伊莎贝拉与玛格丽特38

But Margaret knew that

her next move would have to be made carefully

For now, she left London for her castle at Tutbury in Staffordshire

But this wasn't a retreat from the political frontline

Instead, it was an attempt

to match the Duke of York

with a territorial power base of her own

Margaret had the castle at Tutbury enlarged and improved

It was an imposing residence

for an increasingly imposing queen

Margaret was clearly demonstrating to anyone who cared to look

that she was prepared to fight to defend her husband and son

But in doing so she provoked a reaction

And, as ever, a woman in power

was vulnerable to ***ual as well as political slurs

Rumours began to speak of the little Prince as a bastard or a changeling

and to suggest that, in private, Henry's queen might not be as loyal as she seemed

The implication was that unnatural impulses were at work

both inside and outside the royal bedchamber