Wedding of Rhaena Targaryen and Androw Farman

The wedding of Rhaena Targaryen and Androw Farman occurred in 49 AC at Fair Isle. It was the first of three royal weddings that earned 49 AC the name the Year of the Three Brides.^[1]

Background

Before her wedding to Androw Farman, Rhaena Targaryen was married twice before. The first was to her younger brother Prince Aegon Targaryen. In 43 AC, Aegon was slain in battle by their uncle King Maegor I Targaryen while attempting to claim the throne from him. After Prince Aegon's death, the Farmans of Fair Isle granted the widowed Rhaena refuge. While there, she grew fond of both Lord Marq Farman and his younger son, Androw Farman. In time, Maegor would summon Rhaena to King's Landing to be one of his three "Black Brides."^[2] After Maegor's death, the twice-widowed Rhaena chose to return to Fair Isle rather than remain in King's Landing.^[3]

Wedding

Only a fortnight into the year 49 AC, Queen Rhaena Targaryen wed Androw Farman when she was twenty-six and he only seventeen. Androw was said to be utterly besotted with her. The ceremony was swift and small. Though two of Rhaena's former favorites, Samantha Stokeworth and Alayne Royce, traveled to Fair Isle in haste to stand beside her, along with the groom's sister Elissa Farman. Rhaena's kin were not notified. The ceremony was held under the sky, presided over by Lord Marq. Lord Lyman Lannister and his wife Lady Jocasta Lannister were the only great lords in attendance. The other guests were bannermen and household knights sword to House Farman or House Lannister. By the time a raven reached King's Landing with news of the marriage, the wedding feast and bedding to seal the match had already passed days before.^[1]

Aftermath

The bride's mother, Queen Alyssa Velaryon, was deeply offended at being neither informed of nor invited to her daughter's wedding, after which relationships between them were never as warm. Lord Rogar Baratheon, Hand of the King and soon-to-be second husband of Alyssa, was furious that Rhaena had remarried without his or the Crown's leave. One of his brothers and two of his nephews were as-yet unwed, which may explain Lord Rogar's fury. Rhaena's younger siblings, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen and Alysanne Targaryen, rejoiced at the news and sent their gifts and congratulations to Fair Isle. They commanded that the Red Keep's bells be rung in celebration. Despite his celebrations, Jaehaerys did feel he should have been consulted, though he was less offended by this than the subsequent union of Queen Alyssa and Lord Rogar.^[1]

Although the wedding had apparently involved the traditional bedding ceremony,^[1] questions soon arose over whether Rhaena and Androw's marriage had actually been consummated. After the queen's party left Fair Isle for Casterly Rock, a castle septa asked Samantha Stokeworth if the marriage had ever been consummated and who had witnessed the bedding. Androw was considered a curious choice in spouse, given his status as an unpromising second son of a minor lord compared to her, a widowed Targaryen queen. Asked why she had chosen such an unpromising spouse, Rhaena would later reply, "He was kind to me." Some suggested she took Androw as husband in part to repay Lord Marq for his kindness in offering refuge when Maegor ruled the Seven Kingdoms and the Poor Fellows denounced her as a sinner. Maester Smike, the master at Fair Isle, wrote that Rhaena found true love not with Androw but with his sister, Lady Elissa.^[4]