WI: Mary I of England had Elizabeth Tudor Executed? Or: Margaret I of England

The death of Elizabeth Tudor on the 18th of April, 1555 was not the proudest moment of the Marian reign. It was an event that led to arguments from the moment it was made a possibility to the moment the ax was swung. Mary I of England, as the accused's sister, had the warrent written up on late March, after letters supposedly of her sister's hand were found in the belongings of Peter Carew, who had almost managed to flee arrest with them in his pocket early in the year, after being apprehended the year previously trying to escape via boat, only to be placed on house arrest.

The Carew Letters, as they have become known, were three letters supposedly written by Elizabeth to significant leaders within Wyatt's Rebellion, encouraging the efforts. In one there is a particularly nasty paragraph on the Queen herself, comparing her fawning over her husband to that of an old dog to it's master. That same letter, referred to her mother as "Queen Anne" and to Elizabeth herself as "the Rightful Prince and Monarch". Throughout the letters the plan is quite simple:

  1. Rebel Against Mary I of England.
  2. Kill Mary I of England, any possible children she would have by then and possibly Philip II of Spain if they can.
  3. Place Elizabeth on the throne and marry her to a Protestant Prince, although who is unspecific.

The validity of these letters is to much debate. On one hand, Mary herself seems certain of their legitimacy. Having practically raised her sister, it is entirely possible she knew her handwriting intimately and thus was able to distinguish it accurately. However, others close to Elizabeth, particularly Catherine Ashley, a former governess and friend of the Lady, were quite forceful in their ruling that it was a forgery. She even went so far as to say the sentences themselves weren't the way her former mistress wrote. Historians have generally agreed with this, but the topic is still highly debated and thus, ultimately, the Carew Letters will remain a never ending debate.

Whatever the validity of the accusations, the end result was clear. Elizabeth Tudor, former Princess of England, was beheaded with an ax. It was said that Mary had initially planned for a swordsman to do the deed as had been done for Anne Boleyn, until the indecisive nature she had for the whole issue itself led to that plan being cancelled. Instead, the notorious young woman was led to the block, wearing a simply cut green dress, to go through the conventional beheading. The only noteworthy part of the proceedings, with exception of the ax's victim, was decision to wear her hair down. It was generally accepted that the executed individual would keep their hair up, thus allowing for a clean death. It seems Elizabeth had hoped up until she had reached the block that a pardon would be made, thus she had not made all the appropriate arrangements.

With the death of her heir, Mary then went on to claim the order had left her offices without her consent, and several persons within her court were fined and at least two were sent away at the time. However, the greatest moment of crisis for the Queen came not 2 months later, when she discovered what she thought had been a child in her belly was most likely not that. It would not be until the end of the year that the Queen finally was confronted by Parliament with a strong question. If Elizabeth were now dead, who would Mary consider her heir if she were to pass without issue, an event seeming more and more likely as time rolled by.

It wasn't until March of 1557 that a decision was made. The Queen formally announced that, if god would not bless her union with a child, that the line of her Aunt Margaret Tudor would succeed her through her cousin, Margaret Douglas. The two had always been close and, with her two healthy sons and English birth, Margaret seemed the most logical choice. And by betrothing her elder son, Henry Stewart, to the Lady Catherine Grey, 5 years the boys elder and the heiress of Jane Grey's unlucky claims to the throne. However, for a time being, all was focused on Mary's possible child. This, like the all other times, would end in failure and on the 17th of November, 1558, the first Queen of England died, sickly, bloated and more worn then a woman her age deserved to be. And thus, Margaret I of England rise to the throne, bringing a ready made family with her.
 
The immediate difficulties Margaret I of England faced as Queen were extremely difficult. Her claim was, while not weak, definitely not strong, and there were some who looked elsewhere. The major opponent to her succession was Mary, Queen of Scots, her first cousin through Margaret Tudor's male line. However, in proclamations made by the new Queen, she announced that, due to Mary's foreign birth, she was exempt from the English Crown. This logic was flawed and the Scot's Rebellion arose in 1559.

