May 23, 2019 | Christine Tran

41 Scheming Facts About Elizabeth Woodville, The Commoner Queen


Elizabeth Woodville is considered the first common-born Queen of England. As the wife of Edward IV of England, she was also a key power player in the War of the Roses. Over her career, Woodville went to royal bat for almost all the teams, from the House of Lancaster to the House of York, and finally those infamous Tudors. How did she navigate such treachery? Find out with these scheming facts about Elizabeth Woodville, the so-called Commoner Queen of England.


1. Good Knight

In truth, Elizabeth Woodville was not really a “peasant” queen. On her father’s side, she was descended from knights, sheriffs, members of Parliament, and others of gentlemanly vocation. This was nothing to turn your nose at, but it was hardly the pedigree the people expected from a girl who would become a king’s wife.

Sir Walter Raleigh factsPixabay

2. A Most Juicy Genealogy

Elizabeth Woodville was the first child born to a marriage of scandal. Her mother was Jacquetta of Luxembourg, the widow of King Henry V of England’s younger brother, the Duke of Bedford. As a woman of pedigree, her match to the mere knight Sir Richard Woodville was a big step down, and dropped jaws at the English court.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsWikimedia Commons

3. The Y’s Have It

In an age before standardized spelling, the Woodville family name was more often spelled as “Wydville” or even “Wydeville.”

Antique desktop surface.Getty Images

4. It’s Not That Common

When we say Elizabeth Woodville is considered the first commoner queen, all that means is that she was born to anyone outside of the landed gentry. Seeing as her father was still a knight, I wouldn't put too much rags on that “commoner’ status.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsWikimedia Commons

5. England’s Next Top Model: 1464

Woodville’s beauty was heavily praised in both her time and ours. Historians often cite a quote saying she possessed “heavy-lidded eyes like those of a dragon,” which might say something about medieval beauty standards. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to suggest this quote comes from a contemporary source. Nevertheless, most agreed Woodville was hot stuff.

Edward IV FactsThe White Queen, BBC One

6. Out With the Old…

When she was about 15 years old, Woodville made her first marriage to a Lancastrian loyalist knight named Sir John Grey of Groby. The marriage produced her first two sons, Thomas and Richard. However, Grey himself would die nine years after the wedding in the Battle of St. Albans. Ironically, Grey died fighting against the cause of his wife’s next husband…

Elizabeth Woodville FactsWikimedia Commons

7. When the Tinder Is an Oak

How does a single mom meet a guy who will treat her like a queen? Before dating apps, there was (according to some legends) standing under an oak tree on the side road and waiting for King Edward IV to ride by. In this retelling, Woodville used her charms to catch the newly-crowned Edward’s attention and restore her late husband's lands for her sons.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsShutterstock

8. I Like the Cut of Your Jib

In some retellings of their “love” story, Elizabeth puts a knife to her own throat in order to avoid Edward’s advances. Other lore situates Edward as the one wielding the knife against Elizabeth, forcing her to submit. Many scholars believe this is dramatic embellishment, but it’s hardly a fairytale beginning either way.

Edward IV FactsThe Hollow Crown, BBC Two

9. Turn on Location Settings Next Time

The time and place of Woodville’s marriage to the king is unknown, which is very odd for a royal wedding. It probably took place in her family home at Northamptonshire in May, 1464. However, this ambiguity would spell future problems after King Edward’s death…

Edward IV FactsThe White Queen, BBC One

10. He Didn’t Get the Royal Memo

Woodville’s marriage threw a wrench in the Edward IV’s familial alliances. For one, his friendship with Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, aka the “Kingmaker,” never recovered. Warwick was in the midst of contracting a French marriage for his ruler. Unfortunately, Edward took his sweet time in telling Warwick he had eloped with Woodville.

This faux-pas made Warwick seem like a lying fool to France, as Edward revealed himself to be a married man. The earl would forever hold a grudge against both his liege and Woodville herself.

