Lady Mary Grey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lady Mary Keyes
Born	20 April 1545
Died	20 April 1578 (aged 33)
Spouse	Thomas Keyes
Father	Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk
Mother	Lady Frances Brandon

Lady Mary Keyes (born Grey) lived from 1545 to 1578. She was the youngest daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and Frances Brandon. Through her mother, Mary had a claim to the English throne.

Early Life of Mary Grey

Mary Grey was born around April 20, 1545. She was the third and youngest daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Her mother was Lady Frances Brandon. Frances was the daughter of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and Mary Tudor, Queen of France. Mary Tudor was the younger daughter of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Mary Grey had two older sisters, Lady Jane Grey and Lady Katherine Grey.

Claim to the Throne

Mary and her sisters were great-grandchildren of King Henry VII. This meant they could potentially inherit the crown.

King Edward VI's Will

When King Edward VI died on July 6, 1553, he left a will. This will named Mary's oldest sister, Jane, as his successor. Jane had recently married Guildford Dudley, the son of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland. A few weeks before, Mary Grey, who was still a child, was promised in marriage to her distant cousin, Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton. His father was a friend of Northumberland.

Changes in Power

The plan to keep a Protestant ruler failed. Jane Grey briefly became queen, but the Privy Council of England soon supported Edward's half-sister, Mary. Queen Mary became the new ruler. Northumberland was executed in August 1553. Queen Mary at first spared Jane, her husband, and her father. But after a rebellion in 1554, all three were executed. Jane and her husband died in February 1554, and her father shortly after. After Queen Mary took the throne, Mary Grey's engagement to Arthur Grey was called off.

Life Under Queen Elizabeth I

On March 1, 1555, Mary's mother, Frances Brandon, married again to Adrian Stokes. When Frances died in November 1559, Mary received only a small inheritance. However, Queen Elizabeth, who became queen in November 1558, made Mary Grey one of her Maids of Honour. She also gave Mary a pension of £80 a year.

Queen Elizabeth had no children. This meant Mary and her sister Katherine were next in line to the throne, according to King Henry VIII's will. They were not allowed to marry without the Queen's permission.

Katherine's Secret Marriage

In December 1560, Katherine Grey secretly married Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford. He was the eldest son of the Protector Somerset. Queen Elizabeth was very angry about this. The marriage ceremony was done by a priest who was never found. The only witness was Seymour's sister, Lady Jane Seymour, who died soon after. Because of this, the Queen said the marriage was not valid. In March 1563, she declared that Katherine's son, Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp, was not legitimate. Both Katherine and her husband were sent to the Tower and later held under house arrest.

Mary's Marriage

Even after seeing what happened to her sister Katherine, Mary also married without the Queen's permission. On July 16, 1565, while the Queen was away, Mary secretly married Thomas Keyes. He was the Queen's sergeant porter. Thomas Keyes was from a less important family and was more than twice Mary's age. He was also a widower with several children.

Mary was described as "little, crook-backed and very ugly." Keyes was very tall, about 6 feet 8 inches. Sir William Cecil wrote that "The Sergeant Porter, being the biggest gentleman of this court, has married secretly the Lady Mary Grey, the least of all the court." The Queen saw this marriage as a very serious offense.

House Arrest

Mary and her husband never saw each other again after their marriage. The Queen put Mary under house arrest with William Hawtrey at Chequers in Buckinghamshire. She stayed there for two years. Thomas Keyes was sent to the Fleet.

Moving to Different Homes

In August 1567, Mary was sent to live with her step-grandmother, Katherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk. The Duchess was married to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, after Mary's grandmother, Mary Tudor, Queen of France, died. The Duchess wrote about how few things Mary had when she arrived. Mary stayed with the Duchess for almost two years. She was said to be close to the Duchess's children, Peregrine and Susan Bertie.

On January 27, 1568, Katherine Grey died at age twenty-seven. She had been imprisoned and separated from her husband and sons for years. With Katherine's death, Mary became the next heir to Elizabeth under Henry VIII's will. Since Katherine's sons were declared illegitimate, Mary's claim to the throne became more important.

In June 1569, Mary was sent to live with Sir Thomas Gresham at his house in Bishopsgate and later at his country house at Osterley. Her time with the Greshams was not happy. Sir Thomas was unwell, and his wife, Anne, did not like Mary living with them.

Later Life

After years in prison, Mary's husband, Thomas Keyes, was released in 1569. He was allowed to return to Kent. However, his health was broken by his time in prison, and he died in 1571. Mary asked Queen Elizabeth for permission to raise her husband's children from his first marriage, but the Queen said no.

It was not until May 1572, after Mary had been under strict house arrest for seven years, that the Queen finally allowed her to live where she pleased. However, Mary had no friends to take her in and not enough money to live on her own. She continued to stay with the Greshams. Sir Thomas suggested she go live with her late mother's second husband, Adrian Stokes, at Beaumanor in Leicestershire. Adrian Stokes had recently married Anne Carew. In 1573, Mary left the Gresham household for good.

Mary did not stay long at Beaumanor. By February 1573, she had her own house in London. By the end of 1577, she had gained enough favor with the Queen to be appointed one of the Queen's Maids of Honour again.

Death and Legacy

In April 1578, during a time when plague was in London, Mary became ill. She made her will, leaving gifts to her step-grandmother, the Duchess of Suffolk, and others. She died three days later on April 20, 1578, at the age of 33.

The Queen gave Mary a grand funeral in Westminster Abbey. The Duchess of Suffolk's daughter, Susan Bertie, was the chief mourner. Mary was buried in her mother's tomb in the Abbey. Her grave is still unmarked.

Mary Grey never seemed to make a serious claim to the throne herself. After her death, the main claimant to the throne, according to Henry VIII's will, became Margaret Stanley, Countess of Derby. She was the only surviving child of Eleanor Brandon, who was the second daughter of Henry VIII's younger sister, Mary Tudor, Queen of France.

Cultural Depictions

Mary is a main character in Philippa Gregory's book The Last Tudor (2016). This book is the final part of The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels.

Leanda de Lisle's biography The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey; A Tudor Tragedy was published in 2009. It tells the stories of Lady Jane, Katherine, and Mary. It also shares new insights into Queen Elizabeth I's time as ruler.

See also

In Spanish: María Grey para niños