Who was the wife of King Edward IV?

Elizabeth Woodville was the wife and queen consort of King Edward IV.

Edward and Elizabeth married secretly in 1464, probably at her family home in Northamptonshire. Their marriage was politically startling because Elizabeth was a widow from the comparatively modest Woodville family, while medieval kings were generally expected to marry foreign princesses or women from the highest nobility. She had previously been married to John Grey of Groby, a Lancastrian supporter who died at the Second Battle of St Albans.

The marriage angered Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who had been negotiating a French marriage for Edward. Elizabeth’s relatives gained influential positions, intensifying hostility toward the Woodvilles and contributing to Warwick’s eventual rebellion against Edward. Elizabeth was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey on 26 May 1465.

The couple had ten children, including Elizabeth of York, who later married Henry VII, and Edward V, one of the Princes in the Tower. Anne Neville was Richard III’s wife, Cecily Neville was Edward’s mother, and Margaret of Anjou was Henry VI’s queen.