2-501-195 - The London Archives (City of London)/Heritage Images

Lady Jane Grey being led to her execution at the Tower of London, 1554 (1797). A grandniece of Henry VIII, Lady Jane Grey (1537-1554) was proclaimed queen on Edward VI's death in 1553 in an attempt to secure a Protestant succession. Only a few days later Henry's eldest daughter, the Catholic Mary Tudor, claimed the throne. Jane was deposed and executed for high treason, at the age of 16, on Tower Hill on 12 February 1554.