0:00:02 > 0:00:04The Tudors are historical superstars,
0:00:04 > 0:00:06our most famous royal dynasty.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10But there is one Tudor monarch who's been all but forgotten.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12Queen Jane.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16Lady Jane Grey was a teenager thrust on to the throne,
0:00:16 > 0:00:20only to lose her crown after just nine days.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23She was the first woman to be proclaimed Queen of England,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26but few would recognise the name Queen Jane.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30I'm Helen Castor, and over three episodes,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33I'm going to take a forensic look at Jane's story.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40It's a Tudor thriller, an epic tale of family conflict...
0:00:42 > 0:00:44..ambition, and betrayal.
0:00:46 > 0:00:47The death of a king covered up...
0:00:48 > 0:00:51..and a country torn between two faiths.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56Our protagonists include the manipulative duke...
0:00:58 > 0:01:00..the wronged princess...
0:01:02 > 0:01:04..and the God-fearing 15-year-old
0:01:04 > 0:01:07who finds herself caught between them,
0:01:07 > 0:01:08and pays with her life.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13I'm going to track down original sources,
0:01:13 > 0:01:16written as the drama unfolds...
0:01:16 > 0:01:19This is the really exciting bit of the job.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21..I'll talk to expert colleagues...
0:01:21 > 0:01:24I've been in this game for 40 years, and I have to tell you,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27there is no trickier Tudor subject that Jane Grey.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32..and I'll visit the places where Jane once walked
0:01:32 > 0:01:34during the nine days that she reigned.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36In this episode, I want to explore
0:01:36 > 0:01:39just how this teenage girl became queen,
0:01:39 > 0:01:43and as a result, led England to the brink of civil war.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Jane's journey to the throne begins
0:01:56 > 0:02:00with the sudden illness of the 15-year-old Tudor king, Edward VI...
0:02:02 > 0:02:04..the only son of Henry VIII.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08If Edward dies childless,
0:02:08 > 0:02:11his sister, Mary, will inherit the throne.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16But she's a woman, and worse,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19she's a Catholic, an abomination to Edward,
0:02:19 > 0:02:21who is fiercely Protestant.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27It's a time bomb that will throw the country into chaos.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33Catholic or Protestant,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36the future of the country depends on Edward's survival.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49As the young king lies on his sick bed at Greenwich Palace,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53secret dispatches from the Imperial ambassador, Jean Scheyfvre,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57described the Protestant king's rapid and brutal decline.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02"The king of England is still confined to his chamber,
0:03:02 > 0:03:06"and seems to be sensitive to the slightest indisposition or change.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10"He suffers a good deal when the fever is upon him,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13"especially from a difficulty in drawing his breath."
0:03:21 > 0:03:24There may be a lot of gaps in the record,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27but the king's health was a subject of intense scrutiny.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30We have every grim detail.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34"The matter he ejects from his mouth
0:03:34 > 0:03:37"is sometimes coloured a greenish yellow and black.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40"He is beginning to break out in ulcers."
0:03:41 > 0:03:46The illness seemed to take hold and progress frighteningly quickly.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49A procession of the best doctors came and went,
0:03:49 > 0:03:51but the king was not getting better.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56"They feel sure that the king has no chance of recovery,
0:03:56 > 0:03:59"unless his health improves during the next month."
0:04:02 > 0:04:05As the days pass, rumours of the king's illness
0:04:05 > 0:04:09begin to seep through the court, through the capital,
0:04:09 > 0:04:11and out into the counties beyond.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Stories of the king's illness were played down,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23but here at Greenwich in the corridors of power,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25there was growing concern.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28People began to speculate about what the death of the king might mean.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32That feeling of just terror,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35that the entire world was going to devolve into chaos,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38must've just been enormous for them.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47The most powerful nobles in the country know that they stand to lose
0:04:47 > 0:04:49everything in a Catholic regime.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54The question of how to hold on to power and keep Mary from the throne
0:04:54 > 0:04:58preoccupies the key players at court.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00First among them is the Duke of Northumberland.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08Northumberland was a soldier, a leader in battle, a politician,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11principal adviser and confidant to the young king.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14During the dissolution of the monasteries, of course,
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Henry VIII seized all of that property
0:05:16 > 0:05:18from the Roman Catholic Church,
0:05:18 > 0:05:23and used it as a revenue-generating system, and as a reward system.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28To what extent was Northumberland personally invested in Protestantism
0:05:28 > 0:05:30by Edward's reign?
0:05:30 > 0:05:33Northumberland was one of those that enriched himself
0:05:33 > 0:05:36enormously through this system.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43In 1553, Northumberland was the power behind the throne.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48He had been Henry VIII's Lord Admiral.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51And now, as head of the Privy Council,
0:05:51 > 0:05:53he knows that if Edward dies,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55there's a big problem with the succession.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59This is the Tudor family tree.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Henry VII had three surviving children.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Margaret...
0:06:07 > 0:06:08..Henry...
0:06:08 > 0:06:10..and Mary.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Henry, as the only boy, became king as Henry VIII.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17And he too had three children.
0:06:19 > 0:06:20Mary...
0:06:20 > 0:06:22..Elizabeth...
0:06:22 > 0:06:24..and Edward.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29And Edward was the only boy, so he became king when his father died,
0:06:29 > 0:06:30as Edward VI.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33But what would happen if Edward died?
0:06:34 > 0:06:37He had two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41But were there are other options elsewhere on the family tree?
0:06:41 > 0:06:45Margaret had married the King of Scotland, and she'd had a son,
0:06:45 > 0:06:46but he was already dead.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51Leaving a daughter, Mary Queen of Scots.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Mary had had two daughters.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Frances...
0:06:57 > 0:06:59..and Eleanor.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03Frances had three daughters - Jane, Katherine...
0:07:05 > 0:07:09..and Mary, and Eleanor had one, Margaret.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12So, if we look around this family tree,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14we see that our options are pretty limited.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Eleanor was already dead, but otherwise,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20there's Mary, Mary, Elizabeth,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Frances, Jane, Katherine, Mary, and Margaret.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Eight women, not a man in sight.
0:07:28 > 0:07:34It was entirely understood that the heir to the throne should be male,
0:07:34 > 0:07:35full stop.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39And when you're left with the first eight heirs to the throne
0:07:39 > 0:07:43being female, the question wasn't "how do we deal with this?"
0:07:43 > 0:07:46It was "how do we avoid it?"
