Mary Tudor, Princess in Exile

19th of November, 1539: Charles Brandon arrives at court and tells the King of the lack of progress (he doesn’t refer to it as failure) in the marriage proposal between Mary Stewart and the Prince of Wales. Henry breaks some royal furniture.
 
The Descendants of Henry VII of England

By Arthur Tudor: Prince of Wales


By Catherine of Aragon:

None

By Margaret Tudor

By King James IV of Scotland:

1- James V of Scotland (b.1512)
m. Mary of Portugal
i- Mary Stewart (b. 1537), James Stewart (b.1538), Margaret Stewart (b.1539)

By Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus:

1- Margaret Douglas (b.1515)

By Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven:

1- Dorothea Stewart (b.1520s:d.1520s)

By Henry VIII

By Catherine of Aragon:

1- Mary Tudor (b.1516)
m. Francis de Valois: Dauphine of France and Duke of Brittany
i. Charles de Valois (b.1536), Catherine de Valois (b.1539)


By Elizabeth Blount:

1- Henry Fitzroy (b.1519 – d.1537)
m. Mary Howard
i. Edmund Fitzroy (b.1536), Cecily Fitzroy (b.1536)


By Anne Boleyn:

1- Elizabeth Tudor (b.1533)

2- Edward Tudor (b.1535: d.1535)

3- Margaret Tudor (b.1535)


By Mary Arundel:

1- Edward Tudor (b.1536)

2- Henry Tudor (b.1537: d.1539)

3- Eleanor Tudor (b.1538)

4- Henry Tudor (b.1539)


By Elizabeth Tudor

None

By Mary Tudor

By Louis VII, King of France:

None

By Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk:

1- Henry Brandon (b.1516: d.1522)

2- Frances Brandon (b.1517)
m. Henry Grey: 3rd Marquess of Dorset
i. Henry Charles (b.1536), Catherine (b. 1538)

3- Eleanor Brandon (b.1519)
m. Lord Henry Clifford
i. Margaret (b.1538)

4- Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln (b.1523: d.1534)

By Edmund Tudor

None

By Katherine Tudor

None
 
30th of November, 1539: The royal children arrive at court and little Elizabeth immediately makes a play for her father’s attention by addressing him in fluent French, then changing to Italian and then Latin. This display of intellect in such a young girl is amazing for most ambassadors and courtiers (including her loving Grandfather, Thomas Boleyn) the King merely greets her and turns to little Margaret, who now has long, thick golden locks that Henry names:

“The most bright and beauteous locks to ever grace the head of any fair and gorgeous princess.”

The Queen, however, recognises the elder Princess’ talent and publicly commends her, to Henry mixed happiness and hurt (he still only sees Anne in Elizabeth, and the pain of losing her is forever going to be a fresh wound to him). He loves his daughters, but Margaret will forever hold his eye as the Elizabeth of York look alike.

One person who is very impressed with Elizabeth is, however, the Portuguese ambassador, who is a close friend of the Duke of Beja and wants to get back Mary Tudor by raising her enemy’s daughter to high places, possibly even as a rival Queen. So he offers the hand of Juan of Beja, the future Duke of Beja and claimant for the Portuguese throne.

Many look to this as a good sign of positive relations between the Portuguese and English, and possibly better relations between Spain as a whole and England. Hopefully.
 
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Catherine Parr (nee Howard), Dowager Marquess of Northampton, Dowager Queen of England and Queen of Scotland -1547- (b.1524: d.1599)
 
12th of December, 1539: Henry VIII and Queen Mary welcome their good friend, the Dowager Marquess of Northampton Catherine Parr (nee Howard) back to court. She brings her two boys, and Henry VIII gives her the option to send them to live with the young Prince Henry, who is currently residing at court in the royal nursery but will stay at Hatfield during the trip to France, which is where they also invite Catherine. Taken back by their generosity, she accepts and her children are sent to the royal nursery to mix with Prince Henry and Princess Eleanor.
 
25th of December, 1539: Christmas in England is a fun time, with a play put on by the Queen (written by Michael Small, who is fast becoming the most prolific writer of the times) named ‘The Fairy and the Frog’, a tale of how a fairy is kidnapped and married to a frog but, with determination and love, the frog is transformed into a fairy Prince. The court is especially impressed by the costumes, which are place in a special chest to be taken to France in the next year.

Another noticeable development is the quickly aging Queen Mary, who at 21 looks to be in her early thirties. Many will question if the stress of trying to keep her husband true and popping out 4 babies in 4 years has prematurely aged her, but no-one ever says anything to her, as she is the queen and commenting on her age would be rude.

