Mary Tudor
Queen Mary I ("Bloody" Mary)
Queen Mary I, (Mary Tudor, or "Bloody" Mary), was the second doll to be issued in the second series of famous british queens. This 8 inch tall doll, issued in December 1978/January 1979, would have cost the collector £36.00, ($95.00). Mary's rich Tudor costume is fashioned from brocades and crushed velvets, and was described as "a faithful replica of the famous portrait of 1544 by an unknown artist..."
Mary Tudor was the elder daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. She had suffered an appaling childhood, being neglected and persecuted after Henry divorced her mother, and married Anne Boleyn, when she was later declared illegitemate.
Mary was a devout Catholic, as was her mother, and when she became Queen as a 37 year old in July 1553, her whole aim was to enforce the conversion of England to Catholicism. The country was plunged into a bloodbath, and she earned the title "Bloody" Mary, because of her persecution of the protestants.
Her July 1554 marriage to Philip, heir to the Spanish throne, and 11 years her junior, was an unhappy one, although she was devoted to him. Philip left her after just over a year of marriage, and returned to Spain, leaving her broken hearted.
In September 1544, Mary appeared to be entering the first stages of pregnancy, which continued until July 1555 - now considered to have been a false pregnancy. Following a visit from Philip in March-July 1557, Mary again appeared to be pregnant, but no child was born. She was weak and ill from May 1558, and died aged 42 at St James's Palace on 17th November 1558, possibly of ovarian cysts or uterine cancer.
News
21st September 2023
Important Announcement
My dear wife, Christine, passed away on the 8th December, 2021, after 8 weeks in hospital. I was by her side, when she slipped away from me peacefully, with no pain or suffering.
Chris had been struggling with a slow decline in health, associated with a progressive, untreatable, and ultimately terminal lung disease, and finally succumbed to her old adversary, Pneumonia.
We had been friends for 55 years, together as a couple for 50 years, and married just a month short of 48 years, when she died.
This website was Chris's idea, and I did all the technical stuff, to make it work. After news of Chris's passing reached her close friends in the doll collecting world, I was deeply touched and gratified to hear their tributes to my dear wife, and I must thank them all for their kindness and support. Ultimately, it was her doll friends that gave me the courage to continue with the website.
In the months before her eventual hospitalisation, Chris had outlined a number of additions and changes she wanted to make to the website, and it is my intention to honour those wishes, and to implement the changes we had considered, over the coming weeks and months.
I must apologise to all those who have written to us via the website, only to have your emails go unanswered. Unfortunately, the email system had been hacked aroung the time Chris was going into hospital, and many emails must have been lost, as a result.
As you might imagine, I felt completely broken by Chris's loss, and it is only now, almost 22 months after her passing, that I have felt strong enough to even look at the website again.
My aim is to continue with the website, and to implement Chris's aims for her many new ideas as soon as I can. In the meantime, I have hopefully got the email system sorted out, and I will attempt to answer any enquiries as soon as I can, and to send replies with the same high degree of accuracy that a reply from Chris would have had.
From now on, I will be flying solo, whilst my co-pilot and guide will be soaring much higher, (though she is always in my heart, and in my thoughts).
My thanks to all our website visitors for your continued support
Dave (also known as Arthur), and Chris, (my lost love, Guinevere)
Christine Poulten
25th December 1949 - 8th December 2021
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