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My name is Mary Tudor. I am the younger sister of Henry VIII of England and queen consort of France due to my marriage to Louis XII.
I was born March 18, 1496. I am the the fifth child of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the youngest to survive infancy.
My brother Henry VIII was quite close to me when we were children. He named his daughter, the future Queen Mary, after me and the warship Mary Rose was also named in my honour. I was known in my youth as one of the most beautiful princesses of Europe.
I was betrothed to Charles of Burgundy, later Holy Roman Emperor. However, this wedding did not take place, and on October 9, 1514, at the age of 18, I married the 52-year-old Louis XII of France at Abbeville.
Despite two previous marriages, the king had no living sons and sought to produce an heir; but Louis died on January 1, 1515, less than three months after we married, reputedly worn out by his exertions in the bed chamber.
Our union produced no children. Despite the short duration of the marriage, my English contemporaries frequently referred to me as 'the French Queen'.
As Queen of France, I had among my ladies in waiting, Anne Boleyn, who was to become the second wife of Henry VIII.
I had been very unhappy with my marriage to Louis, as at this time I was deeply in love with Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. In late January 1515, Henry sent Suffolk to France to bring me back to England. It was on this trip that we married in secret on March 3, 1515; technically this was treason as Suffolk had married a royal princess without Henry's consent.
The king was outraged, and the Privy Council urged that Brandon should be imprisoned or executed. However, due to the intervention of Cardinal Wolsey and Henry's affection for both his beloved sister and Suffolk, we were let off with a heavy fine. They were officially married on May 13, 1515 at Greenwich Palace.
Our three children:
Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln (March 11, 1516 – March 8, 1534)
Lady Frances Brandon (July 16, 1517 – November 20, 1559), who married Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, and was the mother of Lady Jane Grey, to be queen for nine days in 1553.
Lady Eleanor Brandon (1519 – September 27, 1547), who married Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland.
I was always referred to as the Queen of France (commonly "The French Queen") and never as the Duchess of Suffolk. This was probably to remind me that I had married below my rank.
