lizabeth was the only child of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth was born at Greenwich Palace on the 7th of September 1533. Henry had wanted the child to be a boy to become heir to the English throne but was disappointed that Anne had given birth to a girl. The festivities planned to celebrate the birth were cancelled. Elizabeth had an elder half-sister called Mary who was the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, Henry's first wife. Mary had been declared illegitimate when the marriage between Henry and Catherine was annulled. There was a question of whether Elizabeth was illegitimate because of the timing of her birth and the marriage of Henry and Anne at the end of January, but also because the marriage between Henry and Catherine of Aragon had not been annulled until May. Elizabeth was less than 3 years old when Anne, her mother, was executed after being found guilty of treason and adultery.Childhood
Even before her mother's death Elizabeth had been brought up separately from the Royal household. She was nursed at Hatfield Palace (now part of Hatfield House) just to the north of London by Lady Margaret Bryan. After her mother's death Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and lost her title of Princess, becoming simple Lady Elizabeth. The money granted to her for her household expenses was reduced. When Lady Margaret moved to take care of Henry's son Edward at the end of 1537 Elizabeth was given a new governess, Catherine Ashley, who Elizabeth called Kat. Elizabeth was very well educated, learning many languages including Latin, French, Italian and Greek. She was taught music and excelled at it like her father. Elizabeth had several tutors mainly from St. John's College Cambridge. Amongst them was William Grindall, who taught the princess Greek. Grindall died from the plague in January of 1548. He was followed by Roger Ascham.
As a family again
In 1537 Jane Seymour gave birth to a son. Although the birth was difficult and the complications led to Jane's death, Edward her son survived. The king now had a male heir to inherit the English throne. After the death of Jane Henry married Anne of Cleves and then Catherine Howard. These two marriages failed and Henry's final marriage in 1543 was to Catherine Parr, his sixth wife. Catherine understood what Henry's children meant to him and so she brought them all to court to live together.
The death of Henry VIII
Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII King of England, died in January 1547. Even though Prince Edward was the youngest of Henry's three children he was the only male and so became the next king of England. Prince Edward was only nine years old at the time of his father's death and was too young to rule. Henry had made plans that a council of advisors should run the country after his death in the event that Prince Edward was too young, but these plans were ignored by Edward Seymour, the brother of Jane Seymour and the uncle of Prince Edward. As effective ruler of the country Seymour took the title Protector Somerset.
Thomas Seymour
Edward Seymour had a younger brother called Thomas Seymour. He was young and handsome and was given the title Lord High Admiral, a position without much power. Jealous of his brother Edward's position Thomas plotted against him. His plan was to gain power by marrying either Mary or Elizabeth. But these plans were blocked by Edward so he turned to Catherine Parr, the Queen Dowager. Catherine was happy with the interest that Thomas began to show her as the pair had been close before Catherine's marriage to Henry VIII. In April 1547 Catherine and Thomas were married and Thomas became a member of the household where Elizabeth lived.
