The Princess’s eyes glowed with pleasure. ‘My lord,’ she cried, ‘it is a most excellent plan. The Welsh will be included. It will be the greatest token of peace and prosperity that you can give them.’

She had grasped his intention at once. The Queen agreed with him and his daughter as she always did.

‘Now,’ said the King, ‘shall I summon the knights and we shall set about planning this great spectacle.’

And thus in the August of the year 1284 Edward celebrated his conquest of Wales by setting up his Round Table in Nevin in Caernarvonshire, and to this he invited all the most renowned knights of England and the Continent. The Welsh had never seen such magnificence – and that was what Edward intended. He wanted them to realise that they now belonged to a great and powerful nation ruled over by an invincible king. He had compared himself to the great Arthur, and Arthur himself could not have presented a more noble figure than the tall King who in this romantic gesture was telling them that he intended to uphold justice and chivalry throughout their land.

They were aware of what he was doing for Wales. The great castles of Conway, Caernarvon and Harlech owed their strength and beauty to his skill.

Wales was now part of England and it was said that if good sense prevailed there would be no attempt to change that state of affairs.


* * *

The Queen Mother’s strength had suddenly started to fail. She, who had enjoyed good health throughout her life, was seriously alarmed and it occurred to her that it was time she took the veil.

By great good fortune the Pope had agreed that if she entered a convent she might retain her worldly goods and this decided her.

She had long made up her mind that her granddaughter Mary should take the veil and it seemed to her that this would be an appropriate time.

Neither the King nor the Queen were eager to see their daughter immured in a convent and the Queen felt that the child – who was only seven years old – should have a little more time in which to discover whether this was the kind of life she wanted.

But the Queen Mother was adamant. ‘If you deny me this I shall die unhappy,’ she declared. ‘You have had good fortune in Wales. God was on your side. Why, there was Merlin’s prophecy. That carried no weight because God was determined to aid you. And why do you think? It was because Mary was promised to His service. If you disregard His wishes now your good fortune will change, depend upon it.’

It did occur to the Queen that so often throughout their lives God’s will had coincided with that of the Queen Mother. But Edward half believed her and she knew that if he did not give way to her his mother’s doubts would creep into his mind, and it was necessary for his confidence to remain firm.

In her quiet way the Queen understood them both far better than they realised and it was easier to let Mary go as she showed no repugnance for the life chosen for her. Poor child, how could she when she had been told from birth what was awaiting her and had come to accept it? And what did she know, in any case, of what life would be with a husband and children?

‘Mary will not be lonely there,’ said the Queen Mother. ‘I shall be there to watch over her and her cousin Eleanor is already there.’

‘Of course Eleanor is much older than Mary.’

‘True, but she is her cousin and of the same rank. I am sure Mary is going to know such happiness as is denied to so many.’

The Queen sighed. The Queen Mother had, on the death of her daughter Beatrice, sent Beatrice’s daughter Eleanor to the convent at Amesbury. She had wanted a girl from each family to go there for she had a notion that it gave pleasure in Heaven and she was feeling the need more and more as the days passed to find favour there.

The Queen Mother thought that the Princess Mary should enter the convent at the time of the festival of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary – since the child bore the Virgin’s name.

This was arranged and the family returned to London, there to make the journey to Amesbury in order to be present at the ceremony.

Even baby Edward – now a year old – was taken along.

The Queen Mother was well satisfied. None of them would regret this, she was sure. The King, loving his daughters dearly, was a little unsure, but he had insisted that thirteen girls of noble families and of Mary’s age should accompany her as her companions.

The ceremony was most impressive and the Queen wept when the monastic veils were thrown over the heads of the young girls and the spousal rings placed on their fingers.

After that all the members of the royal family placed a rich gift on the altar and the King promised his daughter an annual allowance for the upkeep of her state in the convent. The Princesses Eleanor and Joanna discussed the ceremony afterwards and Joanna commented that it was easy to see why convents and monasteries welcomed royal people and those of great wealth.

