Page Threads

"Jane Grey was completely in the power of her parents and the Dudleys who were the parents of her husband. Jane's mother, Frances Grey, was a cruel abusive parent and beat her often to 'harden' her. Her father-in-law, the Duke of Northumberland either coerced or persuaded Edward on his deathbed to bypass the succession arranged by Henry VIII naming his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth in turn to succeed if Edward died without issue, and name Jane, his daughter-in-law, the granddaughter of Henry's sister Mary, as Queen. Although Jane was unwilling, she had no choice. When it became obvious that Mary had popular support and would claim her throne, her parents left Jane to her fate. I haven't read about Jane for years, but I remember reading that she was beaten by her mother and forced to accept the marriage to Guildford Dudley. Northumberland, Jane, her father Suffolk, and Guildford all went to the scaffold.
That poor child had a bad situation all around. Her mother escaped the consequences and married her chamberlain a short time after her husband, Suffolk, was executed. "