Summer is getting warmer, but it's not because of the weather. Prime Video's historical fantasy series My Lady Jane has fans in tears over the romance between Lady Jane Gray and Lord Guildford Dudley. Played by Emily Bader and Edward Brummel, the pair had incredible chemistry, with fans calling them "combustible" and "crazy." However, whether their relationship was historically accurate is another question.
My Lady Jane is adapted from the 2016 novel of the same name written by Cynthia Hand, Brody Ashton and Jody Meadows. Both the series and the book draw on a tragic chapter in British history: the rise and fall of England's "Nine Day Queen" Lady Jane Grey, who was deposed by her cousin Mary Tudor (aka "Bloody Mary") and executed. However, they took serious liberties with her story. The book's authors say their story is "how we think Jane's story should go."
What do they think Jane deserves? For one, it’s a hot, steamy romance. In the play, Jane's husband Guilford is a dashing lothario who happens to be able to transform himself into a horse. They come together through an arranged marriage, initially hostile but later becoming passionate and loving.
What does history tell us about Jane and Guildford?
Unfortunately, Jane and Guilford's chemistry might not be so combustible in real life. As in "My Lady Jane Grey," their families arranged the marriage, according to historian Nicola Tallis, author of "The Blood Crown: The Fatal Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey." , she was "very shocked." In an article for The Tudor Times, she noted that little is known about the early years of their marriage, but believed it was "unlikely that they formed a close relationship." The two clearly don't see eye to eye when it comes to their relationship dynamics. Tallis writes that Guilford expected an "obedient wife," while Jane was "unprepared to give in to the demands of others, even those of her husband."
The late historian Eric Ives, in his book Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery, offers an alternative view, but it's not necessarily more romantic. Although he referred to a letter she wrote to Queen Mary while in prison, in which Jane described herself as "a wife who loved her husband," she also said Guildford had betrayed her and his parents.
Unlike in the show, the young couple were ultimately executed on the same day. Before doing so, Guilford asked to see his wife one last time. No one knew what he would say, including Jane, since she chose not to see him. According to Tallis, she hopes to be reunited with him in heaven, where she says they will "live together as an indissoluble bond."
Alas, they don't seem to share one of history's greatest love stories. It's best not to learn lessons from history on shows where people can turn into horses and birds, no matter how addicted they are.
