The Many Loves of Prince Eddy

Albert Victor of Wales Duke of Clarence by Alexander Bassano via Wikimedia Commons

Rich. Handsome. Charming. Heir to the British Empire. Prince Albert Victor of Wales was the world's most eligible bachelor in the late 19th century. He appeared to have his pick of the royal brides across Europe. Nevertheless, when his grandmother Queen Victoria decided it was time for him to marry, the task took longer and caused more heartache than she could have imagined.

With nine children and dozens of grandchildren, Victoria relished her role as both matriarch and matchmaker. Feeling herself an expert on both duty and romance, she never hesitated to offer unsolicited advice to all of her offspring. Whether summoning them to join her at one of her many homes for in-person instruction or mailing them pages and pages of written expectations, she rarely hesitated to let them know what she thought they should do.

Victoria ultimately had grandchildren serving as monarchs or consorts in Germany, Greece, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The British throne, however, was obviously the most important to her. She had fretted over finding a successful match for her eldest son, Bertie, the future King Edward VII. His marriage to the beautiful and loving Princess Alexandra of Denmark might have been troubled by his infidelities, but Alexandra was a popular and gracious Princess of Wales and mother of six. She was barely 19 when she gave birth prematurely to Prince Albert Victor in 1864. He grew up in a rambunctious and close-knit family full of fun and hijinks thanks to his lively parents. 

As an eventual king, Albert Victor, called Eddy in the family, was subjected to the usual assortment of tutors expected to prepare him for the role. That's where the troubles began. Eddy was not only lethargic; he was not bright. At all. His little brother Georgie, 17 months younger was included in his studies. Moderately smarter and more attentive, Georgie did not inspire Eddy to greater academic achievements. The family decided the navy was the best solution. Both boys were sent to sea when Eddy was 13 and Georgie was 11. As teens, they were even sent on a five-continent tour around the globe. None of this really helped Eddy advance either. Six years later, the boys were finally separated. Eddy was sent to Cambridge University while Georgie remained in the navy. Eddy was excused from exams, but he did not excuse himself from the fun of student life during his two years at university. After that, he moved on to the army. He hated it, but he still had plenty of time for polo and socializing.

Grandmama Queen was not overly concerned with Eddy's lack of academic accomplishment preferring to focus on his kindness and charm. By now in his mid-20s, Eddy was gaining a reputation that was kept from Victoria. Not only had he likely already contracted a venereal disease and had been involved with "questionable" young women (two of whom committed suicide), but he was also implicated in the Cleveland Street scandal, an investigation into a male brothel that offered young boys for some highly placed London gentlemen. To be fair, the Prince was never officially investigated and to this day no direct proof has ever been produced. 

Eddy's father, himself no stranger to sexual scandals, was aware of the investigation. So, when Queen Victoria decided that the thing that would "make" Eddy was a wife, Bertie readily agreed. Eddy would need another paragon like his mother. The search for the ideal bride did not start far from home.

Alix of Hesse via Wikimedia Commons

Princess Alix of Hesse

Alix of Hesse was a favorite granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She was the youngest surviving child of Victoria and Albert's second daughter Princess Alice, who had died nursing her youngsters through diptheria when Alix was only six. (Read about this tragedy in my post The Kiss of Death.) Victoria appointed herself as a foster mother to her Hesse grandchildren, which included four girls and one boy. (Another little boy, who had hemophilia, had died in an accidental fall, and the youngest girl succumbed to diptheria a month before Alice.) Alix was considered to be one of the most beautiful princesses of the day. She was also sweet and quiet. Her first cousin Eddy, eight years her senior, found her to be lovely in every way. Everyone agreed that the 17-year-old would be a perfect future queen for Eddy. Well, almost everyone.

When marriage was suggested to Eddy, he immediately obliged by falling in love with darling Alix. Queen Victoria immediately invited the princess to join her for the summer in 1889. Eddy feared that their shared grandmother's interference might actually scare off Alix by placing too much emphasis on his future position. He wrote to Alix's brother-in-law Louis of Battenberg, "I will do all I can to persuade Alicky that I love her for herself."

Unfortunately for the lovesick Eddy, he had lost the race long before he got to the starting line. Alix had given her heart away when she was only 12 when she attended her sister Elizabeth's wedding to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia. Grandmama Queen had battled Elizabeth over her choice of groom, fearing that Russia was too unstable for her granddaughter. Sergei's father, Tsar Alexander II, had been assassinated the year before the wedding. She would have preferred Ella, as she was called, to have married her besotted cousin Wilhelm of Germany, another grandson who was a future monarch in need of a good wife to "make him" -- though for different reasons than Eddy. 

