The Queen Who Ruled for Just 9 Days - Lady Jane Grey Explained

The longest reigning British monarch was Queen Elizabeth II with 70 years on the throne, but had you ever wondered who had the shortest reign, well, it was this lady, Lady Jane Grey. Who only managed to rule for nine days in July of 1553. Lady Jane Grey was born in 1537 and was the granddaughter of King Henry VIII's sister, Mary Tudor. She was a great-niece of King Edward VI, the son of Henry VIII and his second wife, Jane Seymour. And when Edward VI died in July of 1553 at the age of 15, Lady Jane Grey was his first cousin once removed. Now, Edward VI had no children, but he did have a half-sister named Mary Tudor, who was the daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Mary was next in line to the throne after Edward, but she had been declared illegitimate and stripped of her royal titles by Parliament because she was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, whose marriage the king had annulled. Lady Jane Grey was next in line after Mary Tudor. But she, too, was a Protestant. And that was a problem because the vast majority of people in England were Roman Catholic. The third in line to the throne was Lady Jane Grey's father, Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, who was also a Protestant, so the throne would essentially go to Lady Jane Grey's family if she were to become queen. In order to prevent this, Mary Tudor's half-brother, the new King Edward VI, asked Lady Jane Grey's father, Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, to marry his daughter to an Italian. The son of a wealthy merchant named Guilford fed a place, but Henry refused unless Mary Tudor agreed to marry one of Edward's councillors, John Bridges. Edward agreed, and the two couples were married in January of 1552. But Lady Jane Grey still posed a threat to Mary's claim to the throne. So in June of 1553, Edward VI summoned Lady Jane Grey, her father and her husband to London, and they all three fell for it. They thought that Lady Jane Grey might be made queen after all. But instead, upon their arrival in London, the Duke of Suffolk and his daughter were thrown into the Tower of London, accused of treason. Edward VI then wrote a letter to the Duke of Northumberland, who was the constable of the Tower of London, ordering that Lady Jane Grey be released from custody. That she and her husband be given the crown jewels and that she be proclaimed queen. Lady Jane Grey's father, the Duke of Suffolk, was so incensed by this that he broke out of the Tower of London and fled to France. But Lady Jane Grey's coronation never took place because Edward VI died on July 6, 1553, before the Duke of Northumberland could carry out his orders. And without Edward VI's support, Lady Jane Grey's claim to the throne meant absolutely nothing. She was released from the Tower of London and she and her husband went into exile in France to join her father. Mary Tudor, who had been living in France since 1552, returned to England in August of 1553 and became the first queen regnant of England and Ireland. Lady Jane Grey lived out the remainder of her life in exile. She died in 1554 at the age of 17, having been in custody for 13 months. Lady Jane Grey is often called the nine-day queen, though she was technically queen for ten days, but only for nine full days. She was crowned on July 15, 1553 and abdicated on July 15, 1553. Mary I succeeded her and reigned until November 17, 1558. If you've enjoyed this video don't forget to subscribe for more royal mishaps including the story of Lady Jane Grey's father, Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk who got himself beheaded trying to save his daughter from the Tower of London.