‘The wealth of those who enter goes to the convent of course,’ said Eleanor.

‘Not always,’ retorted Joanna. ‘Our grandmother made sure that she retained hers.’

They smiled. They loved their grandmother but they were not sorry to see her take up her new abode. They were always a little afraid of her interference and that she would persuade their parents that something she wanted was good for them.

It was fortunate that she had been so impressed by the Princess Eleanor that she had been in favour of her being recognised as the heiress to England – but now that young Edward had arrived no one could do anything about the matter any more.

‘How sad to be old as she is!’ said Joanna. ‘She is always brooding on the past and so many people she loved are dead, even those whom you would have believed would have outlived her.’

‘I don’t think she ever got over the deaths of her daughters. It was so strange that Beatrice should die so soon after Margaret.’

‘I think she loved Margaret better than any of them. She could never forget that affair of her marriage when they almost starved her and kept her from her husband. Oh Eleanor, do you think we are ever going to get husbands? You are quite old and I am no longer young.’

‘We did not want to be sent away … I to Aragon and you to Germany. We had our wish.’

‘I know. But now that Edward is here it is different. I think we should marry soon. I should like to marry in England. Would you?’

Eleanor smiled secretively. ‘I think that is what our father wants.’

‘Then,’ added Joanna, ‘since his mother is no longer here he might have his way.’

‘That is not fair. He always had his way … and always will.’

‘But you must admit he took a great deal of notice of his mother. Look at Mary. Do you think he wanted her to go into a convent?’

‘He did not care very much and he thought it would serve him well in Heaven. Had Mary been unhappy he would not have allowed it.’

‘Well, sister, you are twenty-two years of age. If you are ever going to marry you will have to do so soon.’

‘And you are fourteen.’

‘A babe in arms compared with you.’

Eleanor sighed. It was true.

‘The gentleman of Aragon is still in his kingdom. It may well be those negotiations will be renewed.’

‘I don’t want to go to Aragon.’

‘Well, sister, even our father would not prevent it if it was necessary to state affairs.’

‘It was necessary before, but he prevented it.’

‘Oh, I thought that was God with the Sicilian Vespers.’

‘Our father took the opportunity that was offered.’

‘Oh, he loves you truly. You are his favourite and always will be. But alas, in this world we live in, a boy is a boy and therefore of greater importance than we are.’

‘Yet our grandmother loved her daughters and so does our father.’

‘Oh yes, but that is a private loving. But I like it well when a woman comes into her own.’

‘Oh yes, a woman queen … Queen in her own right … not simply because she is married to the King!’

It was strange, but very soon after this conversation an event took place which was to have a great effect on the crown of England.

It concerned the Scottish succession. There was one thing the Queen Mother had always been grateful for and that was that her daughter Margaret had been spared the suffering she would have undoubtedly endured had she lived to see the death of her two sons – those little princes David and Alexander on whom she had doted. David had died when he was only eleven years old and Alexander, the elder, having just made a good match with the daughter of the Earl of Flanders, had died a few years ago. That meant that only one of Margaret’s children was living and that was the girl, named Margaret after her mother, who had been born in England and for whom the Queen Mother had a very special affection. The Princess Margaret was beautiful and for the Queen Mother heartbreakingly like her mother; she was clever too and King Eric of Norway had asked for her hand in marriage. The Princess herself had been most unhappy at first and had implored her father not to send her to Norway.

Politics, however, decreed that she should go. There had long been a dispute between Scotland and Norway over the sovereignty of the Western Islands and the marriage would be of immense help to both sides. So Margaret set aside her prejudices and went to Norway as the bride of Eric. The marriage turned out better than might have been expected and this was due to the gentle and gracious manner of the young Princess of Scotland. In due course a child was born. She was known as Margaret, the Maid of Norway.