For more than three centuries, this very sober-looking Tudor portrait was confidently labeled Lady Jane Gray.

It appeared in books. It was engraved. It passed through aristocratic collections with its identity, apparently, fully settled.

And yet the woman in this painting almost certainly is not Lady Jane Gray at all. A growing number of

scholars are arguing that the sitter is actually Mary Neville, Lady Dacker. Once you see her story

clearly, the portrait suddenly makes far more sense. So grab a beverage, settle in, get cozy,

my friend, because today we are going to talk about Mary Neville and the mystery of this painting.

Hey friend, welcome back to the YouTube channel for the Renaissance English History Podcast.

I am your host, Heather.

I've been podcasting on

Tudor England since 2009 with my show, which makes it the original Tudor History podcast. I am, as

always, delighted that you are here with me today to talk about this mysterious painting and

Mary Neville. Let's get started. Mary Neville was born into a serious pedigree. She was the daughter of

George Neville, the 5th Baron Bergeny, and Mary Stafford, herself, the daughter of Edward Stafford, Duke of

Buckingham. On both sides, Mary descended from Edward III. This wasn't just some minor noble woman

scraping by unborrowed status. She had plantagenet blood,

powerful connections, and expectations to match. In 1536, she married Thomas Fine, the ninth Baron Dacker,

a young man already moving confidently within Henry VIII's court. He even sat on the jury that

convicted Anne Boleyn,

an unsettling footnote given what would follow. In 1541, Thomas Dacker was caught up in a disastrous

hunting incident. A gamekeeper was killed. Dacker and his companions were charged with murder.

He was a tainted, stripped of his lands and titles,

and executed at Tyburn just like a common criminal. Now, Mary was left widowed in her teens

...