Representing succession: Tudor royal portraits, 1544–1546: context, production and analysis

In preparation for an invasion of France in 1544, Henry VIII signed his third Act of Succession, an inflexion point in his reign which established his two daughters, formerly declared illegitimate, as official heirs to his kingdom. This inclusion had been vigorously advocated by their stepmother, Henry’s sixth queen, Kateryn Parr (1512–1548). Evidence suggests that it was Kateryn, who helped achieve for Mary and Elizabeth the dynastic legitimacy that secured their subsequent reigns. In celebration of this achievement, between 1544 and 1546, evidence also suggests that it was the queen who was instrumental in commissioning a campaign of portraits of her stepchildren as a visual affirmation of their enhanced status. Her use of portraiture to support political goals, beginning with the French invasion, prefaced her protégée Princess Elizabeth’s own use of that art during her reign. Within the context of the 1544 Act of Succession and the events surrounding it, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the production and political role played by this royal portraiture and to examine not only what history can tell us about the commissioning of the portraits but what the portraits can tell us about the intentions and goals of the commissioner.