By the end of her reign, Mary I’s relationship with her half-sister and successor, Elizabeth, was at an all-time low. But had the Tudor siblings always been such bitter enemies? Nicola Tallis reveals how the duo’s bond was both broken and strengthened by events beyond their control
On 17 November 1558, Mary I died and was succeeded by her half-sister, Elizabeth. Upon receiving the news, Elizabeth declared that “the law of nature moveth me to sorrow for my sister”, for whom she professed to have wept tears of sorrow. Yet, despite her claim, there were few people who believed her to be sincere. Throughout the course of Mary’s reign, the relationship between the two sisters – who had once been close – had broken down beyond repair.
Elizabeth and Mary’s bond had faced significant challenges from the start, through no fault of either party. Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn, had caused Mary great unhappiness, for her father Henry VIII’s intense passion for Anne had been the catalyst for his separation from Catherine of Aragon, Mary’s mother. By the time of Elizabeth’s birth on 7 September 1533, the teenage Mary had been rendered illegitimate by her father, their relationship lay in tatters, and her loathing for Anne Boleyn had peaked.
Though Elizabeth’s gender may have come as a disappointment to her parents, Henry still acknowledged her to be his legitimate heir, with pertinent consequences for Mary. The same day that Elizabeth was born, orders were given that Mary “the true princess should not be so called”, for instead, Elizabeth alone bore the title of ‘princess’. At three months old Elizabeth was sent to Hatfield, Hertfordshire, where her nursery was to be established, and she was soon joined by an unwilling Mary. Though Mary agreed that she might refer to Elizabeth as her sister, she utterly refused to have anything to do with the infant. Her insolence ensured that she remained estranged from her father, and was treated harshly by both Anne Boleyn and her relatives who oversaw life at Hatfield.
Finding common ground
For the first two and a half years of her life, Elizabeth took precedence over her sister – but Mary nevertheless took any opportunity she could to supersede her. Once, when the pair were travelling, Mary deliber
