“YOLANDE [rising from her chair and exhaling slowly] [1]: You are sure it is him, my lords?
ARRAN [with a concerned look] [2]: Yes, Your Grace. I’m so sorry. We can...take you to see the body if you like.
YOLANDE [nearly in tears]: No. No, I shouldn’t, not in my condition.
BUCHAN [nodding]: Of course. Your Grace, we will leave you to your ladies but there are decisions to be made. His Highness will require a funeral…
YOLANDE [sighs heavily]: It will be at Dunfermline. That’s what he would want, to be laid to rest beside his ancestors.
ARRAN [frowning at BUCHAN]: There is one other concern. As you know, in the absence of a legitimate male heir, the late King desired to be succeeded by his granddaughter, Margaret Eriksdottor of Norway. Should we...send for her?
YOLANDE [with a huff, obviously unhappy, smoothing her dress over her stomach]: No! I carry the next King of Scots. Let the girl stay in Norway. It won’t be long before she has an uncle and my Alexander has a proper heir, you’ll see.”
- From the script of the movie Maid Margaret (2012), based loosely on an early 19th century play
[1] Yes, this is OTL Yolande of Dreux and yes she is pregnant here, as in OTL.
[2] The earldom of Arran wasn’t created until the 15th century (the Romantics and Victorians weren’t known for their historical accuracy regarding the medieval period).
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“Yolande seems to have been quite confident in a positive outcome for her pregnancy, even in the midst of her very obvious and overwhelming grief for her husband. She began to plan for a regency, and invited the Guardians of Scotland, who had been elected by the Estates in the months following King Alexander’s death, to come to Clackmannan to bear witness to the birth of their new king.
Sadly, Yolande’s planning was for naught. On 25 November 1286, with the Guardians present, she was delivered of a child who either was stillborn or died moments after birth. Not even the sex of the unfortunate infant was recorded for posterity.
As Dowager Queen, Yolande was hardly obliged to leave Scotland, since King Alexander had provided properly for his wife in the event of her widowhood. She lremained there until perhaps 1288, probably spending most of her time at Stirling Castle. Only two things are known with absolute certainty, though, about her first widowhood. The first is that it ended in 1294, when she married the Duke of Brittany. And the second is that she was not present in Scotland when the Maid of Norway and the Prince of Wales were crowned at Scone in 1291.”
- From the book Ladies of the Thistle: Scottish Queens of the Middle Ages by Ellis Carlyle (1972)
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“Edward sighed heavily as he heard another knock at the door. He tore himself away from his papers, and gestured for his chamberlain, William de Greylonde, to respond to the unwelcome visitor. Greylonde stepped out quickly but then hurried back.
‘Your Highness,’ he said softly, ‘It is Lord Estridsson, the King of Norway’s representative. He wishes to speak with you.’
Edward nodded slowly, ‘Let him in. The man has business with me.’
Greylonde nodded and Edward rose and turned to see Lord Estridsson entering the room.
‘My lord,’ Estridsson said with a sweeping bow, ‘I come here speaking in the voice of my master, King Erik. He knows that Your Highness has designs of marrying his son and heir, the earl of Chester, to the Queen of Scots and he wishes to pursue this.’
Edward raised an eyebrow, ‘He does? At last. Well, I am pleased to hear it. Tell me, Lord Estridsson, what are your lord’s terms?’
Estridsson straightened and gave a stiff smile, ‘Of course.’
‘Firstly, my lord of Norway wishes that the Crown of Scotland not be in personal union with the Crown of England-’
‘He dreams big, King Erik does,” Edward muttered, glancing at his ring of state, ‘Tell me, what does the king propose be done if his daughter and my son do not produce two surviving children?’
‘Well, Your Highness has no dearth of progeny…’ Estridsson ventured.
‘
Female progeny!’ Edward snapped and scowled, his eyes narrowing, ‘So he would have England pass to the heirs of my daughters’ bodies!? When I have in the cradle a healthy son?’
‘Yes,’ Estridsson said softly, growing noticeably pale, ‘I-is that not, after all, how your illustrious ancestor Henry Curt-mantle came to the throne of England?’
Edward roared in laughter, ‘King Erik is a fool if he thinks this ploy will work! No, as long as there is legitimate issue from my son’s line, they will inherit both thrones if necessary. You, Lord Estridsson, are dismissed. Greylonde, show the Norseman out!’
And with a flourish, Edward turned back around and sat himself again at his desk, to continue scribing a note to his dear Leonor.”
- From the novel Longshanks by Colin Marchant (1994)
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“In the same year that Margaret nominally ascended to the throne of Scotland, across the border in England, King Edward and his wife, Eleanor of Castile, welcomed a fourth son, Edward of Carnarvon. Young Edward was, at the moment of his birth, not expected to inherit his father’s crown, for King Edward and Queen Eleanor had an older son, Alphonse, earl of Chester. And when King Erik heard that the King of England had a second son, he knew that the boy was to be his daughter’s husband.
The choice has generally been considered a smart one, in light of the initial circumstances. Erik was determined to protect his daughter’s new title, and to do that he would have to keep the peace with her neighbor to the south. A marriage with the brother of the future king of that country seemed the most obvious way to facilitate harmony. But then the earl of Chester died, before his brother’s first birthday, and Edward of Carnarvon was left as his father’s only surviving legitimate son. At this, the Scottish nobles, fearing further English hegemony over Scotland, wrote to King Erik and requested that he call off the betrothal. He did not.”
- From the book Queen in the North by Jennah Schreiber (2002)
