When the royal couple kept Twelfth Night their presents were very generous. To one of their subjects they gave a silver gilt pitcher with stand and cover; to another, for presenting bunches of new grapes, 10s.; to another, for bringing a box of rose-colored sugar, £2 10s.; to the mother of the king's fool, 10s., besides many others. To the Lady Mary, the king's sister, who was a nun, fifteen pieces of tapestry with coats-of-arms embroidered thereon, besides £26 on her departure from court, and to three of his knights for dragging him out of bed on Easter morning Edward paid £20.

A.D. 1317. During this fourteenth century there was the most dreadful famine ever known in England, which lasted nearly three years. On one occasion, when the king and queen were dining in public in the great hall of the palace at Westminster, a woman, wearing a mask, entered on horseback, rode straight up to the royal table, and handed a letter to the king. Thinking that it probably contained "some agreeable flattery", he ordered it to be read aloud. But, to his great mortification, it took him severely to task for his unkingly fancies, and blamed his bad government for all the calamities that had befallen the country. The woman was immediately arrested, and confessed that she had been employed by a certain knight. The person she named boldly acknowledged that he had written the letter, supposing that it would be read in private, and that the king would thus be informed of the complaints of his subjects.

A.D. 1321.

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It was about four years after this event that the queen first met Roger Mortimer, the man who exercised such an influence over her life. By this time the king had two new favorites named Despencer. They were father and son, and both were bitter enemies to Roger Mortimer.

The circumstances of Isabella's life so began to shape themselves at this period that from being a lovely, amiable peace-maker, she became a bad, cruel, dishonored traitor. In 1321 she set out on a pilgrimage to the tomb of St Thomas à Becket, proposing to spend the night at Leeds Castle, which was her own property. Baron Badlesmere had charge, of this castle, and lived there with his wife, so Isabella sent a marshal in advance to have everything put in order for her reception, not imagining for a moment that any objection could possibly be raised to her stopping there. But the baron was absent from home, and had charged his wife to protect the castle from any intruders whatsoever. Not knowing what might be the real object of the queen's visit, Lady Badlesmere did just the wrong thing when the royal messengers arrived, treated them with insolence, and said, "that the queen might seek some other lodging, for she would admit nobody within the castle without an order from her lord."

The messenger was still arguing the case with the lady when Isabella arrived at the castle gates with her train. A volley of arrows greeted the party, and killed six of the royal escort. The queen was obliged to seek other shelter for the night, but she was excessively angry, and complained bitterly to the king of the treatment she had received, begging him to avenge the insolence of Lady Badlesmere for daring to exclude her from her own castle. Badlesmere himself was foolish enough to send a most insulting letter to the queen in reply to the complaints that had been addressed to him concerning his wife's conduct, declaring that he heartily approved of what she had done. As this baron had held the high position of steward of the royal household before he was placed in charge of Leeds Castle, it is probable that the queen had done something to make him her enemy. Neither her Uncle Lancaster nor any of his associates seemed inclined to side with Isabella, so she determined to be revenged on them all, and would not rest until her husband promised to besiege the castle. A large force was soon gathered together before the walls, but Lady Badlesmere felt certain that, with the stock of provisions she had laid in, she could resist any attack, besides she expected all the barons to side with her. But she soon found out her mistake, and in a few days the Castle of Leeds was obliged to surrender, and eleven of its defenders, including Badlesmere, were hanged just outside the gate. Lady Badlesmere was sent to the Tower of London as a state prisoner.