The tragic story of Lady Jane Grey has reached a whole new generation thanks to Amazon Prime’s My Lady Jane – here’s the true story of England’s famous ‘nine-day queen’
Sitting at her gilded dinner table, England’s newly-proclaimed first queen felt secure in the support of her supposedly loyal family and friends.
But minutes later it was all over for Lady Jane Grey – she was a prisoner in the Tower of London and condemned to face the executioner’s axe. In just nine days the 16-year-old great-niece of Henry VIII had been betrayed by those closest to her. The tragic story has now reached a whole new generation as Amazon Prime’s My Lady Jane has become the surprise hit of the summer.
With a cast including Rob Brydon, Jim Broadbent and Anna Chancellor, it re-imagines what would have hap-pened had Jane escaped execution. But while the show mixes fantasy and comedy, the real history of the doomed teenager is far blacker.
The year is 1553 and Jane had been manoeuvred into a position as heir to the throne by her once-removed cou- sin, the sickly 15-year-old Edward VI. Edward, Protestant son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, was desperate to keep elder sister Mary, a staunch Catholic, from taking the throne. When he died on July 6 from suspected TB, Jane was told she would be queen.
She fell to the ground weeping and declared: “I am insufficient to fill the role.” But fill it she had to and four days later she was proclaimed England’s first queen, setting aside Empress Matilda’s disputed 209-day reign in 1141.
Jane was escorted to the Tower in a procession of barges to await her coronation. The long train of her green and gold dress was carried by her mother. But Mary’s followers were already plotting. And just nine days later they acted. When they challenged the new queen’s position, Jane’s family and ladies-in-waiting deserted her.
Sharon Bennett Connolly, author of Heroines of the Tudor World, says: “They basically submitted to Mary and swore she was their queen. Jane’s father, the Earl of Suffolk, declared in favour of Mary and it was he who went to Jane’s chamber.
“She was dining under the Canopy of Estate. He tore down the hangings and told her she was no longer queen and that Mary was coming. Everybody deserted her. She was only 16 and it must have been terrifying.” Meanwhile, Jane’s followers, concerned for their own necks, saved themselves. “None stayed,” adds Sharon. “She was a prisoner in the Tower.”
Having been championed and educated by some of the most influential women of her time, Jane saw most of them turn against her. At 10 she had been moved to the household of Katherine Parr, Henry VIII’s widow, where she shared tutors with cousins Edward and the future Elizabeth I.
One of the most educated girls of her time, she excelled in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and mathematics. Says Sharon: “Katherine Parr’s household was a centre for the education of girls. It would have been a really eye-opening world for Jane.”
For most of her young life, Jane was groomed to be queen. Thomas Seymour, Parr’s new husband, plotted for her to marry cousin Edward. But young Edward became gravely ill and, knowing he faced death, began his own plans to make Jane queen. Says Sharon: “The English, much like every nation, didn’t like the idea of a queen ruling. So it was really incredibly significant that Jane was chosen.”
Edward was not, however, the forefather of feminism. He simply could not bear the idea of his Catholic sister Mary taking the throne. But for Jane to have ruled alone would be unthinkable. Says Sharon: “However much they accepted a girl is going to be queen, she has to have a man.”
Six weeks before becoming queen Jane married to the Duke of Northumberland’s son, Guildford Dudley. And it didn’t take long before plots were once again afoot, this time from her mother-in-law, Jane Dudley.
Jane resented the control her mother-in-law had over her husband and they clashed when Jane refused to name Guildford as king. Things were not straightforward with her subjects either. Sharon says: “Not many people in London would have known who Jane was. Most would have been expecting an announcement that Mary was queen.”
Mary was quick to act. She marched on the capital with the country behind her. The all-powerful Privy Council suddenly changed sides and proclaimed her queen on July 19. The final insult came when Jane’s mother and her two sisters chose to become an integral part of Mary’s coronation on October 1.
Edward’s fears over his oldest sister were well justified. “Bloody Mary” gave protestants a choice: exile, conversion or punishment. At least 287 were burned at the stake, including 56 women.
Jane was convicted of high treason and sentenced to death along with her husband, two of his brothers, former Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer and her ambitious father-in-law, once one of her main supporters. The Earl of Suffolk, who so shamefully deserted his daughter was also sentenced to death.
On February 12, 1554, Jane’s husband was beheaded on Tower Hill. A horse and cart brought his remains past the room where she was held. Seeing them she cried: “Oh, Guildford, Guildford.” Then they came for her. She climbed the scaffold and reportedly told the crowd: “Good people, I come here to die” before begging the executioner: “I pray you, despatch me quickly.”
Referring to her head, she inquired “Will you take it off before I lay me down?”. The axeman replied: “No, madam.”
Jane blindfolded herself and, unable to find the block with her hands, called out: “What shall I do? Where is it?” An official guided her to the spot. And with her head on the block, England’s queen for nine days spoke her final words from Luke’s Gospel:
“Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
- Heroines of the Tudor World by Sharon Bennett Connolly,£22.99, Amberley Publishing.
