Lady Margaret Clifford

Margaret Stanley, Countess of Derby (née Lady Margaret Clifford; 1540 – 28 September 1596) was the only surviving daughter of Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland and Lady Eleanor Brandon. Her maternal grandparents were Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Mary Tudor, Queen of France. Mary was the third daughter of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York.

According to the will of Henry VIII, Margaret was in line to inherit the throne of England. Upon the death of her mother she became seventh in line. However, both her cousins Lady Jane Grey and Lady Mary Grey died without issue, and their sister, her other cousin, Lady Catherine Grey, died without the legitimacy of her two sons ever being proven (this was later established but only after the death of Elizabeth I). Margaret quickly moved up to becoming the first in line to the throne, but died prior to the death of Elizabeth I.

In 1552 John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland suggested a marriage of his youngest son Guildford to Margaret, yet, although the proposal had the warm support of Edward VI, her father was against it. A year later, in June 1553, the Imperial ambassador Jehan Scheyfve reported that Northumberland's brother Andrew Dudley would marry Margaret. The Dudleys were imprisoned when Mary I gained the throne and Margaret married Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby on 7 February 1555. They had something of a stormy relationship. Margaret wrote that there were several "breaches and reconciliations", but that her husband finally left her leaving serious debt.