 |
Mary GreyLady Jane Grey's younger sister
Date of Birth: 01.01.1545
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
- Lady Mary Grey: The Younger Sister of "The Nine Days' Queen"
- Early Life
- 1. Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour
- 5. Lady Jane Grey
- 9. Lady Margaret Clifford
- Widowhood and Later Life
- Death and Legacy
Lady Mary Grey: The Younger Sister of "The Nine Days' Queen"
Lady Mary Grey was the youngest sister of Lady Jane Grey, famously known as the "Nine Days' Queen," and Catherine Grey. Under the will of King Henry VIII Tudor, she and her sisters were included as heirs to the English throne.
Early Life
Born in 1545, Lady Mary Grey was the youngest child of Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, and Lady Frances Brandon, daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and Mary Tudor, Queen of France. Mary Tudor was the daughter of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, making her a younger sister to King Henry VIII.
As great-grandchildren of Henry VII, the Grey sisters were potential heirs to the English throne. In the Second Succession Act of 1536, Henry VIII was given the authority to appoint his own successors. In his will, he named only his own children and the descendants of his younger sister, Mary Tudor, as his heirs. The descendants of his elder sister, Margaret, Queen of Scotland, were excluded from the succession, though they would later assert their claim to the English crown. The list of heirs designated in Henry VIII's will was as follows:
1. Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour
2. Lady Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon3. Lady Elizabeth Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
4. The heirs of Lady Frances Grey, daughter of Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon
5. Lady Jane Grey
6. Lady Catherine Grey7. Lady Mary Grey
8. The heirs of Lady Eleanor Clifford, daughter of Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon
9. Lady Margaret Clifford
Marriage Controversy and FalloutIn 1565, Lady Mary Grey secretly married Thomas Keyes, a widowed middle-aged man with several children, who served as a captain in the queen's guard. The marriage, performed without the queen's permission, angered Elizabeth I and resulted in the imprisonment of Keyes in the Fleet Prison and house arrest for Mary until the death of her husband.
Widowhood and Later Life
Thomas Keyes was released from prison in 1569 and later died in 1571. Mary was widowed and childless. She lived out her remaining years in relative obscurity, relying on a small allowance from the queen.
Death and Legacy
Lady Mary Grey died on April 20, 1578, at the age of 33, during an outbreak of plague in London. She was buried in Westminster Abbey alongside her mother, though her grave remains unmarked. Her place in the order of succession passed to Margaret Clifford, the last surviving claimant named in Henry VIII's will.
