayed either open or locked, depending on which generation of Yorks was using it when.

The remaining Beasts are the Dragon of Wales and the Unicorn of Scotland, Edward I conducting extensive campaigns in both countries, which were the cause of endemic wars for decades.  Finally, the White Horse of Hanover, whose princely family to this day bears Plantagenet blood due to their descent from the royal family of England.