on 23 april 1445, margaret married king henry vi of england, at titchfield abbey in hampshire. henry was eight years older than she was. the king and queen of france were the uncle and aunt of the groom and the bride respectively: henry's late mother, catherine, had been the sister of king charles vii, whose wife marie of anjou was a sister of margaret's father rené. further, henry claimed for himself the kingdom of france. he also controlled parts of northern france. due to all this, the french king agreed to the marriage of margaret to his rival on the condition that he would not have to provide the customary dowry and instead would receive the lands of maine and anjou from the english. the english government, fearing a highly negative reaction, kept this provision secret from the english public.