Mary Tudor, Queen of France

Mary Tudor was a princess who became a queen, then a scandal, then a grandmother to a girl who would briefly wear England's crown. This 1911 biography traces the arc of Henry VII's youngest surviving daughter: her childhood obscured by the fog of Tudor history, her spectacular marriage to the aging King Louis XII of France, and the audacious secret wedding that followed to Charles Brandon, the man she truly loved. The marriage happened in France, without her brother Henry VIII's permission, and the king was furious until Thomas Wolsey brokered peace and a massive fine bought forgiveness. Mary Croom Brown writes with early twentieth-century elegance about a woman navigating the impossible mathematics of royal duty versus the heart's stubborn rebellions. The book concludes with Mary's legacy through her daughter Frances, whose daughter would become Lady Jane Grey, the nine-day queen. This is Tudor history at its most human: a story of power, passion, and the terrible weight of being a princess.