During the engagement and wedding celebrations, the very young Alix had met Sergei's sweet and quiet nephew, Nicholas, heir to the Russian autocracy. Nicky noticed Alix too. The 16-year-old was immediately in love. They were both far too young to make any commitments, but he did give her a bracelet and two began corresponding. Ella, once again defying Grandmama Queen, encouraged their puppy love. She took every opportunity to invite Alix to Russia and she gave Nicholas a small portrait of Alix with their brother.

Victoria could not have imagined that the one person most opposed to the proposed engagement with Eddy was Alix herself. Always sweet and demure, Alix proved stronger and more self-determined than Grandmama could have imagined. Not only did she firmly, but gently, decline the greatest position that could have been offered her as future Queen and Empress of the British Empire--breaking Eddy's heart in the process--she remained determined to marry Nicholas. It was a decision that would ultimately cost her her life along with the lives of the five children they had together. (See my post, The Last Romanov Ladies, Part I.)

Margaret of Prussia by Alexander Bassano via Wikimedia Commons

Margaret of Prussia

Heartbroken Eddy was sent off to India while Victoria reconsidered his options. Perhaps a less attractive cousin would not think so highly of herself and be more grateful for Grandmama's advice than the Hesse princesses. 

In May1890, Victoria rewarded Eddy with the title Duke of Clarence. She also rewarded him with the offer of new potential bride. She wrote to Eddy to extol the virtues of his Cousin Mossy, aka Princess Margaret of Prussia, youngest daughter of Victoria's firstborn child, Vicky Princess Royal. By this time, Vicky was the Dowager Empress of Germany, her beloved husband having died of cancer less than a year after inheriting the throne. At 18, Mossy knew her place in the pecking-order of princesses. She might be the daughter and sister of emperors, but she lacked the sparkling beauty that helped attract a good match. By the late 19th century, high status was no longer enough for a princess--treaties were not built on royal marriages any more. To put it simply, Mossy was mousy. 

Nevertheless, Mossy "had a great love of England," Victoria assured the new Duke of Clarence. Never one to mince her words, Victoria admitted that Mossy might not be "regularly pretty" but she had a nice a figure and was nice. 

Bertie approved. This time, however, Eddy was less obliging. He was not going to fall for the "nice personality" of Cousin Mossy. Fortunately for him, his mother Alexandra, who hated all things German, made sure to stop this latest proposed romance before Mossy even arrived in Britain.

Helene of Orleans via Wikimedia Commons

Helene of Orleans

In fact, Alexandra and her three daughters had already launched a plan of their own. Without telling the Queen, who had already voiced concerns about Princess Helene of Orleans, Eddy's oldest sister Louise invited the French princess to stay at her marital home just when Eddy was coming to visit. Tall and gorgeous, Helene was lively and spontaneous. She fit right in with the Wales family. As the daughter of a pretender to the French throne, 18-year-old Helene had been born in England but raised in France until her father was exiled once again in 1886. With her older sister Amelie already married to the heir to the Portuguese throne, Helene had good prospects on the international marriage market even if her family no longer had a throne.

With both mother's encouraging the couple, Eddy and Helene spent much of the summer of 1890 together at Louise's homes in England and in Scotland. Amidst the shooting parties, balls, and parties, the couple became very fond of each other. Eddy wrote his brother Georgie that Helene was "everything that is nice in a girl" and that "she really likes me." This was an exhilarating new feeling for Eddy. Where Alix had been shy and quiet, Helene was warm and reciprocal. He need not fear another rejection as she confidently declared that she had been in love with him for years. Soon the young couple exchanged engagement rings.

Now, how to tell Grandmama. Eddy's mother once again hatched a plan. She knew her mother-in-law very well. Underneath all of those imperial admonitions, beat the heart of a true romantic. Alexandra told the young couple to declare their love in front the Queen and fling themselves on her mercy. As soon as it could be arranged, the party from Louise's Scottish house paid a visit to the Queen at Balmoral. As their guests, they brought the Orleans princess and her family with them. That afternoon, as was her habit, Queen Victoria retired to her private sanctuary for a respite from a castle full of people. Soon, she had a message that her most important grandchild wished to see her. 

