Margaret holds a strong opinion for her entire life that the Plantagenets were the true royal family of England. Do you agree with her?
Absolutely, there is no argument that Henry VII took the throne by force, that he tried to justify the claim through his marriage to Elizabeth, and the blackening of Richard III’s reputation was to bolster his taking of the throne in combat. The true heir to Richard III’s throne would have been his nephews by Edward IV (the Princes in the Tower if they had survived) or his nephew by George, Duke of Clarence—Margaret’s brother, Edward of York.
Is there any evidence of a curse on the house of Tudor, spoken by Elizabeth of York and her mother, or by any other?
This has been one of the fascinating unfolding research stories during the course of writing fiction. I first invented a curse when I wanted Elizabeth Woodville (Edward’s queen) and her mother, Jacquetta, to respond to the news that the Princes in the Tower were missing, presumed dead. Writing a novel it seemed to be a nicely rounded piece of fiction for them to curse the line of the murderer of their boys, which raised a question about the guilt of both Richard III and Henry VII—the two suspects. The curse also foreshadowed the great tragedy for the Tudors—their inability to raise to manhood a son to carry the line. So I described this in three books previous to The King’s Curse without any idea that it would play through the series in this way. Then when I came to research the deterioration of Henry VII’s reputation and that of his son I discovered that there were rumours that the line was cursed, and that people responded to the loss of the Tudor babies with gossip that the line was certain to fail. Finally, as a fascinating piece of research I came across the work of Catrina Banks Whitley and Kyra Kramer who suggest that Henry may have had the rare Kell positive blood type which can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant death when the mother has the more common Kell negative blood type. Whitley and Kramer also suggest that Henry’s later symptoms of paranoia and anger may have been caused by McLeod syndrome, which can develop in midlife. Sometimes fiction seems to have an understanding of fact. If Henry did have this disease and syndrome it would have been a hereditary disease, like a curse, and it would have come through the matrilineal line—from his mother, Elizabeth of York, from her mother, Jacquetta.
There are persistent themes in several of your historical novels: maternity and motherhood, the relationships between mothers and sons, and the role that apparently powerless women seem to play: why is it important for you to write about these topics?
I didn’t plan to write fictions based on womens’ history, but this has become a natural subject for me because of my interest in women generally, and because one fascinating woman’s story has led me to another. This has meant that I have had the privilege of researching less well-known women and bringing their stories to a wide public. What has been interesting about this also is finding how many women who are in the background of published histories were often working powerfully and effectively behind the scenes, and you can see this if you read their stories with a feminist eye. For instance, many historians write off Margaret Beaufort as the obedient wife of three men, a pawn in family dynamics, and a woman better suited to be a nun because of her proclaimed piety. But if you look beyond the obvious circumstances of her life and consider whether she was making conscious and deliberate political choices, you see a woman whose first marriage may have been outside her control but whose second and third marriages placed her (and thus her son) in a powerful position to draw close to, and take the crown. She was massively ambitious for her sons to be king, and hugely acquisitive for her own fortune and lands. She’s very far from the passive saint of the older histories. I write about mothers and children because this is such a key role for women of this time—both as emotional beings and as founders of dynasties. I also think a lot and write about female connections—another area often overlooked by earlier historians—who traced male kinship and comradeship but failed to see that sisters, cousins, mothers and daughters, and especially women with young kinswomen in their service make profound connections and forge alliances with female bonds. As to why I am interested in women’s history—it’s partly because I am a woman, it’s partly because I am a historian who likes new research, it’s because I am a novelist and women’s stories resonate for me, and more than anything else—these are our foremothers, these are our heroines.
What are you working on next?
I’m starting work on a new historical novel but I am not yet sure who is going to be the principal character. I’m reading around.
Enhance Your Book Club
1. The King’s Curse provides a different perspective on some of the same events that are included in many Tudor novels, including books by Philippa Gregory, such as The Other Boleyn Girl. Compare Margaret Pole’s version of events with those in works of historical fiction set in this era. If you haven’t read any, check out the other books in Philippa Gregory’s Cousins’ War series and Tudor Court novels.
2. Read a nonfiction account of the life of the real Lady Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, born Margaret of York, such as Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, 1473–1541: Loyalty, Lineage and Leadership by Hazel Pierce, and don’t miss the extensive bibliography at the end of The King’s Curse for further reading.
3. Visit Philippa Gregory’s website, www.philippagregory.com, to learn more about the author, the Plantagenet family tree, and history.
4. Follow Philippa Gregory on Facebook, www.facebook.com/PhilippaGregoryOfficialFanPage, or Twitter, @philippagbooks, for regular updates about Philippa’s research and historical characters.
Buy the complete book
A novel about two queens, Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard—and the woman who destroys them.
The Boleyn Inheritance
This novel seeks to answer the great question: Why would Katherine of Aragon, a woman of unimpeachable spirituality, tell an enormous lie and cling to it until she changed the course of history?
The Constant Princess
A novel set in Tudor England about a young woman who makes her way in the world with only her looks, her cunning and her magic to give her power—but at what price?
The Wise Woman
Philippa Gregory conquers a new period of English history with her first book to be published simultaneously by all Simon & Schuster companies around the globe.
The White Queen
This tells the riveting story of Elizabeth of York, daughter of the White Queen, caught between loyalty to the new crown and to her royal family.
The White Princess
The Red Queen crosses the battle lines to the Lancaster side, where Margaret Beaufort plots to win the throne of England for her family.
The Red Queen
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© SANTI U
PHILIPPA GREGORY
is the author of several bestselling novels, including
The Other Boleyn Girl
, and is a recognized authority on women’s history. Her Cousins’ War novels are the basis for the critically acclaimed Starz miniseries
The White Queen
. She studied history at the University of Sussex and received a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh. She welcomes visitors to her website,