IT AIN’T EASY BEING ROYAL the short list of the shortest royal marriages     Alexander III of Scotland & Yolande of France (1285-86), 4 months, 19 days This great royal tragedy sent Scotland into a period of political turmoil. The widowed king, who had buried all of the children from his first marriage, wed again to get fresh heirs for the kingdom. Unfortunately, he went about the begetting with far too much enthusiasm. He was so eager to return to the lovely Yolande one fog-enshrouded night that he dismissed the weather concerns of his advisors & proceeded forth, only to have his horse blunder off a cliff in the thick mist & die in the fall, alas, heirless.   Edmund I of England & Athelfleda (946), 5 months Another second wife, another foolish king. Apparently not as enthralling a union as the above was, as Edmund was killed in a bar brawl when he should have been about the business of begetting. Henry VIII & Anne of Cleves (1540), 6 months, 4 days This arranged marriage turned out to be an inconvenient arrangement for both parties involved, as they took an intense dislike to each other on sight & never consummated their union. Fortunately, Anne was a good deal less stubborn & a good deal more amenable than Henry’s first wife, & she cheerfully agreed to a divorce. Henry was so grateful for the favor of a quickie divorce that he termed Anne his “good sister�?& they became the best of friends.   James V of Scotland & Madeleine of France (1537), 6 months, 7 days The Auld Alliance fetched this fetching teen princess as a bride for Scotland’s king. However, Madeleine’s constitution could not cope with the aforementioned damp Scottish climate, & she succumbed to consumption at the age of sixteen.   Jane Grey & Guildford Dudley (1553-54), 8 months, 23 days These two teens were thrown together by ambitious families in a bid to seize the throne following the death of Edward VI. The nine days�?queen was deposed & imprisoned by Mary I, & she & her spouse were executed a few months later when their families just couldn’t behave & kept trying to reinstate Queen Jane & King Guildford.   Harald I of Man & Christina of Norway (1248), 11 months This royal pair never sat together on Man’s throne. After wedding & bedding in Christina’s homeland, they set out for Harald’s kingdom only to be shipwrecked & drowned.