Why did lady jane grey become queen?
Jane’s claim to the throne came through her mother, Lady Frances Brandon, the daughter of Mary Tudor, Dowager Queen of France (daughter of King Henry VII of England) and of her second husband, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The will of Edward VI excluded Frances and willed the Crown directly to Jane. According to male primogeniture, the Suffolks — Brandons and later Greys — comprised the junior branch of the heirs of Henry VII. The Third Succession Act restored both Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession, although the law continued to regard both of them as illegitimate. Furthermore, this Act authorised Henry VIII to alter the succession by his will. His last will reinforced the succession of his three surviving children, then declared that, should none of his three children leave heirs, the throne would pass to heirs of his younger sister, Mary. Henry’s will excluded the descendants of his elder sister Margaret Tudor, owing in part to Henry’s desire to keep the English th
