Margaret Douglas

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Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox

Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (October 8, 1515 – March 7, 1578) was the daughter of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and Margaret Tudor, Queen Dowager of Scotland.

Margaret was born at Harbottle Castle in Northumberland. Because of her nearness to the English crown, Lady Margaret Douglas was brought up chiefly at the English court in close association with the future queen Mary I of England, who remained her fast friend throughout life. She was high in the favour of her uncle, King Henry VIII of England, but was twice disgraced; first for an attachment to Lord Thomas Howard, who was imprisoned because of his misalliance with Margaret, and died in the Tower of London in 1537, and again in 1541 for a similar affair with Thomas Howard's half brother Sir Charles Howard, uncle of Queen Catherine Howard.

In 1544 she married a Scottish exile, Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox (1516-1571), who was regent of Scotland in 1570-1571. During Mary's reign, the countess of Lennox had rooms in Westminster Palace; but on the accession of Elizabeth I, she moved to Yorkshire, where her home at Temple Newsam became a centre for Roman Catholic intrigue. She succeeded in marrying off her son, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, to Mary I of Scotland.

In 1566 she was sent to the Tower, but after the murder of Darnley in 1567 she was released. She denounced Mary, but was eventually reconciled with her daughter-in-law. In 1574 she again aroused Elizabeth's anger by the marriage of her other son, Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox, with Elizabeth Cavendish, stepdaughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury. She was sent to the Tower, unlike Lady Shrewsbury, but was pardoned after her son's death in 1576.

Margaret's diplomacy largely contributed to the future succession of her grandson, James VI of Scotland, to the English throne. After the death of her son, Charles, she helped care for his daughter, Arbella Stuart. However, she did not outlive him by very long. A few days before her death, she had dined with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and this led to rumours that she had been poisoned. There is no historical evidence for this. Although she died in debt, she was given a grand funeral in Westminster Abbey, at the expense of Queen Elizabeth I.

The Lennox jewel, made for Lady Lennox as a memento of her husband, was bought by Queen Victoria in 1842.

She is also a major player in the historical fiction series the Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett.