it’s margaret beaufort’s birthday today so
there’s no evidence margaret had any intentions of her son becoming king prior to 1483, she worked instead with both edward iv and richard iii to obtain a pardon for him and a return of his ancestral lands, but these attempts never got far
margaret arranged her marriage to henry stafford herself, the marriage lasted 13 years and they were reported to be happy together, margaret would rebuild their home woking palace in her later years
there’s no evidence margaret ever personally plotted against the yorkist regime until the fall of 1483, after it had become rumored that richard had murdered his nephews which then gave henry the advantage he needed to make an official claim to the english throne, there’s nothing to suggest margaret influenced this decision at all
margaret and henry got along notably well, there was after all barely a 12 years difference between them and it is thought they were both eager to make up the lost time, margaret’s did not control or manipulate her son, he respected her advice and wisdom, in fact in henry’s later years when he reputation grew worse margaret had begun to live away from court, she had her own life and estates
margaret was known for her piety and charity and also her friendliness and humour, margaret founded schools in oxford and cambridge and was highly educated and intelligent herself
margaret was a survivor and certainly had a nerve of steel that she would hand down to her son and her great grandaughter elizabeth, but she is not the fanatical schemer she is so often misrepresented as but a woman who despite all the odds against managed to flourish in a violent era and help work to create peace to a troubled realm