In France, Christmas is quiet as preparations for the visit of four rival courts is something that will be remembered for centuries to come. So instead, the ceremonies are simple and the court instead goes into a sort of hibernation. This stands in contrast to the sombre yet elaborate celebrations that Queen Eleanor is putting on in her residence, which is filled with older courtiers who want structure in their ceremonies.

In Spain, Charles V and Empress Anna presided over a light Christmas celebration that followed the bare minimum protocol. Just like the previous year, the two returned to their rooms with the three younger children while Philip and Margaret took over the proceedings. More reserved than the previous year, Margaret impressed the court with her skilled dancing and all noted how infatuated the young prince was with his soon-to-be bride.
 
Mary will cause some very interesting butterflies in the future. Think a less sane, less intelligent and more zealous Catherine de Medici. She will bring France into a very interesting era of history. Lots of pain.

Mary's actually quite smart, she just tends to get overlooked because of Elizabeth's own genius.

Catherine Parr (nee Howard), Dowager Marquess of Northampton, Dowager Queen of England and Queen of Scotland -1547- (b.1524: d.1599)

So we have another Catherine Parr who becomes a much-married queen of England. At least she escaped the axe ITTL. And, oh, she married into Scotland.

Mary Tudor, Dowager Queen of France, Princess of Asturias -1550- (b.1516: d.1555)

Princess of Asturias. Why am I not surprised?

Mary Arundel, Queen of England -1540- (b.1518: d.1541)

Only one year left to live, huh? I wonder how she kicks the bucket.

Elizabeth Tudor, Queen of Portugal -1546- (b.1533: d.1576)

The Virgin Queen gets married ITTL to a foreign prince. What happened to the Brandon engagement?
 
Mary's actually quite smart, she just tends to get overlooked because of Elizabeth's own genius.

Yes, she was an intelligent woman but when I say smart, I mean more common sense and 'street' smart. Mary never seemed to grasp throughout her life that there was more to ruling than just a good bloodline and a strong faith. She seems to have been a woman that was too wrapped up in the idea of martyrdom and 'saving the faith' to truly rule anything well. She was a very well-read woman and a very well-taught woman for the time (and our time, due to the rigorous education system set in place for Henry VIII's children) but that is not the same as a 'smart woman' to me.

So we have another Catherine Parr who becomes a much-married queen of England. At least she escaped the axe ITTL. And, oh, she married into Scotland.

Yes, Catherine Parr (nee Howard) is going to have a few marriages in her lifetime, and one or two engagements as well. Scotland will be the most interesting, and it will lead t the greatest love story ever to be put in play form. Forget 'Romeo and Juliet', this timeline will have 'Catherine and James'.

Princess of Asturias. Why am I not surprised?

Yes, she seemed to always get to that, our dear Mary. Though the events that will lead her there will be tragic.

Only one year left to live, huh? I wonder how she kicks the bucket.

I'm not gonna keep you waiting, there will be another pregnancy. And this one will be brutal.

The Virgin Queen gets married ITTL to a foreign prince. What happened to the Brandon engagement?

Margaret is engaged to Brandon, and that will probably stay, as the King doesn't want her to ever leave his side, whether he is alive or not. An Elizabeth will become Queen of Portugal due to the plotting of the Duke of Beja, who knows how to hold a grudge.

Remarriage of Dowager Queen of France makes little sense - with non-morganatic second marriage that is. But I'll see what needs to happen to have such an unprecedented thing happen.

It makes sense in context. Basically, tragedy and ambition will take over after some bad events take place.
 
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In any timeline, it seems Henry VIII will be a bastard.

Given her treatment IOTL, I don't blame Mary for some of her later actions.

EDIT: Kynan, thanks for that comment. Murdering a lot of people to satisfy your need for revenge is a very bad thing.
 
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In any timeline, it seems Henry VIII will be a bastard.

Given her treatment IOTL, I don't blame Mary for her later actions.

I kind of do, as I don't think revenge for a bad past is an adequate reason for what she did and will do. She is not a very 'sane' woman in either ITL and IOTL but that doesn't mean the murder of that many people is a justifiable thing. She is sympathetic as a person, but not completely guilt-free.
 
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Margaret Boleyn (nee Douglas), Dowager Marquess of Winchester, Dowarger Countess of Wiltshire, Dowager Countess of Ormond, -1546- (b.1515: d.1563)
 
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