Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24029015-20170419074124/@comment-25926288-20170419091549

Actually we don't know how Cora became the Queen of Hearts. In any case, Cora wanted a legitimate rise to power. That is why she opted for manipulation, so there would be no question about legitimacy. (It's why Regina painted Snow as the killer of Leopold and didn't go after her personally at first. She wanted legitimacy).