On the afternoon of Monday 10th July 1553 a party of people arrived at the Tower of London by barge. The party consisted of Lady Jane Grey, her husband Guildford Dudley, her parents and Guildford’s mother, and they had travelled from Syon.

At the Tower, they were greeted by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland (Guildford’s father) and a group of councillors. As the party made their way through the Tower gates, a canopy of state was held over the new queen, Queen Jane, and her husband.

As the procession reached the Tower there was a gun salute and trumpets blasted to silence the crowd. Two heralds then proclaimed that Lady Jane Grey was now Queen of England, before they moved on to proclaim their message in Cheapside and Fleet Street. At Cheapside, a boy declared that it was Mary who was the rightful queen and he was punished the next morning by having his ears cut off.

On this very same day, the letter written by Mary the previous day arrived – see Mary Writes to the Privy Council. It informed the council that she was the rightful heir to the throne, not Jane, and demanded their support. As Jane was proclaimed Queen in London, Mary was gathering support for her cause in East Anglia, Jane was going to have a fight on her hands.

See Lady Jane Grey Proclaimed Queen for more details and also Tamise Hill’s excellent article on Lady Jane Grey’s arrival at the Tower – 10 July 1553 – Jane the Quene.