Lady Catherine Grey - Imprisonment

Imprisonment

Catherine concealed the marriage from everyone for months, even after she became pregnant; in her eighth month of pregnancy and on progress with the Court in Ipswich, she decided to ask someone to plead for her with the Queen. She first confided in Bess of Hardwick, who refused to listen to Catherine and berated her for implicating her. Catherine then went to her brother-in-law, Robert Dudley. Visiting his bedroom in the middle of the night, she explained her dilemma. As Dudley's room adjoined the Queen's chamber, he was afraid they might be overheard or that he might be caught with a visibly pregnant woman at his bedside, and tried to get rid of Catherine as soon as he could. The next day he told Elizabeth everything he knew regarding Catherine and her pregnancy.

Elizabeth was greatly angered that her cousin had married without her permission. The marriage upset Anglo-Scottish diplomacy, as a possible union between Catherine and the Earl of Arran, a young and unstable nobleman with a strong claim to the Scottish throne, was now removed from the table. The Queen also disapproved of her choice of husband and, still unmarried, also feared that Catherine's ability to bear a son could facilitate a rebellion in support of Catherine as queen. To Catherine's misfortune, her claim to the throne was at the time argued by a book written by John Hales.

Elizabeth had Catherine imprisoned in the Tower of London, where Edward joined her on his return to England. Bess of Hardwick was also imprisoned, as Elizabeth became convinced that the marriage was part of a wider conspiracy against herself. Sir Edward Warner, the Lieutenant of the Tower, permitted secret visits between Catherine and Edward. Warner reported that the furnishings of Catherine's room, which were provided from the royal wardrobe in the Tower, had been damaged by her pet monkey and dogs. While imprisoned in the Tower, Catherine gave birth to two sons:

• Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp of Hache (1561–1612), who married Honora Rogers and fathered six children, including William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset. Among his descendents was Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, mother of Queen Elizabeth II.
• Thomas Seymour (1562/3, Tower of London - 8 August 1600). Baptized on 11 February 1563, he married Isabel Onley (d. 20 August 1619), daughter of Edward Onley of Catesby. The couple had no issue. They are buried in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster.

In 1562, the marriage was annulled and the Seymours were censured as fornicators for their "carnal copulation" by the Archbishop of Canterbury's commission. This rendered the children illegitimate and thus ineligible to succeed to the throne. However, they were nevertheless courted as potential heirs to the Crown.