Led under one James Hepburn, it was apparently though that if he took England for the Queen in France, he might be rewarded. However, this action was not condoned by the Regent Marie of Guise and, following his defeat under the soldiers of Matthew Stewart, King Consort of England, he was executed in Scotland as a sign of goodwill. This did not mean that Queen Mary recognized her cousin's claim was superior. Despite the truce, Mary in France would continue to claim England as part of her inheritance. It would not be until her return to Scotland in 1561, after her unfortunate widowhood, that the Queen of Scots formally accepted she was not Queen of England. She did not recognize, however, that she might not be the heir to her cousin's family.

The Stewart reign in England was made more solid by the birth of a son between the Prince of Wales, Henry Stewart, and his bride Catherine Grey in March of 1561. Named Edward, the infant was described by all as extremely healthy and beautiful. With this heir, the line looked secure and the Queen was said to have wept on her throne in happiness. This came with the betrothal of her son Charles, recently created the Duke of York, to Sibylle of Jülich-Cleves-Berg.
 
The Stanley Rebellion, which took place in May of 1562, led to Margaret's distrust of her previously close cousin/niece, Margaret Clifford. Supposedly begun by Clifford's husband, Henry Stanley, Earl of Derby, the rebellion's goals were oddly confusing. The first version was that it was simply placing Margaret Clifford on the English Throne. However, the second version apparently was to have Mary, Queen of Scots placed on the throne and to have Margaret simply be her heir. Whatever the plan, the rebellion fell and the Earl was executed while his bride was placed under house arrest. Their sons, Ferdinando and William, were placed in the household of Edward of Wales, who was joined in September of that year by a brother, Henry of Wales.

Meanwhile, Mary, Queen of Scots looked for a second husband so that Scotland might have an heir. In a letter to her cousin in England she declared that if Henry had been but unmarried she would have gladly married the Prince of Wales. However, due to Catherine's continued good health, the Queen of Scots looked elsewhere, landing on the Prince of Asturias as her bride. Despite him being her choice, she was not the one who the Spanish King wanted for his bride, particularly due to the recently improved relations between France and Spain, begun while Mary was in France. Thus, she looked away from Spain for a husband, weighing her options carefully. Initially the most likely choice was that of Charles IX of France, her former brother-in-law. The adolescent was apparently deeply infatuated with the Scottish Queen and she looked hopeful to return to her native French. Despite this, the match look far from happening, due to Catherine de' Medici's distaste for it.

Henry VII of England (b.1557: d.1509) m. Elizabeth of York (b.1466: d.1503) (a)

1a) Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales (b.1486: d.1502) m. Catherine of Aragon (b.1485: d.1536) (a)

2a) Margaret Tudor (b.1489: d.1541) m. James IV of Scotland (b.1473: d.1513) (a), Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus (b.1489: d.1557) (b), Henry Stewart, Lord Methven (b.1495: d.1552) (c)

1a) James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (b.1507: d.1508)

2a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1508)

3a) Arthur Stewart (b.1509: d.1510)

4a) James V of Scotland (b.1512: d.1542) m. Madeleine de Valois (b.1520: d.1537) (a), Marie of Guise (b.1515: d.1560) (a)

1a) James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (b.1540: d.1541)

2a) Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (b.1541: d.1541)

3a) Mary, Queen of Scots (b.1542) m. Francis II of France (b.1544: d.1560) (a)​

5a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1512)

6a) Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross (b.1514: d.1515)

7b) Margaret I of England (b.1515) m. Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox (b.1516) (a)

1a) Henry Stewart, Prince of Wales (b.1545) m. Catherine Grey (b.1540) (a)

1a) Edward of Wales (b.1561)

2a) Henry of Wales (b.1562)
2a) Charles Stewart, Duke of York (b.1555)​

3a) Henry VIII of England (b.1491: d.1547) m. Catherine of Aragon (b.1485: d.1536) (a), Anne Boleyn (c.1501/1507: d.1536) (b), Jane Seymour (b.1508: d.1537) (c), Anne of Cleves (b.1515: d.1557) (d), Catherine Howard (b.1524: d.1542) (e), Catherine Parr (b.1512: d.1548) (f)

1a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1510)

2a) Henry Tudor, Duke of Cornwall (b.1511: d.1511)

3a) Henry Tudor, Duke of Cornwall (b.1513: d.1513)

4a) Henry Tudor, Duke of Cornwall (b.1515: d.1515)

5a) Mary of of England (b.1516: d.1558) m. Philip II of Spain (b.1527) (a)

6a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1518)

7b) Elizabeth Tudor (c.1533: d.1555)

