Death of Lady Margaret Douglas~ The Other Tudor Princess

Death of Lady Margaret Douglas~ The Other Tudor Princess

Margaret Douglas, Henry VIII’s once beloved niece, is a shadowy and mysterious character in Tudor history.
Margaret was the daughter of Henry VIII’s sister, the Scottish dowager queen Margaret Tudor, and her second husband Archibald Douglas.
Through her mother, she was the grand-daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.

Margaret was born in Northumberland at Harbottle Castle, on 8th October 1515.
In October 1528, due to difficulties her parents were having in Scotland, Margaret was sent to England.
After a brief stay at Berwick Castle, Margaret joined the household of her godfather, Cardinal Wolsey.
When Wolsey died in 1530, Lady Margaret was invited to the royal Palace of Beaulieu, where Margaret resided in the household of Princess Mary.

Because of her nearness to the English crown, Lady Margaret Douglas was brought up chiefly at the English court in close association with Mary, her first cousin ~ the future Mary I, who remained her lifelong friend.
At Christmastime in 1530, 1531, and 1532, Henry VIII gave his favourite niece Margaret, the generous sum of 10 marks ~ £6 and 13 shillings.
On New Years Day 1543, Margaret gave the Princess Mary a gift of a beautiful Venetian style gown of carnation silk.

When Anne Boleyn’s court was established, Margaret was appointed as a lady-in-waiting.
There she met Anne Boleyn’s uncle, Lord Thomas Howard, and they began their courtship.
By the end of 1535 Thomas and Margaret had fallen in love, and become secretly engaged.

In May 1536, King Henry had Anne Boleyn exEcuted, and when in early July 1536 he learned of Margaret’s engagement to Anne’s uncle Thomas Howard, Henry was furious.
Henry had already declared his daughters Mary and Elizabeth illegitimate, leaving Margaret very high in the line of succession.
For Margaret to contract an unauthorised marriage, was politically outrageous, especially with the son of a powerful nobleman and near kin of the disgraced, former queen.
Both Lord Thomas and Lady Margaret were committed to the Tower.

On 18th July 1536, Parliament condemned Thomas to death for attempting to marry without permission.
Thomas was spared exEcution, but remained in the Tower even after Margaret broke off their relationship.
He died there on 31st October 1537.

Margaret also fell ill in the Tower, and the King allowed her to move to Syon Abbey, under the supervision of the abbess.
She was released from imprisonment on 29th October 1537.
In 1540, Margaret was again in disgrace with the King when she had an affair with Lord Thomas Howard’s half-nephew, Sir Charles Howard.
In 1543, Margaret was one of the few witnesses of King Henry’s final marriage to Katherine Parr, at Hampton Court.
Margaret then became one of Queen Katherine’s chief ladies.

In 1544, Lady Margaret became Countess of Lennox, when she married Scottish exile, Matthew Stewart~4th Earl of Lennox.
In total the couple had eight or nine children, four boys: Henry, Henry, Philip and Charles, and four unnamed daughters, though only two sons, Henry and Charles survived to manhood.
Margaret’s sons made very good marriages.
Henry married Mary Queen of Scots, and Charles married Elizabeth Cavendish.
Elizabeth Cavendish, was the daughter of Sir William Cavendish and Bess of Hardwick.

During the reign of Margaret’s childhood friend Queen Mary I, Lady Margaret had rooms in Westminster Palace.
Queen Mary was entertaining the thought of naming Margaret her heir.
When Queen Mary died, Margaret was given the prestigious honour of chief mourner at Mary’s funeral in December 1558.
On the accession of Queen Elizabeth I, Margaret moved to her home in Yorkshire.

For her involvement in marrying her son to Mary Queen of Scots, Margaret was sent to the Tower, again.
Queen Elizabeth I had disapproved of this marriage, but after the murder of Margaret’s son Darnley in 1567, she was released.
Margaret’s husband assumed the government of Scotland as regent, but was assassinated in 1571.

In 1574, once again, Margaret aroused Queen Elizabeth’s anger by marrying her younger son Charles to Elizabeth Cavendish.
She was again sent to the Tower, but was pardoned after her son Charles’ death in 1576.
Lady Margaret then largely contributed to the task of the future succession of her grandson, James VI of Scotland, to the English throne.

After the death of her younger son Charles, she helped care for his daughter, Lady Arbella.
However, she did not outlive him by very long.
A few days before her death, she had dined with Robert Dudley~Earl of Leicester, the favourite of Queen Elizabeth.
This led to rumours that she had been poisoned, by a jealous Elizabeth, though there is no historical evidence to substantiate this.

Lady Margaret Douglas~Countess of Lennox, died on the 7th March 1578.
Although she died in debt, she was given a grand funeral in Westminster Abbey, befitting a Royal, at the expense of Queen Elizabeth I.
She was buried in the same grave as her son Charles, in the south aisle of Henry VII’s chapel in the Abbey.