My Lady Jane: What really happened to Lady Jane Grey's father?

My Lady Jane brings us an alternate version of Lady Jane Grey’s story. Just how much has changed from real history? What about the death of Jane’s father?

In the series, Jane explains that her father died at sea. The family was left in dire straits, and it meant that Frances tried everything possible to secure financial security. That meant marrying her daughters into wealthy families.

It’s clear that history has changed substantially from the start of the series. As Lady Jane’s father was alive and well when Jane was married into the Dudley family and became the Nine Day Queen.

My Lady Jane killed off Henry Grey

Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk was killed off before the start of My Lady Jane. However, in history, while his wife and two of his daughters did outlive him, it wasn’t when the girls were young.

In real history, Henry Grey was one of the royal favorites during Henry VIII’s reign. He was so in favor, that the king allowed him to marry Frances Brandon, the niece of King Henry VIII. The royal favor didn’t last after Henry’s death, though.

When Edward came to the throne, regents controlled everything. Henry Grey fell out of favor with Edward Seymour, the Lord Protector of England. Grey decided he needed to climb the political ladder again, and he conspired with Thomas Seymour, Edward’s brother who wanted power. Henry attempted to get Edward VI betrothed to his eldest daughter Lady Jane Grey.

The plot failed and Thomas Seymour was executed. Fortunately for Henry, he wasn’t implicated in it. This allowed for him to make other friends.

One of those was John Dudley, Earl of Warwick. As Edward Seymour fell out of favor and was eventually executed, John Dudley gained favor. He and Henry agreed on Jane marrying John’s son Guildford Dudley.

The execution of Henry Grey in real life

This is where Henry landed in hot water. The Dudleys and the Greys worked together to get Edward VI to change the line of succession. Fortunately for Mary, the people didn’t agree with that. Lady Jane Grey was queen for just nine days before Mary gained the support of the privy council and locked Jane and her husband Guildford in the Tower of London.

Henry was also arrested and placed in the Tower. Frances managed to avoid this due to her relationship to Queen Mary, and she encouraged the queen to only lock Henry, Jane, and Guildford up.

That didn’t last, though. Henry Grey was implicated in the Wyatt’s rebellion of early 1554. With that, Mary decided that the Greys couldn’t be allowed to live. Jane and Guildford were executed on Feb. 12, 1554, and Henry was executed on Feb. 23 of the same year.