0:07:46 > 0:07:51So, in 1553, we're talking about a very live political question -
0:07:51 > 0:07:54can a woman rule or not?
0:07:54 > 0:07:57And you're arguing that Edward's answer is no?
0:07:57 > 0:08:01He shared his father's abhorrence of the notion
0:08:01 > 0:08:03of a woman ruling the realm.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09The issue of a woman ruler was only part of the problem.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Although Henry VIII had made the break with Rome,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15it was his son, Edward, who made sweeping changes
0:08:15 > 0:08:17to ordinary people's experience of worship.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21He got rid of candles, images, rosaries,
0:08:21 > 0:08:23and outlawed the Latin mass,
0:08:23 > 0:08:27threatening anyone who stepped out of line with imprisonment.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31In 1549,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34religious conflict had erupted into battles
0:08:34 > 0:08:38between Catholics and Edward's men, as described in Edward's own diary.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46"The rebels besieged Exeter, where there were many pretty feats of war.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48"They gathered at Launceston,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50"where the Lord Privy Seal went and overthrew them,
0:08:50 > 0:08:52"taking their chiefs and executing them."
0:08:54 > 0:08:59But by 1553, one of the greatest champions of Catholicism was Mary,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Henry VIII's eldest child, and the heir to Edward's throne.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Aged 37, Mary was an unrepentant Catholic.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14Before her brother's illness,
0:09:14 > 0:09:17she had held regular illegal masses at her home.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21This act of defiance enraged Edward,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24and hardened his resolve that she should never be queen.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29The fact that the heir to the throne was Catholic
0:09:29 > 0:09:32was a frightening prospect, not only for Edward,
0:09:32 > 0:09:34but for the Duke of Northumberland.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Next in line was Henry's 19-year-old daughter, Elizabeth.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41And although she was Protestant, like Mary,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43she was technically illegitimate.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50But as Edward's illness progresses,
0:09:50 > 0:09:54a secret document is hastily produced in his sick room.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56What was Edward planning, and why?
0:10:01 > 0:10:03This is Edward's device for the succession.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05It's in his own handwriting,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08which was never the most beautiful handwriting in the world,
0:10:08 > 0:10:10but it's looking scrappier than it had been,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13perhaps because he was already becoming ill.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18It's clearly a document written by a teenage boy.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21The handwriting isn't very sophisticated,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24and neither actually is the language.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27"My device for the succession," it says at the top.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31And the essence of Edward's plan is clear in the first paragraph,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35where one word gets repeated over and over again.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40"Male, male, male, male, heirs male."
0:10:40 > 0:10:44The problem Edward has is that there aren't any.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47He's having to talk about possible heirs male
0:10:47 > 0:10:49who might be born in the future.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52Obviously, he hopes he'll have a son of his own,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54but just in case,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56he's decided on a particular female line
0:10:56 > 0:10:59through which the crown should pass,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02and that's where we come to Jane Grey.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06She isn't the first name on the list - that's her mother, Frances.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10"For lack of issue with my body, to the Lady Frances's heirs male."
0:11:11 > 0:11:14But Lady Frances Grey only had daughters.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17So, then after her,
0:11:17 > 0:11:19"for lack of such issue before my death
0:11:19 > 0:11:22"to the Lady Jane's heirs male,"
0:11:22 > 0:11:25and then, on to her sisters, to the Lady Katherine's heirs male,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28to the Lady Mary's heirs male.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30Edward then goes on to an elaborate plan
0:11:30 > 0:11:33about what should happen if those baby boys
0:11:33 > 0:11:36haven't been born by the time he dies.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38But the basic principle is clear,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42Edward wants a Protestant king to rule after his death.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46There are still questions - it's Edward's handwriting,
0:11:46 > 0:11:48but we don't know if it was Edward's idea.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50Whether he was under pressure,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52or whether this was exactly what he wanted.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57As leader of the Privy Council,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00the Duke of Northumberland was Edward's closest adviser.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04There's a possibility that he had a hand in this document
0:12:04 > 0:12:06for his own very personal reasons.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12The Grey family has now become the focus of Edward's plans
0:12:12 > 0:12:14for the succession.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18The device names Jane, Katherine, and Mary Grey,
0:12:18 > 0:12:20and their mother, Frances.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25Until one of them produces a son, Frances would be a caretaker,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28and the throne of England would remain empty.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33So, if he died, the throne was going to be empty.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Frances was going to be Governor, working with the Privy Council.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40Big problem, terrifying.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43You've got out there, you've got the sharks out there, of Charles V,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45you know, the King of France...
0:12:45 > 0:12:49They might want to put their own candidates on the throne.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53So, what's the solution to the difficulty of that empty chair?
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Well, I think their immediate solution is to have
0:12:56 > 0:12:58a round of marriages,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01in the hopes that someone will produce a son before Edward dies.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Basically, everyone of royal blood is married off.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06Katherine, who's only 12,
0:13:06 > 0:13:10who's going to be married to the son of the Earl of Pembroke,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12his son, who's only, I think, 15,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15is taken from his sick bed to be married,
0:13:15 > 0:13:16sort of bright green in the face.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22And you have little Mary Grey, who's eight years old and undersized,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25and she is betrothed to a middle-aged man,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28Lord Grey of Wilton, who's one of the great warriors of the time.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30Hideously disfigured by a sort of pike
0:13:30 > 0:13:32that had been thrust through his face.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Of all the royal descendants,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40the greatest prize is the eldest of the Grey sisters, 15-year-old Jane.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Growing up in Leicestershire,
0:13:48 > 0:13:52Jane Grey's early life gave no indication of what was to come.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58Aged around 11, she moved to London,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02to live under the wardship of the king's uncle, Thomas Seymour.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07It was here that she advanced her education
0:14:07 > 0:14:10with the best Protestant tutors the country had to offer.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Jane's education is special.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19She's educated to a greater degree even than someone like Princess Mary
0:14:19 > 0:14:22or Princess Elizabeth, largely because she has no brothers.
0:14:22 > 0:14:27So she becomes the sole recipient, I suppose, of the family resources,
0:14:27 > 0:14:29as well as the family ambition.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32She is receiving a humanist education.
0:14:32 > 0:14:37So she knows Latin, Greek, Hebrew, she's also learning Italian.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39She's really, in some ways,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43being seen as the future of the Protestant Reformation in England.
