"The Spanish Princess" Shows Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon's Secret Romance
Season 2 of The Spanish Princess shows Princess Mary Tudor's secret romance and marriage to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk.
Mary was initially married to the much older King Louis XII of France, and was permitted to choose her second husband.
This is what you need to know about Mary and Charles's secret romance, and its consequences.
The love story of Princess Mary Tudor (Sai Bennett) and Charles Brandon (Jordon Renzo) has played out throughout season 2 of The Spanish Princess, exchanged in sly glances and flirtatious exchanges. Brandon, the 1st Duke of Suffolk, is the close friend of King Henry VIII (Ruari O'Connor), and nearly married Lina, Catherine's lady-in-waiting, in season 1.
In the fifth episode of The Spanish Princess, the star-crossed lovers defy convention—and Mary's older brother, Henry's, wishes—and get secretly married in France. Mary's husband, King Louis VII, had just died. Though Henry wanted to arrange his sister's next marriage, Mary followed her heart.
If The Spanish Princess has taught us anything, it's that the Tudor siblings had a knack for following their heart—even if their hearts are tempestuous creatures (see: all of Henry's decisions this season, in a desperate attempt to procure a male heir).
Just last episode, Margaret, Mary's older sister, secretly married the Earl of Angus. Mary's secret marriage does cause drama for her—though significantly less than Margaret's caused her. Case in point? Mary isn't deposed as regent Queen of Scotland and dramatically separated from her two sons, like what happened to Margaret.
This is the true story of Mary and Charles Brandon.
Princess Mary reluctantly married King Louis XII, so that she could choose her next husband.
As the first episode in The Spanish Princess's second season shows, Princess Mary was initially meant to marry a Spanish prince. When relations with Spain frayed in 1514, Henry sought another alliance—one with France. His sister, Mary, known to be an exceptional beauty according to Tudor Society, would be the one to strengthen the peace treaty via marriage.
At the age of 18, Princess Mary was shipped to France to marry the 52-year-old King Louis XII. Before leaving, Mary made her brother, Henry, promise that should Louis XII die before her, and she was childless, she would be free to choose her next husband.
Louis died of gout in January 1515, less than three months after their wedding. The Spanish Princess suggests that his death was hastened by, uh overexertion in the bedroom—and according to historian Clare Ridgway of The Anne Boleyn Files, the French people shared that opinion. Mary was forced to seclude for 40 days to ensure she wasn't pregnant.
Princess Mary secretly married Charles Brandon in France without her brother's consent.
After King Louis XII died, Mary wrote a letter to her brother reminding him of their agreement: “I beseech your grace that you will keep all the promises that you promised me when I take my leave of you by the waterside” and said she wanted to marry where "my mind is," Ridgway wrote for The Anne Boleyn Files.
Mary's mind was on Charles Brandon, her longtime crush—and Henry's clever, athletic, charismatic best friend, who had been sent to collect her from isolation in France. Brandon and Mary secretly married in France on March 3, 1515. Technically, Brandon committed treason by marrying a member of the royal family without getting permission from the king first, The Tudor Society wrote.
And given Henry's propensity to behead people (see: Anne Boleyn, Thomas More, etc), the lovers took a major risk. "It was not the fact of their marriage that Henry objected to so violently, but that the lovers had wed in secret and without his permission," Leslie Carroll wrote in Notorious Royal Marriages.
The king eventually forgave the couple, but demanded restitution. The couple was forced to reimburse Mary's dowry, which amounted to ￡200,000, per Carroll's book, as well as the jewels Louis XII had given her. Upon returning to England, They married again at Greenwich Palace in May, with Henry and Catherine in attendance.
Their granddaughter eventually became Queen of England...for nine days.
Mary and Brandon had four children, two boys and two girls—Philippa Gregory, whose novels inspired The Spanish Princess, wrote about their home life. The eldest, Frances, would marry Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset. Their daughter, Jane, would become Lady Jane Grey, the nine-day queen.
At the age of 15, Lady Jane Grey was crowned Queen of England, even though she was fifth in line. Her cousin, King Edward VI, wanted to keep a Protestant on the throne after he died, Historic UK wrote.
After nine days, Mary Tudor—Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon's daughter, who was technically next in line to the throne— replaced her as Queen. Queen Mary eventually ordered Jane's beheading.
Charles Brandon eventually did marry a child, like The Spanish Princess suggests.
One of the most discomfiting images of The Spanish Princess is Brandon standing next to his betrothed, Elizabeth Grey, Viscountess Lisle—who is eight years old. Indeed, Brandon was engaged to the orphaned Elizabeth Grey, and he was made Viscount Lisle in anticipation of the wedding. When he married Mary, Brandon's agreement with Elizabeth was annulled.
Brandon never married Elizabeth, but he did marry another minor. Soon after Mary's death, Brandon decided to wed his 11-year-old son's fiancée, 14-year-old Catherine Willoughby, Tudor Society reports. Apparently, 49-year-old Brandon was struggling financially and needed access to Catherine's considerable wealth. Eventually, they had two sons together.
The Spanish Princess skips over Brandon's earlier romantic entanglements, which happened years before marrying Mary. Brandon had been married twice before his secret wedding to Mary, as The Boleyn Files reports.
It's a wild story, if you can keep up. Brandon was engaged to a woman named Anne Browne, and had a daughter with her before a wedding took place. Instead of marrying Anne, though, Brandon married her widowed aunt, Margaret Neville Mortimer, who was double his age—and much wealthier. That marriage was annulled due to Brandon's prior marriage contract with Anne. Anne and Brandon were married in an official ceremony in 1508, and had another daughter. She died about three years later in 1511.
If only The Spanish Princess could cover everything!
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