On July 19, 1553, Mary I officially became Queen of England. This was after the Nine Day Queen, Lady Jane Grey, had been deposed and was with the help of Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth.

Explore lisby1's 20211 photos on Flickr!

From dashing tunics to plunging dresses, this collection of stunning new portraits from the 16th and 17th-century shows Britain's royals were a rather stylish bunch.

The impressive coin collection will go under the hammer at the London-based auction house of Spink & Son on September 28 this year.

Portrait of Gertrude Sadleir, Lady Aston of Forfar Unknown artist, English School Early Seventeenth Century

Sophia of Hanover (properly Electress of Brunswick-Lüneburg; born Sophia, Countess Palatine of Simmern; 14 October 1630 – 8 June 1714) was the youngest daughter of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, of the House of Wittelsbach, the "Winter King" of Bohemia, and Elizabeth Stuart. She is frequently referred to as the Duchess Sophia, particularly when the text also is discussing her niece and future daughter-in-law, who is referred to as Princess Sophia. Through the Act of Settlement 1701, an Act of the Westminster Parliament which changed the normal laws of inheritance to the English and Irish thrones, Sophia was declared the heiress presumptive to her first cousin once removed, Queen Anne of England and Ireland (later Queen of Great Britain and Ireland). Sophia was never declared heiress presumptive to Scotland. She would have acceded to Anne's crown, had she not died a few weeks before Anne did. Upon Sophia's death, her son George Louis, Elector of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, became heir presumptive. Upon Queen Anne's death, he became King George I. As the mother of George I therefore, Sophia is the legislative linchpin ancestor of the House of Hanover line of succession to the British throne and their modern descendants of the House of Windsor. Her grandfather was James I & VI of England and Scotland and her uncle was Charles I of England and Scotland. As Electress, Sophia was the consort to Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover until his death in 1698. Sophia was born in exile in The Hague (the exile was because her father had been defeated at the Battle of White Mountain) and she was the youngest of the five daughters of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Elizabeth Stuart. She was brought up in Leiden until moving back to her mother's court at The Hague in 1641. Her mother later suggested she marry their neighbour, the exiled Charles II, but Sophia was not interested in marrying her first cousin, and went to live with her brother, Charles I Louis (the new Elector Palatine, who had recently been restored to his lands) in Herrenhausen in 1650.[2] In 1657 Sophia's niece Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate came to live with Sophia. Sophia was Elizabeth Charlotte's youngest aunt; the young Elizabeth Charlotte married the only brother of Louis XIV of France in 1671; Elizabeth Charlotte, later known as Madame at court, would write long letters to her aunt describing the court of Louis XIV. Before her marriage, Sophia, as the daughter of Frederick V, Elector Palatine of the Rhine, was referred to as Sophie, Princess Palatine of the Rhine, or as Sophia of the Palatinate. On 30 September 1658, Sophia married Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, at Heidelberg, who in 1692 became the first Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Electors were princes who had the right to vote to elect the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Ernst August was a second cousin of Sophia's mother Elizabeth Stuart, as they were both great grandchildren of Christian III of Denmark. Sophia became a friend and admirer of Gottfried Leibniz while he was a courtier to the House of Brunswick, from 1676 until his death in 1716, and a librarian at Hanover. This friendship resulted in a substantial correspondence, first published in the nineteenth century (Klopp 1973), that reveals Sophia to have been a woman of exceptional intellectual ability and curiosity. She was well read in the works of Rene Descartes and Baruch Spinoza. She encouraged her husband, brother and sons to read Spinoza and popularized his works at court.4 Sophia commissioned significant work on the Herrenhausen Gardens surrounding the palace at Herrenhausen, where she died. The English crown, in the default of legitimate issue from Mary II, William III and Anne, was settled upon "the most excellent princess Sophia, electress and duchess-dowager of Hanover" and "the heirs of her body, being Protestant". The key excerpt from the Settlement, naming Sophia as heiress presumptive reads: Therefore for a further Provision of the Succession of the Crown in the Protestant Line We Your Majesties most dutifull and Loyall Subjects the Lords Spirituall and Temporall and Commons in this present Parliament assembled do beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted and declared and be it enacted and declared by the