The Forgotten Tudor Royal: Margaret Douglas

As the daughter and cousin of queens and the granddaughter and niece of kings, Lady Margaret Douglas was an integral part of the Tudor royal dynasty. A favourite of her uncle King Henry VIII and a close friend of Queen Mary I she courted scandal which saw her imprisoned in the Tower of London on more than one occasion. Against the orders of Queen Elizabeth I she plotted the marriage of her eldest son Lord Darnley to Mary, Queen of Scots with disastrous consequences.

She came as close to the executioners block as she did to the throne of England, with some believing she had a right to be queen. A devout Catholic all her life, she lived at a time when religious division split the country in half yet she remained steadfast in her beliefs. A respected and revered lady on both sides of the border, Lady Margaret Douglas, later Countess of Lennox through her marriage, suffered much heartbreak and loss.

Her husband and son were both murdered at the hands of the Scots and she outlived all her children. Despite these tragedies she never gave up on her dream of uniting the thrones of England and Scotland which was realised through her grandson King James VI/I. The story of her life is a remarkable tale of intrigue and survival and deserves to be more widely told.