Queen: Elizabeth of York, 1466-1503

Elizabeth of York is best known as the mother of the Tudor dynasty but she was, by virtue of her birth, the last Plantagenet queen consort of England.  A main character in Philippa Gregory's novels, The White Queen (played by Freya Mavor), and The White Princess (Jodie Comer), Elizabeth comes across as an incestuous schemer who stops at nothing including the murder of her own aunt-by-marriage, and conniving to place a Yorkist pretender on the English throne at the expense of her husband and sons.  It's easy to make this fictional leap because that's what Plantagenets did.  Well, not always. 

Elizabeth was born in 1466, the oldest daughter of Edward IV and his wife, Elizabeth Woodville.  Elizabeth Woodville was reckoned a great beauty in her day and her eldest daughter inherited the best from two genetically blessed parents.  The Tudor golden hair and brilliant complexion was her contribution to the gene pool.  Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville had ten children, of whom 2 boys and 5 girls survived.  Elizabeth's had a happy childhood, but all that changed in 1483, when Edward IV died unexpectedly.  Her uncle, Richard of Gloucester, moved quickly to secure the throne for himself.  Edward V, Elizabeth's older brother, was placed in the Tower for safekeeping.  Alarmed, Elizabeth Woodville took her remaining son Richard of York, and her daughters into sanctuary at Westminster Abbey.  And here's where the plot thickens.  Richard approached Elizabeth Woodville and coaxed or demanding that she release her youngest son into his care.  Elizabeth either allowed it and allowed young Richard to go with his uncle or, according to later rumor, substituted a biological child of Edward IV while sending the real Richard of Shrewsbury incognito to his aunt Margaret of York in Burgundy.  Soon after joining his brother in the Tower, both boys disappeared into history, becoming the famous Princes of the Tower.

After the disappearance of her son, Elizabeth Woodville took other steps to secure her children's future.  She opened communication with Margaret Beaufort, Lady Stanley, the mother of Henry Tudor, offering Elizabeth's hand in marriage if and when Henry chose to invade England and claim the crown.  Meanwhile, Richard III again persuaded Mama Elizabeth to allow her daughters to come back to Court as blood princesses.  While her acquiescence may have been a sign that she didn't believe Richard III responsible for the boys' deaths, it may also be that, in reality she had no choice.  Richard could make it a command had she pressed the issue.  Rumors soon swirled that Richard had his eye on his eldest niece, Elizabeth.  Richard's wife Anne was in failing health and, without an heir, Richard would need a young wife capable of bearing sons.  The rumors also suggested that Elizabeth connived with her uncle to hasten Anne's death.  The rumors forget one thing.  Richard III had declared all his nieces to be illegitimate.  It would have been not only incestuous but self-defeating for him to marry Elizabeth when an alliance with a foreign princess would have served him better.  When Anne finally did die in 1485, Richard took care to publicly deny any rumors that he would marry Elizabeth and sought a double marriage with the royal family of Portugal, himself with a Portuguese princess, and Elizabeth with her brother, to dispose of the issue.

Henry Tudor put a crimp in these plans by invading England and killing Richard at the Battle of Bosworth.  With her uncle and brothers dead, Elizabeth arguably had a claim to the crown in her own right.  But England still wasn't ready for a Queen Regnant, and Henry Tudor had no plans for a double monarchy a la William and Mary.  He had himself crowned King of England and then, on January 18, 1486, he and Elizabeth of York were married in Westminster Abbey.  Elizabeth gave birth to the first-born Arthur on September 20, 1486, eight months after their wedding.  Then, on November 25, 1487, Elizabeth was crowned Queen Consort of England.  She would have seven children in all, but only Arthur, Margaret, Mary and Henry would survive.  Far from being a conniving schemer, Elizabeth left politics to Henry.  She preferred looking after her children at the nursery palace of Eltham, needlework and charity, music, dancing, and caring for her greyhounds. 

Then, tragedy struck.  In 1502, her eldest son Arthur, newly married to Katherine of Aragon, died of tuberculosis in Wales.  Both Henry and Elizabeth were beside themselves with grief.  Elizabeth comforted her husband by reminding him that Henry, Jr., was healthy and that she and the King were both young enough to have further children.  She became pregnant with a final daughter, Katherine, and gave birth to her in the palace of the Tower of London on February 2, 1503.  Katherine survived only a few days.  Elizabeth caught childbirth fever and died on February 11, 1503, her 37th birthday.  Henry VII and his surviving three children were devastated.  The King withdrew into seclusion for days and young Henry would be profoundly moved by his mother's death for the rest of his life.  He ordered candles and masses each year for her death anniversary until his own death as a widower in 1509.  Although his health was never strong after the double blow of Arthur and Elizabeth dying, he died of illness and not grief. 

Elizabeth claimed her place in popular culture.  The nursery rhyme, Sing a Song of Sixpense speaks of a queen in her parlor eating bread and honey.  Some believe this refers to Elizabeth of York.  She's also the face of the Queen of Hearts in the standard playing card deck.  Her wooden funeral effigy survives to this day, as does the double tomb effigy of gisant of her and Henry VII.  Elizabeth's personal badge, the white rose of York over the red rose of Lancaster/Tudor is the basis of the Tudor Rose, still an emblem of England.  Now, as for Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Elizabeth's long-lost brother Richard of York, likely Flemish and born in Tournai around 1483.  He bore a close resemblance to a young Edward IV, gaining support from James IV of Scotland, who offered him a marriage to the daughter of one of his leading nobles, Katherine Gordon, daughter of Earl of Huntly.  Warbeck also gained the backing of Margaret of York, Elizabeth's aunt.  He landed in England in 1497 and his movement quickly gained steam.  He was quickly captured and placed in the Tower.  Though Warbeck's origins are unclear, most modern historians doubt he was Richard of Shrewsbury, though he may have been a biological son of either Edward IV, or maybe even Margaret of York.

His wife, Katherine, was sent to live with Elizabeth and her children at Eltham Palace.  There's no evidence that Elizabeth ever supported Warbeck or believed that he was her long-lost brother, Richard.  There's also no evidence that she supported any attempts by her young cousin, Edward of Clarence, Earl of Warwick, to claim the throne.  Elizabeth may have been loyal to her birth family, but her responsibility would lie first to her mother and later her sisters.  And that meant keeping on Henry Tudor's good side.  Later, when her own boys Arthur and Henry were born, Elizabeth would have observed the first rule of all Plantagenet mothers of lions, to safeguard her own sons' inheritance at all costs.  In a push comes to shove, she would have done whatever was needed to keep her sons on the throne, even against other Yorkist claimants.  Margaret of York had no children and would have had the luxury to bank on a Yorkist claimant.  Elizabeth had no choice but to stick by Henry Tudor and make sure one of their boys carried her claim to the throne.  Any other Plantagenet queen worth the name would've done the same.  It was that simple.