Margaret Radclyffe was twin to Alexander and, as is not uncommon in such cases, their natural relationship was reinforced by a strong bond of mutual affection. As children they were inseparable companions, and when Alexander came to Court he brought his sister with him. The arrival of the two young people so wondrously alike in their striking physical beauty created something of a mild sensation at the Palace of Whitehall, famous as it was for the excellence of its gallants and the radiance of its ladies. Margaret was immediately claimed by the Queen to adorn the privy chamber as a Maid of Honour. The girl's ready wit and shrewd judgment allied to her exquisite grace commanded her strongly to her royal mistress, an ageing woman nearing her sixtieth year and seeing perhaps in the accomplished and vivacious maid a reincarnation of the splendour of her own lost youth. Margaret was elevated above all other ladies of the Court as the Queen's prime favourite, and all who would sue for Gloriana's favours sought the aid of merry Margaret as their intermediary. Her brother kept her well supplied with money and her dresses were the envy of her friends, as one of the courtiers bears witness:
Margaret had many suitors, but of them all she preferred Lord Cobham. Henry Brooke, however, was a nobleman of fickle mind, alternating his favours between Margaret Radclyffe and Frances Howard, the attractive widow of Henry, twelfth Earl of Kildare, and playing off both by a passionate flirtation with Elizabeth Russell, sister of Anne
When Essex and Raleigh quarrelled and the courtiers began to take sides, Margaret was strongly for Essex and used her influence with the Queen on his behalf. His enemies might temporarily triumph, she declared, but sooner or later 'the pack will break.' When Essex was recalled to favour and given command of the expedition against Tyrone, Alexander Radclyffe was one of his gallant company. Margaret bade good-bye to her beloved brother, little realising then the finality of the parting, and hoped to find solace with Cobham. His fickle lordship at that time was preferring Lady Kildare, whom he eventually married. Five months went by, and one day in late August a courier came riding to Court bearing news from Ireland. The English army had suffered a severe defeat and Sir Alexander Radclyffe was amongst the slain. The Queen would not suffer anyone but herself to bear the news to Margaret. The girl's grief was terrible to behold. Nothing would comfort her, and when her sobbing had subsided she lay on her bed in a state of complete exhaustion. The royal physicians whom the Queen summoned to attend her reported that her malady was of the heart, not of the body, and their medicines would be unavailing. When the Court moved to Nonsuch, Margaret returned to Ordsall, bereft of her smile and lively charm, her sad heart breaking with great sorrow, to be alone with her grief in the home of her fathers, where the undimmed happiness of a childhood with her brother had been spent. Here she languished amidst scenes fraught with tender memories. News of her condition was sent regularly to the Queen, whose anxiety for her dearly loved friend insisted on Margaret being brought to Richmond Palace that she might tend her in person. It was a ghost who obeyed the Queen's command, and the courtiers were shocked to see the change which had come upon the former merry maid. Even the ministrations of the Queen and of dear Anne Russell could not rouse Margaret to an interest in life, and on the morning of 10th November 1599 she died. Her tragic passing was the sole topic of conversation for days. In one of Philip Gaudy's Letters he writes:
When, and for what reason, this monument was removed it has been impossible to discover, but no trace of it now remains in the church. The record of Jonson's tribute has, however, been preserved
Rare as wonder was her wit;
And like nectar ever flowing:
Till time, strong by her bestowing,
Conquered have both life and it.
Life whose grief was out of fashion
In these times. Few have so rued
Fate in a brother. To conclude,
For wit, feature, and true passion
Earth, thou hast not such another.