But to the Catholics, Mary Queen of Scots was Mary Tudor’s rightful successor. To them, Elizabeth was illegitimate. She was the daughter of Anne Boleyn, whom Henry VIII had married while his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was still alive. The pope and the Catholic Church did not recognize Anne Boleyn as Henry’s lawful wife, nicknaming her “the concubine.” Henry had himself repudiated her, divorcing and then executing her in 1536, when Elizabeth was declared to be illegitimate by act of Parliament in a clause that had never been repealed. This left the way wide open for the claim of Mary
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