Edward IV FactsWikimedia Commons

11. Sister, Make Me a Match

Woodville’s family hitched a ride to her rising comet in a big way. She came from a huge family of many brothers and sisters, who were now in-laws to the king and were married off as such. Most scandalously, Woodville’s 20-year-old brother John was married to the thrice-widowed Katherine Neville, Duchess of Norfolk, who was in her sixties.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsWikimedia Commons

12. Only Room for One

Elizabeth Woodville helped found the legendary Queens’ College at Cambridge University.

Margaret of Anjou factsWikipedia

13. Who Doesn’t Love a Makeover?

In truth, Queens’ College at Cambridge University was originally set up by the Lancastrian Queen Margaret of Anjou. It collapsed as the Lancastrian regime crumbled in 1448, but Woodville stepped up in 1465 to help bring it back to life.

Margaret of Anjou factsGetty Images

14. Seeing Red

Once upon a time, Woodville’s mother Jacquetta was directly in line to become a Queen of England. As the aunt-by-marriage to the baby Henry VI of England, she would have risen to the throne alongside her husband had Henry died without heirs. After said husband died, Jacquetta remarried a Lancastrian loyalist knight, taking herself out of the running.

Russian Empire quizShutterstock

15. Take Care of the Girls While I’m Gone, Liz!

Come 1470, Edward IV faced his first big rebellion in the form of Richard Neville (still pissed about the elopement, evidently) allying with Edward's younger brother George. The two managed to overthrow Edward and put King Henry VI (back) in his place. While Edward fled to seek refuge across the English Channel, a pregnant Woodville remained in sanctuary with her daughters at Westminster Abbey for the duration of her husband’s fall from power.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsGetty Images

16. Ill-Timed Delivery

While hiding in Westminster Abbey during the temporary restoration of Henry VI, Elizabeth gave birth to her first royal prince, the future Edward V. It was hardly a royal birthing room, but it would have to do.

Russian Empire factsShutterstock

17. Popping the Pops

Richard Neville’s 1469 rebellion against Edward did not leave Woodville’s family unscathed. Her own father and her brother John were executed by Neville’s orders.

Richard Neville factsWikimedia Commons

18. Witch Which Is It?

In 1469, Woodville’s mother was accused of witchcraft. The evidence? Lead images allegedly produced by the lady for devious purposes. Although she was fresh off the loss of her husband and son, Jacquetta successfully defended herself of the charges. Unfortunately, witchcraft would haunt the legacy of her daughter too.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsPixabay

19. Room in My Heart for All of You

Although Edward was hardly faithful to his Queen Elizabeth, their marriage produced 10 children. With five daughters and two sons who survived childhood, the couple clearly kept busy.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsShutterstock

20. Open Heart, Bent Knees

She came to the job in an unconventional way, but Elizabeth Woodville was otherwise a traditional queen. She invested heavily in acts of Christian charity and piety, including securing papal indulgences for anyone who knelt and said Angelus devotion three times a day.

Bill O'Reilly factsFlickr

21. The Cost of Love

Elizabeth Woodville’s parents were fined a “hefty” (by their day) £1,000 for marrying without the king’s will. It was eventually settled, but it’s difficult to imagine another Queen of England being born from a civic offense.

Richard Neville factsShutterstock

22. Stage Husband

Elizabeth Woodville’s coronation was the first truly decadent affair of the Yorkist regime. Edward IV had been crowned in an economic downturn (war does that…), so his coronation had been a modest event. Years later, when it was time for his wife to be crowned, he went all out and used the wealth seized from Lancastrian manors to fund an extravagant ceremony.

Edward IV FactsWikipedia

23. They’re Coming for Us

Edward died of ambiguous circumstances in April 1483, which left Elizabeth Woodville a widow and single mom to their seven surviving children. The king’s will had appointed his brother, Richard the Duke of Gloucester, as the Lord Protector to Edward V, the heir. In a power swipe against the new king’s maternal family, Richard arrested both Woodville’s brother, Anthony, as well as her son from her first marriage, Richard Grey. Sensing the tides, Woodville rushed herself into sanctuary once again.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsGetty Images

24. I’m Taking You With Him

In 1453, Woodville was accused by Richard of Gloucester of attempts to “murder and utterly destroy” him from her sanctuary. Not sure how that would work, but OK, bud.

