Customer Reviews
Two Tudor Princesses - Two Queens: a great study of the Tudor period - By: K. van Amelorde, 02 Jun 2008 
Margaret & Mary - nowadays the two sisters of Henry VIII are not very well know as the King seems to be overshadowing everything & everybody. However both princesses played an important rolein the British history. This excellent double biography of the two princesses is a great contribution to the study of the Tudor monarchy.
Margaret, the elder & least happy sister, became the queen consort of Scotland. She enjoyed her position as princess to the full; she began a lifelong love affair with beautiful clothes, delightedin dancing & music as well as archery & playing cards. The princess, as a result of her privileged position, developed a very stubborn personality. Her marriage to James IV of Scotland was accompanied by a treaty of "perpetual peace" between Scotland & England. But neither the marriage nor the peace lasted. The king was more occupied with his mistresses & the peace ended when James invaded Englandin 1513 & was killed at Flodden. Margaret became regent for her son, James V , but her love marriage to Archibald Douglas, earl of Angus, led to the loss of the regency to the duke of Albany. Albany soon obtained custody of the king, & Margaret fled to England. She returnedin 1517, However, her Marriage to Angus did not last. James was proclaimed kingin 1524 but was for several years virtually a prisoner of Angus. In 1527, Margaret obtained a divorce from Angus & soon married Henry Stuart, Lord Methven. James, upon his escape from Angus (1528), joined his mother & Methven, & they were for a time his chief advisers. The third marriage however, did not last too, but her son, the King, to allow her to divorce Methven.
Margaret's descendants by James IV & by Angus were united by the marriage of Lord Darnley & Mary Queen of Scots, whose son became James I of England (James VI of Scotland.). Through her the Stuarts of Scotland claimed the throne of England.
Princess Mary was the youngest sister of Henry VIII, & very much loved by him.. She had charm & good looks & was described as the golden child of the Tudor family. Pampered as she might have been, but there was no escape from royal duty. The teenage Mary is married of to the elderly & ailing king Louis of France. Every since Mary is known as The French Queen. However, she made Henry VIII promise that she could choose her second husband according to her will. The King of France did not live long & acted quickly & married without her brother's permission Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, the trusted friend of the King & the man, she wasin love with. The King is first furious, but the forgiving. The French Queen & her husband stars of the Tudor Court & there marriage a reasonably happy one, however without a male heir. In the divorce struggle of Henry VIII. & Queen Catherine of Aragon, Mary sided with the Queen an.
Her daughter Francis became the heir of the house & became the mother of the ill-fated Queen of nine day, Jane Grey. In a last tribute to his beloved sister Henry VIII had settled the succession after his offspring first on the descendants of Mary & only than on the ones of Margaret,in spite of the superior claim of Margaret.
This book is well written, with a great flow & interesting information about the two princesses. A great study of the Tudor period & of two very typical Tudor princesses. You will enjoy this excellent book.
Filled with facts but lacking in soul and spirit - By: , 15 Mar 2000 
Although Maria Perry's book is well researched, it reads very blandly & is overall, not very involving. As someone with an interestin Tudor biographies, I was thrilled to see that someone had finally devoted an entire book to Henry VIII's spirited & independent sisters as they were both women of immense character, but although this book faithfully recounts the factual events of their lives, it really never once captures their emotions or personalities. It's not a bad book by any means, but, considering the power, scandal, influence & independence these two women took on as the hallmarks of their lives, it's certainly a missed opportunity to bring them to life for the reader.
