The English Queen of Scots

I will not lie, and tell you that what you are about to do will be easy. Being a queen is no small task. You will have to smile when you are upset, pretend to like courtiers that you cannot tolerate, and celebrate when you feel as though your heart is breaking. But only you can decide: Is that a choice that you are willing to make? How much is power worth to you?’

I smile up at her, finally confident of my answer. ‘Everything.’

Margaret Tudor has always known that she would have to marry James IV of Scotland as part of the Treaty of Perpetual Peace, signed by her father Henry VII of England. Married at fourteen, she is sent to lonely, cold Scotland to rule as its queen. Although the marriage turns out to be a happy one, she is tossed into a sea of politics and intrigue; the Treaty, far from being perpetual, barely lasts until the ascension of her brother Henry VIII to the English throne. His ambitions to conquer France, Scotland’s ancient ally, causes a great rift between him and James. Margaret’s loyalties to both Scotland and England are tested to the very limits as the bitter rivalry between her brother and her husband heightens, finally culminating in the most disastrous battle in British history.