WHEN MARY MET PHILIP A TUDOR QUEEN IN LOVE
Mary I had been waiting almost her entire life for her wedding day. At 38, she was an old bride by contemporary standards, but as morning arrived on 23 July 1554, she was excited at the prospect of meeting her husband. Not even the driving rain outside could dampen her enthusiasm. Arranging her clothes with careful hands, her ladies smiled to see Mary’s happiness, thinking it was about time that she was fulfilled as a woman. She might have inherited the throne at last, despite all the obstacles of succession and religion, but Tudor culture dictated that the primary function of a woman was to be a wife and mother. Even a queen. Especially a queen.
DIPLOMATIC TOOL
Born in February 1516, Mary Tudor was the only surviving child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. As a result, she was launched upon the marriage market early, being engaged first to the infant son of Francis I of France at the age of two and then to her cousin Charles, Holy Roman Emperor, at six. With Mary as a tool of her father’s policies, these betrothals sealed his diplomatic alliances,
