As you may guess from the title-Elizabeth Tudor is born as boy-and that obviously makes Anne Boleyn 10 feet tall and bulletproof, but not forever. Said boy fell ill and dies aged 10 and Henry VIII is once again without male heir. What would he do? He can't hope to have another child with Anne (say, that Edward was their only child to survive infancy) who is in her 40s, but with his own health not being particulary good at this point younger wife may not solve his problem. But wouldn't he still try? If so, he'd be even more in hurry than IOTL. What happens to Anne? Same thing as IOTL, just later? Meanwhile, if Henry is unable to have more children, would he eventually accept Mary as heiress?
Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales (1533-1543)
- Thread starter Jan Olbracht
- Start date
Henry might just divorce Anne ittl. After all she did give him a son, though said son did also die as a child. Anne and Henry are probably very distant by 1543 but I can’t see why he would execute her when he could just divorce her. If he doesn’t execute her then he might be able to take a foreign princess as his third wife.
I think Henry would not think about foreign match in 1543, he'd just want a wife, who'd give him a son.
Anne will not be blamed for a 10 year old, dying from sickness. Henry could request that the marriage is annulled on the grounds that he needs a male heir but allowing the Queen to have a royal title, possibly raising her to Duchess of Pembroke (having previously held the title of Marquessate of Pembroke)
If anything the blame may be turned into a Catholic conspiracy similar to the great fire of London 1666. Rumours will be heard that the Protestant Prince of Wales was killed so that his Catholic half sister could claim the throne.
To arrange a quick third marriage in 1544, Henry may look for a bride from home like:
- Catherine Howard, a first cousin and lady-in-waiting of Anne Boleyn.
But the Protestant monarchs of Europe may suggest a foreign bride:
- Dorothea of Denmark (1528 – 11 November 1575)
If anything the blame may be turned into a Catholic conspiracy similar to the great fire of London 1666. Rumours will be heard that the Protestant Prince of Wales was killed so that his Catholic half sister could claim the throne.
To arrange a quick third marriage in 1544, Henry may look for a bride from home like:
- Catherine Howard, a first cousin and lady-in-waiting of Anne Boleyn.
But the Protestant monarchs of Europe may suggest a foreign bride:
- Dorothea of Denmark (1528 – 11 November 1575)
But if Anne gives Henry a son they are likely to keep having children, which means they may have a spare by then.
But assuming he doesn’t I don’t think he’ll have as big of an issue with making Mary his heir. IIRC she was only ever disinherited due to Elizabeth being born a girl, which placed Mary higher in the line of succession than Elizabeth. Here since Mary is lower in the line of succession than Edward it’s likely she’s kept in the line of succession (unless Henry and her have an alt falling out).
So Henry would likely recognise Mary as his heir, and remarry to someone else to try and pop out another son.
But assuming he doesn’t I don’t think he’ll have as big of an issue with making Mary his heir. IIRC she was only ever disinherited due to Elizabeth being born a girl, which placed Mary higher in the line of succession than Elizabeth. Here since Mary is lower in the line of succession than Edward it’s likely she’s kept in the line of succession (unless Henry and her have an alt falling out).
So Henry would likely recognise Mary as his heir, and remarry to someone else to try and pop out another son.
I think op specified that edward is henry and anne's only surviving child
Mary being kept in the line of succession would mean she's probably long married by the time *Edward dies.
Anyway, Anne will be disposed off the same way Catherine was (probably using her precontract with Harry Percy or the fact that her sister Mary was Henry's mistress), and unless Henry has a lady-in-waiting in mind, Cromwell who's also probably still alive (if Anne hadn't had him beheaded via plot) would push for a Protestant match. Depending on how relations are with France at the time, they'd probably offer him a bride as well.
Anyway, Anne will be disposed off the same way Catherine was (probably using her precontract with Harry Percy or the fact that her sister Mary was Henry's mistress), and unless Henry has a lady-in-waiting in mind, Cromwell who's also probably still alive (if Anne hadn't had him beheaded via plot) would push for a Protestant match. Depending on how relations are with France at the time, they'd probably offer him a bride as well.
Could be because of the pain of losing two Henrys already as well as the fact that there is still Henry Fitzroy alive.
Henry VIII was happy naming Jane Seymour’s son Edward so it isn’t ASB
Since I assume Mary remains legitimate ITTL, who does she marry? Philip of Bavaria or someone more high-ranking?
Probably Philip, Mary won’t be married to anyone who could press her claim prior to Edward’s death.
Possibly, maybe he’d push for Maria, Duchess of Viseu or one of his Danish nieces.
I think May would probably be married to someone of acceptable rank but no real power long before Edward's death (and him being a boy makes me think there's a higher chance of her and him having a good relationship beforehand as Mary may feel god has proven her father right by making his first child by Anne a boy). For some reason I think a possible match for her could be Cromwell's son, seeing as how the elder Cromwell was raised to an Earl (and I don't doubt he could have been raised to a Duke at some point by Henry) and the family was literally dependant on the Crown for their rise in power so there's a higher chance of him being more loyal to the king than his wife
Cromwell's son is too low-ranking and grants Cromwell too much power. Even if he's a duke, Mary would probably have to be dragged kicking and screaming to the altar a la Jeanne III of Navarre...well maybe not entirely like that but Mary would never agree willingly to such a low match, and Henry may see it as insulting to his pride that his (albeit viewed as illegitimate)daughter is only seen as worthy for a common-born...
That might end up sparking an earlier Pilgrimage of Grace, and it's going to insult the old nobility to see a princess of the blood married to the son of an upjumped blacksmith.
True...a Howard, now, that would be a lot more acceptable...ah, if only Henry Howard was still unmarried-he's heir to the Dukedom of Norfolk, and the Howards are an old family...would be a shame if Frances de Vere died, leaving Henry Howard a marriageable widower...
Also, if Henry VIII remarries after Anne, Dorothea of Denmark(1520 one) is both infertile and already married, and Christina is married to the Duke of Lorraine in 1541, so they're both out...
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Jane Seymour had a brother called Edward and is likely who that influenced the choice of the name. Anne’s son was most likely to be called Henry