Eddy and Helene came in together hand in hand. With tears in their eyes, they declared their love for each other. Beautiful Helene begged for the Queen's blessing, "Oh! Do help please do!" Eddy added his own plea, promising to be "grateful to you to the end of my life." 

Victoria was moved. Here, at last, was Prince Eddy showing initiative and here was the young woman who had inspired him to do it. If Helene could achieve that, she must indeed be the right bride for the future king. When Victoria announced her consent, Alexandra feigned surprise at the impulsive couple, writing the Queen that the couple must have been more deeply attached than she could have imagined.

There was just one problem. A huge problem. The very reason Victoria had sought to prevent Eddy from ever thinking about Helene in the first place. The marriage was illegal.

Since 1689, Catholics had been barred from sitting on the British throne. In 1701, the Act of Settlement further confirmed that a British monarch could not be married to a Roman Catholic. Helene was Catholic. 

The answer seemed simple to Victoria, Eddy, Bertie and Alexandra: Helene must convert to the Church of England. Helene herself, after days of thought, had promised Eddy that she would before they declared themselves to the Queen. However, she neglected to consult her father, the Comte de Paris, on this point. Well aware of the concern, the Comte had already been seeking legal advice to try to work around this issue. His daughter's conversion was not an option that he would consider. The prospect of another daughter on another throne was no replacement for her eternal soul or for the loss of support from the Catholic community. Faced with no other alternative, the Comte pressured Helene to break her promise to Eddy.

Helene herself was troubled by her conscience. Would she truly be risking damnation for the sake of love? Unconvinced by her father and the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Helene sought out the highest authority. Chaperoned by friends of her parents, she undertook a personal pilgrimage to Rome and sought a private audience with Pope Leo XIII. Following that conversation in November, Helene wrote to Eddy to decline his marriage proposal.

Eddy declared that he would never love another woman. He even threatened to give up his right to the throne. For months, he anguished hoping that Helene would change her mind. Finally in May 1891, she wrote to consider the religious and political consequences they would face. Mature beyond her years, she advised him to "do your duty as an English prince and forget me." When Eddy appealed one last time to Queen Victoria to use her influence to change Helene's mind, Grandmama was saddened to break his heart one more time, telling him he "must have the courage to renounce the idea forever."

Mary of Teck from the Royal Collection via Wikimedia Commons

Mary of Teck

Despite Eddy's "violent" emotions over the loss of Helene, the search for his bride carried on without him. (Eddy fell in love again that summer with Lady Sybil St. Erskine, a match that never would have been considered for someone of his exalted status.) Bertie unsuccessfully suggested Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg, but that thought went nowhere. Victoria, for her part, went digging a little deeper in the cousin closet. If the decidedly plain Mossy would be appropriately grateful to wed a future King-Emperor, what about a princess who had no prospects whatsoever?

Victoria's first cousin, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, had a daughter who could fit that bill perfectly. Although Mary Adelaide was a granddaughter of King George III, she has married "beneath" herself. As handsome as he was poor by royal standards, Francis of Teck was the product of a morganatic marriage. His father, a scion of the royal House of Wurttemberg, had surrendered his rights to the throne in order to marry a mere countess. Francis had served well in the Imperial Austrian Army and had been granted the style of a Serene Highness before marrying a Royal Highness. Nevertheless, his family were largely dependent on the generosity of Queen Victoria providing them with homes free of rent while the British government gave Mary Adelaide a small annual income. The first of their four children and only daughter Princess Victoria Mary of Teck was born in Kensington Palace, in the very room where Queen Victoria had been born 48 years earlier. Calm, quiet, shy and always appropriate, the new little Princess was always called May.

The colorful, loud, and outgoing Mary Adelaide adored entertaining lavishly and generally living beyond her means--much like the Hanoverians who came before her and Victoria. She was nevertheless popular with the public who loved her personality and her sincere devotion to charitable causes. By the time May was 16, pressure from the creditors forced the Tecks to flee to the continent in some disgrace. After years of living abroad, they returned to Britain. 

The time in Europe had helped to expand May's cultural education. She remained devoted to the arts and to museums for the rest of her life. She also was fluent in German, French, and English. Though she was never considered a beauty, she had a fresh prettiness and slim figure. All of these fine qualities did little to attract a husband. To be fair, a couple of unattractive, low-status princes had made advances early on, but May had turned them down. Now, at the age of 24, the likelihood of her finding a marriage partner was almost zero.

