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The Lost Tudor Princess: The Life of Lady Margaret Douglas
by Alison Weir
‘Who was Margaret Douglas?’
Lady Margaret Douglas, daughter of Mary Tudor and her second husband Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, was born on 7 October 1515 at Harbottle Castle. Margaret Douglas was the granddaughter, niece, cousin and grandmother of monarchs. At various times, there were those who saw Margaret herself as a potential queen of England.
In this detailed biography, Alison Weir, provides detail of Margaret Douglas’s life. Margaret Douglas ranked highly at the court of her uncle, Henry VIII and served five of his wives. She created scandal, twice, by falling in love with unsuitable men (first with Anne Boleyn’s uncle Thomas Howard, and then with his half-nephew Charles Howard), leading to the passing of the first Act of Parliament to regulate royal marriages. In 1544, Margaret Douglas married Matthew Stewart, the fourth earl of Lennox. This marriage, between two ambitious people, turned into a love match.
Margaret Douglas was imprisoned in the Tower of London on three separate occasions: a consequence of her love of intrigue and her ties to the thrones of England and Scotland. Margaret Douglas remained a Catholic, which meant that her relationship with Elizabeth I was never easy and became more complicated when her son, Henry, Lord Darnley, was married to Mary Queen of Scots in 1565. This marriage brought her tragedy as a consequence of it, both her husband and son were killed. But Margaret Douglas was a survivor, and her grandson James was to become the first Stuart monarch of England and Scotland in 1603.
Margaret Douglas was in debt when she died on 10 March 1578. Elizabeth I paid for her funeral in Westminster Abbey.
While I knew the outline of Margaret Douglas’s life, Ms Weir’s book provides much more detail and context. The Margaret Douglas in this book is both impetuous and calculating. She is fiercely loyal to family and always conscious of her heritage. Ms Weir’s inclusion of poems copied by Margaret Douglas into the Devonshire Manuscript serves also to make her seem less distant, more human. While it isn’t difficult for me to reconcile this Margaret Douglas with her appearance as a villain in Dorothy Dunnett’s wonderful historical fiction series ‘The Lymond Chronicles’, reality is always more complex. Margaret Douglas’s life was both privileged and dangerous. If you have an interest in the Tudors, this biography may well be of interest.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Lady Margaret Douglas, daughter of Mary Tudor and her second husband Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, was born on 7 October 1515 at Harbottle Castle. Margaret Douglas was the granddaughter, niece, cousin and grandmother of monarchs. At various times, there were those who saw Margaret herself as a potential queen of England.
In this detailed biography, Alison Weir, provides detail of Margaret Douglas’s life. Margaret Douglas ranked highly at the court of her uncle, Henry VIII and served five of his wives. She created scandal, twice, by falling in love with unsuitable men (first with Anne Boleyn’s uncle Thomas Howard, and then with his half-nephew Charles Howard), leading to the passing of the first Act of Parliament to regulate royal marriages. In 1544, Margaret Douglas married Matthew Stewart, the fourth earl of Lennox. This marriage, between two ambitious people, turned into a love match.
Margaret Douglas was imprisoned in the Tower of London on three separate occasions: a consequence of her love of intrigue and her ties to the thrones of England and Scotland. Margaret Douglas remained a Catholic, which meant that her relationship with Elizabeth I was never easy and became more complicated when her son, Henry, Lord Darnley, was married to Mary Queen of Scots in 1565. This marriage brought her tragedy as a consequence of it, both her husband and son were killed. But Margaret Douglas was a survivor, and her grandson James was to become the first Stuart monarch of England and Scotland in 1603.
Margaret Douglas was in debt when she died on 10 March 1578. Elizabeth I paid for her funeral in Westminster Abbey.
While I knew the outline of Margaret Douglas’s life, Ms Weir’s book provides much more detail and context. The Margaret Douglas in this book is both impetuous and calculating. She is fiercely loyal to family and always conscious of her heritage. Ms Weir’s inclusion of poems copied by Margaret Douglas into the Devonshire Manuscript serves also to make her seem less distant, more human. While it isn’t difficult for me to reconcile this Margaret Douglas with her appearance as a villain in Dorothy Dunnett’s wonderful historical fiction series ‘The Lymond Chronicles’, reality is always more complex. Margaret Douglas’s life was both privileged and dangerous. If you have an interest in the Tudors, this biography may well be of interest.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith