Henry VIII dies in France in 1513

[isabella]

Mary Tudor OTL and ITTL is not yet married with Louis XII and is still betrothed with Charles of Habsburg (alias Catherine nephew and future Emperor Charles V) and I do no think who the Royal Council would like neither having England added to the Habsburg domains or a young female unmarried ruler free to choice herself her husband, specially not when she has an older, just widowed older sister, who is both the lawful and rightful heiress and the regent of Scotland and mother of their young king. Margaret is an easier choice than Mary because she is widowed with two small sons (thus male heirs who can carry the line and make her mother a much less rich prize) and can put all the Scotland under English control definitively.
Margaret is a Queen who they can control and any new husband of hers will not have the same control who an husband of Mary can demand.
With Mary Tudor as new Queen they: first denied the Crown to the legitimate heiress and endangered more the English/Scottish relationships, second put the England in Charles V hands or on the matrimonial market with the risk who Mary decide, being her engagement broken, who she is the Queen and can marry whoever she want and make a very bad choice of husband (and remember who OTL Mary, just widowed remarry almost immediately with Charles Brandon). If James IV would be still alive maybe the Privy can have a good reason for denied Margaret the Crown but with the enemy dead better take Margaret and her boys of impeccable royal blood and put the Scotland under English control ending the danger of other Scottish invasion instead of giving them a very good one for future wars (because if also Margaret decide to marry some unsuitable man the Privy can denied him powers more easily or denied the control of England to a foreign husband with the excuse of Margaret's boys)

 

[Michael B]

Margaret is an easier choice than Mary because she is widowed with two small sons (thus male heirs who can carry the line and make her mother a much less rich prize) and can put all the Scotland under English control definitively.

Not only is there a spare heir, but young enough by insisting on English tutors if not English residency the Privy Council can groom the new king in a way they could not when Jimes VI took over on OTL. If any Scottish magnates then English gold and English troops should recruit enough that do.

 

[isabella]

Not only is there a spare heir, but young enough by insisting on English tutors if not English residency the Privy Council can groom the new king in a way they could not when Jimes VI took over on OTL. If any Scottish magnates then English gold and English troops should recruit enough that do.

Exactly. Margaret was still pregnant at that time, then the English and Scottish Council can not know if her second child was another boy or a girl (Alexander Stewart will born at the end of April of the next year) but James V is a boy of not yet two years...
Both children can easily being groom as English King first and then Scottish...

 

[mcdnab]

The problem is that they don't really have an alternative "legitimate" heir.
Henry VII claimed the throne "by conquest" not hereditary right -
The English are presented with a very narrow list -
Margaret Queen of Scots and her son
and
The unmarried Mary Tudor

The only real alternatives aren't necessarily going to attract enough support.

In the York line you have Catherine of York (Henry VIII's aunt) Countess of Devon and her son Henry Courtney who is about 17. (he would in many people's eyes perhaps be an ideal husband to either of his Tudor cousins.)

The next alternative is Margaret Pole Countess of Salisbury (daughter of George Duke of Clarence and 1st cousin to the late Elizabeth of York)
She has four sons and a daughter.

After that it is pretty much take your pick - the wealthiest noble claimant is probably Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham. He is in his mid thirties well connected (his second daughter has just married the Earl of Surrey) - his heir is also unmarried and aged about 12.

Despite all that - I can see some wavering but Margaret offers England a better chance than any of the other claimants - she already has a legitimate male heir and her child if he lives offers control of Scotland.

She is young enough to remarry as his her younger sister.

Interestingly Margaret gets a pretty bad press largely due to her tempestous marital relationships after James IV's death - but she was astute and certainly her advice to Henry VIII about Scots affairs (which he ignored most of the time as it came from a mere woman) was usually on point. There is little reason to think she wouldn't have ruled relatively well.

Certainly as Queen of England the effect on James V is going to be major - his childhood was pretty much a battle between his mother, various step fathers and the Scots lords - a more subdued upbringing as both King of Scots and Prince of Wales might be rather interesting.

An unmarried woman trying to seize England on the ball and without permission of the Privy Council is going to end up in the Tower before you can say "Beefeater." She can claim what she likes north of the border. South of it, English magnates call the shots and if they decide they don't want a wee bairn on the throne, the Scots will have to like or lump it.

On the other hand, the Privy are short of alternative candidates, the most obvious one being a French Queen (Mary). The again given the last time a woman tried ruling England there was a civil war, the Privy Council might agree to annull both ladies' claims and find a different legitimate candidate.

 

[Velasco]

Catherine returns to Aragon and marries again.

Margaret becomes queen. Peace with Scotland. Who she marries is anyone's guess. I'd venture a love match would be the most likely. King Louis or Charles of Habsburg would make for peculiarly interesting alliances.

Charles V marries elsewhere. Princess Mary marries an Englishman most likely.

Duke of Buckingham gets destroyed earlier than OTL.