8b) Edward VI of England (b.1537: d.1553)​

4a) Elizabeth Tudor (b.1492: d.1495)

5a) Mary Tudor (b.1496: d.1533) m. Louis XII of France (b.1462: d.1515) (a), Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk (b.1484: d.1545) (b)

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

2b) Frances Brandon (b.1517: d.1559) m. Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk and Marquess of Dorset (b.1517: d.1554) (a), Adrian Stokes (b.1519) (b)

1a) Jane Grey (b.1537: d.1554) m. Guildford Dudley (b.1535: d.1554) (a)

2a) Catherine Grey (b.1540) m. Henry Stewart, Prince of Wales (b.1545) (a)

1a) Edward of Wales (b.1561)

2a) Henry of Wales (b.1562)​

3a) Mary Grey (b.1545)​

3b) Eleanor Brandon (b.1519: d.1547) m. Henry Clifford, Earl of Cumberland (b.1517) (a)

1a) Margaret Clifford (b.1540) m. Henry Stanley, Earl of Derby (b.1531: d.1562) (a)

1a) Edward Stanley (c.1558)

2a) Ferdinando Stanley (b.1559)

3a) William Stanley (b.1560)
2a) Henry Clifford (c.1545)

3a) Charles Clifford (c.1545)​

4b) Henry Brandon, Earl of Lincoln (b.1523: d.1534)​

6a) Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset (b.1499: d.1500)

7a) Katherine Tudor (b.1503: d.1503)​
 
The remarriage of Mary, Queen of Scots came to a head in 1563 with a betrothal to William, Prince of Orange, following his decision to break his betrothal to Anna of Saxony. Their union was supported by her cousins in England, who hoped that the marriage to a man in conflict with Spain would lead to instability in Scotland, particularly since Queen Margaret considered her husband as next in line for that particular throne. Whatever her reasoning, Mary went to the alter with the Prince of Orange and, as the year ended, rumours circulated the 21 year old Queen was pregnant for the first time.
 
As Queen, Margaret Douglas found she had one particular need, to keep her son's inheritance safe. While the Prince of Wales seemed to acquit himself well in Ludlow, there were still challenges to his eventual rise that had to be taken care of while she was still on the throne. The first of these stops was Mary Grey, the 18 year old sister to the Princess of Wales. Young and somewhat deformed, it was the blood of Mary Grey that worried Margaret I of England. Her first instinct was to send Mary to a nunnery, thus nullifying the possibility that she might have children. However, Mary herself refused and, in full view of the court, fell at Margaret's feet and begged that she might find her some husband that would not offend her, or at least allow the "small and insignificant cousin at your most royal feet" to spend her days in service to the crown as a maid. The tears evidently moved Margaret, who in the following months attempted to find a husband for the girl.

Mary seems to have taken this as a challenge to make a great match abroad and in May of that year apparently began independent talks with the Danish Ambassador to marry their King and thus leave England. However, this decision proved ill-advised and Margaret herself confronted the conspiring pair, apparently uttering the famous words "Does my Kingly Brother know that the woman you'd have him marry is so deformed or did you plan to present him with the apparent beauty in your letters?". It seems the ambassador had written of Mary in quite flattering terms, referring to her nature and "wise, pretty eyes" and tastefully ignoring her deficiencies. Whatever the plans had been, Mary found a match that was intended for her to be quite different. Plans had been made for her to marry the illegitimate brother of the Spanish King, in the form of Juan of Austria. Not an ugly man, Mary found that reports of the young man were highly pleasing to her. The main issue of this match, however, was Philip II of Spain's plans for his brother to become a member of the church. While negotiations continued, it seemed unlikely Mary would marry a man who was set for the church.

Finally, a match for Mary was found, although not the one she wanted. Margaret planned for a French alliance for England, thus looked as to who would be a match for her cousin that would benefit that. Then, she hit upon a match agreed to by the French King and his mother. That match was James, Duke of Nevers, a young man close to the French Royal family. Although a great match, particularly for the 3rd daughter of a family, Mary had angled to marry the actual King, or one of his brothers. This came to nothing and on the 1st of February, 1564, Mary Grey was married to James la Marck, Duke of Nevers. Within a year the young woman would be pregnant and widowed. And as such, the unluckiness of Mary Grey was shown.

