Elizabeth Read Online Free Page B

a few months later, when, just days before her arrest, Henry VIII was angry at Anne Boleyn. Whether Elizabeth was old enough to recall it is unclear, but after she came to power in 1558, it was brought to her attention by Alexander Ales, a member of an embassy to the German Princes, who wrote to Elizabeth claiming: ‘… I saw the sainted Queen your mother, carrying you, still a little baby, in her arms, and entreating the most serene King your father … The faces and gestures of the speakers plainly showed the King was angry …’ 15
    Elizabeth was certainly aware of a change in attitude towards her. She is credited with saying to Sir John Shelton, who had been deputed to explain to her the changes in her lifestyle following her mother’s death, ‘How haps it, Governor, yesterday my Lady Princess, and today but my lady Elizabeth?’ 16
    Margaret Bryan, Kate Champernowne, Blanche Parry and others, still remained part of her immediate circle, but Elizabeth would never set eyes on her mother again, and she would see her father far less frequently. Her sister, Mary, was more kind to her, it was true, now that they were both victims of Court intrigue. And though both would have to cope with a string of further stepmothers, Jane Seymour was certainly considerate towards both Mary and Elizabeth.
    There were to be further changes in the Royal Court. In March 1537, Jane announced that she was pregnant, to Henry’s great pleasure. On 16 September, the Queen retired to Hampton Court, and on 9 October she went into labour, giving birth to a baby son, Edward, the new heir to the throne, at 2 a.m. on 12 October 1537.
    The Court and the city of London immediately burst into celebration. People poured into the streets to celebrate the news. Pork, supplied by the Court, was roasted over open fires and the water conduits ran with ale and wine. A special song was written and printed that soon flooded the city:
    ‘God save King Henry with all his power,
    And Prince Edward, that goodly flower,
    With all his lords of great honour … ’ 17
    On 15 October, the christening of the new prince took place in the chapel at Hampton Court. Henry and Jane remained in their apartments while the splendid procession wound its way down to the chapel. Among all the magnificence, the young Elizabeth played her part, carrying the christening robe. As she was barely four, Edward Seymour, Jane’s brother, carried her. On the way out, as the christened Prince Edward was carried back to his parents, little Elizabeth walked hand-in-hand with her sister Mary, also the baby’s godmother, helped by Blanche Herbert, who supported the train of her elaborate robes.
    This was another event that Elizabeth would remember: the kindness of her sister, the emotional tears of her father, the frailty of her stepmother, not yet recovered from the ordeal of childbirth, obliged to watch the procession from her rooms while wrapped in velvet and furs. A week later it was all over: on 24 October, the 29-year-old Jane Seymour died of puerperal fever – a form of septicaemia that often resulted after childbirth in those times. On12 November, Henry VIII’s third wife and the mother of his only legitimate son was given a magnificent funeral, attended by the whole of the Tudor Court. It may be safely assumed that Elizabeth was there: her sister, Mary, headed the cortege as Chief Mourner.

    Henry VIII was not in a hurry to choose his next Queen: he now had a legitimate male heir. He lavished love and care on his son, and also took time to consider how his daughters, illegitimate or not, could be used as political assets in terms of future alliances through marriage. Henry’s priority was to prevent an alliance between the great Catholic powers of France and Spain. With this in mind, he offered himself in marriage to various French princesses, and then tried to negotiate a marriage with the niece of Charles V.
    As for his daughters, in 1538, there was a suggestion that Elizabeth,