Paris Times

Back to Character Menu                                                                                                                                                                            June 25, 1533

“The French Queen” Passes Away Happy

By: T. L. Havill

Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York passed away on June 24, 1533 due to health complications.  During her life, Mary was controlled by her father and brother with regards to her marital status.  Mary was “…considered to be one of the most attractive women in Europe at the time.”[1] She was betrothed to the future Holy Roman Emperor, Charles, but her brother, Henry VIII, intervened and cancelled the engagement.  However, Henry had another candidate in mind for his favourite sister, Mary - Louis XII.  This arrangement was to make an alliance with France but Louis was 34 years older than Mary.  “So, Mary struck a deal with Henry: she would do her princess duty and marry the French King. But, if she were to outlive Louis - which was very likely - she wanted her next husband to be one of her own choosing. Henry agreed, quite possibly with the intention of never honoring his promise.”[2] The deal with Henry was a wise move on Mary’s part because three months after they married Louis went on to eternity. Knowing that Henry would try to marry her off again, Mary, possessing the Tudor spirit, confronted her situation head on. Before marrying Louis she had fallen in love with Henry’s friend, Charles Brandon and being freed from her marriage vows to Louis she sought him out again.  “She wanted to marry him, but if he didn't feel the same, she would enter a convent and no longer be a marriage pawn for Henry VIII. Charles gave in…In the small chapel of the Palais de Cluny, Mary Tudor did the unimaginable for most princesses, she married the man she chose.”[3] Mary’s spirit of determination and love will be missed by her family and those who knew her.