“She was executed with appalling barbarity”283

Served Catherine of Aragon as lady in waiting294

Displeased with the break with the Catholic church, but by no means an activist against the Crown, she was taken into custody at the age of 70 and convicted of treason on no evidence. The Spanish ambassador reported, “When informed of her sentence, she found it very strange, not knowing her crime, but she walked to the space in front of the Tower, where there was no scaffold but only a small block. She there commended her soul to God, and desired those present to pray for the King, the Queen, Prince, and Princess. The ordinary executioner being absent, a blundering ‘garconneau’ was chosen, who hacked her head and shoulders to pieces.”294

The last of the White Roses, Margaret’s execution finished the bloody trail of execution begun by Henry’s father, the usurper Henry Tudor VII.1