Sly Facts About Margaret Douglas, Henry VIII’s Naughty Niece
A woman’s place in King Henry VIII’s court was a perilous existence. It was often a literal “heads will roll” kind of situation. Henry’s spirited niece, Margaret Douglas, spent her time in his court terrified of just that outcome.
She had good reason to fear: Ambitious and single-minded, Margaret was determined to make any member of her family the King or Queen of England. She stopped at nothing to achieve her goal.
1. She Was A Miracle
Margaret Douglas’s mother bore a grand total of eight children—with three different husbands. If it sounds like a childhood surrounded by fun, games, and sibling affection, you’ve got it wrong. This was the 16th century and the child mortality rate was through the roof. Sadly, Margaret Douglas was one of only two children born to Margaret Tudor who managed to live past infancy. Sure she survived, but her life was tough from the get-go.
2. She Was On The Run
Margaret Douglas had a seriously perilous birth. It was 1515 and her mother, Margaret Tudor, was literally on the run. Tudor’s first husband, King James IV, had died in battle and Tudor had wasted no time getting a rather unsuitable second husband—a man named Archibald Douglas, the Earl of Angus. Tudor married in secret and, because her children were in line for the Scottish crown, there was a lot of drama.
Tudor escaped Scotland to save her life and that of her unborn child. She arrived in England in October 1515, pregnant and ready to give birth to her namesake.
3. It Was A Dramatic Situation
Douglas’s birth was not ordinary for royalty—did I mention her uncle was King Henry VIII? Because her mother was on the run, she had to make do with whatever location she came across. Douglas was eventually born in a border keep: the part of a castle they used for protection from enemies as a last resort. It was here, with rain dripping through the stones, that Douglas was born.
It’s a miracle that she even survived.
4. It Went From Bad To Worse
Baby Douglas lived in the castle with her mother, and the two waited for her father, Angus, to arrive and join them. Well, this didn’t happen, so mother and Douglas packed it up and returned to Scotland in search of dad. When they found him, life went from bad to much worse. Douglas’s parents could not get along—not even a bit.
The shouting matches were intense, so intense that King Henry VIII basically heard them back in England. Henry VIII, something of an expert in bad marriages, had something to say about this one.
