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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.
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