Expert: Mark Smith - 11/10/2007

Question
can u pls tell me what happened to katherine parr after henry died.  is there any record of her life?

Answer
Hello Isabel.
Katherine Parr's life after King Henry's death seemed, at first, to be a happy one. In April 1547, just three months after becoming a widow, she married Sir Thomas Seymour, Baron Sudeley the Lord High Admiral. He was the uncle of the new King Edward VI and the brother of the Lord Protector Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset (their sister had been Jane Seymour). Early in 1548 the 14 year old Princess Elizabeth came to live with them, Katherine was her stepmother. Here the trouble began. Lord Sudeley, who was over 40, attempted to seduce the young Princess and she foolishly allowed him to become too familiar with her. At this time Katherine became pregnant and one theory is that if she died in childbirth Lord Sudeley could marry Princess Elizabeth and become almost as powerful as his brother the Lord Protector. However Katherine found out what was going on and sent Elizabeth away in the summer of 1548.
On 30 August she gave birth to a girl, whom they named Mary, at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire. But Katherine did not long survive the birth, she contracted puerperal fever, a common killer of new mothers, and she died on 5 September aged about 36. It is not clear what became of her daughter, but it's likely that she died a few years later.
Katherine is buried in the chapel at Sudeley Castle.