Weekly Reader Philippa Gregory Edition: Three Sisters, Three Queens (The Plantagenet and Tudor Court Series Vol. VIII) by Philippa Gregory; Sisterly Competitiveness Reaches It's Zenith Between King Henry VIII's Wife and Sisters
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: Many of the Plantagenet and Tudor Court Series books have an ongoing theme of sisterhood by blood or friendship, and for better or worse. Quite a few of the books deal with the jealousy and competitiveness that sisters share. When those sisters are members of a Royal family, that competitiveness can be very public, costly, and catastrophic.
The eighth volume of the series focuses on Margaret Tudor, second child of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York and older sister of King Henry VIII. Her lot in life has always been to be the second and overlooked in any situation. She is not in the line of succession because she is a girl so she is not held in as high regard as her brothers, Princes Arthur and Henry. She is not thought of as a great beauty like her younger sister Princess Mary so she is not a serious contender for marriage. When Arthur marries Katherine of Aragon, all eyes and eventual power go to the new arrival from Spain so Margaret is overlooked in her own country.
It's no wonder that she looks forward to her arranged marriage to King James IV of Scotland. She may not know the country that well and it won't be a match made for love but at least she will be the most important woman in her own country.
When the book begins, Margaret is not a pleasant person. While many of the books in the series begin with the protagonists as children, they show a level of maturity that is to be expected of a preteen-teenager of that period. Here Margaret acts like a shrieking vain spoiled brat. She constantly judges Katherine for her clothes, piety, and accent even though she can't help but inwardly admire her composure and how she carries herself as a queen. She also constantly craves attention to the point of demanding it.
It is understandable, given her situation as the unfavorite in the family but it still is annoying to read.
After the difficulties that her predecessors suffer from political intrigue, child marriages, and warfare at young ages, Margaret Tudor is the first chronological Royal in the series that actually behaves like an Entitled Royal Pain.
Thankfully, she doesn't stay that way and the book is just as much about Margaret's path to maturity as it is about her carving her own destiny from underneath her sister's shadows.
After she marries James, she is bemused by his abrasive brusque nature and his freer sexuality. Part of that sexuality is to not only openly admit his various love affairs but to accept his illegitimate children into her household. While Margaret is aware of royal extramarital affairs and knows that male royals often have mistresses, she won't have that at her house. She orders James’ illegitimate children out of the castle and back with their mothers or other relatives. James grumbles but willingly accepts. Margaret for once is not content to play second fiddle to anyone and commands that at least as far as Scotland and her marriage bed are concerned, she comes first.
James and Margaret get through that first hurdle fairly well and settle into a fairly happy ultimately loving marriage in which they have two sons and one daughter. Though one son and the daughter die in infancy, Margaret's third son, James survives to become the heir. Just when Margaret and James are contemplating a bright future, King Henry VIII declares war on France and as part of the Auld Alliance, Scotland has to assist France. So James is called to lead the troops and Margaret is declared regent in front of a council of very suspicious old school male nobles who are none too keen about being led by a woman.
Remember how one of Philippa Gregory's strengths in this series is in telling multiple viewpoints of the same events? Well she brings that in full force in this book. What in The Constant Princess was a military triumph for Katherine of Aragon to show her strength and leadership becomes a moment of agony for Margaret Tudor. When English troops kill James, bury him in England, and send his bloody coat to Henry as proof, Margaret is in anguish and is filled with hatred at the smug English queen who caused this. Her rivalry with Katherine turns to grief and hatred.
It is fascinating how Katherine of Aragon transforms from a feisty spiritual warrior in her book to a bloodthirsty villain in Margaret's. That's the true talent in Gregory's book how a savior in one book turns into a terror in another.
Now Margaret has to rule by herself while privately mourning for the husband that she had grown to love. Her widowhood and rule is made more difficult by her council who challenge her every rule, don't care for how she tries to make peace between the feuding clans, and consider the official male regent the Earl of Albany a better potential ruler. However despite the stumbling blocks, Margaret is able to use her leadership skills and forceful nature to make things happen.
One development that occurs because of the war is the importance of Princess Mary’s love life. Suddenly the young unmarried English princess and the recently widowed Scottish queen are debating potential partners. Okay, the King of France Louis XII is old enough to be their grandfather but he has wealth, power, and whichever sister he marries will be in charge of one country or in Margaret's case two. Margaret's claim on Louis ends however when the King sets his interest on the younger more beautiful Mary.
While the title of the book is Three Sisters, Three Queens, Mary probably gets the least amount of development in this book. Most of her story is told through letters to Margaret.
