SPELTHORNE HUNDRED 



mother." The trumpets meanwhile 'standing in 

 the outer court with the gate, there blowing and 

 the minstrels playing, which was a melodious thing 

 to hear,' '" but it is hardly surprising that the ex- 

 citement proved too great for the health of the 

 queen. She did not die, as has been sometimes 

 stated, at the birth of her son, or two days after," 8 

 but on 24 October, nearly a fortnight later.' 59 



The king may have been sincerely distressed by 

 her death ; he ' retired to a solitary place to pass 

 his sorrows,' wo and wrote to Francis I of the 

 ' bitterness of the death of her who brought me 

 this happiness.' m Her body was embalmed, and 

 her heart, &c., ' were honourably interred in the 

 chapel.' On 26 October the corpse was laid on a 

 hearse, surrounded with tapers, in her room, and 

 all the ladies and gentlemen of the court ' doing 

 on their mourning habit and white kerchers 

 hanging over their heads and shoulders,' knelt 

 about it during mass and Dirige. A watch was kept 

 about it till the last day of the month, when it 

 was removed to the chapel with much ceremony. 

 ' The great chamber and galleries leading to the 

 chapel and the chapel itself were hung with black 

 cloth and garnished with rich images.' The 

 hearse prepared in the chapel had eight banner- 

 rolls with 'rachments and majestye.' 'The king's 

 officers and servants stood in double rank with 

 tapers lighted, and the procession formed, first the 

 cross, with priests two and two, then gentlemen, 

 esquires, pursuivants, and heralds, then the noble- 

 men, then Garter, then the Earl of Rutland the 

 Queen's Chamberlain, and the Duke of Norfolk, 

 then the corpse, then the chief mourner (Lady 

 Exeter representing the Princess Mary) assisted by 

 two noblemen as earls, then eight noble ladies, 

 mourners. The corpse was received in the chapel 

 by the prelates and placed in the hearse, Lancaster 

 Herald said with a loud voice " Of your charity 

 pray for the soul, &c." Then Dirige was sung and 

 all departed to the Queen's Chamber.' K ' Solemn 

 masses were sung every day, and a constant watch 

 kept at night by the gentlemen, in the day by the 

 ladies of the household until Monday, 12 Novem- 

 ber, when the corpse was removed in a chariot 

 drawn by six horses, with four banners borne by 

 four barons. A long account of the procession is 

 given in the Letters and Papers, and the route 

 through Colbrooke and Eton to Windsor described, 

 many people coming out to meet it with signs of 

 mourning. On the following day the late queen 



HAMPTON 



was solemnly buried in St. George's Chapel at 

 twelve o'clock in the morning. J6B 



Orders were sent to all the peers and noblemen 

 ' to attend at Hampton Court and so to Windsor 

 for the Queen's funeral, on 9 November.' * 64 Jane 

 Seymour's arms still remain, impaled with those 

 of the king, at the entrance to the chapel. 164 



Henry seems for a time to have left the palace 

 as a sort of nursery for his son. 16 * The ambassa- 

 dors were occasionally invited there to see the 

 prince.* 67 In November 1539 the king came to 

 Hampton Court while waiting for the arrival of 

 Anne of Cleves.' 68 He never brought her there, 

 but she stayed there by herself for some days 

 before the decree of divorce was pronounced in 

 July I540.* 69 She then retired to Richmond, and 

 Henry arrived shortly afterwards to spend his 

 honeymoon with Katherine Howard. They had 

 been married privately at Oatlands on 28 July, 270 

 and on 8 August she appeared openly as queen, 

 and sat next to the king in the royal closet in 

 the chapel. 271 She afterwards dined in public at 

 one of Henry's characteristic Hampton Court 

 banquets, and the Princess Elizabeth appeared, 

 apparently for the first time in public, with her.' 78 

 Henry and Katherine then started on a royal pro- 

 gress, visiting the king's numerous palaces and 

 other places, and returning to Hampton Court on 

 19 December. 273 They remained there in some 

 seclusion for several months." 4 The Privy Council, 

 with the king presiding, met almost daily during 

 this period. A chapter of the Garter was held at 

 Hampton Court, apparently for the first time, on 

 9 January 1541, when the Earl of Hertford was 

 elected to a vacant stall in the order.*" 5 There is 

 an amusing entry of six pasties of venison being 

 solemnly presented to the king by Marillac, the 

 French ambassador, who went to Hampton Court 

 on purpose, and the king told him the next day 

 that he had ' tasted the venison and found it mar- 

 vellously good.' ' 76 Marillac also writes of a great 

 excitement when two gentlemen of the court were 

 unexpectedly ' led prisoners from Hampton Court 

 to London, with their hands bound, and con- 

 ducted by twenty-four archers to the Tower.' * 77 

 Marillac was not certain of their identity, but they 

 seem to have been Sir Thomas Wyatt and Sir John 

 Wallop, the friends of Cromwell, who were accused 

 of a ' traitorous correspondence ' with Reginald 

 Pole, but they both received the king's pardon 

 shortly afterwards.' 78 



*>? Law, op. cit. i, 190. 



"* Hall, Cbron. ; L. and P. Htn. Vlll, 

 xii, 970-1, 1060. 



!M Ibid. 



M Ibid. 



M1 Ibid. 970. 



iM Ibid. 1060, from a Heralds' Col- 

 lege MS. i, 1 1, fol. 27. 



* Ibid. 



*M L. and P. Hen. VIII, xii, 1 6 1 2, Ac. 



Ms Henry had just completed the 

 Great Hall and the alterations in the 

 chapel. It is perhaps worthy of re- 

 mark that Jane Seymour was the only 

 one of his queens for whom Henry 

 wore mourning, and according to his 

 own directions he was buried by her 



side at Windsor ; Diet. Nat. Siog. 

 'Henry VIII ' and 'Jane Seymour. 1 



266 For early life of Edw. VI passed 

 at Hampton Court see p. 340. 



W L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xiii, 323, 388, 

 402 ; xiv, 126, &c. 



868 Ibid, xiv, 508, 607. 



M9 Some of the proceedings about 

 the divorce took place * in a certain lofty 

 and ornate chamber within the honour 

 of Hampton Court' ; ibid. XT, 92$. 



170 Rep. Pub. Rec. iii, App. ii, 264. 



V 1 Stowe, Ann. fol. 581 (ed. 1631) ; 

 Wriothesley, Cbron. (Camd. Soc.), 122, 

 On 15 Aug. she was prayed for in all 

 the churches as queen ; Diet. Nat. Biog. 

 ' Katherine Howard.' 



337 



a;a Her appearance at the christening 

 of Edward VI was really the first, but 

 she was then a child in arms. 



Proc. ofP.C. vii, 93. 



* Ibid. 93-150. 



a ' 5 L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xvi, 2 1 8. 



2 " 6 Ibid, xvi, 449, Jan. 1541. In 

 Mar. 1541 the king was laid up 

 with an illness at Hampton Court, and 

 seems to have conceived a great dis- 

 trust of his advisers, caused no doubt 

 by news of a fresh rising in the north. 

 ' Shrovetide was spent without recrea- 

 tion ' ; ibid, xvi, $89. 



*" Ibid, xvi, 227, 466. 



W Diet. Nat. Biog. Sir Thomas, 

 Wyatt ' ; 'Sir John Wallop.' 



43 



