Bastard Prince: Henry VIII's Lost Son

by Beverley Murphy

It took Henry VIII twenty-eight years, three wives, and a break with Rome before he secured a legitimate male heir. Yet for most of this time he already had a son - the illegitimate Henry Fitzroy, born in 1519 after the king's affair with a Shropshire gentlewoman, Elizabeth Blount. He was the only illegitimate offspring ever acknowledged by Henry VIII, and Cardinal Wolsey was one of his godparents. Created Duke of Richmond and Somerset, he was educated as befitted a Renaissance prince. The offices bestowed upon him included Lord Lieutenant of the North and Lord Admiral of England; indeed, rumours abounded that Henry intended to make him King of Ireland. Catherine de Medici, later Queen of France, was among those suggested as a possible bride.
Brought up in the same circles as his half sisters Mary and Elizabeth, the young Henry played an active role in the life of the entertaining ambassadors and attending Parliament. He was said to resemble his father in both looks and character, and he weathered the difficult years of the Reformation far better than either of his sisters. As the years passed with no sign of a legitimate male heir to the throne, many began to believe that Henry's bastard son would be the next king of England.
Today, however, Fitzroy is very much a forgotten Tudor prince. In the first book to examine his life in full, Beverley A. Murphy investigates just how close he came to being crowned Henry IX. She concludes with an intriguing epilogue which demonstrates just how different the history of England could have been, had Fitzroy survived his father.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Tudor Period, Royalty, British Literature, Biography Memoir

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 2001

Reviews

[Helene Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve wanted to read this book for a while, and I’ve seen mixed reviews. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if there was enough information on Henry Fitzroy to write a full biography as he seems to be relatively absent from the primary sources, probably hugely overshadowed by Anne Boleyn and the Great Matter. I owe thanks to Rebecca Batley for lending this to me for my research for my own book.

The chronology doesn’t quite make sense because Murphy starts with Henry VIII’s relationship with Fitzroy’s mother, Bessie Blount, through Fitzroy’s birth, life, and death. But then she seems to go backwards before moving on to his legacy and what could have happened had he survived past 1536. I think it was too much to write an entire book on Henry Fitzroy alone as there just isn’t enough information. I think what was done was done well, but there is a lot of background information on the Great Matter and a lot on what happened after Fitzroy died which had just a tenuous link to his story.

It is quite well-written and engaging, clear and easy to read, I mainly just have a problem with the chronology as previously outlined. It feels bulked out with more general Tudors information and context rather than focusing in on Fitzroy because of the lack of information about his life, but I did learn some things about him that I didn’t know.

The final chapter entitled ‘Henry the Ninth’ was interesting in particular, looking at how things could have been different had Fitzroy outlived his father and what role he could have played in the reigns of his half-siblings, and whether he would have become king himself. It is a really interesting what-if of Tudor history. Although the book struggles in places due to lack of sources, it is an easy read about a lesser-known member of the Tudor royal family.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed it. Like most people I've mentioned it to, I had no idea Henry VIII had illegitimate kids, let alone a son who came so close to being Henry IX. I thought the book was well written and well paced, although occassionally it seemed to move a little too quick for me. The names and familial relationships were difficult to follow sometimes, though that's no fault of the author's (almost everyone seems to have been called Henry and Mary in those days). It was interesting to read about Henry VIII's marital dramas from the point of view of his children and I remember being particularly sorry for Mary Tudor and her mother for the way they were treated, though maybe by the standards of the day it wasn't so bad.

It seems academically well grounded without being dry, and I kept thinking all the way through, that this would make a great film (or TV mini-series).

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, it gave me an entirely new perspective on Henry Fitzroy. I had always thought that the King heaped such honors & titles on his bastard son due to the great love he had for him. While I still believe this is true, it also had the effect of taking control of northern England away from some of the great old noble families that had ruled there for generations and setting advisors in power that owed their loyalty the King alone!

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor, very dry, presentation with no organization. There’s an attempt to tell Henry Fitzroy’s story chronologically, but once the author reaches his death she starts back at his childhood and works her back through his life, death, and the years after.
There should have been more editing before the book went to print.

