Mary Howard

Mary Howard is the young duchess married to Henry FitzRoy, the king’s son. The book gives her a brief but consequential place in court politics: she helps Margaret Douglas and Thomas Howard meet in secret, an action that angers the king and entangles her in a crisis of marriage, succession, and royal suspicion.

Identity and Court Position

Mary is identified through her marriage to Henry FitzRoy. At the time of the secret-meeting crisis, she is described as a young duchess; later, she is named as FitzRoy’s wife in plans to establish him at Baynard’s Castle. Her position thus connects her to a royal son whose place in the succession is being made conspicuous at court.

The Secret Meetings

Mary helps Margaret Douglas and Thomas Howard meet secretly. Their relationship is treated as politically dangerous because Margaret’s position in the succession could become important if the claims of the king’s daughters changed. The king is furious not only with the couple but also with Mary for helping arrange their meetings. The account does not say that Mary is arrested; it distinguishes her from Thomas Howard, who is reported to be in the Tower on a treason charge, and Margaret, who is confined to her rooms.

Marriage and Dynastic Politics

Mary’s marriage to Henry FitzRoy gives her a place in the court’s shifting calculations around royal heirs. FitzRoy is presented as receiving lands and a prominent public role, and there are plans to establish him with Mary at Baynard’s Castle in the heart of London. The narrator reads the proposed residence, alongside FitzRoy’s lands and visibility at court, as a signal of his elevated standing. Mary therefore appears both as an actor whose assistance provokes royal anger and as the wife positioned beside a prince whose status carries dynastic significance.