0:14:48 > 0:14:53Jane's education was facilitated by her father, Henry Grey,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56who was a senior nobleman and a member of the Privy Council.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00He was close to Northumberland, and together,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03they agreed to plan for the marriage of Jane to Northumberland's son,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07Guildford, who was also about 15 years old.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13For Northumberland, Jane was his route to the power of the crown,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15through his son.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25He arranged their wedding at one of his lavish London residences,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27Durham House on the banks of the Thames.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31It was just over there.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Today, it's Victoria Embankment Gardens,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35just across from the South Bank.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37But in the 16th century,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40this was one of the most upmarket addresses in London.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47Edward was confined to his sick bed, and unable to attend the marriage.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49But a royal warrant was issued,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52providing extravagant clothes for the wedding party.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59Jane was really quite reluctant to enter this marriage, I think.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02I think you can document that in the sources.
0:16:03 > 0:16:08She agreed to do it because her parents sort of pushed her into it.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19In Richard Davey's 1909 book, The Nine Days' Queen,
0:16:19 > 0:16:21we have the following passage...
0:16:21 > 0:16:24"Her parents ordered her to marry the young gentleman,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27"and according to an Italian chronicler,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29"she at first stoutly refused.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35"The Duke harshly reiterated his command,
0:16:35 > 0:16:37"and according to the chronicler,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40"even struck his daughter several hard blows."
0:16:44 > 0:16:45Whether or not there was violence,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48Jane was certainly put under pressure to be married,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51and with good reason. The king's health was failing.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03As the weeks tick past, and Jane embarks on married life,
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Edward shows no sign of recovery.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09The realisation dawns that there's no prospect
0:17:09 > 0:17:12of any male heirs being born in time.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16We don't know the date or the precise details,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19but some time in the weeks before his death,
0:17:19 > 0:17:23a final and critical change is made to the device.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26It's a change that will have a devastating impact
0:17:26 > 0:17:28on the life of Lady Jane Grey.
0:17:34 > 0:17:39Two small words have been added in Edward's own handwriting.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Two words that would change the course of England's history.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45"And her."
0:17:48 > 0:17:53Before, it said, the Lady Jane's heirs male.
0:17:53 > 0:18:00Now after this change, it says the Lady Jane and her heirs male.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07They were suddenly faced with the fact that a woman
0:18:07 > 0:18:09simply was going to have to inherit the throne,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12whether any of them liked it or not.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16And the only woman available for that, at that moment, was Jane Grey.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19You also have to remember, I'm really sorry to have to say this
0:18:19 > 0:18:22in the 21st century, but she's a woman, and she's a young woman.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26And in the 16th century, there were no equal opportunities.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29Women were considered to be creatures of emotion,
0:18:29 > 0:18:31rather than of reason.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34It was considered that a woman couldn't hold the throne of England.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41So, this decision to make Jane queen was absolutely transformational.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44It was about to propel her from being a minor member
0:18:44 > 0:18:47of the royal family, to the English throne.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49And she knew nothing about it.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58The device is an incendiary document.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00Northumberland knows that once Edward's sister, Mary,
0:19:00 > 0:19:04discovers that she's been cut out of the succession,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06it could start a civil war.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12For now, he needs to keep the device under wraps.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15So, he bides his time,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18and gathers a tight-knit group of counsellors around him.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23Mary, Jane's rival for the throne,
0:19:23 > 0:19:26had been growing increasingly suspicious
0:19:26 > 0:19:28that all was not well at court.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Just a few days before Edward's death,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34Northumberland had tried to lure her to London.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42She gets a tip-off from someone at court,
0:19:42 > 0:19:45a warning that Edward is dying,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48and that the summons to court that she's received
0:19:48 > 0:19:50shouldn't be followed,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53that she shouldn't go back to court, she shouldn't respond to it,
0:19:53 > 0:19:58because there is a plan to capture her when she comes to court
0:19:58 > 0:20:01on the pretence of coming to see her dying brother.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08Fearing that Northumberland will try to capture or even kill her,
0:20:08 > 0:20:10Mary goes into hiding.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13She's got to get ahead,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16she's got to get some miles between her and Northumberland.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Because of course, she's been summoned to court,
0:20:18 > 0:20:20and she hasn't gone to court.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22You know, the assumption is therefore that Northumberland
0:20:22 > 0:20:24or someone will come out and get her.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39HE COUGHS
0:20:39 > 0:20:42On the 6th of July, at about 8pm,
0:20:42 > 0:20:44the 15-year-old king says he feels faint.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50A few minutes later, he dies.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59For Northumberland, the game is on.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02He needs to consolidate his position, and place Jane,
0:21:02 > 0:21:06now his daughter-in-law, on the throne before Mary finds out.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11Immediately, the Council sprung into action
0:21:11 > 0:21:16to do what needed to be done to effect a new reign.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Just rapid, furious movement, I'm sure,
0:21:19 > 0:21:23as people began to consolidate and solidify positions,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26and get everyone into place.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32That night, there's no announcement that the king is dead.
0:21:32 > 0:21:33Nor the next day.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36The public don't know.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40Not even Jane is aware of her new role as Queen of England.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50At first light, Northumberland sends his son, Robert,
0:21:50 > 0:21:52and 300 soldiers to catch Mary
0:21:52 > 0:21:55before she has time to gather support.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Mary's been in hiding with Catholic supporters, and that same day,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04word reaches her that her brother is dead.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11Robert Raynes, a London goldsmith who'd worked for Mary,
0:22:11 > 0:22:15heard the story that the king was dead and immediately fled the city,
0:22:15 > 0:22:20riding 80 miles at breakneck speed to Mary in Norfolk.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24He did so to make sure she'd heard the news.
0:22:26 > 0:22:27With Mary in hiding,
0:22:27 > 0:22:31Northumberland and his supporters in the Privy Council
0:22:31 > 0:22:36turned their attention to securing the greatest fortress in England,
0:22:36 > 0:22:37the Tower of London.
0:22:41 > 0:22:42Like the rest of the court,
0:22:42 > 0:22:46the Privy Council have been here in Greenwich for the last few weeks,
0:22:46 > 0:22:48at the bedside of the dying king.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56Suddenly, they're packing their things and clambering
0:22:56 > 0:22:59into the royal barges over there at the water's edge.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03They disappear that way, upriver to London.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11It takes 45 minutes to get from Greenwich to the Tower
0:23:11 > 0:23:14by royal boat, if you're rowing with the tide.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23In the 16th century, to hold the Tower was to hold power.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27The Council came to occupy the Tower, and just as importantly,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29to ensure that Mary could not.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36The Tower of London was founded in 1066 following the Norman Conquest.
