Elizabeth (6 page)

By November 1546, the King’s health was seriously failing, although it was treason to say so. Although historians do not know the exact cause of Henry’s health problems, he was obese and it is possible he had diabetes. In his last weeks, Elizabeth was devastated by the knowledge of her father’s forthcoming death, but comforted herself with her close relationship to her little brother, Edward, the future king, but their households were separated, with Edward moving to Hertford Castle and Elizabeth to Enfield Palace. Edward wrote to her in 1546: ‘The change of place, in fact, did not vex me so much, dearest sister, as your going from me … this is some comfort to my grief, that I hope to visit you shortly …’
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After Henry VIII, died on 28 January 1547, Edward Seymour arranged for 9-year-old Edward to join his half-sister, 13-year-old Elizabeth, at Enfield. Once together, they were told of
their father’s death and were able to cry in each other’s arms and comfort each other.
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Apart from their place in the succession, Henry VIII left each of his daughters the sum of £3,000 per year. If either Mary or Elizabeth married, they would receive a one-off payment of £10,000 and the annuity would cease. This was not considered particularly generous at the time. Both princesses had to have the Privy Council’s consent to marry, and Henry VIII’s will specifically said that if Elizabeth failed to get this consent, she was to be struck out of the succession altogether.

F
ollowing the death of Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s life initially changed remarkably little. Her younger brother was now King Edward VI and Elizabeth wrote to him with all the humility and reverence she had previously used when addressing their father. She maintained her household and ladies-in-waiting, including Blanche Herbert, Kat Champernowne and Blanche Parry. Now aged 14, Elizabeth was an attractive girl of a suitable age for marriage. According to the terms of Henry VIII’s will, she could only marry if she had the approval of the King and his Council. Catherine Parr, now Queen Dowager, asked the Council if Elizabeth could join her in her home in Chelsea.

As his son was only nine years old, Henry VIII had nominated a Council of Regency, made up of 16 nobles and churchmen, to assist Edward VI in governing his new realm. It was composed of the most important men of the time: Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury; Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford and later 1st Duke of Somerset; John Russell, Baron Russell and later 1st Earl of Bedford; John Dudley, Viscount Lisle, later 2nd Earl of Warwick and 1st Duke of Northumberland; Sir Anthony Denny; Sir William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke; Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton; Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of Durham; Sir Anthony Browne; Sir Edward Wotton; Dr Nicholas Wotton,
Dean of Canterbury and York; William Paulet, Baron St John of Basing, later Earl of Wiltshire and 1st Marquis of Winchester; Sir William Paget, Baron Paget; Sir Edward North; Sir Edward Montague, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Sir Thomas Bromley, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. Even though Catherine Parr, now the Dowager Queen, had hoped to be Edward’s guardian, with a minimum of opposition, Edward Seymour (Jane and Thomas Seymour’s brother) was proclaimed Protector of the Realm and Governor of the King. Catherine made a request to the Council concerning Elizabeth’s future domicile and the princess moved with her servants to Chelsea in London.

Before Catherine had even a chance to settle down in her new home, a suitor had appeared on the horizon – Thomas Seymour, an old friend who had pursued her before the King had himself expressed his interest in her. To ensure that Thomas did not interfere in his new marriage, Henry VIII had arranged for him to be sent on a diplomatic mission to Vienna, after which Thomas was appointed Ambassador to Flanders.

Now that Catherine was a widow, Thomas Seymour renewed his suit with perhaps undue haste. The widow of the King could not, under normal circumstances, remarry for several months after her husband’s death simply because she might be pregnant with the future heir to the throne. However, Catherine welcomed Thomas’s suit. She wrote to him in February 1547, just a few weeks after Henry’s death:

Thomas’s desire to resume his relationship with Catherine was due, in part, to his previous affection for her, but it was also driven by ambition. His brother, Edward, was now arguably the most influential person in the land, and sadly for Thomas, his brother possessed all the qualities of leadership that he himself lacked. Henry VIII had recognized this and made Edward one of his close advisers, sending him abroad on key diplomatic missions. Edward VI’s Council similarly recognized Edward’s powers as a reliable, intelligent, capable soldier and administrator.

When the Council awarded titles to its various Councillors, Edward became the 1st Duke of Somerset. Thomas also received the title of 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley and was appointed Lord High Admiral, but he was far from satisfied. Edward was still more important, and Thomas was furious that his brother had risen so far so fast. Thomas was not only ambitious: he genuinely believed that he was equal, if not superior, to his brother.

Thomas’s subsequent behaviour both involving Catherine, and later, Elizabeth sought to level the playing field. Marriage to the Dowager Queen was just one step further towards reaching a particular goal. Until Edward VI married, which was some years off yet, Catherine was the First Lady in England and the beloved stepmother of the King. She was arguably the most important woman in the country and could be expected to use her influence to support her husband in gaining the King’s favour, if he so required.

While he was wooing Catherine, Thomas was also in communication with some of the Councillors to see if they might
match him with either of Edward VI’s half-sisters, Mary or Elizabeth. He received a strong negative response, as sometime in April or May of 1547 he secretly married Catherine.

