JUST before the young King Edward VI, son of Henry VIII, died in 1553, he unexpectedly named Lady Jane Grey as his successor, passing over his half-sisters Elizabeth and Mary.
Jane was Edward’s cousin once removed: Edward’s grandfather King Henry VII was her great-grandfather.
And for nine days after Edward’s death, it seemed as if Jane would be confirmed as England’s first Queen Regnant.
But the Privy Council chose instead to proclaim Mary as Queen of England. She was duly crowned on the 1st of October, 1553, while Jane was imprisoned in the Tower of London under sentence of death for high treason.
Things might have progressed no further but for a revolt led by Sir Thomas Wyatt, anxious at Mary’s intention to marry Philip II, King of Spain.
Suspicion fell on all Mary’s rivals, and while the Queen’s half-sister Elizabeth managed to survive, Jane was executed on the 12th of February, 1554.
Précis
King Edward VI died when he was just fifteen. He named his cousin Jane Grey as his successor, but the Privy Council overturned his decision and gave the crown to his half-sister Mary. Jane might have survived, had it not been for Thomas Wyatt’s failed revolt, which goaded Mary into executing her. (52 / 60 words)