0:23:38 > 0:23:43It was one of the strongest, most imposing castles of the Middle Ages.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47It was a royal residence, a jail for the most prized prisoners,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50and the state armoury,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53containing huge stores of munitions and gunpowder.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58The Tower was feared and looked on with awe.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02People believed that whoever controlled the Tower
0:24:02 > 0:24:03controlled the country.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07Northumberland knew it was vital to strengthen the battlements
0:24:07 > 0:24:09to defend the tower from attack.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Great guns were to be placed in the White Tower,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15and additional troops drafted in to man the perimeter walls.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19They were preparing to put their candidate, Lady Jane Grey,
0:24:19 > 0:24:21on the throne, and bracing themselves
0:24:21 > 0:24:24against a potential counterattack from Mary.
0:24:28 > 0:24:29Throughout the 8th of July,
0:24:29 > 0:24:34Northumberland quietly moves reinforcements loyal to his cause
0:24:34 > 0:24:36across the country.
0:24:36 > 0:24:41Key officers of state are hastily secured for his allies.
0:24:41 > 0:24:42Behind the scenes...
0:24:43 > 0:24:46..ships were sent north to protect the coast,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49to prevent Mary from fleeing overseas.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53There were changes in many of the fortresses in and around London,
0:24:53 > 0:24:58where people who had been in office in those fortresses were removed,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01because they were known not to support the plan.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05And new people were installed that had vested financial interest
0:25:05 > 0:25:07in supporting this plan.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12In the 48 hours since Edward's death,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Northumberland has succeeded in carrying out the first phase
0:25:16 > 0:25:17of the Protestant plan.
0:25:19 > 0:25:24He holds the Tower, the weapons, and crucially,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27he has the dead king's device for the succession,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30naming his daughter-in-law as queen.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33But the frenzied activity and movement of guards
0:25:33 > 0:25:36has not gone unnoticed.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40By the time the sun set on Saturday the 8th of July, 1553,
0:25:40 > 0:25:44almost all the key political players in London and beyond
0:25:44 > 0:25:47knew that Edward was dead, and that Jane would be queen,
0:25:47 > 0:25:50though no public statement had been made.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54The one person of note who didn't yet know was Jane.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00And I believe that that action in and of itself
0:26:00 > 0:26:03is a clear indication of how Northumberland
0:26:03 > 0:26:06and the Privy Council viewed Jane.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09She was effectively a cipher.
0:26:09 > 0:26:15They intended to control her in some manner from the get-go.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19She was to be a figurehead, and she was, as a woman, inconsequential.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31By the 9th of July, Edward has been dead for three days.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Northumberland is ready for phase two of his plan.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41It's time for the Privy Council to seize the moment,
0:26:41 > 0:26:42and their new queen...
0:26:43 > 0:26:45..Jane Grey.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Publicly, nobody considers Jane to be particularly important.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Publicly, nobody knows that the order of succession
0:26:56 > 0:26:59has been changed. And that includes Jane.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05Early on the 9th, Northumberland sends for Jane.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07But she has no idea why.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12He instructs that she should be brought immediately, by river,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14to his house at Syon.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16If necessary, by force.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28Today's professional rivermen move quicker than their Tudor forebears.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32- Hello!- Hiya.- Hello. - Hi, I'm Helen.- Hello, Helen.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35London VTS, city swim safety run.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38But the idea is the same.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43We live in an age of instant information
0:27:43 > 0:27:45and instant communication.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48It's a blessing and a curse.
0:27:48 > 0:27:49Not so, Jane.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51With a team of oarsmen,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Jane's journey to Syon took more than an hour and a half.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04She was completely in the dark about why she'd been summoned,
0:28:04 > 0:28:07and could never have imagined what lay in store.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14This is where Jane arrives, Syon House.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17Today, the front of the house is on the other side,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19but in the 16th century, it was here,
0:28:19 > 0:28:21the side accessible from the river.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Syon House in 1553 was home to the Duke of Northumberland,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34and remains so to this day.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38It's still recognisable as the house where Jane arrived
0:28:38 > 0:28:40on the 9th of July.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45The story goes that this is the room, the Long Gallery,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48where Jane heard that she was to be queen.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56So on the 9th, Jane is sent for, and in fact,
0:28:56 > 0:29:01she is brought here into this very place, at Syon.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04She is told that now she is going to be queen.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21And the French ambassador reports what she said.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26"This is not for me. The rightful heir is Mary."
0:29:29 > 0:29:33The traditional story has it that she burst into tears
0:29:33 > 0:29:37and didn't want to be queen, she expressed a desire not to be queen.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41But if you look at her own account that she conveyed to Queen Mary
0:29:41 > 0:29:43some weeks after the event,
0:29:43 > 0:29:46she does describe bursting into tears.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48But it's very clear, if you read it closely,
0:29:48 > 0:29:52that those tears were for the death of Edward VI,
0:29:52 > 0:29:54they weren't for the circumstance she was in.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58Northumberland gave her a lecture on the illegitimacy of Mary,
0:29:58 > 0:30:00and the illegitimacy of Elizabeth.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02And then, Jane's parents arrived.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06Parental pressure that pushed her, that pushed her over.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10She prayed to God to give her the strength to do the job
0:30:10 > 0:30:12that had been given to her.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16Which indicates to me that she was somewhat accepting,
0:30:16 > 0:30:18albeit reluctantly,
0:30:18 > 0:30:21that this was the role God had chosen for her,
0:30:21 > 0:30:23so she had to make the best of it.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28Bolstered by her faith, Jane accepts the crown that afternoon.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34The die is cast.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39That evening, Northumberland throws an opulent banquet.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43It's a celebration of Jane's accession as queen.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46But he's also demonstrating to his supporters
0:30:46 > 0:30:49that they're right to be backing him.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54This was a grand alliance they should be proud to be part of.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05For Jane, the 9th of July marks the day she prepares
0:31:05 > 0:31:07to become the first Queen of England.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14For Mary, the 9th of July marks the beginning
0:31:14 > 0:31:16of her fight for the throne.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21Having outrun Northumberland's men for the moment,
0:31:21 > 0:31:24she's now arrived at her seat in Kenninghall.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30Initially, the pen is mightier than the sword.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33She writes to harness support around the country.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38We came here to the Inner Temple Library
0:31:38 > 0:31:42to see Edward VI's device for the succession.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45But the archivist has brought me something else to look at,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48which I haven't seen before, and it's absolutely fascinating!
