Henry VIII had three children during his reign as king.

He was most keen to try and have a son to take the throne once he died. This is famous for being one of the reasons Henry went through so many wives!

He eventually had a son to take his place when he died, that son was Edward VI. However, Edward didn’t last long as king after Henry died as he passed away when he was only 15!

Edward was not Henry’s only child though, he also had two daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I, who both ended up having a go at being Queen after Edwar died.

Queen Mary I – born 1516, reigned 1553-58

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Henry’s first daughter was Mary.

Mary’s mum was Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

Although Henry had a son to make sure he had a male heir to take the throne once he died, Mary did serve as queen for 5 years.

Edward died when he was only 15 which meant that Mary was free to take the thone and become Queen of Engand. It wasn’t that simple though!

Mary had some different political views to Edward which meant he actually tried to remove her from the line of succession before he died!

When Edward died there were a lot of people who didn’t like Mary so politians declared someone else as Queen. They said Lady Jane Grey is now the Queen.

Mary didn’t like that at all! She managed to get the throne back and ended up executing Lady Jane Grey for treason.

Poor Lady Jane Grey only managed to be queen for 9 days before Mary too the throne from her.

Queen Elizabeth I – born 1533, reigned 1558-1603

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Henry’s second child was Elizabeth. Her mum was Anne Boleyn who was Henry’s second wife.

Elizabeth became queen went she was 25 after her sister, Queen Mary I, died.

She ended up being the longest-reigning King or Queen of all of Henry’s children. She was queen for 45 years!

When you hear people talking about the Elizabethan Era they are talking about the time in which Elizabeth was queen. It was a very famous time with people like William Shakespeare becoming famous around this time.

King Edward VI – born 1537, reigned 1547-53

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Edward was Henry’s third child and the son that he always wanted to take his place as King of England.

Edward’s mum was Henry’s third wife Jane Seymour who died only weeks after Edward was born.

He didn’t have long as the Kings’ favourite child before he had to step up and be King of England. He was only 9 years old when Henry died and Edward was made king!

His reign didn’t last very long though, he died when he was 15 years old which is when his sister, Queen Mary I, took the throne.