Until recently I have studied history at my college. As pard of the course one module was on religious change during the Tudor era in England. The module goes through the reigns of the different Tudor monarchs from 1529-1570.
While the module was good at explaining and giving a clearer idea of Henry’s relationship with his children and their relationship with him; I found it lacking in regards to the feelings his children had towards each other. The only bits that were revealed were Edwards desire to prevent Mary from succeeding him as a result of his Protestant and her catholic faith. And also Mary’s paranoia towards Elizabeth following the Wyatt’s Rebellion.
So my question is, in general how did the three see and think of each other, and how did their feelings on one another change over time?
Mary was 17 years old when her sister, Elizabeth, was born to Herny's second wife, Anne Boleyn. That same year, she lost her title as Princess and known as Lady Mary, declared illegitimate losing her place in the line of succession, lost her household, and was moved to join the household of her infant sister. Mary was not happy with this, writing to Henry "This morning my chamberlain came and informed me that he had received a letier from Sir Will. Paulet, controller of your House, to the effect that I should remove at once to Hertford castle. I desired to see the letter ; in which was written "the lady Mary, the King's daughter," leaving out the name of Princess. Marvelled at this, thinking your Grace was not privy to it, not doubting but you take me for your lawful daughter, barn in true matrimony. If I agreed to the contrary I should offend God ; in all other things you shall find me an obedient daughter" [2]. Mary refused to acknowledge Elizabeth as Princess, instead, maintaining the title was hers [3]. That being said, it seems Mary bore little ill-will to her sister, writing to Henry complimenting her [4].
After Anne Boleyn's death, Henry married Jane Seymour, how had a son, Edward. At Edward's christening, Mary and Elizabeth were present, and referred to as "Lady", rather than "Princess" [5]. However, Elizabeth did not lose her standing in the same way Mary did on Elizabeth's birth and continued with her education, being assigned William Grindal as a tutor. Elizabeth and Edward were housed in the same nurseries Mary has been brought up in, and she would often visit them, even with Edward being kept in relative seclusion to avoid disease [4]. Mary and Edward would write to each other and seemed to be very friendly with each other.
After Henry's death in 1547, Edward came to the throne. He was a staunch Protestant which was at odds with Mary's Catholic upbringing. However, by now, all of Henry's children were in the line of succession as affirmed in Henry's will. As he was just 9-years old, a regency was formed to govern until he came of age. Edward Seymour, Jane Seymour's brother, worked his way to being the leader of the council and made many changes to ensure the stability of Protestantism in the country. This included ensuring the Edward received a Protestant education. While Seymour was so prominent in court, Mary mostly remained in East Anglia due to opposition to her Catholic beliefs [6].
As Edward's health declined, he and his council wrote: “My Device for the Succession” [7]. In it, he cut both of his sisters from the line of succession, and instead declared Lady Jane Grey as his heir. The primary motivation behind this was to prevent Mary from inheriting the throne due to her Catholic beliefs. However, in order to remove Mary from the line through illegitimacy, it was required to also cut Elizabeth, who had also been declared illegitimate during Henry's reign.
Mary and Elizabeth rode together into London to claim the throne for Mary, however, Elizabeth soon received the same opposition Mary had felt during the reign of Edward when Mary attempted to reinstate Catholicism as the official religion of England. When Mary's popularity started to wane and Elizabeth looked to be gaining support, Elizabeth was imprisoned in the Tower of London, however, she was recalled to court when it appeared the Mary was pregnant and may produce an heir.
Mary, being a lot older than her siblings, did not have much a childhood relationship. However, as an adult she appeared to care for them as children, visiting, bringing them presents, and writing letters. Most of her resentment stemmed from her treatment by her father when he divorced Catherine of Aragon, Mary's mother. Elizabeth and Edward would have grown up together, being a lot closer in age, and with a lack of religious division between them. When Edward ascended the throne, Mary was once again rejected from the court, though given Edward's age at the time, this would have been under the influence of his councillors. Upon his death, Mary and Elizabeth showed a solid front when reclaiming the throne, but this was soured, again due to religious differences.
Sources:
[1] Number 1139, 'Henry VIII: September 1533, 11-20', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 6, 1533, ed. James Gairdner (London, 1882), pp. 466-477. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol6/pp466-477 [accessed 8 July 2019].
[2] Number 1027, 'Henry VIII: October 1533, 1-10', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 6, 1533, ed. James Gairdner (London, 1882), pp. 497-514. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol6/pp497-514 [accessed 8 July 2019].
[3] Number 1528, 'Henry VIII: December 1533, 11-20', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 6, 1533, ed. James Gairdner (London, 1882), pp. 613-626. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol6/pp613-626 [accessed 8 July 2019].
[4] Tudor Times http://tudortimes.co.uk/people/sibling-rivalry
[5] Number 911, 'Henry VIII: October 1537, 11-15', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 12 Part 2, June-December 1537, ed. James Gairdner (London, 1891), pp. 309-324. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol12/no2/pp309-324 [accessed 8 July 2019].
[6] Historic UK, https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Queen-Mary-I/
[7] My Device for the Succession, Edward VI http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/edward6devise.htm