Edward VI noted Edward Seymour’s reaction to the marriage in his journal: ‘The Lord Seymour of Sudeley married the Queen, whose name was Catherine, with which marriage the Lord Protector was much offended.’
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While Catherine had approached her stepson and asked for his approval for the union, which he gladly gave, neither Thomas nor Catherine had approached the Council, perhaps suspecting that the Lord Protector might prevent the marriage, not just on the grounds of timing, but also because it would give too much influence to Thomas. When Edward VI took the throne, Thomas had tried to persuade the young King to sign a Bill to allow him to share the role of Protector, which Edward had refused.

By June, the marriage was common knowledge at Court and Thomas was living openly at Chelsea with Catherine and her household, which now included Elizabeth, but soon grew to encompass 11-year-old Lady Jane Grey. As part of Thomas’s plans to increase his power, he plotted to arrange a marriage between Edward VI and Jane, the granddaughter of Mary Tudor, Henry VIII’s sister, and Edward’s own cousin. Evidence for what happened next at Chelsea, and at Catherine and Thomas’s houses at Hanworth and Seymour Place in London, came from statements given by witnesses in the 1548–49 enquiry into the treasonable actions of Thomas Seymour. The most prominent and damaging statements came from Kat Ashley and Sir Thomas Parry, Elizabeth’s Cofferer (treasurer).

From the start Thomas’s behaviour towards Elizabeth overstepped the mark of what was deemed appropriate for a stepfather and
stepdaughter. Kat Ashley reported that he would ‘come many mornings into the Lady Elizabeth’s chamber, before she were ready, and sometimes before she did rise. And if she were up, he would bid her good morrow, and ask how she did, and strike her upon the back or on the buttocks familiarly, and so go forth through his lodgings; and sometime go through to the maidens and play with them, and so go forth.’
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If Elizabeth was in bed, he would ‘make as though he would come at her. And she would go further into the bed, so that he could not come at her.’
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One morning he tried to kiss her while she was in bed, but Kat Ashley ‘bade him go away for shame’. At Hanworth he tried the same trick, but Elizabeth now tended to be up when he arrived. On a few occasions, Catherine accompanied Thomas to Elizabeth’s bedchamber where they were observed tickling Elizabeth.
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It was as if Thomas brought his wife with him to demonstrate the innocence of his actions.

One day, Kat found Elizabeth with her gown slashed to ribbons. In her subsequent testimony at Thomas’s enquiry, she said that as ‘my lady’s grace walking with the Queen in the garden, my Lord Admiral did cut her gown in a hundred pieces, and I chid with her grace when she came up, that she was so trimmed. And she said the Queen held her while my lord did so dress it. “Well,” said I, “I would my lord would show more reverence to you, although he be homely with the Queen.”’
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Kat spoke to Thomas; he told her that it was all good fun. Similarly, when Kat mentioned the matter to Catherine, she made light of it.
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Not only did Thomas continue with his attentions to Elizabeth, he became even more bold. He would come up every morning in his nightgown, ‘barelegged in his slippers’,
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but Elizabeth had learned how to manage the situation; she was always up ‘and at her book’ by the hour he appeared, so he had to wish her good morrow from the doorway.

While they were at Hanworth, one day Catherine came to Kat with a strange tale. She reported that Thomas had told her that he had seen Elizabeth hugging a man. Kat immediately asked Elizabeth about this; she burst into tears and swore it was a lie. She was never alone, after all, and Kat only had to ask her ladies-in-waiting for verification. The only gentleman among Elizabeth’s servants was William Grindal, her elderly tutor, an unlikely candidate for a passionate embrace. And why Catherine mentioned this at all remains a mystery. Possibly she knew or believed that Elizabeth was smitten with a young man, but did not know who it was and hoped to put a stop to any serious flirtation before it got out of hand and someone reported it to the Council. Possibly Thomas thought that someone had seen him embracing the young girl and he was acting to cover his tracks.
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While Thomas’s actions with a younger child might have been seen as simple playfulness, Elizabeth was nearly 15, old enough to be a married mother by the standards of the day. Touching her in her nightdress, trying to get into her bed and kissing her were all wholly inappropriate actions, and while Catherine might have initially viewed them as innocent, evidence indicates she changed her mind. All the principal players in the events that unfolded seem to acknowledge that all was not well in the Seymour household.

Matters became more complicated when the 35-year-old Catherine announced that she was pregnant. Although Catherine was delighted with the news, she was undeniably concerned by the nature of the relationship between her husband and her ward, and this must have exacerbated the physical and psychological problems that came with a middle-aged woman’s first pregnancy.

The pregnancy also put paid to any plans that Thomas had for Catherine to help him gain influence over the Council or the King, although she had shown a marked disinclination to become involved
in his schemes. In any event, Catherine’s own position and influence as Dowager Queen was also now in question. Anne Seymour, the Lord Protector’s wife, resented Catherine’s position as Dowager Queen, even though Anne was the wife of arguably the most powerful man in England. The resulting dispute between them led to some extremely petty behaviour, such as Edward’s refusal, backed by Anne, to return some of Catherine’s jewels – including her wedding ring – which he claimed belonged to the Crown. Catherine was no longer in a position of sufficient power to lobby for her husband, even if she wanted to.