On this day 451 years ago, Katherine Grey died. The sister of Lady Jane Grey and grand-daughter of Henry VIII’s sister Mary, she was only 27, and had spent the last years of her life imprisoned. Her crime had been making her own choice and marrying for love – something forbidden to a royal heir and an unforgivable offence to Elizabeth I.

Both Jane and Katherine were initially married as part of the plot to exclude the Catholic Mary I from inheriting the English throne on the death of her half-brother Edward VI. The plot failed and after Jane’s brief nine day reign as queen and her subsequent execution, Katherine’s marriage was annulled and their family faced ruin. Allowed to return to court as the closest heir, Katherine was closely supervised as both Mary I and then Elizabeth I recognised the threat that an alternative claim to the throne could pose. 

However, Katherine was clearly not supervised as closely as she could have been and in 1561 she was forced to reveal to her cousin Queen Elizabeth that she had secretly married Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford and that she was carrying his child. Edward had been sent abroad on a diplomatic mission by Elizabeth and the heavily pregnant Katherine was left with no options. She was alone, and must have been terrified, but she could no longer keep her marriage hidden.

Her fears were well grounded. Elizabeth was furious – as a queen without an official heir, her position on the throne was constantly under threat and Katherine and any sons she might have could be used in plots against her.

Elizabeth sent Katherine to the Tower – also imprisoning Edward there once he returned to England. Here, Katherine gave birth to a son, Edward, and the guards ignored their orders and let her husband visit her and their baby. An investigation into the situation ended with the declaration that there was no marriage. As the priest could not be found and the only witness – Edward’s sister Jane – had since died, there was no proof a marriage had taken place. This made any children illegitimate and therefore ineligible for the throne.

Katherine and Edward continued to meet in secret during their imprisonment in the Tower, and Katherine fell pregnant again, with another son – Thomas. Elizabeth now separated them completely and decreed that both were to be kept under house arrest. She sent Edward and his eldest son to his mother’s home, while Katherine and her new baby were sent to her uncle.

Her family torn apart, Katherine fell into a deep depression. She languished away, being moved from house to house, repeatedly begging the queen for forgiveness. It is thought she died from consumption although some historians suggest her deep unhappiness led to anorexia which took her life.

Shortly before she died, she arranged to have three rings sent to Edward. These were her betrothal ring, her wedding ring, and a memento mori ring engraved with the words ‘While I Lived, Yours.’

Forty years later in 1608, Katherine and Edward’s marriage was declared legal.

I tell Katherine’s story in my novel The Last Tudor. In this scene, I imagine her thoughts about her imprisonment, and her feelings towards Elizabeth.

'Elizabeth knows that I am breaking my heart, parted from my husband and my son, kept in isolation in my uncle’s house, forced to depend on him to pay for my food and for my clothes. My baby is imprisoned with me for no fault of his own, my little son torn from me, and my husband held prisoner by his own mother. Elizabeth knows that this is cruelty to two noble families, and an offence against the laws of the land and justice. She should release us – we are no threat to her and want nothing but to love each other and be together – and she will not do it.'

Images: Portrait miniature of Katherine Grey, Countess of Herford, by Levina Teerlinc, c.1555-1560 – P.10&A-1979 – © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, attributed to Hans Eworth (1515-1574), 1565, via Wikimedia Commons