Henry VIII is remembered as one of England's most notorious kings, largely because of his six wives. Many of those marriages ended in downfall as the king searched desperately for a male heir.
His first two wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, failed to give him the son he wanted. Instead, they gave birth to daughters who would later rule England as queens: Mary I and Elizabeth I.
It was Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, who finally provided the son he desired, Edward VI. But that triumph came at a great cost, as Jane Seymour died from complications of childbirth. Edward became Henry's direct heir, despite being his youngest child, because of his gender.
What is less well known is that Edward was not the only son Henry VIII fathered. Catherine of Aragon did give Henry a son named Henry, titled the Duke of Cornwall, but the child died within weeks. There was another son as well: the infamous king's illegitimate child, Henry Fitzroy.
Henry Fitzroy was born in June 1519, the son of King Henry VIII and his mistress Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount. His mother was one of Catherine of Aragon's ladies-in-waiting, and Henry was known to have had an affair with her during his marriage to Catherine.
He was given the name Fitzroy, which dates back to Anglo-Norman times and means "son of the king." English kings had previously used the name for their illegitimate children.
The child was allegedly conceived when Catherine of Aragon, Henry's wife, was approaching her confinement with another of Henry's children. She would give birth to a stillborn daughter in November 1518.
Bessie, the child's mother, was described as rather beautiful and was also renowned for her skill in music and dancing. She was a frequent presence at court.
During her pregnancy, Elizabeth Blount was removed from the king's court to avoid scandal and was taken into a priory. It is not known for certain when Henry Fitzroy was born, but the king was allegedly ecstatic when he heard he had a healthy son, as it assured him of his doubts that he could produce a son.
Henry allegedly visited the boy a number of times, as well as the child's mother, but Bessie Blount would never return to court. The christening of the newborn child was never recorded, but Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was present at the service and was named his godfather.
Henry VIII later decided to abandon all tact and discretion, proudly showing his newborn son to everyone at court. He openly acknowledged the child as his own son and seemed proud of the illegitimate boy, which was different from how other medieval kings treated such children.
Henry Fitzroy's upbringing remains uncertain. It is not known how much contact he had with his father the king, though the boy may have been part of the royal nursery and may even have been part of court life. Royal households were always changing and shifting, so it is likely that Fitzroy lived in many different households, as was customary for Henry's other children.
King Henry began to shroud his illegitimate child in many titles and peerages. On July 7, 1525, at the young age of six, Henry Fitzroy was made a Knight of the Garter in a ceremony at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
In the same month he was elevated to the peerage, with his father creating for him the titles Duke of Richmond and Somerset and Earl of Nottingham. He received these in a huge and great ceremony.
He arrived by barge from Wolsey's mansion and came with a group of knights, squires, and gentlemen. The rooms he stayed in were immensely decorated, and many members of court came to see Fitzroy's elevation.
The six-year-old child knelt before his father the king as Sir Thomas More read out the patents of nobility. It was the first time in around 400 years that an illegitimate son had been raised to the peerage.
Such ceremonies and great offices had never been held before by any subject, let alone a six-year-old illegitimate child. This suggests the king probably prioritized Fitzroy's gender over his illegitimacy.
This meant Henry could possibly have selected Henry Fitzroy as his successor, excluding Mary I, the king's oldest child, from her rightful inheritance and from being the next monarch after Henry VIII. Interestingly, the title of the Isle of Richmond had been held by Henry VIII's father, Henry VII, and his own grandfather, while the Duke of Somerset had been held by members of the Beaufort family, Henry's grandmother's relatives.
Between 1525 and 1529, Fitzroy lived mostly in Yorkshire at Sheriff Hutton or at Pontefract Castle. He was well educated in Latin, Greek, and French, and was also taught music. He was considered an active child who enjoyed being outdoors rather than one who had his head buried in a book.
The showering of Henry Fitzroy in titles continued, as the king made him Lord High Admiral of England, Lord President of the Council of the North, and Warden of the Marches towards Scotland. This basically made the government in the north of England his, with him controlling part of the border regions.
Fitzroy was raised like a royal prince and was described as a most handsome, urbane, and learned young gentleman, very dear to the king on account of his good manners. An ambassador later said how he resembled his father.
On June 22, 1529, Fitzroy was also made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. There was a plan in place that could have seen him crowned King of Ireland, but it was deemed that making Ireland a separate kingdom whose ruler was not also king of England could create another threat to Henry and England.
For every royal child, the matter of who they would marry was taken very seriously, and this was the same with Henry Fitzroy. Initially a plan was suggested that he could marry his own half-sister Mary, later Mary I, to stop the annulment of Catherine of Aragon and Henry's marriage and to strengthen his claim to the throne.
The pope even gave special permission for this bizarre and strange marriage concept to go ahead, with half-siblings marrying in order to prevent the king breaking from the Roman Catholic Church. At the age of 14, however, Henry Fitzroy married Mary Howard, the daughter of Thomas Howard, the third Duke of Norfolk.
It is thought the marriage was arranged by Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, as a way of getting more favor for the Duke of Norfolk. Fitzroy and Mary Howard's marriage was never consummated, but the young boy had everything at his feet. He was the son of Henry VIII and clearly loved and valued by him.
When Anne Boleyn fell from grace, it was said that Fitzroy was one of the peers who sat on the jury at her trial, which condemned her to death for adultery and treason. He was also present at Anne's execution, which took place on Tower Green inside the walls of the Tower of London.
Henry Fitzroy was not the healthiest child. In July 1536 he became ill and rather sickly before he passed away. He was reported to be ill with consumption, which is sometimes linked to tuberculosis or a lung issue.
It has also been suggested that he could have died of the pneumonic plague, as the symptoms he showed, such as fever, headache, weakness, and shortness of breath, are linked to what Henry Fitzroy had before he died. He died on July 23, 1536, at St James's Palace.
It has been said that Henry VIII was inconsolable when he heard about his son's death, and he wanted his dead son's corpse taken far away. Not much attention was drawn to the death, and his father-in-law the Duke of Norfolk ordered that he be taken in a closed cart for a secret burial.
Instead, the body was placed in a straw-filled wagon, and two attendants followed the wagon at a distance. His body was taken to Thetford Priory, but after the dissolution of the monasteries he was interred in Framlingham Church in Suffolk.
Many historians think that if Henry VIII had not had a son in Edward VI, it is very possible that Henry Fitzroy, had he survived, would have become Henry's successor and would have become King of England after Henry VIII died. It is a remarkable thing to think about, and it would probably have caused great chaos and rebellion in the country.
It is clear that the king did value his illegitimate child, especially with regard to the immense titles he was gifted. But ultimately Fitzroy's life came to an end prematurely at the age of 17.
His future, however, could have been incredibly important and could have changed English history forever had he not become ill.