King Henry 9th?

England didn't have a King Henry the 9^th, as everyone knows, but it very nearly happened, as Henry the 8^th was trying desperately to have his illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy recognised as his heir. Henry named him Fitzroy, or Son of the King. If Henry Fitzroy had not died at the age of seventeen from consumption, who knows where his life would have led him. He was the image of his father, a big man with shocking red hair, bluff and hearty, and the King loved him because of this. King Henry was convinced that it was his duty to produce a male heir to keep secure the throne and to continue the Tudor Dynasty, as he firmly believed that the English people would never accept a female monarch. How wrong he was, as his daughter Elizabeth was to reign with the greatest respect and love of the people for many years, even fighting the great war with Spain and scattering the Spanish Armada to the four winds.

Henry Fitzroy's mother was Elizabeth Blount, a Lady-in-waiting to Henry's wife, Catherine of Aragon. She came to the palace in 1514 when she was in her teens, as a maid-of- honour to the Queen and Henry quickly took notice of her. She became his mistress and bore him a son in 1519.

Henry Fitzroy was well loved and his father spent time with him and saw to it that he was educated in a manner befitting a Royal Prince. Fitzroy was the only one of Henry 8th's illegitimate children that he publicly acknowledged, even though Henry had been married to Catherine of Aragon for ten years and with whom he had a 3-year-old daughter.
Born healthy, Fitzroy gave his father hope of a legitimate son with Catherine. This was the proof he needed that he could produce male heirs. The King doted on his son. His treatment of Fitzroy alarmed Catherine of Aragon so much that she reminded Henry that his legitimate daughter Mary was his heir. This outraged Henry and he rebuked her soundly.

Elizabeth's relationship with Henry lasted for eight years, unlike his other affairs, which were generally short-lived and unacknowledged. After the child's birth, the affair ended for some unknown reason.

Soon after the birth of Henry Fitzroy, the King began an affair with Mary Boleyn, the sister of the king's future wife Anne Boleyn. Mary may have been the reason for Elizabeth Blount's falling out of favour.

Even though Henry's mother's affair with the king was over, she was well looked after and she married well. She and her husband received grants of money and land from the king. Fitzroy was known as Lord Henry Fitzroy until 18 June 1525, when his father created him Duke of Richmond and Somerset and Earl of Nottingham. He was also granted several other appointments, including Lord High Admiral of England, President of the Council of the North, and Warden of the Marches towards Scotland, which in effect made him the governor of the north of England. All this honour for a boy of six was remarkable. It showed the high esteem that the king held in his son.

Fitzroy married Lady Mary Howard, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk on 28 November 1533.

With these titles, Henry Fitzroy earned a huge annual sum of money, enough to make him the second richest Duke in England. He enjoyed a status below only King Henry and his legitimate children.

Things were going extremely well for young Fitzroy, he had power, lands, a beautiful wife and the love of his father. However in 1536 he became sick, and to the King's horror, he wasted away and died. The King was beside himself with grief. All his hopes and plans of having his son follow him to the throne were dashed. At the time of his death an act of parliament was about to be passed that permitted the King to designate his successor, whether legitimate or not. It had long been the King's ambition to have his son crowned as his heir and he had worked hard towards that goal. Henry would not have it that a woman could rule the country. His subsequent marriages were all to one end. He would have a male heir.

Elizabeth was now a widow with three children to bring up, as her husband, Gilbert Tailboys had died before her son. Gilbert and Elizabeth had produced two sons and a daughter, George, Robert and Elizabeth. The widow then fell in love with a younger man, Edward Fiennes, the Earl of Lincoln. They were blessed with three daughters. Elizabeth went back to the palace to become Lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves, King Henry's fourth wife, but she started to ail and fell ill. Returning home to her husbands estate, she died.

King Henry went to his grave in 1547 secure in the knowledge that his son, Edward, presented to him by his third wife, Jane Seymour would reign in his place. Sadly, Edward 6^th died in 1553, aged 16, ending the male line to the throne.