Women of the White Queen - Lady Margaret Beaufort
Lady Margaret Beaufort has always been sort of a cipher to me, not quite as knowable as either Elizabeth Woodville or Marguerite of Anjou. Perhaps that’s because she was never a Queen, but the mother of a King. She wasn’t royal, although she was descended from royalty. Her son, Henry Tudor, by rights, should never have become King. Margaret, with her deep faith, believed that it was always God’s plan that Henry should be king. In the BBC 1/Starz miniseries, she’s played by actress Amanda Hale with a furrowed brow and a fierce expression. In her only scene in the first episode, she wears a red dress and chastises Jacquetta Woodville for her daughter’s marriage to the Yorkist king. Reading about her life, I found a much more fascinating woman. Throughout her life, Margaret took matters into her own hands, whether it was finding a husband or safeguarding and protecting the interests of her son. She was genuinely pious, extremely clever, and pragmatic. Due to her wealt