Elizabeth Stuart (19 August 1596 – 13 February 1662) was Electress of the Palatinate and briefly Queen of Bohemia as the wife of Frederick V of the Palatinate. The couple's selection for the crown by the nobles of Bohemia was part of the political and religious turmoil that set off the Thirty Years' War. Since her husband's reign in Bohemia lasted over only one winter, she is called "The Winter Queen" (German: Die Winterkönigin, Czech: Zimní královna).

Princess Elizabeth was the only surviving daughter of James VI and I, King of Scotland, England, and Ireland, and his queen, Anne of Denmark; she was the elder sister of Charles I. Born in Scotland, she was named in honour of her father's cousin and predecessor on the English throne, Elizabeth I. During Elizabeth Stuart's childhood, unbeknownst to her, part of the failed Gunpowder Plot was a scheme to replace her father with her on the throne, and forcibly raise her as a Catholic.

Her father later arranged for her marriage to the Protestant Frederick V, a senior prince of the Holy Roman Empire. They were married in the Chapel Royal in the Palace of Whitehall, and then left for his lands in Germany. Their marriage proved successful, but after they left Bohemia, they spent years in exile in The Hague, while the Thirty Years' War continued. In her widowhood, she eventually returned to England at the end of her own life during the Stuart Restoration of her nephew and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

With the death in 1714 of Elizabeth's great-niece, Anne, Queen of Great Britain, the last Stuart monarch, the British throne passed to her grandson (by her daughter Sophia of Hanover) as George I, initiating the rule of the House of Hanover.

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 Scotland, but not yet King of England. Named in honour of Elizabeth I of England, her godmother, the young Elizabeth was christened on 28 November 1596 in the Chapel Royal at Holyroodhouse, and was then proclaimed by the heralds as "Lady Elizabeth". During her early life in Scotland, Elizabeth was brought up at Linlithgow Palace, 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 southward to 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. There was plague in London, and Prince Henry and Princess Elizabeth were moved to Winchester. Her mother, Anne of Denmark, produced a masque to welcome them. 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 [sic] and his wife".

Under the care of Lord and Lady Harington at Coombe Abbey, Elizabeth met Anne Dudley, with whom she was to strike up a lifelong friendship. On 3 April 1604, Princess Elizabeth and her ladies rode from Coombe Abbey to Coventry. The Mayor and Aldermen met her at "Jabet's Ash on Stoke-green". She heard a sermon in St Michael's Church and dined in St Mary's Hall.