Lady Janes age at her death?

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In the movie I saw about Lady Jane ,they listed her age at 17 when she died. Some of the web sites I've been to say 16, which is right?

-- Laura LeMoine (tiffany@totacc.com), August 13, 2000

Answers

Hi Laura, Jane was born in October 1537. So, in February 1554, at the time of her execution, she was in her 17th year, but had not yet reached her 17th birthday.

-- Jennifer (mail@janegrey.com), August 14, 2000.

I would agree that Lady Jane was only sixteen when she was executed after much research and on checking a book written about John Aylmer written in 1700, her tutor and friend. Peter.

-- Peter Carroll (peter@daphne61.freeserve.co.uk), October 03, 2000.

From memory, I believe "Lady Jane Grey and the House of Suffolk" said that her exact date of birth is not known but was probably around November 1537, which would have made her 15 at her marriage and reign and 16 at here execution. I believe that the film made her 16 at the start, presumably this was because the bedchamber scene with her husband would then have offended some people's sensibilities as condoning child abuse, since at present Britain has an age of consent of 16, introduced in the 19th century. (See Antonia Fraser's "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" for a discussion of teenage sex in 16th century England.)

-- Campbell McGregor (campannexe@yahoo.co.uk), August 22, 2001.

I believe that Jennifer is right, she was in her 17th year when she died, but was definitely only 16.

-- sorry (hermione_gurl_4ever@hotmail.com), November 04, 2001.

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