Margaret, Maid of Norway

Margaret
Lerwick Town Hall stained glass window depicting "Margaret, queen of Scotland and daughter of Norway"
Queen of Scots (disputed)
Reign	19 March 1286 – September 1290
Predecessor	Alexander III
Successor	John (1292)
Born	Between March and 9 April 1283 Tønsberg, Norway
Died	Between 26 and 29 September 1290 (aged 7) Orkney Islands, Norway
Burial	Christ Church, Bergen
House	Sverre
Father	Eric II of Norway
Mother	Margaret of Scotland

Margaret (Norwegian: Margrete, Scottish Gaelic: Maighread; March or April 1283 – September 1290), known as the Maid of Norway, was the queen-designate of Scotland from 1286 until her death. As she was never crowned, her status as monarch is uncertain and has been debated by historians.

Margaret was the daughter of King Eric II of Norway and Margaret of Scotland. By the end of the reign of her maternal grandfather, King Alexander III of Scotland, she was his only surviving descendant and recognized heir presumptive. Alexander III died in 1286, his posthumous child was stillborn, and Margaret inherited the crown.

Owing to her young age, she remained in Norway rather than going to Scotland. Her father and the Scottish leaders negotiated her marriage to Edward of Caernarfon, son of King Edward I of England. She was finally sent to Great Britain in September 1290, but died in Orkney, sparking off the succession dispute between thirteen competitors for the crown of Scotland.