Suddenly, however, the Tecks were invited to the Waleses at Sandringham early in 1891. Then, Queen Victoria requested May's photograph. Then, that fall, May and her oldest brother (without their parents) were invited to visit the Queen at Balmoral. No one really consulted Eddy or May, but behind the scenes Bertie, Victoria, and their staff were making arrangements. Victoria determined that May would make a "good sensible wife." She was not a beauty like Alix or Helene but she pretty with charming manners. Plus, she was more mature, more worldly and more steady. Most importantly, May had a great deference for the Crown. The Queen was assured that both Eddy and May would do as they were expected. 

Perhaps exhausted by the drama of his thwarted love matches, Eddy proposed to May in early December 1891 while both families were visiting a country house. The couple dutifully set for engagement portraits. By the time May returned to London, she was besieged by throngs of people longing to see the woman who had won the prince's heart. Newspapers around the world speculated on their romance. 

There was a whirlwind of preparations for an early spring wedding that preoccupied much of May's time. The couple and their families were often together over the holiday season. In fact, the Tecks were at Sandringham after the New Year when Eddy started feeling ill. Despite a flu epidemic, Eddy continued to participate in the lively outdoor activities that were always part of a Wales house party. Then, one day, he was too ill to go out. Doctors were called. The family and May attended his sick room but his flu worsened into pneumonia. The whole country was hushed as they awaited news of their bright young prince, praying for his recovery. May sat quietly beside him as he, in his delirium called out for Helene.  

On January 14, days before his 28th birthday and weeks before his wedding, Eddy was gone. May laid her planned bridal bouquet on his coffin and bid farewell to the man she did not love and the crowned future that had been hers for just a moment.

Sixteen months later she married a man she would love. Seventeen years after that, she would become Queen. (See my post, Royal Love Triangle: Eddy, Georgie and Mary)

Queens of Britain Series: Elizabeth I

 Welcome to the Queens of Britain series. In 2024, the blog will spotlight the reigning queens from the island of Great Britain. Check back each month to learn about the women who led their nations.

Portrait after Levina Teerlinc at National Portrait
Gallery via Wikimedia Commons

For the last 400 years, Queen Elizabeth I has been celebrated as Gloriana and Good Queen Bess. Her comparatively placide 45-year reign followed the political and religious tumult of her father's and siblings' reigns and preceded the political and religious unrest of her Stuart successors, who would actually lose the monarchy within two generations.

The First Elizabethan Age was marked by England's rise as an empire, including the triumph over the Spanish Armada and a series of religious compromises that prevented the kind of warfare that continued to rock her contemporaries on the Continent. Brilliant at using diplomacy, symbolic artistic depiction, and the stagecraft of majestic pageantry, Elizabeth the real person is elusive. 

Her rise to the throne was rarely a certainty until the very moment of her succession. Her childhood and young adulthood consisted of cycles of abandonment and real danger. Throughout all of it, Elizabeth developed a level of cautious circumspection that neither of her parents ever displayed.

Born 10 months after her father King Henry VIII married his second wife Anne Boleyn was a cherished disappointment. Both parents adored her, but the fact that she was not a boy placed the couple in a precarious position. Henry had spent years attempting to annul his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon because he was convinced God was unhappy with that union. The evidence of God's disapproval was that he and Catherine had only a female child. The birth of another female child to his second wife was not what he expected. By the time Elizabeth was two, the second marriage had soured to the point that Henry was willing, nay eager, to believe trumped accusations of adultery. In a space of just 15 days, Anne was arrested, tried, and beheaded.

In the runup to Anne's execution, it was determined that she had bewitched the King and therefore their marriage was invalid. Like Catherine of Aragon's daughter Mary before her, Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. She was not yet three years old. Less than two weeks later, Henry married again to Jane Seymour, who presented him with the much-desired son before dying of childbed fever.

The young Elizabeth was raised by primarily by governesses and tutors while her father made his way through more wives. The central figure of her childhood was governess Kat Ashley, who remained a close friend and companion until her own death in 1565. The little girl has a very advanced education, especially for a girl, but the daughters of the Tudor Dynasty were all similarly learned. Elizabeth knew nine modern and ancient languages. By the end of her life, she may also have added the national languages of her kingdom to the list: Welsh, Irish, Cornish, and Scottish. 

