18th March 2018
Mary Tudor, the youngest surviving daughter of Henry VII, was born on this day in 1496. She would see much loss in her young life – her brother Arthur died when she was six years old, and her mother Elizabeth of York would also die the following year, along with a newborn daughter. In that same year, Mary’s sister was sent to Scotland to marry James IV. When she was thirteen, her father died, making her brother king – Henry VIII.
Henry much indulged his youngest sister, who would become known throughout Europe for her beauty. But his love and indulgence did not stop him from arranging a marriage between her and Louis XII to secure an alliance with France – a man who was 52 when the 18 year old Mary married him.
Unsurprisingly, Mary was unhappy with this marriage but she could not prevent it happening. She sought a promise from her brother that if she outlived Louis, she could choose her next husband. This was unlikely as Mary’s marriage, like that of any princess, was a matter of state and not something she could decide. It is possible that Mary was already thinking of who would be her next husband – Henry’s close friend Charles Brandon, whom she was in love with.
Mary did outlive Louis – he was already ill when they married, and he died a little over three months in the marriage. Henry sent Charles to France to retrieve Mary, but made him promise that he would not marry her. Charles couldn’t keep his promise. The two married in secret in France, both knowing the risk they were taking – Charles could be imprisoned or even executed for marrying a princess without the consent of the king.
Henry was furious, but his love for his sister and his friend eventually triumphed. While Mary and Charles were heavily fined, they were welcomed back to England and remarried with Henry in attendance, showing his approval of the match. Mary's marriage to Charles made her Duchess of Suffolk, but Mary would be referred to as Queen of France for the rest of her life.
Mary had four children, with two daughters surviving to adulthood. She is the grandmother of the Grey sisters – Jane, Katherine and Mary. It is this royal lineage that made the Grey girls heirs to the throne and like their grandmother, two of the girls would risk everything to marry for love.
Mary is an important character in my novel Three Sisters, Three Queens, which you can find out more about here: https://goo.gl/Kp9eU
Image: Detail from Portrait of Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon, attributed to Jan Gossaert, c.1516, via Wikimedia Commons