Kings most Excellent Majesty by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spirituall and Temporall and Comons in this present Parliament assembled and by the Authority of the same That the most Excellent Princess Sophia Electress and Dutchess Dowager of Hannover Daughter of the most Excellent Princess Elizabeth late Queen of Bohemia Daughter of our late Sovereign Lord King James the First of happy Memory be and is hereby declared to be the next in Succession in the Protestant Line to the Imperiall Crown and Dignity of the forsaid Realms of England France and Ireland with the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging after His Majesty and the Princess Anne of Denmark and in Default of Issue of the said Princess Anne and of His Majesty respectively. Sophia plays an important role in British history and royal lineage. As a daughter of Elizabeth Stuart and granddaughter of James I of England, VI of Scotland, she was the closest Protestant relative to William III (king of England and Scotland by marriage and by being the son of Princess Mary, daughter of Charles I), after his childless sister-in-law, Princess Anne, the heiress presumptive. In 1701, the Act of Settlement made her Anne's heiress presumptive for the purpose of cutting off any claim by the Catholic James Francis Edward Stuart, who would otherwise have become James III, as well as denying the throne to many other Catholics and spouses of Catholics who held a claim. The act restricts the British throne to the "Protestant heirs" of Sophia of Hanover who have never been Catholic and who have never married a Catholic. When the law was passed in 1701, Sophia (age 71), five of her children (ages 35 to 41), and three legitimate grandchildren (ages 14 to 18) were alive. She never had another legitimate grandchild. A year and a half before George I ascended to the throne, his daughter and his nephew married. The result is that all the members of the Line of Succession to the British throne are either a descendant of George II of Great Britain, or of his sister Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. The descendants of Sophia Dorothea are also the Prussian line of kings. It wasn't until 1723 that someone in the line of succession was actually born in Britain. Mary Princess of Great Britain was the sixth child of George II. The daughters of George II, and his sister Sophia Dorothea, married into royalty in Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden so the line of succession began to include members of these countries from the mid 18th century. By the 1770's further descendants began to marry into the Russian royal family spreading the line to that country and eventually on to most of the countries in Europe. Currently, there are more than 5,000 legitimate descendants of Sophia, although not all are in the line of succession. The Sophia Naturalization Act 1705 granted the right of British nationality to Sophia's non-Catholic descendants (although this has been modified by subsequent laws). Although considerably older than Queen Anne, Sophia enjoyed much better health. In June 1714, Sophia was walking in the gardens of Herrenhausen when she ran to shelter from a sudden downpour of rain and collapsed and died, aged 83.[2] Just a few weeks later, Anne died at the age of forty-nine, so Sophia came near to inheriting the British throne; and if she had done so, she would have become the oldest person to be crowned British monarch. In fact, no British monarch has yet attained this age, though Elizabeth II will on February 7, 2010 if she is still Queen. Upon Sophia's death, her eldest son Elector Georg Ludwig of Hanover (1660–1727) became heir presumptive in her place, and weeks later, succeeded Queen Anne as George I. Sophia's daughter Sophia Charlotte of Hanover (1668-1705) married Frederick I of Prussia, from whom the later Prussian kings and German emperors descend. The connection between the German emperors and the British royal family, which was renewed by several marriages in future generations, would become an issue during World War I. Sophia had other sons, none of whom had children. Those who reached adulthood were: * Friedrich August of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Imperial General, (1661-1691) * Maximilian Wilhelm of Brunswick and Lunenburg, field marshal in the Imperial Army, (1666-1726) * Karl Philipp of Brunswick and Lunenburg, colonel in the Imperial Army, (1669-1690) * Christian of Brunswick and Lunenburg, (1671-1703) * Ernst August II of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Duke of York and Albany, became bishop of Osnabrück (1674-1728)

Rare Examples of Extant 17th Century Clothing For most of us, paintings are as close as we get to seeing what 17th century fashion was like. They’re a wonderful medium, but like fashion magaz…

Hans Eworth, 1563

Edward VI as Prince of Wales, c. 1546. Artist unknown (Flemish school?)

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Queen Elizabeth I - Tudor Queen Elizabeth Tudor is considered by many to be the greatest monarch in English history.

