Catherine Parr - Final Marriage, Childbirth and Death

Final Marriage, Childbirth and Death

Shortly before he died, Henry made provision for an allowance of £7,000 per year for Catherine to support herself. He further ordered that after his death, Catherine, though a queen dowager, should be given the respect of a Queen of England, as if he were still alive. Catherine retired from court after the crowning of her step-son Prince Edward on 31 January 1547, to her home at Old Manor in Chelsea.

After having lived many years abroad on command of King Henry himself, Catherine's old love, Sir Thomas Seymour returned to court. Catherine, who still harbored feelings for Seymour, was quick to accept when Seymour renewed his suit of marriage. Since only six months had passed since the death of King Henry, Seymour knew that the Regency council would not agree to a petition for the Dowager queen to marry so soon. Seymour decided to go directly to his nephew, King Edward, and ask for permission. Sometime near the end of May, Catherine was able to marry her old love in secret. The King and council were not informed of the union until summer 1547. When their union became public knowledge, it caused a small scandal. The King and Lady Mary were very much displeased by the union. After being censured and reprimanded by the council, Seymour wrote to the Lady Mary asking her to intervene on his behalf. Mary became furious at his forwardness and tasteless actions and refused to help. Mary even went as far as asking her half-sister, Lady Elizabeth, not to interact with the Dowager Queen any further.

During this time, Catherine began having altercations with the Lord Protector, the King's uncle, the Duke of Somerset and a rivalry developed between Catherine and his wife, her former lady-in-waiting, the Duchess of Somerset, which became particularly acute over the matter of Catherine's jewels. Catherine had personal jewels, including her wedding ring and many gifts from the King, but a question arose whether she still had the right to wear the jewelry worn by his former queens. These remained in a coffer within the Tower of London. The duchess argued that the jewels belonged to the Queen of England, and that as queen dowager, Catherine was no longer entitled to them. Instead she, as the wife of the protector, should be the one to wear them. Eventually, the duchess won the argument, which left her relationship with Catherine permanently damaged; the relationship between the two Seymour brothers also worsened as a result, since Lord Seymour saw the whole dispute as a personal attack by his brother on his social standing.

In November 1547, Catherine published her second book, Lamentations of a Sinner. The book was a success and widely praised.

In early 1548, Catherine invited Lady Elizabeth and her cousin, Lady Jane Grey to stay in the couple's household at Sudeley. The Dowager Queen promised to provide education for both. Queen Catherine's house came to be known as a respected place of learning for young women.

In March 1548, Catherine became pregnant for the first time at age thirty-five. This pregnancy was a surprise as Catherine had not conceived a child during her first three marriages. As sex during pregnancy was frowned upon during the sixteenth century, Seymour began to take an interest in Lady Elizabeth. Seymour had reputedly plotted to marry her before marrying Catherine, and it was reported later that Catherine discovered the two in an embrace. On a few occasions before the situation risked getting completely out of hand, Catherine appears not only to have acquiesced in episodes of sexually charged horseplay, but actually to have assisted her husband. Whatever actually happened, Elizabeth was sent away in May 1548 to stay with Sir Anthony Denny's household at Cheshunt and never saw her beloved stepmother again, although the two corresponded.

Catherine gave birth to her only child — a daughter, Mary Seymour, named after Catherine's stepdaughter Mary — on 30 August 1548, and died only six days later, on 5 September 1548, at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, from what is thought to be puerperal fever or puerperal sepsis, also called childbed fever. Coincidentally, this was also the illness that killed Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour. It was not uncommon, due to the lack of hygiene around childbirth. Nevertheless, a theory exists that Catherine's husband, Sir Thomas Seymour, may have poisoned her in order to carry out his plan to marry Lady Elizabeth Tudor.

Lord Seymour of Sudeley was beheaded for treason on 20 March 1549, and Mary Seymour was taken to live with the Dowager Duchess of Suffolk, a close friend of Catherine's. Catherine's other jewels were kept in a coffer with five drawers at Sudeley and this was sent to the Tower of London on 20 April 1549, and her clothes and papers followed in May. After a year and a half, on 17 March 1550, Mary's property was restored to her by an Act of Parliament, easing the burden of the infant's household on the duchess. The last mention of Mary Seymour on record is on her second birthday, and although stories circulated that she eventually married and had children, most historians believe she died as a child at Grimsthorpe Castle.