Margaret Pole: The Last Plantagenet a Royal Peer in Her Own Right.

And what did Hilary Mantel say about the enigmatic figure at the Tudor court?

Portrait thought to be Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury. © National Portrait Gallery, London

(1473–1541), was one of the last surviving members of the Plantagenet dynasty and a significant figure in Tudor England. Her life, marked by privilege, political intrigue, and ultimately tragedy, serves as a stark example of the dangers of royal blood during the reign of Henry VIII. Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, though primarily focused on Thomas Cromwell, offers glimpses of Margaret Pole and the shifting power dynamics that ultimately led to her downfall.

Hilary Mantel once talked about the portrait thought to be Lady Margaret Pole in the National Portait Gallery, London, describing the "grey-white face, long, guarded, medieval, remote." This exemplifies how Margaret, even in visual representation, remains unknowable. The portrait, like the historical record, offers clues but no definitive answers about her personality. The fact that the artist is anonymous further emphasizes the distance between us and the true Margaret.

Mantel pointed out that we know Margaret through "inventories, through legal documents and official letters." The list of her possessions – "tableware of silver and gold, Venetian glass" – tells us about her wealth and status, but nothing about her thoughts or feelings. Similarly, legal documents related to her land ownership reveal her as a shrewd businesswoman, but not as a person.

Mantel posed the central question: "Was she, at this point or that, doing nothing of interest at all – or was she doing everything, in a way that was almost supernaturally discreet?" This is exemplified by Margaret's response to the accusations against her family. Did she genuinely know nothing, as she claimed, or was she cleverly concealing her involvement?