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Anyone who has a sibling knows that those relationships are always a little, shall we say, delicate. Sure, every so often you meet a pair of siblings who genuinely seem to like one another, but that’s not always the case.
Throughout history, there have been many famous stories of sibling rivalries that have ended families, kingdoms, and countries.
Among those stories, there have been quite a few particularly dramatic stories of rivalries between sisters.
Here are 10 of the most famous, and most dramatic, sister rivalries of all time.
1. Anne and Mary Boleyn
Photo Credit: Wikimedia
Anne and Mary both had relationships with King Henry VIII, and Anne even ended up marrying the King.
That probably made family gatherings a whole lot of fun!
2. Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth
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Before he married Anne, King Henry VIII was married to Catherine of Aragon, the mother of their daughter, Mary.
After Henry married Anne, she gave birth to their daughter, Elizabeth.
Mary became Queen in 1553, but was always paranoid about her younger sister’s popularity. She even had Elizabeth banished and imprisoned. However, Mary died in 1558 without an heir.
Which meant… Elizabeth became Queen after all.
3. Venus and Serena Williams
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Both Williams sisters are tennis legends, and they also seem to be very close.
However, their professional sister rivalry has been played out over dozens of courts since 1998. Serena leads Venus in terms of the number of wins.
4. Lee Radziwell and Jackie Kennedy
Photo by René DeAnda on Unsplash
Anyone familiar with US History has undoubtedly heard of Jackie Kennedy, wife of President Kennedy.
Lee was Jackie’s sisters, and the two had a legendary rivalry that spanned decades. Lee even got one up on Jackie when she married a literal Polish prince, but Jackie eventually prevailed after her husband became President of the United States.
5. Catherine and Pippa Middleton
Those who follow the British royal family have definitely heard of these sisters.
While we all know that Catherine “won” when she married Prince William, Pippa managed to show up her sister on Catherine’s wedding day, of all days.
6. Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland
Joan and Olivia both had successful careers in Hollywood and were fiercely competitive.
Apparently, the two weren’t merely professionally competitive, and it’s been said that they often had physical fights as children.
7. Dear Abby and Ann Landers
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Pauline and Esther Friedman are two sisters who each had their own syndicated advice column,
Pauline’s Dear Abby column is pretty iconic, but Esther’s Ask Ann Landers column came first.
8.The Brontë sisters
Many literary fiends are familiar with the works of Charlotte Brontë but are often surprised to learn there were actually three sisters in the family, two of whom were writers.
Some say that Anne Brontë’s career was derailed by Charlotte herself.
9. Jessica and Ashlee Simpson
While these songbird sisters are undoubtedly close, they’ve also maintained a professional rivalry over the years.
10. Beyoncé and Solange Knowles
Photo by Robinson Recalde on Unsplash
While Beyoncé is more well-known, she and her younger sister Solange have engaged in a bit of a rivalry throughout their years under the spotlight. These days, the two are each other’s biggest fans.
Don’t you love those stories? Do you know of any other famous sister rivalries?
Tell us about them in the comments!
