Henry VIII died in 1547, when Elizabeth was 13 years old, and was succeeded by her half brother,
Edward VI.
Catherine Parr, Henry's last wife, soon married
Thomas Seymour of Sudeley, Edward VI's uncle and the brother of the Lord Protector,
Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. The couple took Elizabeth into their household at Chelsea. There Elizabeth experienced an emotional crisis that some historians believe affected her for the rest of her life.
[23] Seymour, approaching age 40 but having charm and "a powerful sex appeal",
[23] engaged in romps and horseplay with the 14-year-old Elizabeth. These included entering her bedroom in his nightgown, tickling her and slapping her on the buttocks. Catherine Parr, rather than confront her husband over his innappropriate activities, joined in.
[24] Twice she accompanied him in tickling Elizabeth, and once held her while he cut her black gown "into a thousand pieces."
[25] However, after Catherine Parr discovered the pair in an embrace, she ended this state of affairs.
[26][27] In May 1548, Elizabeth was sent away.
[28]
Seymour continued scheming to control the royal family.
[29][30] When Catherine Parr died of
puerperal fever after childbirth on 5 September 1548, he renewed his attentions towards Elizabeth, intent on wedding her.
[31] The details of his former behaviour towards Elizabeth emerged during an interrogation of Catherine Ashley and
Thomas Parry, Elizabeth’s
cofferer.
[32] For his brother and the council, this was the last straw,
[33] and in January 1549, Seymour was arrested on suspicion of plotting to marry Elizabeth and overthrow his brother. Elizabeth, living at
Hatfield House, would admit nothing. Her stubbornness exasperated her interrogator, Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, who reported, "I do see it in her face that she is guilty".
[33] Seymour was beheaded on 20 March 1549.
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