She has no direct political power whatsoever, not even a powerful husband she could affect. If she wants to change laws or regulations, her only choice is to get an ally for the task, like a prince or a influential noble if the king himself isn't immediately interested. All she can do is use guile. If she has been doing it for a while, she would ultimately start to show the kind of signs we saw here. Unless she was born that way. But then again, I guess all court nobles and other such elite will be shaped that way by the necessity of court intrigue. Unless the person is a single-minded war maniac or something.