Jane Seymour (1508 – 24 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of Henry VIII. She succeeded Anne Boleyn as queen consort following the latter's execution in 1536. She died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of her only child, Edward VI.

Jane Seymour was the daughter of Sir John Seymour of Wiltshire and Margery Wentworth. Through her maternal grandfather, she was a distant descendant of Edward III of England and also the Percy family. Because of this, she and King Henry VIII were fifth cousins three times removed. She was a second cousin to her predecessor Anne Boleyn through their mutual great-grandmother, Elizabeth Cheney. Her exact birth date is debated; it is usually given as 1509, but it has been noted that at her funeral 29 women walked in succession. Since it was customary for the attendant company to mark every year of the deceased's life in numbers, this implies she was born in 1508.

She was not educated as highly as Henry's previous wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. She could only read and write her name. Instead, she was taught in needlework and household management, which was popular at that time for women. She became a maid-of-honour in 1532, in the last year of Catherine's reign. After Catherine's marriage to Henry was annulled by the Church of England and Anne Boleyn became queen, Seymour served Boleyn instead. The first report of Henry VIII's interest in Jane Seymour was in February 1536. Jane Seymour was noted to be pale and blonde, the opposite of Anne Boleyn's dark hair and olive skin.