0:31:48 > 0:31:51It's written on the 9th of July,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54at her manor of Kenninghall in Norfolk.
0:31:54 > 0:31:59Now the 9th of July is the day when Jane was taken to Syon House
0:31:59 > 0:32:02to be told that she would be the next queen.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05But that's clearly a course of events
0:32:05 > 0:32:07that Mary was not prepared to accept,
0:32:07 > 0:32:11because Mary has signed this letter, Mary the Queen.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14"By the Queen," it says at the top.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16The 9th of July is Sunday,
0:32:16 > 0:32:19Edward had died on the night of Thursday the 6th.
0:32:19 > 0:32:24So, Mary has moved into action with enormous courage,
0:32:24 > 0:32:26and enormous speed.
0:32:26 > 0:32:31She asserts that she is the queen, "by Act of Parliament,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33"and the Testament and Last Will
0:32:33 > 0:32:37"of our late dearest father, King Henry VIII."
0:32:37 > 0:32:39There can be no question in Mary's mind
0:32:39 > 0:32:42that she is the lawful sovereign.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46The letter is addressed to Sir Edward Hastings,
0:32:46 > 0:32:48an influential landowner.
0:32:49 > 0:32:56She's asking Hastings to protect her and her realm by raising forces
0:32:56 > 0:32:59within the county of Middlesex.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02And the particularly interesting thing, looking at this letter,
0:33:02 > 0:33:06is that it looks to me very much as though a gap has been left,
0:33:06 > 0:33:09and Middlesex added later.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11In other words, that this was a form document.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Clerks were writing out the same letter again and again
0:33:15 > 0:33:17to be sent to different places,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20and this one happened to go to Sir Edward Hastings.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24Mary's machinery of support is moving into action.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30But would Mary have any chance against Northumberland
0:33:30 > 0:33:32and the power of the state?
0:33:34 > 0:33:36The prospects of Mary winning were so slim.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39She's a woman with a household in East Anglia
0:33:39 > 0:33:43that's full of local yokel Catholic gentry men, you know,
0:33:43 > 0:33:45nobody who's got any political experience.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48As you know, everything is under the control
0:33:48 > 0:33:49of the Duke of Northumberland,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52so no-one rates Mary's chances whatsoever.
0:33:56 > 0:33:5810th of July.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02As the day dawns, the Tower is now secure for the Protestant cause.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06Northumberland's plan is going well,
0:34:06 > 0:34:09and he decides it's time to break the news to the people.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16It's time for Jane to make her first public appearance
0:34:16 > 0:34:17as England's queen.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23And the very next day, after being told that she was the new queen,
0:34:23 > 0:34:25Jane was heading for the Tower.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40We're still well outside the city of London, the city walls proper,
0:34:40 > 0:34:42as they were in the 16th century.
0:34:43 > 0:34:48So, on Jane's journey, there were fields still to north and south.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54Now, it's surrounded by buildings of glass and steel.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57But in the 16th century,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00it was the most imposing building for miles around.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06From further down the river, it looks a bit as though the Tower
0:35:06 > 0:35:08might be dwarfed by office blocks.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12But actually, when you get up close, it still has an authority.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18It's a strange idea, a young woman making this exact journey,
0:35:18 > 0:35:23with one life left behind her in Chelsea, and another up ahead.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25And though she doesn't realise it yet,
0:35:25 > 0:35:28there's no going back down this river.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33No going back to her old home, her old title, her old friends,
0:35:33 > 0:35:34her old life.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38For Jane, everything changes at the end of this river journey.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50Jane's entrance to the Tower is full of pomp and ceremony.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53It's a moment of pure propaganda.
0:35:59 > 0:36:00But almost immediately,
0:36:00 > 0:36:04the first stirrings of disquiet begin to spread
0:36:04 > 0:36:06among the assembled crowd.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12We know this thanks to two letters that came to light in 2013,
0:36:12 > 0:36:14believed to be written by a Venetian diplomat.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19They were written by someone who was present in London,
0:36:19 > 0:36:23who was seeing these events going on, was writing home, saying,
0:36:23 > 0:36:25"This is what's happening here, here's the news."
0:36:26 > 0:36:30The letters describe Queen Jane being accompanied into the Tower
0:36:30 > 0:36:32by her mother, Frances Grey.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36"And among the ladies, the mother, who as greatest in precedence,
0:36:36 > 0:36:38"held the train of the gown.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42"Now you say to me that this seems to you a monstrosity,
0:36:42 > 0:36:45"to see a child queen and mother living,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48"to speak with her and to serve her on bended knee."
0:36:50 > 0:36:54Frances Grey had a better claim to the throne than her daughter.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57But of course, she wasn't married to Northumberland's son.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00The reason people were shocked, of course,
0:37:00 > 0:37:01was because that she was the mother,
0:37:01 > 0:37:03she was superior in line of succession.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06So why is she carrying her daughter's train?
0:37:06 > 0:37:10And this was incredibly shocking to people at the time,
0:37:10 > 0:37:13because of the whole way they saw their world,
0:37:13 > 0:37:15and indeed the universe.
0:37:15 > 0:37:20Because they believed that God had created the universe from chaos,
0:37:20 > 0:37:24he had created a harmonious universe, in which everything,
0:37:24 > 0:37:27everything had its place in a sort of great chain of being.
0:37:27 > 0:37:32Everyone is a part of this chain, and who rebels against it?
0:37:32 > 0:37:36Satan rebels against it, Satan rebels against it.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41He wants to bring chaos, civil war, horror back to the earth.
0:37:41 > 0:37:46And for the whole universe to return to darkness and chaos.
0:37:46 > 0:37:52So, this small business of Frances carrying her daughter's train is,
0:37:52 > 0:37:54in a sense, opening the gates to hell.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01And unease was further stirred by the unusual prominence
0:38:01 > 0:38:04in the procession of Northumberland's son,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06Jane's new husband.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10A teenage boy with no claim to the throne at all.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16"The husband stood with hat in hand, not only in front of the queen,
0:38:16 > 0:38:18"but in front of father and mother.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21"All the other lords making a show of themselves,
0:38:21 > 0:38:22"putting the knee on the ground."
0:38:28 > 0:38:31We see Guildford in a whole different light in these letters.
