Queen of James IV and Regent of Scotland. Born in Westminster Palace, London, the daughter of King Henry VII and sister of Henry VIII, Margaret was betrothed to King James IV in 1496 in an attempt to bring about an alliance between England and Scotland. The couple were married in 1503 at Holyrood Abbey. While the marriage was unsuccessful in its aim of preventing hostilities between the two countries, in the longer term it gave James VI his claim to the English throne, which led to the Union of the Crowns exactly 100 years later.
James was killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513 and Margaret served for a time as Regent for her son, James V. However, she was forced to give up the regency the following year when she married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus (1489 - 1557). The couple held great influence in Scotland and were supported by the English in their disputes with John Stuart, 4th Duke of Albany (1481 - 1536), who had become Regent. However when Douglas fell from power, Margaret changed her allegiance and obtained a divorce in 1528. Shortly afterwards she married for the third time, to Henry Stewart, Lord Methven (1495 - c.1551). Margaret tried to build a relationship between her son and the English King Henry VIII, but James no longer trusted his mother and held her at arms length.
She died at Methven Castle and was buried at the Carthusian Abbey of St. John in Perth.