Princess Elizabeth

presumably by William Scrots via Wikimedia Commons

Her father's final wife, Catherine Parr, sought to unite the royal children into a family. Both Mary and Elizabeth were welcomed under her care along with Jane Seymour's son Edward. When Henry VIII died a few years later in 1547 and young Edward became King, 13-year-old Elizabeth remained in Catherine's care at first, even after Catherine married Thomas Seymour. Thomas' attentions to the precocious and blossoming adolescent quickly grew to a state that we would call "inappropriate" today. He would come to her chamber in his nightclothes, frequently tickled her and slapped her playfully on her bottom. At first, Catherine would sanctioned and even joined in the horseplay, even holding Elizabeth down once while Thomas cut the young girl's dress to shreds. Once Catherine found the two in an embrace, her eyes were opened to the danger of the situation. Whether she blamed Thomas or Elizabeth is unknown, but it was Elizabeth who was sent away.

When Catherine died after childbirth a few months later, Kat Ashley suggested Elizabeth might marry Thomas herself. Elizabeth declared that she would not. It was not long until Thomas, who schemed to take control of his nephew King Edward's governance, found himself without a head.

Elizabeth lived with her own household at Hatfield House for the rest of her Protestant brother's reign and through the turbulent nine days of her cousin Lady Jane's brief stint on the throne. When her older half-sister Mary reasserted her right to the throne, Elizabeth rode into London at her side. 

Not surprisingly, their unity was short-lived. Always cautious, the Protestant Elizabeth conformed to Mary's demands that she worship as a Catholic. However, the English people had grown increasingly Protestant. As Mary began persecuting Protestants and married the Catholic King Philip II of Spain, her opponents focused on Elizabeth. This placed the young woman in danger. Mary could not trust her. After Wyatt's rebellion in 1554, Mary imprisoned her innocent half-sister first in the Tower of London and then in Woodstock. With no evidence against her, Elizabeth was granted mercy and recalled to court to witness the birth of Mary's first child in 1555. This was the first of two false pregnancies for Mary, who died in November 1558 after naming Elizabeth her heir.

The 25-year-old Queen Elizabeth showed wisdom beyond her years. In one of her first acts, she signaled her intention to put aside religious persecutions. Officially Protestant, she mixed a bit of Catholicism into her personal religious observations. Most importantly, however, she saw the futility and high cost of religious strife. 

The next greatest question of Elizabeth's reign was whom she would marry. It was almost inconceivable that a woman would remain single or that she would attempt to rule without a husband. Her two immediate predecessors were both married. It is hard to know Elizabeth's true intentions but she used the possibility of her marriage as a lynchpin in her governance and her foreign policy. She would string along potential suitors in negotiations, sometimes for years. The one man she might have married was her longtime friend Robert Dudley, whom she is thought to have loved. However, his first wife's death under mysterious circumstances -- some even accused Elizabeth of having her murdered -- made the choice too politically controversial. Nevertheless, she prevented him from remarrying for years. When she discovered he had secretly married Lettice Knollys, she was enraged. She never forgave Lettice, but she remained fond of Robert, whom she had created Earl of Leicester.

On the foreign marriage mart, she turned down a proposal from Mary's widower but held out her potential hand to the King of Sweden, the King of Denmark, an Austrian archduke, the future King of France, and that French king's younger brother. The last of these, Francois Duke of Anjou might have been the most serious. Elizabeth was already in her 40s at this point and the duke was two decades younger. It is unlikely that creating an heir featured much in her decision-making. 

By Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger
via Wikimedia Commons

In 1563, after Elizabeth suffered a serious bout of smallpox that left her scarred and might have killed her, Parliament pushed her to name an heir. She steadfastly refused to do so and attempted to exert strong amount of control over any cousins who might potentially succeed her, including the reigning Queen of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots. When Mary abdicated her own throne and fled to England seeking Elizabeth's protection, Elizabeth had her kept under house arrest and later, with good cause, accused her of treason and had her executed. (See my post Killing Queens: A Bloody Tudor Heritage)

Instead, Elizabeth came to be celebrated as The Virgin Queen, whether technically true or not. She also gained the nickname Gloriana, in her later reign, as England began to exert its place around the expanding globe. Spain had dominated the expansion of overseas territories for most of the first century after the Spanish monarch's sponsored the voyages of Christopher Columbus. The riches they brought back from the New World had made Spain a formidable power. Elizabeth authorized privateers to harass the Spanish ships and redirect their wealth into her coffers. In 1588, Elizabeth's former brother-in-law King Philip set out to use his power to bring England to its knees. A bit of bad weather helped the English defeat the large Spanish Armada. 

