Roy Jose’s history of Elizabeth 1, Queen of England

Much has been written about Anne Boleyn’s child, Elizabeth, who became Queen only after the short reigns of Henry’s son, Edward VI (1547-1553), and Mary (1553-1558). Rather less, though, has been written about the first two children of her elder sister, Mary Boleyn when married to her first husband, William Carey.

William Carey married Mary Boleyn in 1520 when both he and Mary were of very similar ages, aged about twenty or twenty one. Both seemed to have been at Court, and King Henry was a guest at the wedding. It is unclear when King Henry embarked on his affair with Mary, or, indeed, the length of the affair. But it was relatively short lived, as William died in 1528, and there are no details whatsoever of the length of time Mary Boleyn and King Henry were in a relationship, nor of its result.

There were two children, the first of whom was Catherine Carey, born in 1524, and the second child of Mary was Henry Carey born on 4 March 1526. Neither of these births were, in any way suspicious, but as Mary was known to have been unfaithful to her husband, it is possible, though unproven, that King Henry was the father of one, or both, children. And, given that the children were blood-related to the second wife of King Henry, Anne Boleyn, who was executed in 1536, if the children were, in fact, the children, albeit illegitimate, of the King, then it is possible that, while the King might not have acknowledged, openly, his paternity of one or both children, he would have paid much attention to their welfare, and general upbringing, as Queen Elizabeth was to do, when she became Queen in 1558. Henry Carey was raised to the peerage as the first Baron Hunsdon soon after Elizabeth became Queen in 1558, and became a Knight of the Garter in 1561. He died in 1596.

Little was said about the the provenance of the Carey children, but they were clearly favourites of Queen Elizabeth. If they were not the children of the King, they were clearly highly favoured.

Queen Elizabeth was not supposed to be Queen, and until her half sister, Mary, died little was known about her after her mother, Anne Boleyn, was imprisoned, and later executed. She was the second of the King’s children, but as Henry’s third child was a boy, he took precedence, and when King Edward died, Mary (who had been disinherited when King Henry divorced her mother, Catherine of Aragon) became Queen. Mary’s reign, however, was short lived, and ended with her death after just five years, in 1558.

Elizabeth became Queen after Queen Mary’s death, and ruled the Kingdom for the next forty-five years until her death in 1603 at the age of sixty-nine. She never married, but left the throne to James VI of Scotland, the Protestant son of Mary, Queen of Scots, who, after much intrigue, was executed in 1557, on Elizabeth’s orders. Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned in a number of places in England for nineteen years, and she was executed on the orders of Queen Elizabeth in 1587, at Fotheringhay Castle.

Elizabeth was only twenty five when she became Queen. Although she was the daughter of Henry VIII she was a woman, and that meant that her advisers, every single one of whom was a male, expected the Queen to leave all decisions to her advisers. Elizabeth, however, had other ideas. She expected to be able to rule just as her father, Henry VIII, had done, but although she tried very hard, she was never able to rule as absolutely as her father had done, although her advisers seemingly convinced the Queen that she was in complete control of her Kingdom.

It is arguable, though, that her father, Henry VIII, as a man, exercised more control than Queen Elizabeth was ever able to do. But, if that was the case, he would have been the last monarch, I think, to have exercised so much power. Had Queen Elizabeth been an adult male, it is possible that she might have sought to extend her power. But the times she lived in, as well as the growing power of the House of Commons, would probably have curtailed her, had she wished to extend her power. And no monarch since that time has been able to extend their power, and those that tried, like Charles I and James II, met, as Charles I did, with dying on the scaffold, or a hasty exit from England as James II did, after less than four years. The Dutch king, William, and his English wife, Queen Mary succeeded after they were invited by Nobles and Commons to accept joint thrones, but with severely curtailed powers.

Queen Elizabeth ruled the Kingdom for forty-five years. She never married, but she had male admirers. Whether the males in her life ever achieved anything is unknown. Elizabeth made certain that her private life was completely unknown, and that no one was allowed even a glimpse of what Elizabeth did in her spare time. She handled the long incarceration of Mary, Queen of Scots, without even seeing her, and despatched her to the executioner in 1587 in Fotheringhay Castle. Although Mary was a Catholic, she was not allowed to practice her faith in England, outside Fotheringhay Castle. Her son, who became James I, on accession to the English throne in 1603, was brought up as a Protestant.