As Richard's wife, Anne Neville, was dying, there were murmurs that the king sought to marry his niece Elizabeth, knowing that most people believed her to be England's rightful queen. She and her siblings were declared bastards. But after the death of her father the disappearance and probable murder of her brothers, the Princes in the Tower and the usurpation of the throne by her calculating uncle Richard III, Elizabeth found her world turned upside~down. The first child of King Edward IV, Elizabeth enjoyed all the glittering trappings of royalty. Her birth was greeted with as much pomp and ceremony as that of a male heir.

Now New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed historian Alison Weir presents the first modern biography of this extraordinary woman, whose very existence united the realm and ensured the survival of the Plantagenet bloodline. But is often forgotten that the life of the first Tudor Queen, Elizabeth of York, Henry's mother and Elizabeth's grandmother, spanned one of England's most dramatic and perilous periods. ~ Many are familiar with the story of the much~married King Henry VIII of England and the celebrated reign of his daughter, Elizabeth I. approximately 60 glossy full color illustrations. no library markings or store stamps, no stickers or bookplates, no names, no inking, no underlining, no remainder markings etc ~. dustwrapper in protective plastic book jacket cover. It is also clear that, far from living in subjection to Henry VII and his mother, Margaret Beaufort, she enjoyed a good relationship with both.Black hardbound 8vo. Certainly the sources show that she deserves a lot more credit for her political accomplishments than most historians have been prepared to give her – and that she was highly active within the late medieval queen’s traditional spheres of influence. Her goodness shines forth in the records she was greatly loved, and deservedly so. Henry VII did engage in diplomacy to find a second wife, but did not in the end remarryĮlizabeth’s legacy to the Tudor dynasty was her Plantagenet blood, which compensated for any deficiency in Henry VII’s descent. Elizabeth’s bloodline was, in many eyes, superior to that of Henry Tudor himself, and her death robbed him of one prop to his dynastic claim, as well as ending hopes that he and Elizabeth could have more children: the dynasty’s future hung on the sole surviving prince, Henry – the future Henry VIII – aged just 11.

It was also, however, a major political blow.

It was a shattering personal blow to the king, says Dr James Ross – her grand funeral was the public expression of this. Elizabeth died on 11 February 1503, a few days after giving birth to a daughter, Katherine, who died soon after.

Elizabeth of York by Alison Weir