The Forgotten Son of Henry VIII: The Marriage of Henry Fitzroy to Mary Howard

When Henry was young, he was cared for by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Wolsey was a close friend of Henry VIII and a trusted member of the council. However, when Henry VIII was courting Anne Boleyn, Wolsey failed to deliver on the divorce from Catherine of Aragon. He soon found himself losing favour and he lost the right to care for this young duke.

In 1529, Thomas Howard gained the wardship of the rising young man. Henry was just 10 years old and already the Duke of Richmond and Somerset. Around this time, there were talks about who he should marry. Allegedly, Anne Boleyn or Henry VIII suggested Thomas Howard’s daughter. Anne Boleyn could have been a possible suspect due to Thomas Howard being her uncle. There was one problem. She was a very jealous woman and probably wouldn’t have wanted an illegitimate son to gain power over any child she could provide. Of course, this was before Anne and Henry married and before her failure to provide him an heir.

Mary Howard was Thomas Howard’s second daughter and cousin to both Anne Boleyn and Kathryn Howard. Her father had money and power, making her one of the most eligible women in the whole of England. Very little is recorded of Mary, except that she married Henry FitzRoy on November 25, 1533.

They two were ordered not to consummate the marriage, meaning that there would be no children by the time of her husband’s death three years later. Henry VIII blamed his own brother’s death on too much sexual activity and did not want to lose the only son he had at the time. When Henry did die, Henry VIII was distraught and Mary soon found herself in a marriage that wasn’t valid as it wasn’t consummated. She couldn’t keep the majority of the lands that she would have done otherwise.

After her husband’s death and Queen Kathryn Howard’s fall from grace, Mary was temporarily arrested and held in the Tower. There were two attempts to have her married off to Thomas Seymour; once before and once after her arrest. While Henry VIII finally agreed, Henry Howard, Mary’s brother, was against it. So was Mary and the marriage didn’t happen. Henry Howard had a cunning idea that Mary become her father-in-law’s mistress. She was disgusted at the idea and it later led to her testimony against her brother, and he was executed.

She soon retired from court and there is little about her after Henry VIII’s death. Her death is recorded sometime in 1557.

Henry FitzRoy and Mary Howard were simply forced into a world where neither had much control over their lives. Henry VIII had banned them from consummating their marriage, possibly believing that it would keep his son safe from illness. However, it left Mary in a difficult position after Henry FitzRoy died, probably of consumption, on July 23, 1536.