Read My Story: Lady Jane Grey (My Royal Story) Online
Authors: Sue Reid
My Story: Lady Jane Grey (My Royal Story)
For Michael
While the events described and some of the characters in this book may be based on actual historical events and real people, this story is a work of fiction.
Contents
19 January 1547 Bradgate Park, Leicestershire
11 February 1547 An inn, I forget the name
17 February 1547 Seymour Place
18 February 1547 Seymour Place
19 February 1547 Seymour Place
21 February 1547 Seymour Place
10 February 1548 Chelsea Place
1 September 1548 Sudeley Castle
2 September 1548 Sudeley Castle
3 September 1548 Sudeley Castle
5 September 1548 Sudeley Castle
7 September 1548 The Queen’s funeral, Sudeley Castle
22 September 1548 Sudeley Castle
25 September 1548 Sudeley Castle
30 September 1548 Bradgate Park
27 October 1548 An inn, outside the city
15 December 1548 Seymour Place
20 December 1548 Seymour Place
21 December 1548 Seymour Place
23 December 1548 Seymour Place
Whitsuntide 1549 Bradgate Park
1 September 1549 Bradgate Park
12 September 1549 Bradgate Park
31 December 1550 Bradgate Park
28 September 1551 Bradgate Park
29 September 1551 Bradgate Park
30 September 1551 Bradgate Park
Twelfth Night – 6 January 1552 Court
23 April 1552 – St George’s Day Suffolk Place
20 August 1552 Sheen, Richmond
22 August 1552 Sheen, Richmond
25 August 1552 Sheen, Richmond
28 August 1552 Sheen, Richmond
Whitsuntide 25 May 1553 Durham House
10 July 1553 The Tower of London
11 July 1553 The Tower of London
12 July 1553 The Tower of London
13 July 1553 The Tower of London
14 July 1553 The Tower of London
16 July 1553 The Tower of London
17 July 1553 The Tower of London
18 July 1553 The Tower of London
19 July 1553, morning, The Tower of London
19 July 1553, night, The Tower of London
25 July 1553 The Tower of London
26 July 1553 The Tower of London
27 July 1553 The Tower of London
3 August 1553 The Tower of London
8 August 1553 The Tower of London
13 August 1553 The Tower of London
21 August 1553 The Tower of London
22 August 1553 The Tower of London
28 August 1553 The Tower of London
31 August 1553 The Tower of London
10 October 1553 The Tower of London
10 November 1553 The Tower of London
13 November 1553 The Tower of London
20 November 1553 The Tower of London
18 December 1553 The Tower of London
5 January 1554 The Tower of London
6 January 1554 The Tower of London
2 February 1554 The Tower of London
3 February 1554 The Tower of London
6 February 1554 The Tower of London
7 February 1554 The Tower of London
8 February, 1554 The Tower of London
9 February 1554 The Tower of London
Bradgate Park, Leicestershire
Today I kept my promise to Edward and began my diary. He has sent me a beautiful book to write it in. It is bound in red velvet and has a gold clasp and key. I will lock it every night, and hang the key under my bodice. I am trying to find a safe place to keep it in. My sister Katherine is very nosy and I do not want her to find it.
I am calling it the chronicle of Lady Jane Grey. Edward has begun a chronicle too. He told me about it when I last saw him, at Court. “My tutor Master Cheke told me I should write a diary,” he said. “He says it will be good for my writing and help me to write my thoughts clearly.”
“I have never written a diary,” I told him.
“Then you must,” he said. “I command you to!” We both burst out laughing. The courtiers who were in the chamber – Edward is seldom on his own – looked at us curiously. Edward doesn’t laugh often. But he is my favourite cousin. He likes to study as much as me. I wish I saw him more often. We are the same age, but I will be ten first!
I had almost forgotten my promise when a messenger galloped up to the house this morning and my nurse summoned me. She told me I was wanted below. A package had arrived for me. I was excited and ran downstairs. The messenger had ridden all the way from London to bring it to me, and that is a very long way – several days’ hard ride from my home, Bradgate Park, in Leicestershire.
The messenger bowed and said, “Are you the Lady Jane Grey?”
“I am,” I told him.
“Then this is for you,” he said. With a flourish he handed me the package.
“Who is it from?” I said turning it over in my hands. It was wrapped in fine cloth and felt hard like a book.
“That I cannot say,” he said. “I was told to tell you that it comes from the Court. And I was to put it into no other hands but yours.”
You see! Who else could it be from but my cousin? I understand him and he understands me. I am so pleased with my book. I will try and write neatly in it and not blot the pages. It will be a great comfort to me I am sure, for I can say in it whatever I like. Mother says I am too apt to say what I think and it is not always what she wants to hear. I will write down important things too so that when I am old and forgetful like my nurse, I can look back and remember how I felt when I was nearly ten.
Bradgate Park
I heard the servants gossiping this morning while they swept out the old rushes in the great chamber. (I am glad they did. It stinks.) They think the King will die soon. It was lucky no one but me heard them. It is treason to talk about the King’s death.
The King has been ailing as long as I can remember. He can barely walk and has to be winched into his chair by pulleys. The last time Mother took me to Court I saw him carried in it down a long passage by his servants, shouting at them to be careful. He looked like a great fat pincushion, stuck with jewels. I curtsied but I don’t think he remembered who I was (I am his great-niece). His eyes were screwed up with pain. I felt sorry for him, even though I know he had wanted to put away his wife, Queen Katherine. The Queen is a good, kind and learned woman. Edward loves her and so do I. I want to be just like her when I grow up.
My mother is one of Queen Katherine’s ladies of the chamber. She says that when I am older – if I am a good girl – I will go to Court and serve the Queen, too. I cannot think that that time will ever come. My parents chastise me A LOT and say that I have much to learn still.
They always say it is for my own good, but I do not know why. My tutor Master Aylmer does not need to beat me to make me work hard. And I strive to be an obedient and dutiful daughter to them.
I must put away my diary now. It is nearly time for lessons and I must finish my translation or Dr Aylmer will be displeased with me. I am learning Greek and can read and write it quite well now.