In these letters and in Margaret's recollections, Mary is childish, vapid, and more concerned with fashionable gowns, romance, and looking pretty. As we saw earlier Margaret was the same way, but she goes through a lot of growth and development in her book. Mary however does not.
Mary marries Louis for the financial benefits and to be taken care of even though she has a lover, Charles Brandon waiting in the wings. She doesn't care about ruling, she just wants to be admired and appraised because of her appearance and sunny disposition. Mary's extreme vanity is made apparent after Louis dies and she immediately leaves for England with Charles Brandon and marries him. This sudden marriage incense Harry and Katherine to the point that they estrange from Mary and Charles. It takes a papal dispensation before they forgive the duo.
They are ultimately forgiven, and their money is restored. Charles is accepted into Henry's inner circle despite having no interest in politics, religion, or the monarchy. He is solely seen as merely a charming courtier and Mary is seen as a pretty ornament in the castle. They contribute nothing but good looks and amiable companionship and that is a-okay with them.
Mary's two marriages and her closeness with Katherine, the woman whom Margaret blames for her husband's death reignites her rivalry with them. This causes Margaret to make the most reckless decision of her rulership: to fall in love with and marry Archibald Douglas, the 6th Earl of Angus.
Douglas is at first a supportive courtier, listening to Margaret's troubles and opens up her passionate desires. The first sign that all is suspicious is at their wedding when Douglas tells her that he doesn't have a ring so she supplies him with one. This little moment establishes his character as a moocher and freeloader who abuses his wife's trust for his own benefit.
Douglas does show some positive characteristics however. When the Earl of Albany displaces Margaret and her son James in a coup, Douglas does some quick thinking such as feigning loyalty to her anatgonists to ensure her safety and survival. When Margaret complains about Mary and Katherine again, Douglas brutally sets her straight by reminding her that this fight isn't just about her rivalry with the two women, this is about their kingdoms and she just really needs to shut up about them.
However, Douglas's bad qualities outweigh his good and this becomes noticeable in their marriage. Douglas convinces Margaret to favor his family members causing the clan rivalries to come into focus again undoing the work that she and her late husband,James did to bring those rivalries to an end. Margaret is so blinded by her attraction to Douglas, that she gives him whatever he wants and he slowly gains power through his wife.
During the coup, Margaret is left isolated and dependent on Douglas, even removed from her son. She is forced to appeal to her brother for assistance. While she is in exile, Douglas seizes her throne and shacks up with a mistress that he was once betrothed to.
Historically, Margaret Tudor was the grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots and the parallels are evident. Both had an arranged first marriage that ended with the death of their husbands. Both had unwise second marriages to opportunists who used their marriages as platforms for their own gain. Both had third marriages but ended up exiled from Scotland and separated from the throne and their sons.
However, what separates grandmother and granddaughter is the end results of their exile. Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned while in England and spent much of her time in captivity and becoming the center of various plots and conspiracies. Ultimately, Queen Elizabeth signed her death warrant and she was executed.
Margaret however takes a different tactic becoming a bolder character by taking control of her life. She divorces Douglas. Despite objections from Douglas, the council, and her family Margaret fully intends to see the divorce through. It becomes particularly hypocritical when Henry insists that “marriage is ordained by God” you know despite his various lovers and him wanting to separate from his own lawfully wedded wife. This hypocrisy makes Margaret even more determined to divorce Douglas. She declares that she will never again “believe that rules should be separate between men and women.”
Margaret manages to divorce Douglas and get him exiled. She falls in love for a third time with Henry Stewart, 1st Earl of Methvan whom she marries. The books ends things on a happy third marriage though in reality, Margaret's third marriage was just as stressful and she separated from him as well.
However, Margaret does create a lasting legacy for her son when King James V is settled into his throne. Margaret becomes instrumental in restoring peace between England and Scotland and arranges her son’s marriage to the French princess, Marie of Guise.
Margaret reaches the end of her book sympathizing with Katherine who is cast aside for Anne Boleyn and Mary who is estranged from her brother when she supports Katherine. Mary also reveals in her final letter to her sister that her looks have faded, and that she is ill and dying.
Margaret realizes that in the three-way competition between the three sisters, Margaret's the only one that came out on top. However, it's a hollow victory as she sincerely mourns how low her sisters have fallen and that instead of enemies and rivals, they could have been friends.
Three Sisters, Three Queens develops Margaret Tudor into a memorable character that can be spoiled, jealous, headstrong, but also forceful, determined, and independent. She goes from a jealous princess into a great queen.
