The Unlikely Rise of Elizabeth I)

On the 19th of May 1536, Anne Boleyn was executed. Her only child, Elizabeth, was barely three years old. She was immediately declared illegitimate and stripped of her title of princess. From birth, the odds were stacked against Elizabeth. She was third in line to the throne, labelled a bastard and of course was the wrong gender to rule. And later, she would be taken prisoner in the Tower of London before being moved here to Hampton Court under house arrest and then subject to numerous plots and conspiracies against her life. So exactly how did Elizabeth rise to power? Elizabeth was born in September 1533 to Anne Boleyn at Greenwich Palace but she wasn't raised at one of her father Henry VIII's main residences. Instead, she was sent north to Hatfield House with her own household. It included Lady Margaret Bryan who took charge and she had much experience of raising royal infants. She was impressed with the young Elizabeth, describing her as precocious and intelligent. But everything changed abruptly after less than three years at Hatfield because Elizabeth's mother Anne fell from favour and she was executed. And Elizabeth immediately noticed that people were treating her differently, calling her Lady Elizabeth when before she had been Princess. In alarm, Lady Bryan wrote to Thomas Cromwell begging that the King wouldn't forget his youngest daughter and that she had already outgrown all the clothes that Anne Boleyn had sent for her. It was a cry for help from a household that had been almost entirely abandoned. In 1537, Jane Seymour who replaced Anne Boleyn gave birth to a son, Edward, here at Hampton Court. Thus cementing the Tudor dynasty. Elizabeth now seemed all but irrelevant but despite being still illegitimate, she was welcomed back to court. She attended the lavish christening of her new baby brother Edward which took place right here in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court and she played a in the procession. This sent out a subtle message. Though diminished, Elizabeth was still very much part of the Tudor world. With the birth of Edward, Elizabeth's household back at Hatfield underwent a change. Lady Bryan was now appointed to superintend Edward's upbringing which meant Elizabeth was once more sidelined. But this shift in her household introduced a new influential character to Elizabeth's upbringing. Catherine Champernown or later Cat Asley was Elizabeth's new governess and would superintend her education and upbringing but also become a lifelong confidante. Under Cat and later Roger Asham, Elizabeth was tutored in Latin, Italian, Greek, French. She was fluent in several languages by the time she reached her teenage years. She also learned history, theology, philosophy. She was an exemplary student. Meanwhile Elizabeth's Henry's fifth wife was the young Catherine Howard and she took a real shine to the young Elizabeth who was now six years old. But Catherine would be taken away from Elizabeth just as abruptly as her mother Anne Boleyn had been. Catherine also was accused of adultery and executed. Elizabeth was then just eight years old and she declared from that moment I will never marry. In 1543 Elizabeth was invited back to Hampton Court for another ceremony. This time though it was a private ceremony with just 20 or so people in attendance. It took place in the Queen's private apartments and it was the wedding of Henry VIII to his sixth and final wife Catherine Parr. The following year 1544 Elizabeth was at Hampton Court again but not to see her father this time. She'd been invited by her stepmother Catherine Parr who was acting as regent while Henry was off fighting a campaign in France. So Elizabeth spent time with Catherine and she saw her wielding authority in her own right as Queen. It was an experience that the young Elizabeth would never forget. In September 1544 Henry came back to court and in the same year, influenced by Catherine Parr, he decided to restore both his daughters to the line of succession. He passed the Third Succession Act towards the very end of his reign and it might have been to celebrate that moment that this magnificent painting was commissioned. Now in the Royal Collection Trust it shows Henry with his third wife Jane Seymour, his precious son Edward there on his right, his elder daughter Mary and then here we have Elizabeth. The message was clear, the bastard child was now back in the picture. Henry VIII died in 1547 when Elizabeth was 13. Her younger brother Edward became king at the age of just nine. Elizabeth went to live with her former stepmother Catherine Parr and her new husband Thomas Seymour but Seymour soon began to pay inappropriate attention towards Elizabeth and she was sent away. Well Catherine Parr died not long afterwards and Thomas Seymour tried to marry Elizabeth. He ended up a prisoner in the tower and Elizabeth herself was interrogated. Her servants Cat Astley and Thomas Parry were sent to the tower for questioning too. It had been a terrifying experience. Seymour was executed in 1549 and Elizabeth had learned to trust very few people. Despite being a young king Edward had very strong ideas about religion and it was during his reign that the Reformation really took hold. Well his half-sister Elizabeth was also a Protestant but she'd always been more cautious not to publicly declare her religion. It was a strategic move. Edward fell ill at the age of just 15 and as the took hold he and his advisors devised a plan for the succession. Edward wanted to avoid the throne going to his elder half-sister Mary because she was a Catholic and he was also persuaded to disinherit Elizabeth on the grounds of her illegitimacy. Instead he named his cousin Lady Jane as his heir. Edward died in July 1553 and Jane was proclaimed queen but very shortly afterwards Mary Tudor raised an army of 20,000, marched on London and seized the throne. She was crowned in October 1553. Elizabeth was once more an heir to the throne. In late 1554 Mary believed herself to be pregnant. Well if true this would have destroyed Elizabeth's chances of ever coming to the throne but sadly for Mary it proved a phantom pregnancy. She was devastated when she realised the truth. To the end Mary was reluctant to name her sister Elizabeth her heir. It was only when she was dying that her husband Philip persuaded her out of a fear that Mary Queen of Scots would come to the throne instead. At the age of 25 Elizabeth was staying at Hatfield House when she learned that her sister Mary was dead and she was now Queen of England. From the age of just two Elizabeth was under threat. Her inheritance meant that throughout her childhood and youth she was constantly in danger and in fear for her life but the issue of the succession would continue to haunt her after she came to the throne because throughout her long reign she would be plagued with the question of who would succeed her. Watch out for our next episode on the end of the Tudors and the succession crisis that unfolded during Elizabeth I's reign.