Welcome back to Royal Romance Week Day Five here at White Rose of Avalon my Darlings.   Today’s post is about the relationship between Henry VII and his Queen Elizabeth of York!   This is the first post this week that is featuring a married couple, and interestingly, this is the only post this week that is featuring a couple who were in an arranged marriage.   Now, that should not surprise my readers, as arranged marriages are usually not exactly romantic.   The marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York began as a marriage to cement Henry’s right to rule and to bring together the houses of York and Lancaster.   However, it did not end up as a loveless marriage.  Henry VII and Elizabeth of York grew to love one another truly, and I find this to be an important type of love to highlight for Royal Romance Week!

So, let’s begin this post with an explanation of how the marriage between Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York came into being.   Henry Tudor was the only living heir to the throne of the House of Lancaster and he was of Welsh blood on his father’s line, Lancastrian through his mother’s line (although through an illegitimate line that was later legitimatized).   Henry Tudor spent much of his youth hiding out in France for his safety, at the wishes of his mother, Margaret Beaufort, and raised by his uncle Owen Tudor.   When Richard III became King of England by usurping the throne from his young nephew, Edward V, it was seen to be time for Henry Tudor to come back to England.   But first, he had to amass an army willing to fight for him against Richard III.   That is the time when the arranged marriage negations took place.   Margaret Beaufort and Elizabeth Woodville conspired together to arrange a marriage between their children to combine the houses and bring an end to the Cousins War, or what we today call the Wars of the Roses.   This also would serve to get Richard III off of the throne, and for Elizabeth Woodville and her children, provide closure to the question of legitimacy and maybe vengeance over the fact that Richard was believed to have killed Edward V and his younger brother Richard Duke of York when they were held in the Tower of London!

Elizabeth of York was actually set to marry whoever the victor of the Battle of Bosworth would be, as she and her mother had agreed that her hand would go to Richard III, who had just lost his wife and son if he won the Battle!   This has led many of the Richardians, that is members of the Richard III Society, to theorize that Elizabeth of York was in love with Richard III and that they may have even had an affair prior to the Battle of Bosworth (even though a marriage between the two would require Papal Dispensation due to Richard being her uncle).   So, lots of colourful incest theories there!   All that being said, which I had to acknowledge, Richard III died during the Battle of Bosworth, and Henry VII was crowned for the first time on the field of battle.

It would not be long until Elizabeth of York was brought to Court to marry Henry Tudor.   I must note that due to Henry VII’s claim to the throne being from the Beaufort line, which was never meant to rule even after they were legitimate, he truly did need to solidify his rule through marriage to Elizabeth of York.   He had won the crown on the battlefield in Warrior King style, conquering his enemy, but Henry VII was shrewd enough to know that in order to gain the support of his people, marriage to an already established royal would help!   Elizabeth of York was a beloved Princess by birth, the eldest daughter of the beloved Edward IV, who had grown up in Court, and had the love of the people already, which would help this French-raised, half-Welsh King learn to rule England.   It is also the same period in which the Tudor Rose was officially commissioned, as a symbol of the warring Houses of Lancaster and York coming together once and for all!   To further cement the Tudor grasp on the throne Henry VII claimed his descent from the legendary King Arthur through his Welsh line, even going so far as to name his and Elizabeth’s first son and heir Arthur. 

It is believed that after the birth of Arthur, Henry and Elizabeth grew to truly feel affection for one another.   They certainly seemed to have a relatively happy union during these years when they were growing their family.   The famed pretenders to the crown during the early years of Henry VII’s reign also served to further cement the bond between the spouses as they worked together to ensure that the throne remained with the Tudors and would be passed onto their children!   In many ways, the desire to protect their children and the throne upon which they sat, can be theorized to be the thing that really showed the growing love between the two Royal Spouses.   

The loss of their eldest son, Arthur, not long after he married Katherine of Aragon, was a huge blow to the couple.   However, it should be remembered that they came together to mourn the loss, relying on their bond to help them move on.   This seems an obvious thing, that the two mourning parents would lean on one another during this time.   However, this was not as common with parents who had been in arranged marriages, and it goes to prove that they had grown to care for and love one another over their long marriage!   This was when they decided to try to have another child, as they were still young enough to conceive, and they did conceive another child.   Sadly, Elizabeth of York would die during childbirth with this final child!   Henry VII mourned her loss greatly and was said to never be the same again.   The fact that he mourned her death so deeply is what proves to me irrevocably that Henry VII truly loved his Queen!  

I hope you have enjoyed learning about the relationship between Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.   Did they truly love each other in your opinion?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!   

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a picture of the tomb of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York at Westminster Abbey.   I found the image on https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/royals/henry-vii-and-elizabeth-of-york.   

Tarot Note: I have a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services!    I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon!  Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/

Further Reading

• Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World by Alison Weir