Writings on the Tower Walls

There are two legends about writings on the walls of the Tower of London by Lady Jane and Guildford Dudley.

Four latin verses, inscribed on the wall with a pin and which have since disappeared, have been attributed to Jane.

These sentences can be found in the following:

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

Three Maids for a Crown by Ella March Chase

Lady Jane Grey: Nine Day Queen by Faith Cook

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

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

Lady Jane Grey and Her Times by George Howard

Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery by Eric Ives

Literary Remains of Lady Jane Grey: With a Memoir of her Life by Nicholas Harris Nicolas

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

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

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir

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

Lady Jane: From the screenplay by David Edgar by A C H Smith. States that the one inscription quoted, was written in her prayerbook.

There are two ‘Jane’ carvings in a room in the Beauchamp Tower at the Tower of London. Tradition attributes them to Guildford Dudley, but to whom it refers, either his wife or his mother is unknown.

Several writers suggest that it could have also been the work of the Duke of Northumberland, referring to his wife. Another theory, put forward by Nicholas H Nicolas and George Howard, is that it is the work of Jane herself.

A copy 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 Jane Grey: Nine Day Queenby Faith Cook

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

Tower of London by Christopher Hibbert

Lady Jane Grey and Her Times by George Howard

Prisoners in the Tower edited by John McLlwain

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

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

Details can be found in the following:

Tudor Cousins: Rivals for the Throne by Dulcie M Ashdown

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

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

Arbella: England’s Lost Queen by Sarah Gristwood