12 February 1554 Lady Jane Grey is executed for treason

The young woman installed as a Protestant alternative to Queen Mary meets a tragic end

- By Helen Carr

Henry VIII devoted a lot of energy to producing an heir. Famously marrying six times, his half-dozen wives between them produced three surviving children - only one of whom was male. And when that son, who reigned for just six years as Edward VI, died at the age of 15 in 1553, a troubling question arose: who should succeed him?

Mary and Elizabeth had been reinstated to the succession by Henry in 1544. Yet Edward's will named as successor his cousin Lady Jane Grey. Aged just 16 or 17, she was promoted as a Protestant alternative to the Catholic Mary. That wasn't to be enough to save her throne - or her life.