Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset

Henry FitzRoy
Duke of Richmond and Duke of Somerset, Earl of Nottingham
Portrait of Henry FitzRoy in coloured chalks by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1525
Duke of Richmond and Somerset
Reign	18 June 1525 – 23 July 1536
Spouse	Lady Mary Howard
Father	Henry VIII of England
Mother	Elizabeth Blount
Born	15 June 1519(1519-06-15)
Died	23 July 1536 (aged 17)

Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Nottingham (15 June 1519–23 July 1536) was the son of King Henry VIII of England and his teenage mistress, Elizabeth Blount, the only illegitimate offspring that Henry acknowledged.

Biography

Henry FitzRoy was born at the Priory of St Lawrence at Blackmore, Essex. His godfather was Thomas Wolsey, the king's chief minister.^[1] His mother's affair with the king appears not to have continued after his birth, but she was well married shortly afterwards, and she and her husband received grants and marks of favour from the king.^[1] Details of the child's initial upbringing are unclear. He was known as Lord Henry FitzRoy until 18 June 1525, when his father created him Earl of Nottingham and Duke of Richmond and Somerset.^[2] In the same year he was granted several other appointments, including Lord High Admiral of England, Lord President of the Council of the North, and Warden of the Marches towards Scotland, the effect of which was to place the government of the north of England in his hands.^[3]

Known most usually as Richmond, the young duke was raised like a prince at Sheriff Hutton Castle in Yorkshire. His father had a particular fondness for him and took great interest in his upbringing. At one point there was talk of making him the King's legitimate heir, the more so since Henry VIII had yet to have a legitimate son.

The Crown of Ireland Act 1542 established a personal union between the English and Irish crowns, providing that whoever was king of England was to be king of Ireland as well. King Henry VIII of England was proclaimed this first holder. This was after the plan to make the Duke of Richmond and Somerset, King of Ireland, fell through upon his death. Although FitzRoy was made Lord-Lieutenant, the King's counselors feared that making a separate Kingdom of Ireland whose ruler was not that of England would create another King of Scotland.^[4]

Portrait miniature of Henry FitzRoy by Lucas Horenbout, 1534-35

The Duke married Lady Mary Howard, only daughter of the 3rd Duke of Norfolk, on 28 November 1533. He was on excellent terms with his brother-in-law, the poet Lord Surrey. Although tradition has it that Anne Boleyn was hostile to the match, it now seems^{[citation needed]} that it was she who organized pairing her young cousin Mary with the King's illegitimate son. Therefore, the Howard family could be even closer (in favour and family) to the King.

The Duke's promising career came to an abrupt end in 1536. According to the chronicler Charles Wriothesley, Richmond became sickly some time before he died, although Richmond's biographer Beverley A. Murphy cites his documented public appearances and activities in April and May of that year, without exciting comment on his health, as evidence to the contrary^[5]. He was reported ill with "consumption" (usually identified as tuberculosis, but possibly another serious lung complaint) in early July, and died at St. James's Palace on 23 July 1536. At the time of his death an Act was going through Parliament which disinherited Henry's daughter Elizabeth as his heir and permitted the King to designate his successor, whether legitimate or not. There is no evidence that Henry intended to proclaim Richmond his heir, but in theory the Act would have permitted him to do so if he wished.^[6] Norfolk gave orders that the body be wrapped in lead and taken in a closed cart for secret interment, but his servants put the body in a straw-filled wagon. The only mourners were two attendants who followed at a distance.

The Duke's ornate tomb is in Framlingham Church, Suffolk. One of the houses at the local High School, Thomas Mills, is named after him.

His father outlived him by just over a decade, and was succeeded by his legitimate son, Prince Edward (who became Edward VI), born shortly after Richmond's death. Most historians maintain that Edward VI, like Henry Fitzroy, died of tuberculosis. It is disputed the Henry Fitzroy may have been made King if King Henry VIII had died without a legitimate son and that Princesses Mary and Elizabeth were his only children, it was once rumoured that Princess Mary was to be married to Henry Fitzroy, King Henry even had him made Duke of Somerset and Richmond to "legitimize him more"

Well was it for them^[7] that Henry Fitzroy his natural son ... was dead, otherwise (some suspect) had he survived King Edward the Sixth, we might presently have heard of a King Henry the Ninth, so great was his father's affection and so unlimited his power to prefer him

—Thomas Fuller^[8]

In fiction

Rather than living to the age of seventeen as in reality, the character called Henry Fitzroy in the 2007 TV series "The Tudors" dies at about the age of 5 from sweating sickness.

In the TV Series Blood Ties, (based upon the novels by Tanya Huff) Henry Fitzroy, played by Kyle Schmid, did not die at 17, but rather was turned into a vampire and now lives in present day Toronto, Canada.

In [co-authors Roberta Gellis and Mercedes Lackey's series This Scepter'd Isle (This Scepter'd Isle, Ill Met by Moonlight, By Slanderous Tongues and And Less Than Kind), a changeling died in Henry FitzRoy's place, and the real FitzRoy lived out his life in the Underhill domain of the Bright Court Elves.

Ancestors

References

External links

• About Henry Fitzroy