Following the death of her first husband, King Louis XII of France, in January 1515, Mary Tudor, the younger sister of King Henry VIII, quickly took control of her own destiny to avoid being used as a political pawn again. Driven by a long-standing affection, she secretly married Charles Brandon, the 1st Duke of Suffolk, in Paris on March 3, 1515, just two months after becoming a widow. This secret union was a bold act of defiance that enraged her brother, as Brandon was a subject rather than a royal, and the marriage lacked the required royal approval. Despite facing potential accusations of treason and a massive fine, the popular couple was officially married again in a public ceremony at Greenwich Palace on May 13, 1515, with King Henry VIII’s reluctantly given blessing.
Mary and Brandon, known as the “French Queen” throughout her life, spent most of their time at Westhorpe Hall in Suffolk, raising their four children—Lord Henry, Lady Frances, Lady Eleanor, and another Henry. Although she enjoyed a period of relative happiness, her later years were marked by failing health, suspected to be cancer, and worsening relations with her brother over his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Mary Tudor died at the young age of 37 on June 25, 1533, at Westhorpe Hall, with her children by her side, but her husband absent on royal duty. She was first buried at Bury St Edmunds Abbey in Suffolk with high ceremonial honors, though her remains were later moved to St. Mary’s Church during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
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