0:38:31 > 0:38:36He assumes a position of prominence, even physically,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39to the extent that he's at the front of the procession,
0:38:39 > 0:38:42in front of his parents, and in front of Jane.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46Which tells us that he was intended from the get-go
0:38:46 > 0:38:49to be king through her.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51And that idea was spreading fast.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54After receiving news of Edward's death,
0:38:54 > 0:38:57the French Ambassador wrote home, referring to "le nouveau roi",
0:38:57 > 0:38:59the new king.
0:39:01 > 0:39:06Do you think part of the plan for this marriage was that,
0:39:06 > 0:39:10if Jane becomes queen, then Guildford Dudley becomes king?
0:39:10 > 0:39:11Oh, absolutely.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15There had never, ever been a king come to the throne
0:39:15 > 0:39:17in right of his wife.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20We speak quite often of people taking titles,
0:39:20 > 0:39:24lower titles of nobility, in right of their wife.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28But not the crown, that is the ultimate title.
0:39:28 > 0:39:33And I think the ultimate goal was to make Guildford king.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37The recently discovered letters say the people whispered
0:39:37 > 0:39:41against Northumberland, that that one had poisoned the king.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44And because the Duke saw it was not possible
0:39:44 > 0:39:48to seize the crown of England himself, for that reason,
0:39:48 > 0:39:51he designed to seize it by surprise, by means of a relative.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57Northumberland had so much to gain from pulling off this coup.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02As Edward's chief minister, he had been close to royal power,
0:40:02 > 0:40:06but this was his chance to take the crown for his own family.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14Was Northumberland behind the change to Edward's device?
0:40:14 > 0:40:16We'll never know for sure.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19But what's certain is that he was a hated figure.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24Northumberland, remember, is very unpopular in the country.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28Why? Because he's the guy who put down the popular revolts of 1549,
0:40:28 > 0:40:31using German and Genoese mercenaries.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38Yes, he put down the rebellion, and he did so rather savagely.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42And that earned him a great deal of hatred from the people.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51On the 10th of July, Northumberland knew he had to convince the people
0:40:51 > 0:40:54that Jane was the right and true queen.
0:40:55 > 0:41:00So, his council does something unprecedented in English history.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03They order multiple copies of her proclamation to the throne
0:41:03 > 0:41:06to be printed and distributed.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10It was the first time that a new monarch was announced in print.
0:41:11 > 0:41:16And it exists to this day, here at the Society of Antiquaries.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21This is a volume of royal proclamations.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26And what I've got here is the proclamation of the accession
0:41:26 > 0:41:30of King Edward VI, back in 1547.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34It's a straightforward example of its kind.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36It's hand-written, it's short,
0:41:36 > 0:41:39it's the text of what the Herald said on the streets of London
0:41:39 > 0:41:42when they explained that Edward was now king.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46Henry VIII has died, Edward, his son, has inherited,
0:41:46 > 0:41:48and Edward promises to rule well.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50Everyone must be loyal to him.
0:41:50 > 0:41:51Job done.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53But this isn't what I've come to see.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56Further on in the volume,
0:41:56 > 0:42:01there is a copy of the proclamation of the accession of Queen Jane Grey.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03Here it is.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06And what I can see straightaway is that it's something very different.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08It goes on for three pages.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13There's a lot to explain, there's nothing straightforward about this.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17Jane is now, it says, by the grace of God, Queen of England.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21But the first thing you has to do is explain what the arrangements
0:42:21 > 0:42:25for the succession were, that means going back to Henry's will,
0:42:25 > 0:42:29to explaining that he left the throne to Mary and Elizabeth.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32But then the proclamation goes on to show that they were illegitimate,
0:42:32 > 0:42:35and Edward had made different arrangements.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38By this stage, we're over the page.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41The proclamation explains the whole of Edward's device
0:42:41 > 0:42:43for the succession.
0:42:43 > 0:42:44It's a complicated business.
0:42:46 > 0:42:47And it's not until
0:42:47 > 0:42:50the bottom of page two, the beginning of page three,
0:42:50 > 0:42:55that we learn that Jane will rule, and all her subjects must obey her.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00This took a long time for the heralds to read out,
0:43:00 > 0:43:02on streets that were silent,
0:43:02 > 0:43:06full of puzzled people, trying to work out what was going on.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11And the other difference is that this proclamation is printed,
0:43:11 > 0:43:15and that's because the presses had to work overnight
0:43:15 > 0:43:18to get multiple copies of all this information out,
0:43:18 > 0:43:22so that they could be pasted up around the streets of the city.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25A new regime was in place, and it was a shock.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33Seeing an original copy of that proclamation was amazing.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36It looked like it could have been printed yesterday.
0:43:36 > 0:43:40And the sheer size of it gives a real sense
0:43:40 > 0:43:42of how big a problem Jane was facing.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45It was against the right order of things,
0:43:45 > 0:43:46it was against the natural order.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49And if it was against right order and the natural order,
0:43:49 > 0:43:53then what lay beyond that? Chaos. Anarchy, violence, horror.
0:43:58 > 0:43:59Just as she enters the Tower,
0:43:59 > 0:44:02and that sort of terrible image one has of the doors
0:44:02 > 0:44:06of the Tower closing, and they will never open again for Jane.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15An account by an Italian resident in London
0:44:15 > 0:44:18said that when the proclamation was read,
0:44:18 > 0:44:21not one showed any expression of joy,
0:44:21 > 0:44:24rather than the celebrations that usually greeted a new monarch.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29Dissent came at a price.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33One person spoke out against Queen Jane.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35His name was Gilbert Pot.
0:44:36 > 0:44:40And he was promptly arrested, he was put on the pillory,
0:44:40 > 0:44:43his ears were nailed to the pillory, and to be released from the pillory,
0:44:43 > 0:44:46he had to suffer to have his ears cut off.
0:44:47 > 0:44:49This first-hand account comes from the diary of the merchant
0:44:49 > 0:44:51Henry Machyn.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55That's the sort of thing that could happen to you,
0:44:55 > 0:44:59if you just so much as said, "Jane doesn't have the rightful claim."
0:44:59 > 0:45:03- Much better to keep quiet? - Much better! Much safer.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07Northumberland believes his plan is working.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09The capital is under his control,
0:45:09 > 0:45:12and Jane is in full command of the Tower of London.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15She's surrounded by the Privy Council.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17They have authority over the realm,
0:45:17 > 0:45:20they have control of the country's finances,
0:45:20 > 0:45:22and an arsenal of weapons at their disposal.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32But then, some time on the 10th, Jane's first day as queen,
0:45:32 > 0:45:36a dispatch arrives at the Tower from Princess Mary.
