The World’s Oldest Obsession

Sometimes I dream of being a writer for Showtime’s original series, The Tudors. No because I want to be close to Jonathan Rhys Myers but because I want to fill America in on all of the historical drama that they have left out. They left out the amazing story of Katherine of Valois and they completely butchered the story of the beautiful Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII. For those who haven’t watched The Tudors, the writers decided to combine Henry’s two sisters (Mary and Margaret) into one woman (weird), named Margaret Tudor, who in the series marries the King of Portugal and then later kills him. Not only is this false, but it is really boring. The truth is that these two women and their marriages changed history forever.  For this post, I will only write about Princess Mary Tudor.

Princess Mary Tudor was the youngest surviving daughter of Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth of York. She was on March 18, 1496, and was considered to be one of the most beautiful women in England. She was very similar to her big brother, Henry, and was vivacious, curious and very energetic. She loved clothes, food, dancing and partying. Since her father died when she was five she was basically unchaperoned and did anything that she wanted. Henry used her as a royal pawn (like most Kings and Queens did) and he betrothed her to King Louis XII of France, who was 34 years older than her. Described as “feeble and pock-marked”, he was unattractive, overweight and already buried two wives. Mary refused to wed the French king, weeping and screaming for days. Since Henry adored his little sister, he struck a deal with her: she would do her princess duty and marry the French King. But, if she were to outlive Louis - which was very likely - she wanted her next husband to be one of her own choosing. Henry agreed, quite possibly with the intention of never honoring his promise.

In the meantime, Mary had already fallen in love with the King’s best friend, Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk. Charles Brandon was gorgeous, athletic, very popular and in love with Mary too. Even though Brandon was a Duke, marriage to him would still have been considered marrying beneath her. Even though she loved him, a union between the two would have been unthinkable. 

So she went to France and was married to the King in the fall of 1514. Three months later, Louis XII died! And guess who King Henry VIII sent to bring Mary back from France? Charles Brandon. Well they didn’t return back to England so quickly because THEY GOT MARRIED IN SECRECY!

Rumors started to spread and Charles had no choice but to write a letter and let King Henry VIII know. Henry flipped out. He was angry because they did this in secrecy and because she lost her dowry. This was considered treason and many members of the royal family wanted Charles to be executed. However, Mary was his favorite sister (he named the famous ship Mary Rose after her, as well as his only legitimate child at the time, the princess Mary) and Charles was an old friend, and the couple was soon forgiven but not without a price. Henry demanded that Charles and Mary repay the treasury the money that was spent for her dowry to France, which amounted to 24,000 pounds, a huge sum at the time but she also had to return all the plate and jewels and all the gifts that Louis XII had given her. After that, all was forgiven and they were married in a quiet, private ceremony.

Their love didn’t last very long though. Mary died very young, when she was in her 30s, and Charles wasted no time in re-marrying. He quickly married Catherine Willoughby, an heiress, who was 14 at the time of their marriage, Suffolk was almost 50.