Lady Jane's Ghost

The Tower of London is haunted by a multitude of ghosts.   It is no surprise that the tower crawls with ghosts, since the suffering of legions waiting for death and torture occurred in this stone structure.   The ground is saturated with the blood of those who practiced the wrong faith or followed the wrong kings.   Lady Jane Grey is one of the many ghosts that walks the halls of  The Tower of London.  She is also one of the most tragic figures that wanders the tower.

Lady Jane Grey was a victim of  her plotting uncle.  He wanted to take the throne from Mary Tudor, the daughter of Henry VIII, before Mary succeeded the throne.  Lady Jane was the granddaughter of Henry VII and was thus loosely connected to the succession.  Lady Jane's uncle married her to Guildford Dudley and the two claimed the throne of England.  The two young people were idealists and believed they were taking the throne to save England from the Catholic leanings of Mary Tudor.   Jane Grey was only 16 when she took the throne.   She was deeply in love with her husband and completely unaware of weakness of her claim.   She was an intellectual who loved books and a romantic who believed that she and her husband could change England for the better.  She ruled for nine days before Mary Tudor claimed the throne.  

Jane was forced to watch her husband die before she was executed in the tower for treason.  She prayed as she was taken to the slab.   She was beheaded on Tower Hill on February 12, 1554.   Since that time she has been seen wandering the tower on many occasions.   Guildford Dudley has also been seen weeping in the tower.   The best documented siting of Lady Jane occurred on February 12, 1957.  A guard saw the phantom lady standing above him in the battlements.  He called out to the other guard and he also saw the lonely lady walking above them in the cold night air.