Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England (1430-1482) [Wars of the Roses]

On May 30, 1445, the coronation of Margaret of Anjou as Queen Consort of England took place at Westminster Abbey. From the article:

"MARGARET OF ANJOU, Queen of England, daughter of Rene of Anjou, titular king of Naples and Jerusalem, was born on the 23rd of March 1430. When just fourteen she was betrothed to Henry VI, King of England, and in the following year was brought to England and married at Titchfield Abbey, near Southampton, on the 23rd of April 1445. On the 28th of May she was welcomed at London with a great pageant, and two days later crowned at Westminster.

Margaret's marriage had been negotiated by William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, and when she came to England, Suffolk and his wife were her only friends. Naturally she fell under Suffolk's influence, and supported his policy. This, added to her French origin and sympathies, made her from the start unpopular. Though clever and good-looking, she was self-willed and imperious, and without the conciliatory manners which her difficult position required. In almost everything she was the opposite of her gentle husband, but entered into his educational schemes, and gave her patronage to the foundation of Queen's College, Cambridge.

Margaret's really active share in politics began after Suffolk's fall in 1450. She not only supported Edmond Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, in his opposition to Richard of York, but concerned herself also in the details of government, seeking not over-wisely pecuniary benefits for herself and her friends. But as a childless queen her influence was limited; and when at last her only son, Edward, was born on the 13th of October 1453, her husband was stricken with insanity. From this time she was the ardent champion of her husband's and son's rights; to her energy the cause of Lancaster owed its endurance, but her implacable spirit contributed to its failure."