This pivotal moment in history helped set England on the path to becoming the British Empire, upon which the sun never set. Under Elizabeth, the first English colonies were established in Virginia, named in honor of the Virgin Queen. The creation of the East India Company also spurred more English exploration and trade across Asia. 

Back home, the relative stability and increasing wealth of the nation helped to spur a great cultural revival. Poets and playwrights abounded. Spenser, Marlowe, and Shakespeare all rose to prominence.

Elizabeth's 44-year reign was the third longest up to that point in history. Basking in the praise of her courtiers and the strength of her political power, she continued to refuse to name an heir almost to the very last moment. It was only after her advisor Robert Burghley persuaded King James VI of Scotland to appeal to Elizabeth's vanity that she finally agreed for James to be her successor. James was Mary Queen of Scots son and a grandson of her aunt Margaret Tudor, who had married King James V of Scotland. 

The Tudor dynasty that had gained the throne through violence and bloodshed in 1485 ended in 1603 with a peaceful transfer of power to the king of an enemy nation. Finally, the crowns of England and Scotland were on the head of a single monarch. Amazingly, it was an achievement gained not by war nor by marriage, but by one woman's steadfast refusal to marry and her ability to build a nation that was both rich and powerful. 

QUEENS OF BRITAIN SERIES
Boudica, Queen of the Iceni 
Empress Matilda 
Margaret Maid of Norway 
Lady Jane Grey
Queen Mary I
Queen Elizabeth I
Mary Queen of Scots - coming in August 2024
Queen Mary II - coming in September 2024
Queen Anne - coming in October 2024
Queen Victoria - coming in November 2024
Queen Elizabeth II - coming in December 2024

MORE ABOUT ELIZABETH
Elizabeth I on British Monarchy
Queen Elizabeth I Facts and Myths on Royal Museums Greenwich
Why Was Queen Elizabeth I So Important? on English Heritage

Queens of Britain Series: Mary I

Welcome to the Queens of Britain series. In 2024, the blog will spotlight the reigning queens from the island of Great Britain. Check back each month to learn about the women who led their nations.

By Master John via Wikimedia Commons

In their seventh year of her marriage to King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon gave birth to healthy baby girl whom they named Mary in 1516. Five years earlier, their only other child to survive pregnancy and birth died in infancy. A happy, bonnie baby, Mary delighted both of her parents. Precocious like both of them with reddish gold hair, Mary shared her parents love of learning and music. Before she was five, she was entertaining diplomats with musical performances. By nine, she knew French, Latin, Greek, and her mother's native Spanish. Still young and handsome, King Henry doted on her and often bragged of her accomplishments.  

In her early years, Henry negotiated royal marriages for her with France and then the Holy Roman Empire and then France again. As a princess, a diplomatic marriage would have been her expected path. But, as the years passed and it became clear that Queen Catherine, who was six years older than Henry, would have no other children, Mary's destiny changed. 

Mary became the first female heir to be treated as Princess of Wales, although she was never officially granted the title. In clear preparation for eventual succession to the throne, the nine-year-old princess was sent to Welsh Marches with her own household to rule over the principality as had happened with many male heirs before her. Although a female heir was very rare in English history, with only the disputed Empress Matilda as a predecessor, women were not uncommon in her mother's homeland. A daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, Queen Catherine would not have questioned the fitness of a woman for the crown. Petronilla had been the first female monarch in Aragon four centuries earlier and Urraca had been the first queen in Castile and Leon a few decades before that.

All seemed set for Mary to eventually succeed King Henry VIII. She would marry and have children and the Tudor Dynasty would have a bright and glorious future.

History went in a different direction.

While Mary was far away in the Welsh borderlands, her father began to question everything. Why had he had no sons? Had he actually sinned by marrying Catherine, who was his older brother Arthur's widow? Was the lack of sons God's punishment for lying with his "sister"? As Catherine lost her youthful bloom and became even more religiously devout, Henry met a flirtatious and lively young woman who reminded him of his youth. Anne Boleyn.

