Charlie Fenton’s Reviews > Mary: Tudor Princess > Status Update

‘Mary lay awake in his arms while he drifted off to sleep. She understood the sacrifice he’d made for his family. He would never admit how difficult it had been to accept Anne Boleyn as his queen, but now he would show her absolute loyalty.’

‘Dressed in what must be the latest French fashion, her shapely scarlet gown was cut lower at the front, revealing more than Mary considered decent. She seemed to know the count well. As Mary watched, she turned, calling out to a steward in French and holding up Count Charles’s silver goblet to be served more wine. Mary recognised her as one of Queen Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting, Lady Anne Boleyn.’

‘Brandon refused to discuss the child, as if that would help her forget. Even when she asked him to, he would not tell her the mystery woman’s name or where she lived, although he swore to her it was over. Mary believed it was, although she would always wonder whether Brandon’s illegitimate son would one day emerge into the public gaze, as Henry Fitzroy had done.’

‘God willing, her child would be a boy, a Brandon heir to inherit the Suffolk title and estates. She knew her husband believed so. He’d said her pregnancy have him hope and helped him deal with his grief. At the same time, she knew no child could replace little Harry. They would mourn his loss for the rest of their lives.’

‘She’d woken in the middle of the night and lay awake until dawn, thinking about her brother and Catherine. Henry made no secret of his illegitimate child, proudly naming him Henry Fitzroy, son of the king. Now Brandon told her Henry had a new mistress, Lady Mary Boleyn. She found it impossible to understand how Mary Boleyn had learned so little from her affair with King Francis.’

‘Only once the dancing ended and they removed their masks did she see that one of her fellow performers was her brother’s not-so-secret mistress, twenty-year-old Elizabeth Blount, known to everyone as Bessie. As Mary watched her catch Henry’s eye and be rewarded by a smile she felt a pang of sympathy for Catherine, who deserved better in return for her faithful loyalty.’

‘The setting sun cast a golden glow over the River Thames as Mary left Greenwich Palace. Like Henry’s court, the glittering surface perfectly disguised the dark, murky waters beneath. It angered her that Henry turned hims back on Catherine for a pretty seventeen-year-old girl but now she understood this was the way of kings.’

‘Francis was always at her side, her over-attentive escort while Louis remained in his bed, behaviour which would fan the smouldering embers of inevitable rumours at court... She played along with his games, for now, as she did with Louis. Laughing at the duke’s witty remarks was a small price to pay for her future security if he became king.‘

‘She was going to be Princess of Castile and one day become an empress, one of the most influential women in the world. It was so typical of Brandon, now he was contracted to his young ward and could no longer have her. The man whose love she wished for looked at her with eyes full of desire.’

‘In front of them, Henry’s colourful royal standard and banners flew from the topmast of his magnificent new flagship the Mary Rose. A floating fortress, she bristled with the latest guns and was the pride of England’s growing fleet. Henry told her over six hundred oak trees were used in her construction, making her the most expensive warship ever built.’