Lady Jane Grey was born in October 1537, in Bradgate Park, Leicestershire, England. She was the eldest daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and Lady Frances Brandon, who was the daughter of King Henry VIII's younger sister, Mary Tudor.

Lady Jane Grey's early years were marked by her family's position at the center of Tudor power. Her parents were both close to the royal family, and Lady Jane was brought up in the company of royalty. She was educated in the classics and in the Protestant faith, which was a departure from the traditional Catholicism of the Tudor court.

In 1547, King Henry VIII died and was succeeded by his young son, King Edward VI. Lady Jane Grey became a ward of the new king's uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, who was also Lord Protector of England. The Duke of Somerset arranged for Lady Jane to marry his son, Lord Guildford Dudley, in the hope of strengthening his own position at court.

Lady Jane Grey's relationship with King Edward VI was that of a cousin and a friend. As children, they had played together and had been educated together under the tutelage of John Aylmer, a prominent Protestant scholar.

Edward VI and Lady Jane shared a deep commitment to Protestantism, which was a source of tension with the rest of the Tudor court, which remained predominantly Catholic. Edward admired Lady Jane's intellect and her religious devotion, and he was said to have been impressed by her ability to speak Latin and Greek fluently.

In his final days, as Edward VI realized that he would not recover from his illness, he was determined to prevent his Catholic half-sister Mary from taking the throne and undoing his Protestant reforms. He believed that Lady Jane, as a committed Protestant and a highly educated young woman, was the best candidate to succeed him.

Edward VI bypassed the traditional order of succession, which would have put Mary on the throne after his death, and named Lady Jane Grey as his heir. However, this decision was met with resistance and ultimately proved unsuccessful, as Mary Tudor was able to gather support and claim the throne for herself.

In 1553, King Edward VI became gravely ill and realized he would not recover. He feared that his half-sister Mary, a devout Catholic, would reverse the Protestant reforms he had initiated during his reign. To prevent this, Edward named Lady Jane Grey as his successor, bypassing his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth in the line of succession.

When King Edward VI died in 1553, Lady Jane Grey's father, the Duke of Suffolk, and his allies were instrumental in getting her proclaimed as queen. They saw her as a means to maintain their power and influence at court, and they believed that her Protestant beliefs would be a bulwark against the Catholicism of Mary Tudor, who was next in line for the throne.

Lady Jane was reluctant to accept the crown, as she knew that her claim to the throne was tenuous and that Mary Tudor had significant support among the Catholic nobility and the common people. She is said to have wept bitterly when she was told of Edward's death and of her own proclamation as queen, and she later wrote that she had been "forced and constrained" to accept the crown against her will.

Lady Jane was proclaimed queen on July 10, 1553, but her reign was short-lived. Mary Tudor, who had strong support among the Catholic nobility and the common people, gathered an army and marched on London. Lady Jane's supporters quickly deserted her, and she was deposed just nine days after she had been proclaimed queen. Mary Tudor was crowned queen on October 1, 1553.

Lady Jane Grey was imprisoned in the Tower of London, along with her husband and her father. In February 1554, they were all accused of treason and sentenced to death. Lady Jane Grey was beheaded on February 12, 1554, at the age of 16.