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Isabella Plantagenet, also known as Dame Isabella de Coucy (16 June 1332- either April 1379, or 1382), was the daughter of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. She was the royal couple's second child, and eldest daughter.

Born at Woodstock Palace, in Oxfordshire, she spent the first years of her life in the household of William and Elizabeth St Omer, which also included Isabella's older brother Edward and younger sister Joan. When she was 3 years old, her father attempted to arrange a marriage between Isabella and Pedro of Castile, the Castilian King's heir; however, Joan later became Pedro's chosen bride.

Described as being over-indulged, willful, and wildly extravagant, Isabella - unusually for the times - remained unmarried until the age of 33. She had previously been the subject of various betrothal proposals, however, which had failed. Eventually, she was permitted to marry Enguerrand VII of Coucy, a wealthy French lord. He was a son of Enguerrand VI, Lord of Coucy and Katharina von Habsburg.

Her husband had been brought to the Kingdom of England in 1360 as a hostage exchanged for the freedom of John II of France, an English prisoner. They married on 27 July 1365, at Windsor Castle. Her father, Edward III, gave her a large lifetime annual income, together with expensive amounts of jewelry and lands; de Coucy was restored his family lands in Yorkshire, Lancaster, Westmorland and Cumberland, and was released as a hostage without any need for ransom.

In the November of 1365, Isabella and her husband were permitted to enter France; their first daughter, Marie, was born at the family lands at Coucy in April 1366. They later returned for a visit to England; on this occasion, Enguerrand was made Earl of Bedford on 11 May 1366, which made Isabella the Countess consort of Bedford as well as the Lady consort of Coucy. After the birth of Isabella's second daughter, Philippa, in 1367, Enguerrand and Isabella were also made Count and Countess consort of Soissons by Edward.

Because her husband also served the King of France as a military leader, he was frequently away from home; consequently, Isabella, though living principally with Enguerrand at Coucy, made frequent visits to her family in England. She was made a Lady of the Garter in 1376.

Isabella bore two children by her marriage to Enguerrand de Coucy:

• Marie de Coucy, also called Marie de Bar (April 1366-1404). She married Henri de Bar, a nephew of Charles V of France. After her father's death, she disputed the inheritance of his lands with her step-mother, Isabelle of Lorraine, before dying suddenly. After her death, her patrimony was absorbed into the French royal estates.
• Philippa de Coucy (1367-1411). She married Robert de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, in 1371, and lived thereafter in England.

After the accession of Richard II, Isabella's nephew, in August 1377, Enguerrand resigned all of his English ties and possessions. Isabella then died in England under mysterious circumstances, separated from her husband and eldest child. Her death was either in April 1379, or between 17 June and 5 October 1382. She was buried in Greyfriars Church, Greenwich, London.

After her death, her husband remarried, to Isabelle, daughter of John I, Duke of Lorraine and Sophie of Württemberg.

• Isabella de Coucy on thepeerage.com
• Oxford Biography Entry[[