On the morning of 12 February 1554, Jane Grey, then known as 'Jane Dudley', was spending her last hours within the Tower of London, where she had been held prisoner the previous seven months. Just before 10 o'clock, fellow prisoner and her husband of less than a year, Guildford Dudley, was led from the Tower to nearby Tower Hill, where he was beheaded. A short time later, Jane herself was taken to a scaffold that had been erected on Tower Green, where he was also beheaded.

On 13 February 1542, Jane Parker, Viscountess Rochford, was led to a scaffold that had been erected on Tower Green...