Thomas Keyes was the Royal Gatekeeper to the Queen regnant

Queen regnant

A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....

, Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

. He married her Majesty's cousin, Lady Mary Grey in 1564 without her consent. Upon hearing the ill-advised ceremony had taken place, Elizabeth is said to have declared with great wrath, "... I'll have no little bastard Keyes laying claims to my throne." For this, Lady Mary Grey was placed on house arrest

House arrest

In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...

 until Thomas Keyes' death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

 in 1572.

Life

The son of Richard Keyes and probably Agnes Saunders, Thomas Keyes was born in England, possibly London, as his father was a Yeoman to Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...

 around the time of his birth. Richard Keyes later held the office of Serjeant of Arms. Thomas matched his father's career by serving as a Member of Parliament (MP) in 1554, Serjeant Porter and also Deputy Master of the Horse for Queen Elizabeth I.

Burghley observed that the secret marriage was "...an unhappy chance & monstrous..."; owing, no doubt, to the contrast in their physical statures - Keyes stood 6 ft 8 in tall in stockinged feet, "...with a girth to match"; the Lady Mary, who suffered a rather severe form of spinal curvature, was described as "dwarf-like" and by the Spanish Ambassador as "...little, crook-backed, & very ugly..." [Calendar of State Papers, Spanish Series.]

Keyes was appointed to a position in Court by Henry VIII, September 1548. He also succeeded his father, Richard Keyes, as Captain of Sandgate Castle, Kent (which Richard built for Henry VIII). He was M.P. for Hythe, Co Kent, in 1554, when summoned, as a Warden of the Cinq Ports, during the Wyatt rebellion, & "...took some share in suppressing that rising."

In Queen Elizabeth's General Pardon Roll of 15 Jan 1559, he was recorded as "Captain of Sandgate Castle, Foulkstone, Kent, now Serjeant-Usher of the Household, late of St Radigund's, in Poulton, Co Kent."
In Aug 1562, he was appointed deputy to Lord Robert Dudley, Master of the Queen's Horse, with a brief to report on movements of all horses through the port of Dover.

For his "monstrous" act of lese-majeste, he was committed to the Fleet Prison

Fleet Prison

Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the Fleet River in London. The prison was built in 1197 and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.- History :...

, in close confinement. His numerous pleas to Lord Burghley fell on deaf ears. But on Archbishop Grindal's recommendation, he was eventually released, in 1568, on orders to live quietly in Lewisham

Lewisham

Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...

. He was again appointed Captain of Sandgate Castle

Sandgate Castle

Sandgate Castle is a coastal castle at Sandgate near Folkestone in Kent. It was originally built as an artillery castle in 1539-1540 by Henry VIII of England as part of his chain of coastal defences in response to the threat of invasion. As these forts were devised by Henry VIII, they are known as...

on the threat of a French-Spanish alliance, 1569.

Thomas Keyes, the Sergeant-Porter, died on or shortly before 5 September 1571.

Family

He married 2ndly, as a widowered father of a grown family, on 10 August 1564, at 9.00 p.m. and by candlelight, in his apartments over the Watergate at Westminster, to the Lady Mary Grey.