Soon, Henry became convinced that his soul and his kingdom were in danger because of his "incestuous" marriage to Catherine. Surely Catherine would agree as well? She did not. Didn't Henry remember that she had sworn that she and the 15-year-old Arthur had never lain together as husband and wife? Didn't Henry recall that he had received a dispensation from the Pope to marry Catherine, you know, just in case Arthur really had consummated the marriage? Wasn't that enough to assuage such guilt and cleanse such sin?

It wasn't.

When Catherine refused to grant Henry an annulment, he spent years exploring every path he and his councilors could devise to try to force it. When at long last, they settled upon the idea that the King of England should not be subject to the Pope in Rome, Henry thought he had found his solution. He, who had earned the title "Defender of the Faith" because of his defense of the papacy against the Lutheran reformers, declared himself Head of the Church of England. He divorced Catherine and married Anne. 

The impact on Mary was devastating. Because her father believed he had never actually married her mother, he declared Mary a bastard and removed her from the line of succession. His bright, beautiful young daughter whom he had raised to rule was cast aside. Now called The Lady Mary, her household was dismissed and, by the end of the year, the 17-year-old Mary was sent to live in the household of her new baby half-sister Elizabeth, Henry's daughter by Anne Boleyn. Convinced of her true place in the world, Mary refused to acknowledge Anne and Elizabeth. As punishment, Henry stopped speaking to her and refused to allow her to visit her ailing mother. The strain took a terrible toll on Mary's own health. She was not even able to attend Catherine's funeral when she died in early 1536.

By then, Anne Boleyn has suffered a couple miscarriages and another young woman had caught Henry's eye. Within a year, Henry had beheaded Anne on trumped-up adultery charges, declared their marriage void, added Elizabeth to his list of bastards, and married Jane Seymour. The speed of these changes must have been dizzying to Mary. However, Jane sought to reconcile the young woman with her father. Initially, Mary still refused to acknowledge her illegitimacy and her parents' invalid marriage, but she was eventually bullied into it.

With her acquiescence, The Lady Mary was welcomed back to Henry's good graces. When her half-brother Edward was born in 1537, Mary was named godmother. Then, when Queen Jane died from childbed fever, Mary acted as chief mourner. She was still illegitimate and still barred from the succession, but she was again "loved" by her increasingly mercurial father. She was once again granted her own household and budget. Marriages were even discussed with foreign princes, but nothing came of them. 

Over the next few years, Mary's life was relatively calm--although her former governess was executed on charges of treason due to the actions of her son. Henry's fourth marriage ended in a peaceful annulment and the fifth with another beheading for adultery (this time at least the charges were more accurate). With his sixth marriage to Catherine Parr, Mary's status improved even more. Catherine was able to convince the king to reinstate both his daughters to the line of succession immediately after their young half-brother Edward. 

With Henry's death in 1547, the Catholic Mary inherited many estates. Now in her 30s, she retreated to these as a Protestant Regency Council took control for the nine-year-old King Edward VI. She stubbornly refused to stop practicing her Catholic religion despite laws against it and the young king's insistence. Therefore, she was rarely at court. As Edward's health began to fail, he and his advisors feared what would happen if Mary were to succeed him. Shortly before his death, he, like his father before him, struck Mary and the Protestant Elizabeth from the line of succession in favor of their Protestant cousin Lady Jane Grey. (See my post Queens of Britain Series: Lady Jane Grey)

Mary was at her home at Hunsdon when Edward died and the Privy Council declared Jane queen. Both Elizabeth and Mary were warned to stay away from court, but Mary had no intention of surrendering her rights. She had been the heir to the throne as a child, she had been neglected and restored and rejected. In the end, the 37-year-old exhibited the tenacity of her mother and the self-assurance of her father. She sent orders asserting her claim to the Privy Council and rode for London. An army of supporters formed around her. Nine days later, the Privy Council had deposed Queen Jane and proclaimed Mary the rightful heir. She had not had to fight at all.

In early August, with her sister Elizabeth at her side, Mary arrived in London to public acclaim. Besides restoring Catholicism, one of her first priorities was to find a husband and start a family. She was quickly engaged to her cousin's son, Philip, heir to the Spanish throne. A thwarted uprising by Jane's followers led Philip to insist upon the death of the teenaged claimant. Mary ordered it so. (See my post Killing Queens: A Deadly Tudor Heritage) 

Wedding portrait of Philip and Mary
Woburn Abbey Collection

Mary's proposed foreign marriage caused further unrest as some sought to replace her with Elizabeth. Under the laws of the day, a woman's property belonged to her husband. Many did not want Philip's father, the Holy Roman Emperor, to add England to the expansive territories of his Empire. Mary was able to withstand the challenges, ordered more executions, placed Elizabeth under house arrest, and married Philip. She even had him styled King of England and ensured that all documents would bear both their names. However, the terms of the marriage would only be in place during her lifetime. He would not continue to rule England after her death. Perhaps as importantly, England could not be drawn into the Empire's wars. 

