The year began with the 460th anniversary of Lady Jane’s execution and ended with the Streatham portrait back on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
(c) NPG 6804; Lady Jane Dudley (nee Grey) by Unknown artist
I visited the Tower of London on 12th February and left some flowers for Jane at the Chapel St Peter ad Vincula, where she is buried. You can read about my visit at Remembering Lady Jane.
Plaque commemorating Jane, Guildford, Henry, Duke of Suffolk and others in St Peter ad Vincula.
(c) Lara Eakins
I also continued the series Events by Place- Tower of London.
May saw the publication of ‘Sisters of Treason’, the second in the Tudor trilogy by Elizabeth Fremantle. The novel tells the story of Katherine and Mary Grey’s lives after the execution of their sister, Jane. I attended the launch party and it was lovely to meet Elizabeth Fremantle and also Linda Porter and to see Leanda de Lisle again.
(c) Penguin
Michael Joseph (Penguin Random House) kindly donated five copies to be won in a Q&A with Elizabeth Freemantle, who answered the questions submitted. Elizabeth also answered my questions in an interview .
(c) Paola Pieroni
A new series of articles ‘Another look at’ began with the anniversary of Jane’s wedding to Guildford Dudley on 25th May. I investigated whether the two letters discovered by Dr Stephan Edwards in 2013, add anything to our knowledge in Another look at…the wedding of Lady Jane.
Dr Stephan Edwards published his latest findings about the Streatham portrait and at the end of the month, it was removed from display at Montacute House in Somerset, in preparation for a new National Portrait Gallery exhibition.
(c) Harper Collins
The paperback of the bestselling, ‘Tudor: The Family Story’ by Leanda de Lisle was published in June. Leanda wrote a guest article Hunting Jane/Jane Doe and Chatto & Windus donated five copies to be won in a competition. This month also saw a competition to win a copy of ‘George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat’ by Clare Cherry and Claire Ridgway.
July marked the anniversary of the beginning and end of Jane’s reign. The series ‘Another look at’ continued with ‘Another look at…10th July 1553’ and ‘Another look at…19th July.’
‘The Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered’ exhibition opened at the National Portrait Gallery on 12th September. The exhibition runs until 1st March 2015 and features the Lady Jane ‘Streatham’ portrait as well as objects relating to each of the Tudor monarchs. An excellent opportunity to see the rarely displayed locket ring belonging to Elizabeth I, The Queen Mary Book of Prayers, a page from Edward VI’s diary, Henry VIII’s rosary and a Book of Hours that belonged to Henry VII. You can read more about the exhibition at ‘My visit to The Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered.’
I also finally posted about my visits to places connected to Katherine Grey (Salisbury Cathedral ) and Mary Tudor (St Mary’s Church – Bury St Edmunds ).
The final article in the ‘Another look at…’ series was a guest post at ‘On The Tudor Trail’ in October. ‘Another look at…Jane’s appearance’ investigated at if the two letters discovered by Dr Stephan Edwards add to our limited knowledge of what Jane looked like. With the ‘Streatham’ portrait back on display at the National Portrait Gallery, I had ‘A look at how the Streatham portrait has been displayed over the years.’
In November, the series ‘Distinguished Lives’ discussed the ‘Reign of Jane’ with Leanda de Lisle. The main points of the discussion can be read here and you can also listen to the podcast.
Books published in 2014 that featured Jane included: ‘Queen’s Gambit’ (paperback) by Elizabeth Fremantle, ‘Sisters of Treason’ by Elizabeth Fremantle, ‘Tudor: The Family Story (paperback) by Leanda de Lisle, ‘The Children of Henry VIII’ (paperback) by John Guy, ‘The Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered’ by Tarnya Cooper and Charlotte Bolland, ‘An Illustrated Introduction to the Tudors’ (Paperback) by Gareth Russell and ‘Edward VI: The Last Boy King’ by Stephen Alford.
