Let’s explore the life of Katherine Grey, the lesser-known sister of the Nine Days’ Queen and the often-forgotten cousin of Queen Elizabeth I.
She was born in 1540 and she was the second daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Frances Brandon. So her mother was the niece of Henry VIII, thus connecting Katherine to the royal lineage and painting a potential path to the throne.
So she comes from Henry’s sister, Mary Tudor, Queen of France. The one who married the king of France and then he died and she secretly married Charles Brandon. That’s Mary and Charles Brandon and they had a daughter Frances and then Katherine was Frances’s daughter. So she would have been Henry VIII’s great-niece, I suppose.
She comes from that line. Her older sister was Lady Jane Grey who of course was manipulated into taking the throne after the death of Edward VI. However, Jane’s rule was very short-lived. She was overthrown by Mary Tudor, imprisoned and later executed in this tragic event. It cast a shadow over the Grey family and the younger Katherine.
Yet, despite her sister’s execution, Katherine and her younger sister, Mary were not entirely out of the picture under Henry VIII’s will. They remained potential heirs to the throne, adding layers of complexity to their relationship with their royal cousin, Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1558, the dynamics of the court shifted dramatically. Although Elizabeth never officially named an heir, the Grey sisters were recognized as potential successors. A fact that did not go unnoticed by courtiers, especially those aspiring to power.
So both Katherine and Mary were seen as attractive prospects for marriage, Katherine in particular, attracted the interest of many suitors, which only fueled Elizabeth’s unease. Of course, we know Elizabeth was quite kind of jealous of the attention that other women at court got. She was unmarried and childless and this of course deepen the significance of the Grey sisters’ presence at court.
In 1560 Katherine’s life took a dramatic turn when she secretly married Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford. This unauthorized marriage became one of the most controversial events in Elizabethan court life, igniting a firestorm when Katherine became pregnant.
Elizabeth felt completely betrayed by Katherine’s secret marriage and swift pregnancy.
She saw it as a direct challenge to her reign. As a consequence, both Katherine and Edward were imprisoned in the Tower of London. Katherine’s first child Edward was born in the Tower of London. In fact, Katherine lived most of her remaining years in confinement.
Her existence, far removed from the glamor and grander of court life that she once knew. Even so, her spirit remained unbroken despite the harsh conditions. She had a second son named Thomas in 1563. This also made Elizabeth very, very mad because of course the jailers at the tower were allowing her to see her husband. Clearly. And so Elizabeth got very mad about this.
So tragedy struck when Katherine Grey died at only 27 years old in 1568. The once vibrant and potential heir to the throne ended her life in captivity, having never fully realized her royal connections.
Katherine Grey in history is often overshadowed by her sister, Jane and her cousin Elizabeth. Yet her life was marked by its own unique blend of rebellion, love and tragedy. Her actions were defiant and daring for the time. Also not a lot of forethought. But she greatly shaped the Elizabethan era casting ripples that still influence our understanding of this fascinating period.
It was one of the first times that one of Elizabeth’s women got married without her permission. Elizabeth was still young when this happened. And of course, this would set the stage for the way Elizabeth treated her women who got married throughout the rest of her reign. Katherine Grey was a fascinating woman.
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.