Letters to Father


Lady Jane wrote two farewell messages to her father, the Duke of Suffolk.

Leanda de Lisle and Eric Ives question the authenticity of the letter. The shorter farewell message, was written in her prayerbook.


A full copy of her letter can be found in the following:

Child-Life and Girlhood of Remarkable Women by W H D Adams

Life of Lady Jane Grey and of Guildford Dudley her husband by Edward Baldwin

Notices of the Historic Persons Buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London: with an account of the discovery of the supposed remains of Queen Anne Boleyn by Doyne C Bell

Lady Katherine Grey: A Dynastic Tragedy by Conor Byrne

The Nine Days’ Queen: Lady Jane Grey and Her Times by Richard Davey

Acts and Monuments Volume VI by J Fox

The Nine Days Queen: A Portrait of Lady Jane Grey by Mary Luke

Literary Remains of Lady Jane Grey: With a Memoir of Her Life by Nicholas H Nicolas

England’s Queens: The Biography by Elizabeth Norton

Lady Jane: From the screenplay by David Edgar by A C H Smith

Lives of the Tudor Princesses by Agnes Strickland

Documents of Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen of England 1553 by James D Taylor Jr

State Trials, 1 Mary, 1553 and others for High Treason


Extracts can be found in the following:

Notices of the Historic Persons Buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London: with an account of the discovery of the supposed remains of Queen Anne Boleyn by Doyne C Bell

Lady Katherine Grey: A Dynastic Tragedy by Conor Byrne

Lady Jane Grey by Hester W Chapman

Lady Jane Grey: Nine Day Queen of England by Faith Cook

Women Letter-Writers in Tudor England by James Daybell

Tales from the Tower of London by Daniel Diehl and Mark P Donnelly

Jane Grey Reine De 9 Jours (1537-1554) by Marguerite Fronville

Silent But For The Word: Tudor Women as Patrons, Translators, and Writers of Religious Works edited by Margaret Patterson Hannay

Lady Jane Grey and Her Times by George Howard

Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery by Eric Ives

The Lost Kings: Lancaster, York & Tudor by Amy Licence

The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: The Tragedy of Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey by Leanda de Lisle

Uncrowned: Royal Heirs Who Didn’t Take The Throne by Ashley Mantle

A History of the Tudors in 100 Objects by John Matusiak

She Wolves: The Notorious Queens of England by Elizabeth Norton

Lady Jane Grey and the House of Suffolk by Alison Plowden

Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen by Alison Plowden

The House of Tudor by Alison Plowden

Mary Tudor: The First Queen by Linda Porter

Great Ladies: The Forgotten Witnesses to the Lives of Tudor Queens by Sylvia Soberton

Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey by Nicola Tallis

Sovereign Ladies: The Six Reigning Queens of England by Maureen Waller

Children of England: The Heirs of King Henry VIII by Alison Weir

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir


Copies of the message written in the prayer book, can be found in the following:

Child-Life and Girlhood of Remarkable Women by W H D Adams

Lady Jane Grey by Hester W Chapman

Lady Jane Grey: Nine Day Queen of England by Faith Cook

The Nine Days’ Queen: Lady Jane Grey and Her Times by Richard Davey

The Lady Jane Grey’s Prayer Book by Stephan Edwards

Jane Grey Reine De 9 Jours (1537-1554) by Marguerite Fronville

John Dudley: The Life of Lady Jane Grey’s Father-In-Law by Christine Hartweg

Lady Jane Grey and Her Times by George Howard

Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery by Eric Ives

Tower: An Epic History of the Tower of London by Nigel Jones. Extract only.

The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: The Tragedy of Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey by Leanda de Lisle. Extract only.

Tudor: The Family Story by Leanda de Lisle. Extract only.

The Nine Days Queen: A Portrait Gallery of Lady Jane Grey by Mary Luke

Uncrowned: Royal Heirs Who Didn’t Take The Throne by Ashley Mantle. Extract only.

Katherine Parr: Complete Works and Correspondence edited by Janel Mueller

Literary Remains of Lady Jane Grey: With a Memoir of Her Life by Nicholas H Nicolas

The Lives of Tudor Women by Elizabeth Norton. Extract only.

Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen by Alison Plowden

Princely Education in Early Modern Britain by Aysha Pollnitz

Lives of the Tudor Princesses by Agnes Strickland

Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey by Nicola Tallis

Documents of Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen of England 1553 by James D Taylor Jr

The House of Grey: Friends & Foes of Kings by Melita Thomas

Children of England: The Heirs of King Henry VIII by Alison Weir

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir. Extract only.