Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham - Important Relatives

Important Relatives

Buckingham was the son of Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford and Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Stafford. Four of Buckingham's first and second cousins became King of England, and two of his second cousins became Queen consorts:

• Edward IV and his brother Richard III were Buckingham's first cousins once removed. Buckingham's father Humphrey, Earl Stafford, was son of Lady Anne Neville (c. 1411–1480). Anne's sister Lady Cecily, Duchess of York was the mother of Edward IV and Richard III. Edward's son Edward V was thus Buckingham's second cousin, as was the younger Edward's sister Elizabeth of York, later wife and Queen consort of Henry VII of England.

• Henry Tudor, later King Henry VII was Buckingham's second cousin. Buckingham's mother was Lady Margaret Beaufort (c. 1427–1474), daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset. Margaret's first cousin, also named Margaret Beaufort (1443–1509) was the mother of Henry VII, the latter Margaret being the daughter of 1st Duke of Somerset.

• Lady Anne Neville, in line to become Queen as the wife of Lancastrian Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, eventually did become Queen as the wife of Richard III of England. Her paternal grandfather Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury was the brother of Buckingham's paternal grandmother (also named Anne Neville), making Buckingham the Queen's second cousin.

One can see from the ancestral chart below that two of his great-grandparents were brother and sister (John Beaufort and Joan Beaufort). This made Buckingham's parents second cousins.