0:45:37 > 0:45:41Mary's letter calls upon the council to display their loyalty
0:45:41 > 0:45:44to her just and right cause.
0:45:44 > 0:45:48It declares her ready to pardon them, but if they didn't surrender,
0:45:48 > 0:45:52they would face bloodshed and civil war.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57And of course, this is a sense that this is the moment
0:45:57 > 0:46:01that I've been waiting for, this is what my life has been all about.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03You know, I'm ready to claim the throne,
0:46:03 > 0:46:06this is the moment where I'm going to restore England back to Rome,
0:46:06 > 0:46:08which of course is what God wants.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12So, you know, it couldn't be a bigger moment for Mary.
0:46:12 > 0:46:16For Northumberland and the council, the stakes had just been raised.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19They'd been offered a pardon if they abandoned Jane,
0:46:19 > 0:46:21or the threat of civil war if they didn't.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24And the personal consequences of that warning
0:46:24 > 0:46:25for each of them were clear.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31The loss of titles and wealth, imprisonment, perhaps execution.
0:46:35 > 0:46:40By the evening of the 10th, it's do or die for Jane's supporters.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44If they're having doubts, now is the moment to turn back.
0:46:45 > 0:46:47But they don't.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55Instead, they draft a letter in response to Mary's challenge
0:46:55 > 0:46:57for Jane to sign,
0:46:57 > 0:47:01the first that will carry her signature as Jane the Queen.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06A signature that, in a few days' time,
0:47:06 > 0:47:09would be held as evidence of treason.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14When was this letter written, and who was it written to?
0:47:14 > 0:47:18So, it's written on the 10th of July, 1553,
0:47:18 > 0:47:23on the day that Jane entered the Tower of London as Queen of England.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26And at the top of the letter, we can see it's been signed by Jane
0:47:26 > 0:47:28as Jane the Queen.
0:47:28 > 0:47:32- And we know this is her handwriting? - This is definitely her hand, yes.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35And it was one of a number of letters that...
0:47:36 > 0:47:40..were sent out to the Lords Lieutenant of the country.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43This one in particular was sent to William Parr,
0:47:43 > 0:47:45who was the Marquess of Northampton.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49So the letter announces that Jane has entered
0:47:49 > 0:47:53"into our rightful possession of this kingdom."
0:47:54 > 0:47:57And then the local officers, or the Lords Lieutenant,
0:47:57 > 0:48:02were called upon "to defend our just title."
0:48:02 > 0:48:08But also, "to assist us in our rightful possession of this kingdom,
0:48:08 > 0:48:11"and to disturb, repel,
0:48:11 > 0:48:16"and resist the famed and untrue claim of the Lady Mary,
0:48:16 > 0:48:19"bastard daughter to our great-uncle,
0:48:19 > 0:48:22"Henry VIII of famous memory."
0:48:22 > 0:48:25So, this isn't a normal part of an accession?
0:48:25 > 0:48:29A normal king or queen would expect the machinery of government
0:48:29 > 0:48:31to fall into place, but Jane's having to protest
0:48:31 > 0:48:32a little bit too much,
0:48:32 > 0:48:35because she's facing a challenge from her rival, Mary?
0:48:35 > 0:48:38Yes. By this stage, they would have been very aware
0:48:38 > 0:48:43that Mary was gathering forces, and preparing to fight back.
0:48:43 > 0:48:49And there's a note that's been added here, to the letter that says,
0:48:49 > 0:48:50in Latin,
0:48:51 > 0:48:54- "Jane not queen"?- Mm.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57Do we know where that came from?
0:48:57 > 0:48:59Well, it's in a later hand,
0:48:59 > 0:49:03so it's almost as if somebody's wanted to correct the record,
0:49:03 > 0:49:07and point out that Jane wasn't actually queen.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10Despite having signed the letter with such confidence...
0:49:10 > 0:49:13- Yes.- At the top, "Jane the Queen"?
0:49:13 > 0:49:18- The correction here says history says otherwise.- Yep.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22These letters stand as proof of the enormous tensions
0:49:22 > 0:49:25of day one of Jane's reign.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28They are a clear response to Mary's threat.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35Jane's first day as the first Queen of England
0:49:35 > 0:49:38is coming to a close,
0:49:38 > 0:49:40and there's been a dramatic change in her.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49Just one day earlier, when told that she was to be queen,
0:49:49 > 0:49:52Jane was very reluctant to accept the role.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57Now she's asking for reinforcements,
0:49:57 > 0:50:01for military might to defend her claim.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04Now, Jane is prepared to go to war.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08If Mary believes she has a right to the throne,
0:50:08 > 0:50:11she'll have to take it by force.
0:50:18 > 0:50:20As day breaks on the 11th,
0:50:20 > 0:50:24Northumberland sends recruiting parties out on to the streets,
0:50:24 > 0:50:27to build up a force to suppress Mary's rebellion.
0:50:29 > 0:50:31They didn't have standing armies,
0:50:31 > 0:50:35they didn't have any of the security mechanisms
0:50:35 > 0:50:37that we like to think we have today.
0:50:37 > 0:50:42So that if an unexpected event came up, it was chaos,
0:50:42 > 0:50:45you never knew which way things were going to go.
0:50:45 > 0:50:50They relied on the nobility, the gentry, and ultimately,
0:50:50 > 0:50:51ordinary people to support them.
0:50:51 > 0:50:55They were just one man, or in the case of Jane, one woman,
0:50:55 > 0:50:59and you needed people to want to back you and support you,
0:50:59 > 0:51:01and fight for you.
0:51:01 > 0:51:02You couldn't sort of force them to.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07It's telling that Northumberland has to offer almost twice
0:51:07 > 0:51:11the usual daily rate to recruit an army.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14Well, even then, to muster an army within London,
0:51:14 > 0:51:19he had to offer an outrageously high pay rate, that was so outrageous
0:51:19 > 0:51:22that everyone felt the need to record it.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25"Oh, my God, he's paying this much per day,
0:51:25 > 0:51:26"that's so out of the ordinary."
0:51:26 > 0:51:30So, it's clear that the only thing that was getting people to muster
0:51:30 > 0:51:32to Northumberland was money.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36Mary has also put out a call to arms.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41She's mobilising an army, ready to fight,
0:51:41 > 0:51:43and I think that's really important.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45I mean, she's not cowering away here,
0:51:45 > 0:51:47she is ready to assert her claim to the throne.