Their brief marriage was extremely unhappy. Mary, an ambitious girl, found her husband's easy going nature appalling, as she also found his beard. He, likewise, found her appearance unsettling and was said to have only shared her bed twice in the 7 months they were wed. Despite this, Mary would never remarry and was buried upon her death next to her husband. Her child, a boy, was named in honour of both the French King and Mary's own grandfather, thus Charles la Marck was born.
 
In the same time as her sister left the country, Catherine Grey found herself pregnant for the third time. An event that left her extremely uncomfortable. The beautiful young woman had found her husband, with his effeminate ways and arrogant manner, at first strangely appealing. His fawn-like beauty was juxtaposed to his quite human presence and, with their constant separation due to her pregnancies and his duties as the Prince of Wales, their first couple of years extremely successful. It was, in fact, when Catherine wasn't pregnant that issues arose.

Aft 2 back to back pregnancies, it would be 2 years until her third. During this interim, the true nastiness of Henry Stewart's personality became evident. Jealous and vain, he clashed immediately with the highly affectionate Catherine, when that affection went to others around them. During a trip to visit their children, for example, she apparently stayed too long with one of the stable boys after he had been kicked by one of the horses. The Prince of Wales thus had the young man sent home without pay and cut their visit, meant to be 3 weeks, down to 4 days. Other instances included his tendency to end games of cards early if he was likely to lose and to send for Catherine during times he knew she was busy to ensure her utmost annoyance. And with this third child, the Princess felt trapped.
 
The birth of an heir to Mary, Queen of Scots and William, Prince of Orange was met with joy from all in Scotland and the Principality of Orange. Named James, the baby boy seemed extremely healthy and thus, having fulfilled his duty by Mary, William left Scotland for a 7 month interval, sending weekly updates to his bride. Mary seemed to enjoy the idea of lovers separated by duty, playing up the romanticism of it all to the court. However, it was obvious she also felt lonely as the months went on and thus, following their reunion in February of 1565, she begged him to stay with her. Unfortunately, the lovebirds were separated again in May of that year, with William returning to his brother Louis, who was becoming increasingly more and more radical with his Protestant leanings, which worried the less radical William. Shortly after his departure Mary thought herself pregnant a second time, but later found this to be false.

In the meantime, the Princess of Wales gave birth to her third child, the Princess Margaret of Wales. A beautiful child, the birth had been hard for the Princess of Wales and it was worried that she might die due the trauma. Although she didn't, there was a definite fear that Catherine might never recover her vivacious energy or her looks. When she re-entered the court, having been brought down from Ludlow with her husband's entourage to present the new Princess to the Court. Once having arrived, she set the record straight. No longer vivacious, but still beautiful, Catherine led the court in a single dance, showing off the delicacy ill-health had given her looks. A portrait done from that time shows her as having become quite pale, although not pallid. Whatever her looks, she did not last the whole time she had at court and thus, as November came to a close, Catherine Grey died.
 
In 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots and William, Prince of Orange were once again reunited. This reunion, like their previous one, was incredibly short (lasting only 5 weeks) and Mary would, for the second time, find herself pregnant. This allowed William to return to her 6 months later, thus giving the two time to enjoy each other's company. The two would be separated again within a month of their twin daughters, named Margaret and Juliana, in December of the same year. The first of these girls, Margaret, suffered a fever within weeks of being born and thus died at the age of 3 months, having slowly weakened during this time. The Princess Juliana, however, thrived and thus the Scottish Princess was placed in her own household away from the court, acting as a satellite household to her brother.

In England, the position of Princess of Wales was refilled by Anna of Saxony, the previous future Princess of Orange, who had been set aside shortly before her marriage so that the Prince of Orange could marry Mary, Queen of Scots. Her travels to England were slow and the actual marriage ceremony was completed on the 16th of May, 1567. A bitter young woman, she had undergone an affair with the Prince of Orange's brother for a short period of time before, now, finding a match she considered worthy of herself with the Prince of Wales. The couple themselves didn't mesh well upon meeting and Anna only stayed with her husband due to pregnancy, which ended in a son, named Matthew for his grandfather.

