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So I've been lurking around here for quite a while, and finally have joined. Needless to say I've had numerous ideas on potential timelines and I've decided to start one here. The POD is Queen Jane Seymour gives Henry a daughter instead of his much wanted son Edward VI. I hope you enjoy! :)




Queen Jane Seymour (1508-1537)

It was October 10th when Queen Jane Seymour went into labor, hoping to give the King his much wanted male heir. This would prove difficult however, and after 2 days rumors were emerging from the Queen’s chamber at Hampton Court that both the mother and the child were likely to die. Just when all appeared lost however, the infant crowned and a baby was born to the Royal Couple at 6 o’clock in the morning on October 12th, 1537. The child was a baby girl. Henry VIII now had 3 daughters.

While Jane was initially disappointed, she asked to hold her child and immediately her demeanor changed. Henry however, made his emotions clear when he visited the Queen’s chambers later that day. He was disappointed and did little to hide it. He was angry at Jane, now that she, like her 2 predecessors, had not given him a son, but he was not tired of her yet. Regardless, his attitude devastated the Queen who was already unwell from the intense and painful labor. Jane Seymour died early in the morning on October 14th, somewhat unexpectedly, from what some believed at the time to be a broken heart. In all actuality it was likely internal bleeding relating to the birth, but Henry felt mountains of guilt and blamed himself as having killed his wife through his coldness. The King went into a period of deep grief where almost next to no one had access to him and the only truly active governing official was Thomas Cromwell.

The child of the couple was named Jane, to honor her mother, and was christened in a small ceremony at Westminster on the 17th of October. Her godparents included the Lady Mary (her half-sister who was close to Jane Seymour) and Edward Seymour (her maternal uncle). The King did not attend, as he was still in an extensive period of grief and mourning, and the services were conducted by Thomas Cranmer.

Just hours later Jane was given one of the most elaborate funeral processions in English history as she was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey. The chief mourner was Lady Mary followed by 29 women (each representing a year of the Queen’s life). It would be a week before Henry began to truly return to Court life and take an active role in governing, and he was soon pressed by Cromwell to remarry, despite the short period of time following Jane’s death. England was still without a male heir and now, if something were to happen to Henry, Civil War was almost guaranteed, with some fighting for Jane Tudor (who was the only legally legitimate), others for Mary Tudor (who was viewed by many Catholics to be the true heir), and some still for Elizabeth Tudor (whose mother was believed to have been wrongly dumped by the Protestant camp). Henry reluctantly consented, knowing Cromwell was correct but he also stated that he doubted he could love another.

While Henry’s attitude towards his 3rd daughter was blamed for Jane’s death, it didn’t change much following the Queen’s funeral. Yes, the King refused to remove her from the succession (although this was more out of respect for the late Queen than the child), but he wanted very little to do with her and worked to send her from court when she was just several weeks old. While she was initially going to be sent to live with her uncles, Edward and Thomas Seymour, another figure stepped up to take the infant, Mary Tudor. Mary argued that she was the child’s godmother, a good friend of the late Queen, and had not been married yet and therefore she was a more appropriate guardian. Much to her surprise, she faced little opposition with this ideas the politically savvy Seymour brothers saw how much the King disliked their niece (although it was not clear if this was out of mourning or resentment) and they agreed, as did Henry VIII, for Lady Mary to be one of the primary guardians of the Princess. The child and her older sister left from Court and Henry only then truly began to focus on remarriage now that he had removed the last piece of his former love from his life.
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