Is this the only known portrait of England’s doomed ‘Nine Days Queen’?
Lady Jane Grey, a teenage pawn in the power struggles that plagued the Tudor court, ruled England for just nine days and was later executed for treason. Now, researchers believe they may have identified the only known portrait of the so-called "Nine Days Queen" painted before her death.
Following the death of Edward VI in 1553, unscrupulous politicians propelled the staunchly Protestant young girl to the throne in a bid to prevent her Roman Catholic relative, Mary Tudor, from becoming Queen.
The mysterious portrait, kra28 cc on loan to conservation charity English Heritage from a private collection, shows a young woman clad modestly in a white cap and shawl.
According to English Heritage, it was acquired by Anthony Grey, 11th Earl of Kent, in 1701, as an image of Lady Jane Grey.
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