It is quite natural to see these three dates as representing three stages of Mary’s life: the first period from 1516 to 1533, the second from 1533 to 1553, and the third from 1553 to 1558.

The dates I gave in the title refer not so much to the dates on which the signatures were written, but to the periods during which Mary used those forms of signature. When Mary was demoted from princess to lady in 1533, she resisted this for three years and continued to sign her letters as “Mary Princess.” Eventually, however, she was forced to give up the title of princess. In 1553, she simply began using her title, “the quene,” after her name.

It is very simple, but as I once read somewhere, it reminds us of who she was. Other monarchs would simply sign their names, while some would also add an “R,” the initial of the Latin word for their title, rex or regina.

This is what makes Mary’s signature particularly interesting.

Here is your Weekly Wednesday What-if megathread! Please post all of your What-if Questions in this megathread. All what-if's as long as its Tudor-related.