[GBL · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this biography of Henry VIII’s illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond we learn about the life of one of the lesser known characters of the Tudor court. And yet Henry Fitzroy was a significant figure in the context of the Tudor period and his early death leaves many questions about what might have been.
Henry Fitzroy was living proof that the king could father healthy male children and as such exposed the lack of living sons of Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. As time went on and no legitimate male heirs were forthcoming it seemed possible that Fitzroy might fill the role; his elevation to the highly significant title of Duke of Richmond raised his profile as did his position as the king’s lieutenant in the North of England. His early death takes him off he stage and we can only wonder what might have been for this young man in the history of Tudor England.
Murphy highlights the positive relationship between father and son and manages to create something of the young man’s personality from the official records and this makes this book an interesting addition to the story of the Tudors.

[Evan Þ. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before Henry VIII's multiple marriages, before his legitimate children, he had an illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy - but he died as a teenager, without issue, before Prince Edward's birth. Murphy looks into his life, how his father obviously loved him, how he used him as a symbol in managing the realm, and how he was quite possibly planning for him to succeed to the crown ahead of his daughters Mary and Elizabeth.

It's an engagingly told tale, pieced together from mentions in sources - because, after his death without actually having done anything, he was forgotten amid the see-sawing of the English Reformation. Yet, the possibilities of what could have happened had he lived abound - as Murphy points out in a perfect chapter of well-grounded speculation at the end.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a perfectly well researched and straightforward piece of work. However, the lack of detail available about the life of Henry's illegitimate son makes much of the information used to bulk out the text feel very same-old/same-old to someone like myself who teaches Tudor history, and has encountered much of the surrounding information elsewhere. The best bits of the book occur when it has meaty details to work with about the Duke of Richmond and his mother, and that's when the book does shine. A very useful research tool, but a victim of its subject matter, with too much that can be found in other Tudor bios for me to enjoy it fully.

[Randy Ladenheim-Gil · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's rather difficult to find anything much on the Duke of Richmond, so for that reason alone, this book deserves praise. There were parts of it I didn't find all that interesting, but they did need to be there to tell the full story. I suspect there is lots more we'll never know regarding Richmond's relationships with his mother, his father, Anne Boleyn, and poor Mary Howard, who married Richmond when they were both children. I found myself agreeing with Murphy that Henry VIII never spoke of Richmond after his death because it broke his heart, and I enjoyed the epilogue, which suggests what might have happened to him and to English history if he had lived.

[Sarah W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate biographies focusing on the lesser-known figures of a well-known era. In this case, the author details the life of Henry VIII's illegitimate son - Henry Fitzroy, the Duke of Richmond. Since the documentation of Fitzroy's life is sparse and Fitzroy himself died young, this book digs into what is known, and engages in a little bit of speculation that anyone who knows the Tudor story would enjoy. Overall, I felt this book did a good job of being both accessible and well-researched while highlighting the less famous people in Tudor history.

[Jodie Oddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded to 4. I learned a lot about a topic I knew very little about but after the Duke’s death the book became very boring and dull. Would liked to have learned more about Elizabeth Blount and the Duke of Richmond’s wife and her family but didn’t really go into much detail about them. A lot of names dotted in the book which made it very hard to
Follow

[Rick Perry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting story, boring book! It reads like a very long, dull, and dry encyclopedia entry. Loaded down with facts, figures, names, and dates, the book is scholarly and well researched, but poorly presented. I wouldn't recommend this one.

[Carol-Ann Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rare look at Henrys forgotten son, whilst briefly mentioned in other biographies of famous Tudors this is the first book I've read focused solely on him and whilst there are some gaps there is more surviving evidence than you would think

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting information and a very interesting understanding of the relationship between the Henry, his illegitimate son and the realm. I wish he hadn't died three chapters before the book ended, I understand the need to explain consequences but my interest began to flag.

[Susan Abernethy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Link to my review of this book:

https://flhwnotesandreviews.com/2017/...