Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset



Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset (15 June 1519–18 June 1536) was the son of King Henry VIII and his teenaged mistress, Elizabeth Blount, the only illegitimate offspring that Henry acknowledged. FitzRoy was created Earl of Nottingham and Duke of Richmond and Somerset on 16 June 1525.

Born in Blackmore, Essex, Richmond was raised like a prince at Sheriff Hutton Castle in Yorkshire. His father had a particular fondness for him and took great interest in his upbringing. At one point, there was talk of making him the King's legitimate heir, the more so since Henry VIII had yet to have a legitimate son. Richmond was made Lord President of the Council of the North and Warden of the West, Middle and East Scottish Marches.

The Duke married Lady Mary Howard, only daughter of the 3rd Duke of Norfolk, on 28 November 1533. He was on excellent terms with his brother-in-law, the poet Lord Surrey. Although tradition has it that Anne Boleyn was hostile to the match, it now seems that it was she who organized pairing her young cousin Mary with the King's illegitimate son. Therefore, the Howard family could be even closer (in favour and family) to the King.

The Duke's promising career came to an abrupt end in 1536. For a time he had looked greatly unwell, and many courtiers now suspected that he was suffering from the dreaded consumption (tuberculosis). In May, when Anne Boleyn was tried for treason, the King allowed the judges to accuse her of attempting to poison Richmond. As with all the charges produced against her, evidence was lacking. Anne was executed on 19 May 1536. Despite the King's telling Richmond he was lucky to have escaped the "witch's" plans, the boy died of consumption at St. James's Palace. At the time of his death, an Act was going through Parliament to enable the King to nominate him as heir. Norfolk gave orders that the body be wrapped in lead and taken in a closed cart for secret interment, but his servants put the body in a straw-filled wagon. The only mourners were two attendants who followed at a distance.

The Duke's ornate tomb is in Framlingham Church, Suffolk.

His father out-lived him by just over a decade, and was succeeded by his legitimate son, Prince Edward (who became Edward VI), born shortly after Richmond's death. Most, historians maintain that Edward VI, like Henry Fitzroy, died of tuberculosis. However, some other historians along with Doctor Julian Litten are starting a new research that links the deaths of Edward, Henry, and their uncle, Arthur Tudor.

In Fiction
A character based on Henry Fitzroy appears in the Blood Book novels, by Tanya Huff, and Blood Ties, the television series based on the novels. The fictional Henry became a vampire. His sickness came from the draining of his blood that turned him vampire and after more than four hundred years lives in Toronto, Ontario in Canada

A fictional Henry Fitzroy also appears as a main character in This Scepter'd Isle, by Mercedes Lackey and Roberta Gellis. The book is set in England during Fitzroy's childhood.

Rather than live to the age of eighteen, the Henry Fitzroy of The Tudors dies at about age two of the Sweating Sickness, having already been created Earl of Nottingham and Duke of Richmond and Somerset.