Philip arrived in England two days before their wedding in July 1554. They had never met before. She was 38. He was 27. His nine-year-old son Carlos by his first wife did not accompany him. Philip's first wife (and double first cousin) Maria Manuela of Portugal had died giving birth to Carlos. 

Within weeks, Mary reported feeling nauseated. She was bloated and her period ceased. Everyone rejoiced in her pregnancy. Philip was declared Regent for the child if Mary should die in childbirth. In the spring of 1555, Elizabeth was released from her arrest to attend the imminent birth. But, the child never came. Summer came and Mary's belly went away. The false pregnancy was a terrible blow to the queen, to her marriage, and to the realm. Philip returned to continent to lead his armies while the heartbroken Mary, much like her father, decided her childlessness was God's punishment. Only she was being punished for tolerating heretics in her kingdom. 

At the beginning of her reign, Mary had proclaimed tolerance for Protestants. By the end of 1555, she had officially changed her mind. Executions started early in 1556, even burning some, including Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury, who repudiated Protestantism. Nearly 300 were executed and Mary earned the moniker "Bloody Mary" by which she is known to history. Such persecutions continued throughout her reign.

In 1556, Philip became King of Spain upon his father's abdication. He did not pay a second visit to England until March 1557. He only came to try to persuade Mary to send troops for his continental wars. Mary immediately wished to support him, but it took four months to convince her councilors. Initially, the English forces were successful but by early 1558 they had lost Calais, England's last stronghold on the Continent. 

Mary's reign was fraught with other problems, too, including especially poor weather that ruined the crops and led to famine. The nation's trade also faltered. Despite Spain's growing riches from its territorial subjugation of the old empires of the New World, England did not share in the wealth. 

Philip's brief visit in 1557 once again led Mary to believe she was pregnant. Now in her 40s and distraught, she finally recognized Elizabeth as her heir in 1558. She died that May, perhaps from ovarian cancer or uterine cysts, the symptoms of which might have fueled her second false pregnancy. 

Mary's reign is largely remembered for her zealous religious persecutions, but they were not really very different from the persecutions taking place on both sides of the Reformation across Europe. Her greatest legacy is that she was the first undisputed woman to sit upon the English throne. She acceded without violence and she was succeeded peacefully by England's second undisputed Queen, who would lead the nation over half a century of unprecedented glory. 

QUEENS OF BRITAIN SERIES

Boudica, Queen of the Iceni 
Empress Matilda 
Margaret Maid of Norway 
Lady Jane Grey
Queen Mary I
Queen Elizabeth I - coming in July 2024
Mary Queen of Scots - coming in August 2024
Queen Mary II - coming in September 2024
Queen Anne - coming in October 2024
Queen Victoria - coming in November 2024
Queen Elizabeth II - coming in December 2024

BLOGS ABOUT MARY
Mary Tudor: Renaissance Queen

MORE ABOUT MARY
Did Queen Mary I Simply Need More Time on The Tudor Chest
England's First Official Queen: Mary Tudor on English Heritage
The Marriage of Queen Mary I and Philip II of Spain on The Tudor Enthusiast
Mary had a little lamb on Medieval Manuscripts Blog
Mary I on British Royal Family
Mary I on History
Mary I and Elizabeth on Norwich School Blog
Mary I Queen of England on Tudor History
Queen "Bloody" Mary I Tudor of England on King's College Women's History
Queen Mary I's Accession on Team Queens
Queen Mary I: The Journey to the Throne on Historic UK
Queen Mary I on Screen on The Tudor Chest
Queen Mary I - Reign of Faith and Fire on Old Royal Naval College Greenwich
Role of a Queen - Mary I and Anne on The National Archives
Was Bloody Mary Really so Bloody? on History Is Now
Was the Reign of Queen Mary I of England Really a Failure? on History Is Now
Why Is Mary I Known as 'Bloody Mary'? on Royal Museums Greenwich