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later, on 30 May, the couple were married in the chapel at York Place. This time Henry took no chances. A new law was passed making Jane’s children his only lawful offspring, but should she fail to have children, Henry was free to nominate his successor. If Henry Fitzroy, his illegitimate son, was his choice, the King was unlucky, as the young man died on 22 July.
    In June 1536, Elizabeth was formally proclaimed illegitimate. With this turn of events, it seemed possible that the Lady Mary and her father might become reconciled. Instead, Mary found herself under more pressure than ever, first to acknowledge the King as Head of the Protestant Church in England when she was herself staunchly Catholic, and also to accept that his marriage to her mother, Catherine of Aragon, had been unlawful, thereby making Mary illegitimate. Heartsick and disillusioned, in July of that year Mary finally agreed to these demands, although she begged Spanish Ambassador Chapuys to tell the Pope that she had only agreed under duress and remained a true Catholic at heart and the lawful child of her father and mother in the eyes of God.
    Mary’s outward show of obedience was enough to satisfy Henry. Accompanied by the new Queen, he visited Mary at Hunsdon, where Jane presented her stepdaughter with a diamond ring and the King gave her an order for 1,000 crowns. As long as Mary remained dutiful, the days of poverty and neglect were over, it seemed. Chapuys, happy to see Mary back in the King’s graces, wrote: ‘ It is impossible to describe the King’s kind and affectionate behaviour towards the Princess [Mary], his daughter, and the deep regret he said he felt at his having kept her so long away from him … There was nothing but … such brilliant promises for the future, that no father could have behaved better towards his daughter.’ 8
    Mary was permitted to return to Court and given a household suitable to her standing as the King’s daughter, albeit an illegitimateone. Elizabeth, stripped of the title of princess, still shared an establishment with Mary, who was now the principal mistress of the household. Mary’s servants, driven away during her days of torment, were allowed back. Queen Jane treated Mary well, befriending her husband’s oldest child, and returning some of the signs of rank that Mary had been denied while Anne Boleyn had been alive. Jane had been a lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon and had much admired her.
    One of Jane’s first requests of the King was that Mary be allowed to attend her, which Henry was pleased to allow. Mary was chosen to sit at the table opposite the King and Queen and to hand Jane her napkin at meals when she washed her hands. For one who had been banished to sit with the servants at Hatfield, this was an obvious sign of her restoration to the King’s good graces. Jane was often seen walking hand-in-hand with Mary, making sure that they passed through the door together, a public acknowledgement that Mary was back in favour. In August, Chapuys wrote, ‘the treatment of the princess [Mary] is every day improving. She never did enjoy such liberty as she does now …’ 9 Meanwhile, Henry, wary of relying on Jane to give him a son, raised the question of the 20-year-old Mary’s marriage – the next best thing to a son, after all, would be a healthy grandson.
    In October 1536, an anonymous letter to the Cardinal de Bellay, Bishop of Paris, described Mary and Elizabeth’s situation at Court: ‘Madame Marie is now the first after the Queen, and sits at table opposite her, a little lower down … Madame Isabeau [Elizabeth] is not at that table, though the King is very affectionate to her. It is said he loves her very much.’ 10
    Mary appeared to show great affection towards her little sister Elizabeth during this time, giving her small gifts from her own privy purse. Mary wrote to her father, who was now in the happyposition of being able to be gracious to both his daughters, ‘My sister