My Lady Jane: Did Queen Mary and Lord Seymour have a fling in real life?

Queen Mary and Lord Seymour certainly brought some humor and steaminess to My Lady Jane. How much of their story was true to real life?

A show like My Lady Jane certainly brings us changes to history. We have the fact that Edward didn’t die but turned into a bird, and we have Lord Guildford Dudley also being Ethian, cursed as a horse during the day and a man at night.

What about other elements of the story? How true was Queen Mary and Lord Seymour’s love affair? The short answer is not at all.

Which Lord Seymour was in My Lady Jane?

There were two Lord Seymours at the time of Edward VI. The first was Thomas Seymour, the younger brother who was executed in an attempt to kidnap the king.

The second was the elder brother, who was named Lord Protector. Edward Seymour, which is likely the one that Dominic Cooper is meant to be in My Lady Jane, also found himself on the wrong side of the executioner’s ax.

John Dudley helped to turn the council against Seymour, leading to his arrest and eventual execution. There are no signs that Seymour and Mary ever spent time together while Edward was alive.

Mary would have known the Seymour brothers, though. She was old enough to remember Queen Jane, Henry VIII’s third wife and Edward VI’s mother. The Seymour brothers rose in favor in the court due to Henry’s love for Jane, even after her death.

Thomas Seymour did show interest in Mary Tudor, as well as her sister Elizabeth. He was a man who wanted to climb the career ladder through marriages. However, he ended up marrying Henry VIII’s sixth wife, Catherine Parr. Elizabeth was raised in their household, and there are suggestions that Thomas flirted and may have forced himself onto the future Queen of England.

Mary’s only known relationship was King Philip of Spain. So, no, there is nothing to suggest that Mary and Lord Seymour ever spent time together as they do in My Lady Jane.