Mary Tudor - A Plot to Prevent Her Reign

Henry VIII had a troubled marital history which impacted his country and his children.  Mary Tudor was a Catholic, daughter of Henry and Catherine of Aragon.  Elizabeth was Protestant, daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn.  Edward VI was also Protestant, son of Henry and Jane Seymour.

Edward became king when he was only nine years old.  Just before he died of tuberculosis, he agreed to change the law of succession (in favor of Lady Jane Grey, Henry VIII’s great niece) so his Catholic half-sister, Mary, would not become queen.  She eventually did, reigning 5½ years.

This clip, from a BBC series in which Daphne Slater portrays Mary Tudor, recreates the moment when the future queen learns of her brother’s death and the plan to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne.

Credits

From The Lion’s Cub, episode one of Elizabeth R (a 1971 series of six plays, each eighty-five minutes in length) starring Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth and Daphne Slater as Mary.