A HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX 



George II,"' but the queen's rooms appear to have 

 been among those destroyed to make way for 

 Wren's new building. The bed in which 

 Edward VI was born and Jane Seymour died was 

 to be seen in the palace in Queen Elizabeth's 

 time.' M 



The christening took place on the Monday fol- 

 lowing in the chapel at Hampton Court, and a 

 long account is given in the ' Preparations ordained 

 for the said christening at Hampton Court,' '*' in 

 which the course of the procession, the decorations 

 of the chapel, and the positions occupied by the 

 Officers of the Household are minutely described.'"' 



The procession " 3 started from the ' Prince's 

 Lodgynges,' situated to the north of the Chapel 



HAMPTON COURT PALACE : CLOCK COURT FROM THE COLONNADE 



Court, and passed through the ' Council Chamber,' 

 vhere it was joined by the Officers of the House- 

 hold, the children and ministers of the chapel, the 

 king's council, and the other great lords, spiritual 

 and temporal, the ambassadors and their suites, the 

 chamberlains of the king and queen, and the 

 Lord High Chamberlain of England, Cromwell, 

 Lord Privy Seal, the Lord Chancellor, the Duke 

 of Norfolk, and the Archbishop of Canterbury. 



The ' chrysom richly garnished ' was borne by the 

 Lady Elizabeth, the king's daughter, being herself 

 carried by Lords Beauchamp and Morley. The 

 prince was carried by the Marchioness of Exeter, 

 'assisted by the Duke of Suffolk and the Lord 

 Marquis her husband.' A rich canopy was borne 

 over the prince by four gentlemen of the King's 

 Privy Chamber." 4 



' The Lady Mary, the king's daughter, was ap- 

 pointed for the lady Godmother,' and a vast num- 

 ber of ladies of honour and gentlewomen followed 

 her. 



The procession, leaving the Council Chamber, 

 passed through part of the room now known as ' the 

 Haunted Gallery,' and so into the ' King's Great 

 Watching Chamber' at the 

 upper end of the Great Hall. 

 They entered the hall through 

 a door, now hidden by tapes- 

 try, and passed down the 

 stairs under Anne Boleyn's 

 Gateway into the Clock 

 Court, and so through the 

 cloisters to the chapel door." 5 " 

 All the way was lined with 

 men-at-arms, attendants and 

 servants holding torches. The 

 ground of the courtyard was 

 strewn with rushes, and bar- 

 riers, covered with rich hang- 

 ings, were erected to keep 

 back the spectators, who were 

 all inhabitants of the palace, 

 as access to the court was 

 forbidden to others on ac- 

 count of infection from the 

 plague which prevailed at 

 the time.* 54 The decorations 

 of the entrance and of the 

 chapel itself were of ' rich 

 cloth of gold or arras and 

 tapestries,' the floor ' boarded 

 and covered with carpets,' the 

 ' high altar richly garnished 

 with plate and stuff." In the 

 middle of the choir the font 

 of ' solid silver gilt was set 

 upon a mount or stage,' and 

 over it 'a rich canopy.' The 

 Te Dtum was sung by the 



choir, and then the prince was baptized with the 

 usual elaborate ceremonial. After the christening 

 the torches were all lighted, and Garter King-at- 

 Arms proclaimed the prince's name and style. The 

 procession then re-formed, carrying with them the 

 christening gifts, and proceeded to the queen's bed- 

 chamber, where the king and queen awaited their 

 son, and he ' received the blessing of Almighty 

 God, Our Lady and St. George, and his father and 



*" Now private apartments occupied Add. MSS. B. M.6i 1 3, fol. 8 1 ; Nichols, 



by Mrs. Keate, widow of the late R. W. Lit. Remaim of Edio. VI, p. cclv. 



Keate, successively Governor of Trini- " For description of the chapel see 



dad, Natal, and Western Africa. p. 388. Only the roof now remains as 



M0 Hentzner, Journey inn Engl. (ed. 



'757)> *'-* 



L. and P. Hen. VIII, xii, 91 1, from 



it was then. 



* For a full account of the ceremony 

 see Nichols, op. cit. ii, p. ccliv. 



33 6 



854 See engraving in Law, op. cit. i, 

 187. 



354 This part of the palace (the 

 cloisters, &c.) is totally different from 

 what it was at that period. 



Nichols, Lit. Rmaini of Edv>. VI* 

 p. cclxii. 



