Lady Jane Grey was only seventeen years old when this tragic event took place. She was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII, and was chosen as the successor to Edward VI, who reigned from when he was nine until he died of illness at the age of fifteen. Edward VI was the first English monarch to be raised as a protestant, and when his illness proved to be terminal, he pointed to Lady Jane Grey as the next ruler, side-stepping his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth. After the death of Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey reigned for only 9 days, before Mary reclaimed the throne. Jane gave it up voluntarily, but was nonetheless imprisoned in the Tower of London together with her husband and father, accused of high treason. On Friday 12 February 1554, Lady Jane Grey and her husband, Lord Guilford Dudley were beheaded on Mary's order. Delaroche hauntingly captures her final moments as she blindly reaches for the block in front of her.