Edward IV FactsThe White Queen, BBC One

25. New King, New Rules, Old Girlfriends

The lurid romantic history of Woodville’s late husband came back to bite her in the royal rear. In 1483, Richard declared Woodville’s marriage to Edward IV invalid based on the late king’s alleged pre-contract to marry his old mistress, Eleanor Butler. That Butler was too long dead to say anything was perfectly convenient. Thus, Woodville’s children were declared illegitimate and barred from inheriting the throne. Richard declared himself Richard III, and imprisoned Edward V.

Richard III factsWikimedia Commons

26. Magically Bitter About It

In the very same parliamentary act that dissolved her marriage, the widowed Woodville was accused of witchcraft. Fortunately, nothing really came of the charge. It seemed more like salt to rub in the widow’s wound.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsGetty Images

27. When Throwback Thursdays Are Hard on the Bank Accounts

Under Richard III’s reign, Woodville was stripped of her royal title and lands. Her daughters were bastardized, and she would henceforth be known as “Dame Elizabeth Grey,” in reference to her first husband.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsShutterstock

28. Thanks, Other Liz

Woodville doesn’t appear to have held any grudge against her husband’s mistresses. In fact, his chief mistress Elizabeth “Jane” Shore helped the widowed queen stay in contact with her allies from inside sanctuary. Unfortunately, no good favor goes unpunished: Shore was caught exchanging intelligence and forced to do an infamous walk of shame under Richard III.

Historical Mistresses FactsWikipedia

29. Ladies of Terms and Conditions

Woodville and her daughters eventually came out of religious sanctuary in March, 1484. However, they only did so after Richard III swore an oath to leave them unharmed and free of the dreaded Tower of London.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsWikipedia

30. Two-Timing?

It seems Woodville might have been hedging her bets on both sides at Richard III’s court. On one hand, Woodville actively worked with Margaret Beaufort, the mother of the future Henry VII, to bring Richard down. However, Richard was also rumored to be in talks to marry Woodville’s eldest daughter (and yuckily his own niece), Elizabeth of York. While these are just rumors, they do indicate the sly reputation in double-dealing that would follow Woodville around forever.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsWikipedia

31. Lost and Never Found

Elizabeth Woodville will always live in the shadow of her elder sons’ uncertain fate. When King Edward IV first died, Elizabeth's sons Edward V and Richard were taken into custody in preparation for Edward’s coronation. Unfortunately, the festivities would be postponed indefinitely, as Richard III seized the throne. After the summer of 1483, there would be no more sightings of Woodville’s sons, and the lost boys are now known to history as the tragic “Princes in the Tower.”

Elizabeth Woodville FactsWikimedia Commons

32. A Crown Is a Hat Best Worn Twice

More fortunately for Woodville’s prospects (and that of her surviving children), Henry VII invaded England in 1485 and seized the throne from Richard III. Her daughter Elizabeth of York married the king, became queen consort of England, and Woodville reclaimed her own title as queen too (albeit “queen dowager,” but it’s still better than nothing).

Elizabeth Woodville FactsGetty Images

33. Mama Drama?

Woodville survived only seven years into the first Tudor king’s reign. She spent the last five of them in religious seclusion again at Bermondsey Abbey. Historians still debate how willingly she went away from court. One historian thinks Henry VII forced her away from London on the basis of the dowager’s rumored plotting against him in the 1487 Yorkist rebellion.

Richard Neville factsFlickr

34. Power Nap

Some historians, however, think Woodville went to retirement more willingly. This is based on evidence that the queen was already planning her retirement into a religious life as early as one year into Henry Tudor’s reign. After losing her father, brothers, and sons to the violence of court politics, it’s not a stretch to imagine Woodville would welcome some peace and quiet.

