This is a wild woman we don’t hear about enough. Talk about a woman who stirred up drama!
Margaret Douglas was the daughter of Margaret Tudor and thus in line for the English throne. Because of this, she spent most of her childhood at the English court, as Henry VIII’s “beloved niece” but lost that favor when she was twenty and secretly married Lord Thomas Howard (half-brother to Thomas Howard who became the third duke of Norfolk). The marriage was quickly invalidated and the couple confined to the Tower. Howard was sentenced to death, though he died before the sentence was carried out; Margaret fell ill and was moved to Syon Abbey where she ended up recovering both health and royal favor.
Not one to learn her lesson, five years later she tried to repeat her crime with another Howard, Catherine’s brother – but that was just an affair rather than a marriage and Catherine was able to shield her from some of Henry’s wrath…though in 1544 he finally just married her off to Matthew Stewart, the Scottish Earl of Lennox. They had two sons who survived to manhood: Henry Stuart (Lord Darnley) and Charles Stuart. Margaret remained in England, either at court or at her estates in Leeds, Yorkshire and was Mary I’s choice for successor to the throne – though Parliament refused to cooperate in that plan.
When Elizabeth came to the throne, Margaret turned her sights to the next generation, and managed to marry her elder son, Darnley, to Mary Stuart. Margaret was sent to the Tower for that one, since uniting the claims of the two best Catholic contenders to the English throne made them a huge threat to Elizabeth (ironically their son ended up Protestant). She was released when her son was murdered.
Again not learning any lessons from her Tower stint, she continued to push secret marriages, marrying her younger son Charles to Elizabeth Cavendish, daughter of Bess of Hardwick who was then married to the Catholic (and very rich) Earl of Shrewsbury. Once again the risk to Elizabeth was somewhat short-lived as Charles died. While Arbella inherited his claim, an infant daughter was much less attractive to potential rebels than a grown man.
Still, the prospect of succession rights drew interest – including from Robert Dudley, then the Earl of Leicester, who hoped to have Arbella marry his base son, another Robert Dudley. Apparently, Margaret opposed such a union. A few days before her death, she dined with Robert Dudley, and this of course led to rumors that he poisoned her to eliminate her opposition…though truthfully almost any time anyone died, it was alleged that Robert Dudley did it. Personally, I believe there are several other murders it would be easier to pin on Robert Dudley… 😉
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