On the New Year's Day 1511, Queen Katherine gave birth to a son - he would be called Henry, Duke of Cornwall. His birth was greatly celebrated by his parents

A detail of the Coronation Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I. Image public domain through Creative Commons licensing, NPG, London. While state papers, edicts, petitions, and other official and legal documents tell us a great deal about historical events and policies, it is the diaries, personal letters, and speeches left behind that inform our understanding of a historical individual. Queen Elizabeth I of England, like the other Tudor monarchs before her, did not employ a speech writer (Perry 1990) and managed her own personal correspondence. But, unlike the other Tudors, she was a prolific writer of letters, and she left behind a body of work that, upon close examination, demystifies many of the puzzling aspects of the woman who became known as the semi-divine Gloriana, the Virgin Queen. The copious documents authored by the last Tudor can be gleaned for valuable information that can be applied to a wide variety of studies. In this examination, The Tide Letter, The Tilbury Speech, and The Golden Speech will be considered. There are several central themes present throughout the entirety of Elizabeth’s body of work, spanning from her childhood until her death. These recurring themes include her gratitude and love for the English people, her acknowledgment of being preserved through danger by God himself, and her divine right to rule. The belief held by 16th century monarchs was that, due to their unique nature, they existed somewhere between the realms of the mortal and the divine. As such, they were not subject to the laws of the land or of one another, but were expected to answer only to God. This theory was known as the Divine Right of Kings, and it was invoked by monarchs to explain to their subjects why they were to be obeyed without question. Elizabeth Tudor’s belief that she had been pre-destined to rule England by God was exceptionally strong; why else would she, the last in line to inherit the throne, have survived being legally bastardized by her own father, only to be legitimized before his death, then subsequently slandered, imprisoned, interrogated and nearly executed during the reigns of her brother and her sister? After effectively ruling for many years, Elizabeth’s conviction that she had been preserved by God to rule was amplified after her triumphant defeat of the invading Spanish Armada in 1588 (Perry 1990). The first of Henry VIII’s children to inherit the throne was Elizabeth’s half-brother, Edward VI. Still in his minority, Edward, a Protestant, reigned with the help of his equally Protestant council. However, Edward lived to be only 16, dying of what was probably tuberculosis. Henry VIII had clearly stated that, were his son to die without issue, his daughter Mary would succeed, and, in the event that she failed to produce an heir, would be followed by Elizabeth. However, Edward VI could not stomach the idea of his fervently Catholic older half-sister inheriting the throne, so he took action to strike his father’s wishes from the record. Edward’s ‘Devise for the Succession’, drafted as early as 1553, declared that his sisters Mary and Elizabeth were bastards, due to the fact that Henry VIII had divorced both of their mothers before their deaths. Therefore, they were unfit to inherit the throne of England. Edward selected Lady Jane Grey, a Protestant cousin of the Tudors, ‘and her heir(s) male’ as his successor. A posthumous portrait of Lady Jane Grey from the 1590s, after a now-lost original painted between 1550-55. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain. While Edward’s exclusion of his sister Mary makes sense, his writing Elizabeth out of the line to inherit is much more puzzling. William Cecil, Secretary of State under Edward VI and later Elizabeth I, would one day tell Antiquarian William Camden, author of The Annals of Queen Elizabeth, why Edward had excluded Elizabeth along with Mary. According to Camden’s account of what Cecil told him, when Edward shared the original draft of his ‘Devise’ with Elizabeth, revealing his plan to disinherit their sister Mary, Elizabeth expressed her disgust that Edward sought to upset the natural order of succession. She told Edward that the existence of their father’s will gave her ‘no claim or title to reign as long as her sister lived (Perry 1990). If this story that Camden recorded is true, it suggests that, though Elizabeth was certainly perceptive enough to know what would happen when the Catholic Mary inherited the throne of Protestant England, divine right and the original line of succession was more important than the threat of a Marian Counter-Reformation. However, Elizabeth could not have even begun to imagine that Mary would one day have her imprisoned, interrogated, and even contemplated having her disposed of through execution (Perry 1990). Edward VI's 'Devise for the Succession'. Image public domain. Mary’s right to rule was supported not only by Elizabeth but by the English people, who helped Mary restore the natural order by usurping Lady Jane