The crucial thing to keep in mind when discussing the Tudors and above all the children of Henry VIII is that they were not ‘just’ children.

They were heirs.

They were, like it or not, political creatures from the moment of birth. As they grew, they belonged to a world where their every utterance, every action, could be seen as political. They were idolised and made political figures by men they never knew. They were watched and observed by shadowy figures who saw them as threats to the regimes.

Literally, the possible future of the state AND their continued existence depended upon what they said or did.

Now, try growing up and expressing normal emotions in that environment.

Add to this? Their father was, for want of a better word, a monster. The virile and manly Henry VIII had transformed into a stinking wreck of a man as time went on.

I go into much more detail here but traumatic injuries caused by jousting; his chronic osteitis, serious constipation, varicose ulcers that weeped on his legs; deep vein thrombosis; pitiful eyesight and obesity made him a fat, vicious man.

These physical ailments impacted on his mental state and as he grew older he grew increasingly petty, vicious and tyrannical. A pleasant conversation with Katherine Parr where she gently disagreed with him led to him threatening to burn her for heresy.

Thankfully the children were not constantly around their father but it would have not be conducive to a healthy and emotionally stable upbringing.

Did the antics of their father have an impact upon the three surviving children? Undoubtably. Mary for example was old enough to perceive her mother was being unfairly treated by her father. Catherine’s humiliation and divorce was a big impact upon the teenager.

By all accounts, previous to this, Mary had been doted on by both parents. Suddenly her father seeks to divorce her beloved mother. When she was 15 her mother was exiled from court by refusing to agree to an annulment; Mary was never to see her again. When she was 17 Mary was declared a bastard, and made to wait upon her new half-sister, Elizabeth.

Anne Boleyn supposedly treated Mary with unbridled contempt and it was in her service that the 20 year old Mary received word her mother died of cancer (perhaps only made easier by Boleyn’s execution a few months later). The peacemaker and most beloved of the wives Jane Seymour, advocated that Henry reconcile with his first born daughter, but he insisted she sign a document saying her mother’s marriage to him was both incestuous and unlawful before she could.

Mary did sign it but one wonders at her feelings about that; however she was restored to the title of Royal Princess. She effectively became the First Lady of England (whenever her father wasn’t married) and held a preeminent position until he married Parr. It appears that Parr and Mary did get on and it was Parr who advocated for the 1543 act of succession that returned Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession.

She was smart, having had some excellent if ferocious teachers; by all accounts she excelled at music (something she picked up from her father) and was noted for her long red hair as a child.

However the timing of puberty with the upheaval in her life took its effect on her. Most now think that from her teens onwards she suffered serious premenstrual tension, which meant her irregular periods were always met with savage pain. She was known to be afflicted by headaches, palpitations, toothache, depression and probably seasonal affective disorder.

The fact she was able to resist an attempt to usurp her throne by the Grey’s goes to show that despite all of this, she was also formidable.

Elizabeth was only 3 when her mother was executed and she was declared bastard. She rarely ever mentioned her mother after that (and given she was most likely conceived out of wedlock it was probably best not to) and Elizabeth at aged 4 was placed into the household of her younger brother, the new born Prince Edward, under the care of Katherine (Kat) Ashley. It is clear Kat was devoted to the young Elizabeth and she to her.

She spent the next few years secluded from the public in a range of estates to the north of London. It took the intercession of three of his wives, apparently, before Henry would see her but even then it was rarely.

When she was 9 Katherine Howard was executed which seems to have upset her and the young Princess reportedly said to Robert Dudley ‘I will never marry’ (although I find the quote a little too perfect myself).

From when she was 10 Katherine Parr’s influence began to have an impact on her life and she was invited back to her father’s court (her and Mary became the chief ladies in waiting for Parr). Not was all smooth sailing. When she was 13 she annoyed her father in some way and was exiled from court for a full year before Parr could get her back.

She was by all accounts intelligent and an expert linguist, but she kept her own counsel over many issues. Had the dangerous court of her father had an impact? Yes. She was prone to outbursts of almost hysterical anger, anxiety attacks, fainting fits and more during her adolescence, and also a sense of dread that could leave her paralysed with fear apparently.

The boy Edward was his father’s most prized possession, and reports of the over protected smothering nature of the King begin almost as soon as he is born. He was raised until the age of six, in his own words, ‘among the women’.

The biggest issue for the infant was his own mother had died and it was not until Parr came along that he had anytime of mother figure in his life (by all accounts the 6 year old adored Katherine Parr and referred to her as mother).

He was not, as is often suggested, a sickly child. He had only one childhood ailment of any issue and recovered. He was pale skinned, red haired and his only impediment was one shoulder higher than another. He simply seems to have not enjoyed outdoor activity, but rather learning and scholarship.

Even allowing for hyperbole from his tutors, Edward does appear to be highly intelligent. Perhaps a tad too much. He would get letters from his older sisters in Latin or French and send them back with corrections.

He was a prig; he once sent a letter to Mary scolding her behaviour and love of ‘foreign dances’. He was 8, she was 29. There are reports he could be mischievous at times but also cruel.

Mostly he adored his two older sisters; Mary doted on him and they were close until he embraced Protestantism. He and Elizabeth were only four years apart and of course were, by all accounts, very close.

The string of marriages did seem to have quite profound impacts upon the Tudor children, especially the two girls. How much did it impact upon their lives as adults (Edward of course not making it out of teenage years) can be debated.

But by their teens you have the priggish, prickly Edward; the anxiety filled Elizabeth and a somewhat broken Mary.

If you want to get into this stuff, ‘The Last Days of Henry VIII’ by Robert Hutchinson & ‘Children of England: the heirs of King Henry VIII’ by Alison Weir are both excellent guides to Henry and his three firehaired children.

Hope that helps.