Margaret Pole and Princess Mary's Relationship

Margaret Pole and Princess Mary Tudor are bound by more than the formal roles of governess and royal pupil. Margaret helps raise Mary from early childhood, teaches her, and becomes a steady, mother-like presence. Their four-year separation, reunion, and later efforts to protect Mary’s understanding of the crisis around her parents show how personal care becomes a source of trust—and, as the king’s policies threaten Mary’s status, a quiet political allegiance.

Governess and Early Care

Margaret’s duties as Mary’s Lady Governess are not due to begin formally until the princess enters the schoolroom, but Margaret chooses to start her education early. Away from court for much of one spring, she divides her time between supervising work on her London house, L’Erber, and staying with Mary. She reads to her at bedtime, listens to her sing, teaches her prayers, and dances with her while musicians play. Katherine of Aragon welcomes this closeness, visits her daughter, and is content to know that Margaret is with her.

The care is practical as well as affectionate. Margaret says she guided Mary’s first steps, trimmed her curls, taught her to read Latin, English, Spanish, and French, and helped her learn to ride and hold the reins. She also sits with her when her music master teaches her the virginal. These details make the relationship a daily practice of instruction and companionship, rather than a title alone. Margaret knows Mary’s abilities and habits intimately, and understands that the child expects her continued presence.

Margaret’s regard for Mary is joined to her loyalty to Katherine. When Margaret Beaufort confronts her over what she knows of Prince Arthur and Katherine’s earlier marriage, Margaret confirms that Arthur was taken to Katherine’s room each week as ordered, but does not claim that she witnessed consummation. Margaret Beaufort presses her to affirm that Katherine and Arthur were wedded and bedded, accusing her of supporting a lie that could ruin the Tudor household. The exchange places Margaret between a royal command and her own limits as a witness; it also shows that her attachment to Katherine and her household persists under pressure.

Dismissal and Separation

The king eventually orders Margaret’s dismissal as Mary’s governess. Katherine tells her the news at dawn after returning from Lauds: Henry VIII will not hear her argument. Margaret’s response makes clear what is at stake beyond the loss of a position. Mary is only five, and Margaret cannot imagine leaving a child who loves and depends on her, whose first lessons and milestones she has shared.

Margaret offers to withdraw to Bisham Manor and live quietly in the country. Katherine embraces her and promises that the separation will not last. Margaret asks her to give Mary her love, pray for her, and remind her to practise music; she insists that she will return as governess. The confidence is poignant because the promise is not immediately fulfilled. Margaret’s exile lasts four years, during which she is separated from the child she has helped raise.

The eventual thaw in royal favor begins through small signs: Katherine sends Margaret a gift, and Henry VIII sends game while hunting nearby. Margaret is then appointed to return to Ludlow Castle as companion and governess to the nine-year-old Mary, who is to govern the principality. For Margaret, this recall restores not only a court position but also the relationship she had feared losing. She brings her daughter-in-law Constance to serve Mary as a lady-in-waiting, returning with her to the center of the royal household.

Reunion and Renewed Trust

At Thornbury Castle in August 1525, Margaret sees Mary for the first time in four years. She has imagined the princess as taller and more robust, but finds her small beneath adult clothing and the weight of her titles. Mary then jumps down from her horse, runs up the steps, and throws herself into Margaret’s arms. Margaret holds her for a long time, reluctant to turn her away in order to present her to the household. She thinks of Mary as beloved like one of her own children and is glad to have her back in her keeping.

The reunion restores an intimacy that the separation could not erase. Mary tells Margaret that she thought she would never see her again; Margaret reassures her that she knew she would return and would not leave her again. The scene answers the earlier dismissal through action: Mary’s immediate rush into Margaret’s arms and Margaret’s refusal to let go make visible the trust and affection sustained across the years apart.

Margaret’s protection also takes the form of controlling what Mary is told. By the end of the summer, news that Henry VIII is seeking to end his marriage to Katherine of Aragon is widely known. At Ludlow, however, Margaret keeps ugly gossip from reaching the young princess. She struggles to tell Mary that her parents are estranged and that her father questions the validity of their marriage. Distance from London and the uncertainty caused by the Pope’s captivity in Rome further complicate the news available to Margaret. For a time, she maintains a protected domestic world around Mary even as the princess’s family and position are coming under threat.

From Child to Political Confidante

By autumn 1528, when Mary is twelve, Margaret sees her as intelligent, disciplined, and trained to anticipate the thoughts of subjects and enemies. Yet that preparation cannot make it easy for her to witness her adored father turning away from her mother. Margaret cannot bring herself to explain that Henry VIII believes his marriage to Katherine was sinful, or to present the deaths of Mary’s infant siblings as divine punishment. Her silence is an act of care, but it also reveals its limits: protecting Mary from painful information cannot halt the crisis that will shape her life.

Mary’s growing political awareness changes the terms of their relationship. When Margaret’s son Lord Montague reports that the Church has surrendered to the king, Mary insists that she is neither a child nor a fool and asks to be told what has happened. She understands that the king is taking control of the Church, its wealth, laws, and courts. Margaret and Lord Montague do not contradict her. The princess who once depended on Margaret for lessons and comfort now speaks as someone seeking counsel about the government of her country.

That trust has practical consequences. Margaret promises Mary that a folded paper will reach her mother; Lord Montague proposes to pass it to Eustace Chapuys, the Spanish ambassador, who carries secret letters to Katherine, the emperor, and the Pope. The evidence does not identify the paper’s contents, but the plan shows Margaret acting as a discreet connection between mother and daughter. As Mary’s parents are divided by the struggle over marriage and church authority, Margaret’s household and family network help preserve a channel of communication.

Loyalty Under Threat

The threat to Mary becomes sharper when Lord Montague argues that Henry VIII’s promotion of Henry Fitzroy as heir signals that the princess will be set aside. He proposes using a journey to Calais to send Geoffrey Pole to Reginald Pole with reports and messages intended to secure support for Katherine and Mary. Margaret recognizes the danger in the plan, but also understands her obligations: she cannot abandon the princess in her charge or her friend the queen. Her loyalty to Mary is no longer only the governess’s personal devotion; it is part of the choice to resist the disinheritance she believes the king is preparing.

When peers are summoned to Westminster Palace in spring 1534 to take the oath of succession, the dispute becomes a direct contest over what the realm will recognize as true. The Pope has declared Katherine and Henry’s marriage valid, while the king claims authority to declare Katherine no longer his wife and Mary no longer legitimate. Margaret’s account emphasizes the peril of a power that can turn a declaration into official reality. Within that conflict, her history with Mary gives the threatened succession a personal dimension: the child she taught and raised is the person whose identity and rights are being recast by the crown.