Born in the Tower

On this day in Tudor history, 24 September 1561, a baby with a claim and a cloud was born inside the Tower of London.

Meet Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp, son of Lady Katherine Grey (Jane Grey’s sister) and Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, a couple who secretly married without Elizabeth I’s permission. 

 

The queen refused to recognise the union, branding their Tower-born child illegitimate… yet his pedigree ran straight through Mary Tudor, Queen of France, per Henry VIII’s will.

In this episode:

• The secret marriage, Tower imprisonment, and Beauchamp’s contested status
• Why his birth sat at the centre of England’s succession web
• His own secret match to Honora Rogers (and the family row it sparked)
• How his son William Seymour later eloped with Arbella Stuart
• What James I did, and didn’t, undo, and how Beauchamp’s story ends

Question for you: Should Elizabeth have recognised Katherine Grey’s marriage, or was she right to keep rival claims on a tight leash?

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