'Lady Mary Grey' (
1545–
April 20,
1578), sometimes spelled Marie, was the third and last daughter of
Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk and
Lady Frances Brandon. She was a younger sister of
Lady Jane Grey and
Lady Catherine Grey.
Her maternal grandparents were
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and
Mary Tudor, former Queen consort of France. Mary was the daughter of
Henry VII of England and
Elizabeth of York and a younger sister of
Henry VIII of England.
Mary Grey was described as "four foot tall and hunchbacked" (1,22
metres). Her reported deformity would be described as
kyphosis.
Her oldest sister, Jane, was the designated heir of
Edward VI of England, in a change to his will made on his deathbed. Edward VI died on
July 6,
1553 and Jane was proclaimed
Queen regnant on
July 10. However Edward VI had by-passed his older half-sisters,
Mary I of England, and
Elizabeth I of England, an act which was of dubious legality, as it had not been approved by the Houses of Parliament. Jane was deposed in favor of Mary I on
July 19, 1553, and executed on
February 12,
1554. Mary I continued to reign until her natural death on
November 17,
1558, and died childless. She was succeeded by her younger half-sister, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was unmarried and childless. Lady Catherine Grey was considered a likely heir to the throne until her own death in
1568. This brought Lady Mary Grey to relative prominence. She was the last surviving grandchild of Mary Tudor, and considered by some to be
heiress presumptive to the English throne. Mary Grey was already living under
house arrest at that time, having been imprisoned in
1565 for marrying royal
gatekeeper Thomas Keyes without the permission of Queen Elizabeth. She was released following his death in
1572 and was permitted to attend Court occasionally.
In spite of the intrigues involving her sisters, Mary Grey does not appear ever to have made a serious claim to the throne. She died childless at age 33.
Elizabeth I survived her and would reign until her own death on
March 24,
1603.
References
★
Britannia.com
★
Life in Elizabethan England