A letter from Queen Mary I about planned uprisings in Leicestershire and elsewhere has smashed expectations after going to auction. The letter, which was expected to fetch up to £20,000, eventually sold for nearly double that amount.

The letter is dated January 28, 1554, and signed ' Mary the quene'. It is addressed to William Paget, a 16th century diplomat and it is about what is now known as Wyatt's Rebellion. The rebellion, which failed, was prompted by Queen Mary's decision to marry the King of Spain and make England a Catholic country again.

Mary came to the throne after the nine-day reign of Lady Jane Grey, who grew up at Bradgate House, the ruins of which still stand in Bradgate Park. Lady Jane had been chosen because she was a Protestant but Mary, a Catholic, had a much stronger claim to the throne.

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A section of the 650-word letter

"And whereas our traitor the Duke of Suffolk forgetting his naturall dutie of allegiaunce to god and us and our great mercie and grace lately shewed unto him in pardonying his horrible treatson perpetrated with the traitor the late Duke of Northumberland against our Royall personne, hath with John Graye and Thomas Graye his bretherne and the Carewes and Wyat of Kent with others conspired togithere to stirre our subjects in Kent and elsewhere to rebell against us pretending upon false rumors spredd that the prince of Spayne and the Spaniards shulde come in to conquer this realme, whiche the saide traitors make their onely grounde to buylde their onely treason on, tending thereby to blynde our good subjects while in very dede they trayterousely propose tadvaunce the Ladie Jane his daughter and Guldeford Dudley her husband, the saide Duke of Northumberlands son."

The letter, which was auctioned on Wednesday (February 5) at Lyon and Turnbull auctioneers in London, shows just how seriously the Queen took the threat of the Wyatt Rebellion. In the letter she orders Paget to mobilize forces under the Earl of Huntingdon's command, stating he should gather "all the power and force of horsemen and footemen" possible.

Those backing the rebellion included Henry Grey, the father of Lady Jane, who Queen Mary describes as a "traitor". She claimed Grey had forgotten "his naturall dutie of allegiaunce" to Mary, who would go on to order the execution of 283 Protestants during her reign.

The historic document urges Paget to protect the "true Catholique religion". The letter, which is about 650 words, written over two sides of a single piece of paper, sold for £37,000.

The letter, penned on 28 January 1554, was addressed to William Paget, a diplomat and accountant who held notable positions in the courts of Edward VI, and her father, Henry VIII.
The letter, penned on 28 January 1554, was addressed to William Paget, a diplomat and accountant who held notable positions in the courts of Edward VI, and her father, Henry VIII.

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