Today in 1553 Mary Tudor was crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey. At the start of her reign, Mary was very popular – she had the support of the people after having defeated the rebellion to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne over the summer. There was also a lot of sympathy for what she had gone through with her mother, and there was a lot of goodwill towards her.
Her coronation procession had been the day before, September 30. It featured two people very prominently. Mary’s half-sister Elizabeth, and her former stepmother Anne of Cleves. Elizabeth may have been there just because she was family, and later there would be a lot of tension between Elizabeth and Mary. Anne of Cleves was likely there in part because she had also been divorced, just like Mary’s mother. Anne and Elizabeth both rode in Mary’s carriage during her procession through London.
On October 1 she went by boat along the Thames to old Whitehall Palace and then to Westminster Abbey where Stephen Gardiner crowned her. The ceremony lasted until about 4pm when she began her coronation banquet. England had its first queen Regnant.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Tudor Summit: Melita Thomas on Mary Tudor
Episode 23 Mary Tudor (Mary I)
From the shop:
Talk Tudor To Me Hooded Sweatshirt
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop. She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.