The succession crisis

Because the winners write the histories, it is now considered that the reign of Mary Tudor began when Edward died on 6 July 1553, and that the thirteen-day reign of Jane Dudley – the so-called ‘Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days’ Queen’ – was never a reality. Constitutionally, the case is clear. Henry's third Act of Succession (35 Hen. VIII, c. 1) laid down that if Edward died without issue the crown should pass to Mary, and if Mary had no issue, to Elizabeth. His daughters’ succession would further depend on their acceptance of any conditions he might subsequently impose either by letters patent or in his will, but no such conditions were ever imposed. Moreover, the order of succession after Elizabeth could likewise be determined by him without the assistance of Parliament – and in his will he did in fact extend the list to include his niece Frances Grey, duchess of Suffolk, and her three daughters in order of seniority. Edward was ill during what would be his last parliament in March 1553, but the opportunity to pass a succession act of his own was missed because he did not yet realize he was dying. During his final month he evidently persuaded himself that he too could dispose of the crown by letters patent (as a minor he could not make a legal will), and tried to bypass his half-sisters and his cousin the duchess of Suffolk in favour of the duchess's eldest daughter: the recently married Jane Dudley, who (like Edward) was an intelligent, educated fifteen-year-old brought up as a devout Protestant. But although it was unquestionably his royal wish that Jane succeed him, that wish had no legal force.