The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir Review

The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have previously started this book, but I only got forty pages into it before something else caught my attention. After I finished The Six Wives of Henry VIII I wanted more Tudor stuff, so what better to read than this? After I've always been fascinated by those three royal children.

This book gave me more insight into Edward VI. Although it didn't delve too deeply into his reign. Edward seems to me to have been a puppet through most of his reign. But he did set the groundwork for the Protestant religion in England and he desperately tried to prevent his sister from undoing that by naming Lady Jane Grey as his successor. Although that was technically illegal.

Mary undid Edward's work and return England to the Church of Rome. She married the foreign Phillip II of Spain, which wasn't received well. I really did feel sorry for Mary when her pregnancy turned out to be a phantom. She really wanted that and with all the drama in her life, I think it would have made her happier.

Of course after Mary died, Elizabeth came to the throne and this is very the books ends with Elizabeth receiving news of her ascension and her uttering that famous line from the Bible. I'm ordering Weir's biography of Elizabeth, which I don't know why I haven't done this already since I acquired two of her books before 2009 and not one on my beloved Elizabeth? For shame. But I will devour that biography as soon as it's in my hands.

Oh and I've forgotten Lady Jane Grey. I knew her fate before going into the book, but I felt for her because she never wanted to be Queen and was pressured into by her parents. Her story is a sad one.

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