Dona Elvira Manuel

Doña (the Spanish word for madam) Elvira Manuel was the Spanish duenna of Princess Catherine of Aragon. Catherine's mother Isabella of Castile trusted Doña Elvira but after Isabella's death (shortly after Catherine's husband's death, Prince Arthur Tudor), she betrayed Catherine. Catherine was then betrothed to Prince Henry of Wales, the future Henry VIII, but Henry VII made his son repudiate his betrothal. Instead he was secretly engaged to Catherine's niece, Princess Eleanor of Austria. After the death of Queen Isabella of Castile, it was only Aragon that was left for Henry VII, and he saw that an alliance with Austria and Castile would do him better, for Catherine's sister, Joanna of Castile was now Queen. Archduke Philip of Austria ruled as consort for Castile. Joanna had a mental disability and could not properly rule as Queen; it was Philip who did all the work for her. Philip then turned against his father-in-law, Ferdinand II of Aragon and took matters into his own hands by, with Henry VII, arranging his son, the future Charles V to be married to Princess Mary Tudor and his daughter Eleanor to Prince Henry. Doña Elvira took part in this as a spy, for she absolutely loathed Ferdinand. When Catherine discovered Doña Elvira's betrayal, she immediately dismissed her from her service. It would be six more years till Catherine would get married to Henry VIII.

References

The Six Wives of Henry VIII, by Weir, Alison. 1991, London.