Mary Pickford factsMax Pixel

35. Take My Mother-in-Law, Please?

Who says romance is dead? Henry VII considered marrying his widowed mother-in-law off to King James III of Scotland. Unfortunately, the king died in battle in 1488, and Woodville remained on the single’s scene until her death.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsWikimedia Commons

36. I Learned It From You, Mom

Woodville’s younger daughter Cecily followed her mother’s path by making a socially unequal remarriage. Unfortunately for Cecily, she took a step down rather than up. By marrying an obscure squire named Thomas Kyme, Cecily forfeited all her lands and was banished from court; her children by that marriage faded into obscurity. Hardly the courtly welcome her mother enjoyed for her elopement.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsWikipedia

37. Heart of Gold

In her time, it was rumored that Elizabeth pilfered the royal treasury for herself in the chaos of Edward IV’s death. There is no contemporary evidence for this rumor; even Richard III didn’t accuse the Woodvilles of larceny. However, Woodville’s youngest brother Edward did seize £10,250 from a vessel in 1483, in the midst of his brother Anthony’s arrest, then escaped to Brittany when the warrant for his own capture went out. The stolen gold was never mentioned again. Hmmm…

Richard Neville factsShutterstock

38. Rest Home

Working against the idea that Henry VII shunned his mother-in-law, Woodville retired to a nice £400 per year pension and received occasional gifts from the Tudor king. She was also allowed to be visited by her daughters, most often by Cecily of York.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsGetty Images

39. The World’s Most Depressing Rose Ceremony

When it came to the ladies, King Edward IV had a policy of “promise to marry it, hit it, and quit it” before he met Elizabeth. In fact, at the same time that Edward IV and Elizabeth were wed in secret, it was rumored that his previous mistress, Elizabeth Lucy, was heavily pregnant and waiting for her marriage to the king. Unfortunately, Lucy’s so-called Prince Charming turned around at the last minute and eloped with Woodville instead.

Richard Neville factsShutterstock

40. Minimalist to the Grave

Some people took the drabness of Woodville’s 1492 funeral as evidence of her disfavor under the Tudors. In truth, the self-secluded queen dowager specified in her will that she wanted a plain burial. After all, you can’t take royal decadence with you.

Elizabeth Woodville FactsMax Pixel

41. Reunited at Last

In the end, Woodville was buried in the same chantry as her second husband, Edward IV, at Windsor Castle.

Scary FactsShutterstock

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14


More from Factinate

Featured Article

My mom never told me how her best friend died. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery.

Dark Family Secrets

Dark Family Secrets Exposed

Nothing stays hidden forever—and these dark family secrets are proof that when the truth comes out, it can range from devastating to utterly chilling.
April 8, 2020 Samantha Henman

Featured Article

Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark history—or the chilling secret shared by her and Louis.

Madame de Pompadour Facts

Entrancing Facts About Madame de Pompadour, France's Most Powerful Mistress

Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark history—or the chilling secret shared by her and Louis.
December 7, 2018 Kyle Climans

More from Factinate

Featured Article

I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. I knew that she was going to take it badly, but I had no idea about the insane lengths she would go to just to get revenge and mess with my life.

These People Got Genius Revenges

When someone really pushes our buttons, we'd like to think that we'd hold our head high and turn the other cheek, but revenge is so, so sweet.
April 22, 2020 Scott Mazza

Featured Article

Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but few people know her even darker history.

Catherine of Aragon Facts

Tragic Facts About Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s First Wife

Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but very few people know her even darker history.
June 7, 2018 Christine Tran



Dear reader,


Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? We’re always looking for your input! Please reach out to us to let us know what you’re interested in reading. Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from “Life” to “Compact Cars and Trucks” to “A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius.” We’ll get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics you’re interested in. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your time!


Do you question the accuracy of a fact you just read? At Factinate, we’re dedicated to getting things right. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. We want our readers to trust us. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. When we do, we depend on our loyal, helpful readers to point out how we can do better. Please let us know if a fact we’ve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect it’s inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your help!


Warmest regards,



The Factinate team




Want to learn something new every day?

Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter.

Thank you!

Error, please try again.