0:51:47 > 0:51:49But this is dangerous at this point, you know,
0:51:49 > 0:51:52she cannot be sure who to trust.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54And she doesn't quite know, of course, either,
0:51:54 > 0:51:58where the Duke of Northumberland or any of his henchmen are.
0:51:58 > 0:52:00And that's the great fear at this moment.
0:52:02 > 0:52:07Meanwhile in the Tower of London, Jane continues to send out letters,
0:52:07 > 0:52:10rallying key supporters throughout the realm.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14She's growing in confidence as the days pass.
0:52:17 > 0:52:22She's always cast as the very innocent, very pious,
0:52:22 > 0:52:24sort of demure...
0:52:25 > 0:52:29..submissive puppet of the men around her.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32Jane was a much more interesting individual than that.
0:52:32 > 0:52:33She had strong views.
0:52:33 > 0:52:38As a child, she was surrounded by influential figures who were tough,
0:52:38 > 0:52:42uncompromising, and not afraid to voice their own opinion.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46What might be surprising is how many of them were women.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49She was exposed not only to Catherine Parr,
0:52:49 > 0:52:51who was a very assertive woman,
0:52:51 > 0:52:55and would argue religion with her husband, the king.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58And very nearly lost her own life for doing so.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02But at the same time, she was exposed to other very strong-willed,
0:53:02 > 0:53:05highly educated women like Mildred Cecil,
0:53:05 > 0:53:07the wife of William Cecil,
0:53:07 > 0:53:10who would go on to become Elizabeth's Chief Minister.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13She was exposed to Catherine Willoughby,
0:53:13 > 0:53:15the last wife of Charles Brandon,
0:53:15 > 0:53:20who was herself a very assertive, competent, educated woman.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23Jane witnessed all this growing up, she absorbed it,
0:53:23 > 0:53:25and she was able to project that back out
0:53:25 > 0:53:28once she was in a position to assert her own authority.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35Perhaps she wasn't the puppet history paints her as.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40So, the idea that she would simply roll over
0:53:40 > 0:53:42and do whatever her husband and her father-in-law,
0:53:42 > 0:53:44and her father told her...
0:53:45 > 0:53:48..seems to have been a miscalculation from the beginning?
0:53:48 > 0:53:50Mary was a strong and assertive woman,
0:53:50 > 0:53:53Elizabeth was a strong and assertive woman.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57And we're asked to believe that their cousin, Jane,
0:53:57 > 0:53:59would somehow suddenly be submissive?
0:53:59 > 0:54:01No, she was part of that Tudor dynamic,
0:54:01 > 0:54:03and she knew how to put herself forward,
0:54:03 > 0:54:05she knew how to violate norms,
0:54:05 > 0:54:09and she knew how to do that in a relatively acceptable way.
0:54:09 > 0:54:10And she did it with the crown.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18Jane does something that Northumberland
0:54:18 > 0:54:20could never have predicted.
0:54:25 > 0:54:28Jane was alone when the crown was brought to her.
0:54:31 > 0:54:35According to Girolamo Pollini, an Italian friar,
0:54:35 > 0:54:39the Lord Treasurer said he just wanted her to put it on
0:54:39 > 0:54:40to see how it suited her.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49Then the Lord Treasurer said a new one would be made for Guildford.
0:54:49 > 0:54:51A king, after all, needed a crown.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54Jane thought for a moment.
0:54:54 > 0:54:59Then she said, no, she would make her husband a duke, but not a king.
0:55:02 > 0:55:04Given Northumberland's plans,
0:55:04 > 0:55:07this was an extraordinary act of independence.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13When Guildford heard her decision, he tried to argue,
0:55:13 > 0:55:16but there was no changing her mind.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19Jane was queen, and she would rule alone.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22She says, "Well, you can forget that for a game of soldiers.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24"The most I'm going to do for you is make you a Duke,"
0:55:24 > 0:55:26to which Guildford Dudley replies,
0:55:26 > 0:55:31"If that's the case, you know, no king, no sex." No sex, no successor.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34And he has to be sort of appeased and sort of carted off
0:55:34 > 0:55:36by the Earls of Arundel and Pembroke.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43This is the moment we see Jane take control.
0:55:43 > 0:55:48If the plan was to install a king by default, Jane wasn't having it.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52The men had made their plans, they tried to control the crown,
0:55:52 > 0:55:54the country, Mary, and Jane.
0:55:56 > 0:55:58And she said no.
0:55:58 > 0:55:59This was her moment.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05I think that was absolutely the critical turning point
0:56:05 > 0:56:08in the entire succession crisis.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11I think had she agreed to make him king outright,
0:56:11 > 0:56:13had she acquiesced and been the submissive,
0:56:13 > 0:56:15docile puppet that they wanted,
0:56:15 > 0:56:17things might have gone a little differently.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20She was the sort of person we might recognise today.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23She's a sort of teenage religious ideologue
0:56:23 > 0:56:27who's prepared to die for her religious cause.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33For Jane, everything has changed.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38The carefree life of a privileged young girl from Leicestershire
0:56:38 > 0:56:41has been swept aside by a plot to make her queen.
0:56:44 > 0:56:49In two days, Jane has occupied the throne and the role entirely.
0:56:52 > 0:56:54Her transformation is complete.
0:56:55 > 0:56:57Her rule has begun.
0:56:59 > 0:57:03But Northumberland and the Privy Council's plans are unravelling.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09Their assumption that Jane would bend to their bidding was mistaken.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16Their belief that Guildford would become king was wrong.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21And their certainty that Mary would simply go quietly
0:57:21 > 0:57:24was the biggest miscalculation of all.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29In a country that had never had a ruling queen,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32this was now a battle between two women,
0:57:32 > 0:57:35both determined to fight for the throne,
0:57:35 > 0:57:37both believing that this was their time.
0:57:47 > 0:57:51Next time, Northumberland's iron grip on power begins to slip.
0:57:52 > 0:57:55He wasn't expecting Mary to go to battle,
0:57:55 > 0:58:00and that was Northumberland's biggest mistake.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03Against the odds, Mary's support is growing.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07We see that the impossible gradually becomes possible.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10And Jane finds herself under threat from the rebels.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13With that artillery, she could've blown a hole
0:58:13 > 0:58:14in the side of the Tower.
0:58:14 > 0:58:18Those that end up on the losing side will pay with their lives.