Henry VII of England (b.1557: d.1509) m. Elizabeth of York (b.1466: d.1503) (a)

1a) Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales (b.1486: d.1502) m. Catherine of Aragon (b.1485: d.1536) (a)

2a) Margaret Tudor (b.1489: d.1541) m. James IV of Scotland (b.1473: d.1513) (a), Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus (b.1489: d.1557) (b), Henry Stewart, Lord Methven (b.1495: d.1552) (c)

1a) James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (b.1507: d.1508)

2a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1508)

3a) Arthur Stewart (b.1509: d.1510)

4a) James V of Scotland (b.1512: d.1542) m. Madeleine de Valois (b.1520: d.1537) (a), Marie of Guise (b.1515: d.1560) (a)

1a) James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (b.1540: d.1541)

2a) Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (b.1541: d.1541)

3a) Mary, Queen of Scots (b.1542) m. Francis II of France (b.1544: d.1560) (a), William, Prince of Orange (b.1533) (a)

1a) James of Scotland, Duke of Rothesay (b.1564)

2a) Margaret of Scotland (b.1567: d.1568)

3a) Juliana of Scotland (b.1567)​

5a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1512)

6a) Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross (b.1514: d.1515)

7b) Margaret I of England (b.1515) m. Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox (b.1516) (a)

1a) Henry Stewart, Prince of Wales (b.1545) m. Catherine Grey (b.1540: d.1565) (a), Anna of Saxony (b.1544) (b)

1a) Edward of Wales (b.1561)

2a) Henry of Wales (b.1562)

3a) Margaret of Wales (b.1565)

4b) Matthew of Wales (b.1568)​

2a) Charles Stewart, Duke of York (b.1555) b. Sibylle of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (b.1557) (a)​
3a) Henry VIII of England (b.1491: d.1547) m. Catherine of Aragon (b.1485: d.1536) (a), Anne Boleyn (c.1501/1507: d.1536) (b), Jane Seymour (b.1508: d.1537) (c), Anne of Cleves (b.1515: d.1557) (d), Catherine Howard (b.1524: d.1542) (e), Catherine Parr (b.1512: d.1548) (f)

1a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1510)

2a) Henry Tudor, Duke of Cornwall (b.1511: d.1511)

3a) Henry Tudor, Duke of Cornwall (b.1513: d.1513)

4a) Henry Tudor, Duke of Cornwall (b.1515: d.1515)

5a) Mary of of England (b.1516: d.1558) m. Philip II of Spain (b.1527) (a)

6a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1518)

7b) Elizabeth Tudor (c.1533: d.1555)

8b) Edward VI of England (b.1537: d.1553)​

4a) Elizabeth Tudor (b.1492: d.1495)

5a) Mary Tudor (b.1496: d.1533) m. Louis XII of France (b.1462: d.1515) (a), Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk (b.1484: d.1545) (b)

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

2b) Frances Brandon (b.1517: d.1559) m. Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk and Marquess of Dorset (b.1517: d.1554) (a), Adrian Stokes (b.1519) (b)

1a) Jane Grey (b.1537: d.1554) m. Guildford Dudley (b.1535: d.1554) (a)

2a) Catherine Grey (b.1540: d.1565) m. Henry Stewart, Prince of Wales (b.1545) (a)

1a) Edward of Wales (b.1561)

2a) Henry of Wales (b.1562)

3a) Margaret of Wales (b.1565)​

3a) Mary Grey (b.1545) m. James la Marck, Duke of Nevers (b.1544: d.1564) (a)

1a) Charles la Marck, Duke of Nevers (b.1564)​

3b) Eleanor Brandon (b.1519: d.1547) m. Henry Clifford, Earl of Cumberland (b.1517) (a)

1a) Margaret Clifford (b.1540) m. Henry Stanley, Earl of Derby (b.1531: d.1562) (a)

1a) Edward Stanley (c.1558)

2a) Ferdinando Stanley (b.1559)

3a) William Stanley (b.1560)​

2a) Henry Clifford (c.1545)

3a) Charles Clifford (c.1545)​

4b) Henry Brandon, Earl of Lincoln (b.1523: d.1534)
6a) Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset (b.1499: d.1500)

7a) Katherine Tudor (b.1503: d.1503)​
 
So, what was the proudest moment in the Marian reign?

The succession. It was, like OTL (because it was before the POD) a magnificent display that she was the rightful Queen of England and that Catholicism would rise again, something that has actually continued here, just with a less violent way of bring people back. Other than that, perhaps the ceremonies for her supposed second pregnancy? Or the wedding itself?
 
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