Grey and her husband, Guildford Dudley; both of whom were eventually executed. While Elizabeth had been bastardized and legitimized twice between 1533-1553, her real trials and tribulations were about to begin. Once crowned, Mary I became intensely suspicion of her Protestant half-sister, and her persecution of her was almost immediate. In an effort to rehabilitate their strained relationship, and in order to preserve her own standing at court, Elizabeth wrote letters in an effort to gain Mary’s trust and remain in good favor, even when they were apart. However, in 1554, things for Elizabeth took a disastrous turn. Sir Thomas Wyatt’s rebellion sought to depose Mary I, who had become increasingly unpopular since her announcement that she would marry the foreign Catholic Prince, Philip II of Spain. Once Mary was removed, Wyatt and his supporters aimed to place Elizabeth on the throne. As the unwilling figurehead of Wyatt’s plot, Elizabeth was considered guilty by association, though Wyatt denied that she had ever been directly involved in the planning or execution of the attempted coup. Mary had long been looking for a way to rid herself of her defiantly Protestant sister; Elizabeth was the focus of all the hopes and dreams of those who opposed her Catholic reign. Much later, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots would become the focus of the plots of the English Catholic minority during the reign of Elizabeth I. But, unlike Mary, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth was most likely innocent of the charges laid against her. Mary gave orders that she was to be arrested and brought to the Tower of London, but Elizabeth was determined to stall the journey as long as possible. She insisted on a meeting with her sister, believing that if she were able to speak to Mary, she would be able to convince her of her innocence (Perry 1990). Elizabeth requested materials in order to write to Mary before she was removed to the Tower. Princess Elizabeth pleading to Queen Mary. From a Woodcut in the British Library, via Tudorhistory.org. In her letter, hastily and passionately penned, Elizabeth implored Mary to remember her promise to her that she would not be ‘condemned without answer and due proof’. She pointed out that the Tower was a place for a ‘false traitor’, not a loyal subject. Elizabeth professed to Mary that God knew her truth, writing, ‘’And to this present hour I protest afore God (who shall Know my truth, whatsoever malice shall devise), that I never practiced, counselled, nor consented to anything that might be prejudicial to your person any way, or dangerous to the state by any means.’ (Tudor, 1554) The letter she penned is now known as The Tide Letter, because in the time that it took Elizabeth to write it, the tide of the Thames River had changed so that she could not be brought to the Tower until the following day. Fearful that the messengers entrusted to bring the letter to Mary would add an incriminating post-script, Elizabeth added diagonal lines across the back of the letter to prevent additions (Tudor, 1554). Princess Elizabeth in the Tower of London. From a woodcut in the British Library, via Tudorhistory.org. Once released after imprisonment and interrogation, Elizabeth’s position remained precarious and she was kept under house arrest and constant surveillance. Elizabeth bided her time, keeping a low profile and living beyond reproach. She was only truly safe once her sister was dead, joyful news that she received in seclusion at her childhood residence of Hatfield House on November 17, 1558. Upon learning that she was now Queen, Elizabeth invoked the Lord, reciting Psalm 118 in Latin, saying, ‘This is the doing of the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’. Elizabeth clearly stated that imprisonment in the Tower during the reign of her sister was the most traumatic experience of her life. She told Parliament ‘I stood in danger of my life, my sister was so incensed against me’ (Perry 1990). The fact that, unlike her mother and her other relations before her, she was actually released from the Tower unharmed was, in her opinion, no less than a miracle. Her experiences at the mercy of her sister further ingrained her with a belief that God was preserving her for a purpose. Elizabeth would thank God publicly on many occasions throughout her life for, as she said, ‘pulling me from the prison to the palace’. According to ancient tradition, Elizabeth stayed at the Tower on the eve of her coronation, and though it was a happy occasion, the location no doubt reminded her of how close she had come to death. During her coronation procession, she compared her escape from the Tower to that of the Biblical Daniel’s escape from the lion’s den, saying God had rescued her from the ‘mouths of the greedy and raging lions’. The lions were, of course, her sister and her sister’s council, who had sought to destroy her. This allusion was particularly effective, given the fact that there were actual lions kept on display in the Tower of London’s zoo (Perry 1990). A view of the apartments where Princess Elizabeth was kept while she was imprisoned in the Tower of London. As I learned upon my visit there several years ago, the apartments are only open to the public per request, due to the fact that they are now part of the head Beefeater's lodgings. Throughout her life, Elizabeth Tudor remembered everything and everyone, and forgot no betrayal, no matter how small. After she became Queen, she was pressured to name her own successor, something she never actually did, even on her deathbed. She referenced Edward VI’s ‘Devise’ to her bishops, saying of the lawyers and clerics who supported the document, ‘…after my brother’s death they openly preached and set forth that my sister and I were bastards.’ Elizabeth never forgot that she had been, as she believed, delivered by God through many perils and near-death experiences. On one occasion during her reign, she publicly remarked, ‘I know no creature that breatheth whose life standeth hourly in more peril for it than mine own; who entered not into my state without sight of manifold dangers of life and crown, as one that had the mightiest and the greatest to wrestle with.’ (Perry 1990) In the latter half of her reign, on the eve of the invasion of the Spanish Armada in 1588, Queen Elizabeth I took her friend the Earl of Leicester’s advice and made up her mind to visit her troops at Tilbury Fort. Elizabeth insisted on having no armed guards to surround her; she saw no need to fear the men who were committed to die in her service if necessary. Besides, she had survived far greater perils. Elizabeth spent two days conversing and dining with the soldiers. It was at the end of the visit that she delivered her iconic Tilbury Speech. The speech was written by Elizabeth, and recorded, printed, and distributed throughout the realm. In the speech, she cited the two forces that had never forsaken her: God, and the English people, proclaiming, ‘I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and goodwill of my subjects’ (Tudor, 1588). Elizabeth promised to, if necessary, lay down her life for her God, her people, and her kingdom in the ensuing conflict. Elizabeth was willing to give her life for her people if this was the purpose that God had preserved her for. Luckily for England, God had preserved her to crush the Spanish invaders. A painting of Queen Elizabeth I at Tilbury, via Luminarium.org. The men stationed at Tilbury never had to fight, as the Spanish were engaged and defeated entirely at sea. None of the English ships were damaged or lost, but most of the Armada was destroyed by a combination of cannon-fire and bad weather. This astounding, crushing defeat was so extraordinary that it was deemed by Elizabeth and by her people to be a victory owed to divine intervention. The winds that helped to scatter some of the Spanish ships became known as the “Protestant winds”, signifying that God, who the Elizabethans believed determined the weather, was on Elizabeth and England’s side. Elizabeth had the “Protestant winds” included on some of the commemorative medals given out to veterans of the war with Spain. One of the Armada Medals given by Queen Elizabeth I to the veterans of the war with Spain. The aforementioned "Protestant winds" are shown on the backside of the medal (right). Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain. Elizabeth I’s greatest speech is arguably The Golden Speech, delivered in 1601 to her final Parliament. Like The Tilbury Speech, the content was recorded and printed to be distributed throughout the kingdom. Once again, a sentimental Elizabeth expressed her belief that God had made her a queen over so thankful a people, and that she was ‘the mean under God to conserve [them] in safety, and preserve [them] from danger,’ and ‘ to be the instrument to deliver [them] from dishonor, from shame, and from infamy; to keep [them] from out of servitude, and from slavery under [their] Enemies; and cruel tyranny, and wild oppression intended against [them]’. The Tide Letter, The Tilbury Speech, and The Golden Speech are just three of many examples in Elizabeth Tudor’s own words that demonstrate her belief that God had preserved her because he intended for her to rule. The fact that Elizabeth chose to time and again recall in public how close she had come to death at the hands of her sister, and to reiterate that God had delivered her through great adversity to be Queen of England, shows us how important these beliefs were to her. This, along with her unquestionable love of her people, formed the very foundation of her celebrated reign, which has become known as The Golden Age. Sources Perry, Maria. The Word of a Prince: A Life of Elizabeth I. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1990. Tudor, Princess Elizabeth to Queen Mary I, 16 March 1554. In The Word of a Prince: A Life of Elizabeth I, Maria Perry. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1990. Tudor, Queen Elizabeth I. “The Tilbury Speech,” in The Word of a Prince: A Life of Elizabeth I, Maria Perry, 208-209. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1990. Tudor, Queen Elizabeth I. “The Golden Speech,” in The Word of a Prince: A Life of Elizabeth I, Maria Perry, 232-233. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1990.

Charles II By Marcellus Laroon 1684

A painting of Katherine of Aragon. Description: Queen Katharine walks tearfully as Henry speaks with Anne Boleyn in the distance."

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2012 Windsor Weddings Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Hanover Weddings Stuart Weddings Tudor Weddings WINDSOR WEDDINGS Weddings of the children of King Charles III …

Traditionally called Dorothy Cary, later Viscountess Rochford, but now thought to be Elizabeth Cary, née Tanfield, Viscountess Falkland, ...

Koningin van Engeland en Ierland van 1558 tot 1603. Dochter van Henry VIII en Anne Boleyn en de laatste vorst van de Tudor dynastie. Ik heb haar ontmoet in de films van Shekhar Kapur: Elizabeth (19…

In this, the first ‘special feature’ in The Vintage Magazine, we look at the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex, including all the activities which take place on the Estate, and the world famous events such as the Festival of Speed; the Goodwood Revival Meeting, and Glorious Goodwood, a celebration of the best in horseracing. We will also look at the everyday activities which carry on all the time at the Airfield, the Motor Racing circuit, Golf at Goodwood Club with two championship courses, The Goodwood Hotel, the Kennels Private Members Club, and at Goodwood House with its superb art collection. Goodwood, it would seem, is a great place to be! Goodwood is, without any doubt, one of the finest agricultural and sporting Estates in the UK, and has something to offer everyone, but let us look at the history of this wonderful place, so that we can … Continued

Déjà vu? It’s a well-known fact that fashions work in cycles. Sometimes the cycle is obvious, like the current resurgence of 1950s and 1960s fashion or the 1970s love of reinterpreting Renais…

Mary "Moll" Davis (ca. 1648 - 1708) was a seventeenth-century entertainer and courtesan, singer and actress who became one of the many mistresses of King Charles II of England. Davis was born around 1648 in Westminster and was said by Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist, to be "a bastard of Collonell Howard, my Lord Barkeshire" - probably meaning Thomas Howard, third Earl of Berkshire.[1] During the early 1660s she was an actress in the 'Duke's Theatre Company' and boarded with the company's manager, Sir William Davenant.[2] She became a popular singer, dancer and comedian, but the wife of Pepys called her "the most impertinent slut in the world". Davis met King Charles II in a theatre or coffee-house in about 1667. She flaunted the wealth she acquired from her association with Charles, and gained a reputation for vulgarity and greed. She showed off her "mighty pretty fine coach" (Pepys:[4]) and a ring worth £600, in those days a vast sum. [5] Davis gave up the stage in 1668 and in 1669 had a daughter by Charles, Lady Mary Tudor, who became famous in her own right. Later, Charles dismissed Davis, possibly due to some chicanery by Nell Gwynne, a major rival for the King's affections. [5] Davis did not leave empty-handed however: Charles awarded her an annual pension for life of £1,000. In October 1673, Davis bought a new house in St James's Square from trustees for Edward Shaw, paying £1800.[6] 'Madam Davis' first appears in the ratebook for the year 1675 and last appears in 1687.[6] This house (which was surveyed by John Soane in 1799) was almost square and had three storeys, each with four evenly-spaced windows, all dressed with a wide architrave and cornice.[6] The staircase hall was south of a large room in front, and two smaller rooms and a secondary staircase at the rear. There was a massive cross-wall, containing the fireplaces of the back rooms.[6] It would now have been Number 22, St James's Square, if it had survived.[6] It was demolished in 1847 to make way for a new club house for the Army and Navy Club, having survived longer than any other of the other original houses in the square. In December 1686, Davis married the French musician and composer James Paisible (c. 1656-1721), a member of James II's private musick. Sir George Etherege wrote scornfully of the marriage: "Mrs Davies has given proof of the great passion she always had for music, and Monsieur Peasible has another bass to thrum than that he played so well upon".[7] The Paisibles joined James's court in exile at St Germain-en-Laye, but in 1693 returned to England, where Paisible became composer to Prince George of Denmark, the husband of Princess Anne, heir to the throne.

Alison Weir, 67, who has written several bestselling historical novels as well as historical accounts of Henry's six wives, made the claim in her latest book; 'Anne of Kleve'.