SPELTHORNE HUNDRED 



There seems to be no record that Mary ever 

 made Hampton Court her residence until she went 

 there to spend the first part of her married life 

 with Philip of Spain. On 23 August 1554, a few 

 days after their state entry into London, they 

 arrived at the palace, and, the court being in 

 mourning at the time, lived in a very retired 

 manner for some weeks.* 60 It was perhaps the 

 happiest period of Mary's ill-starred existence, but 

 the people had become accustomed to the gorgeous- 

 ness of the Tudor display, and her retirement did 

 not make the marriage more popular. 3 " 



In April 1555 Mary returned to Hampton 

 Court, to await the birth of her child, 561 all pre- 

 parations were made, the nurseries were opened, 

 and 'a cradle sumptuouslie and gorgeouslie trimmed' 

 was ready. 363 Copies of the letters drawn up to 

 announce the child's birth to all the foreign 

 powers are still extant among the State Papers, 

 ' from her Majesty's Manor of Hampton Court,' 

 but with the date left blank. 364 There is an account 

 in Holinshed's Chronicle of a scene on St. George's 

 Day, 23 April 1555, when Philip, after attending 

 high mass at the chapel in state, wearing his robes 

 as Sovereign of the Order of the Garter, with the 

 Lord Chancellor (Bishop Gardiner) in his mitre, 

 the other knights of the order, and the lords of 

 the council, also in their robes with crosses, ' and 

 clarkes and prestes,' went in procession round the 

 cloisters and courts of the palace, the thurifers 

 swinging censers and the clergy in copes of gold 

 and tissue. They marched through the old Inner 

 Court where the present Fountain Court now 

 stands and Mary, wishing to show her reverence 

 for the ceremony, watched the procession from a 

 window, so that she was seen ' by hundreds.' This 

 was considered a serious breach of etiquette. 3 " It 

 was at this time that Elizabeth arrived at the 

 palace, and the much-discussed reconciliation took 

 place between the sisters. Thomas Wharton, in 

 his Life of Sir Thomas Pope, gives a picturesque 

 account of Elizabeth's reception at Hampton Court 

 at Christmas 1554 ; he describes 'the Great Hall 

 lit with a thousand lamps curiously disposed,' and 

 Elizabeth's dress of ' white satin strung over with 

 large pearls,' but there is no evidence for this. 3C5a 

 Philip and Mary were in London for Christmas 1554, 

 and Elizabeth was still a prisoner at Woodstock. 



HAMPTON 



She was summoned to Hampton Court, and arrived 

 on 25 April, under the escort of Sir Henry 

 Bedingfeld. 366 She found herself regarded as a 

 prisoner, entered by a back gate, was taken to her 

 apartments, and closely guarded. 367 The rooms she 

 was given appear to have been in the water 

 gallery, where there was a building isolated from 

 the rest of the palace. 368 There she was visited 

 by Philip, and afterwards by her great-uncle, Lord 

 William Howard, but she was otherwise kept in 

 solitude, until she had interviewed Gardiner, then 

 Lord Chancellor, and the other lords of the council, 

 who tried without success to make her acknowledge 

 complicity in the Wyatt rebellion. After she had 

 been at Hampton Court about three weeks she 

 was summoned by the queen one night at 10 

 o'clock, and was conducted across the garden by 

 Bedingfeld and one of the queen's ladies, while 

 the gentlemen ushers and grooms carried torches 

 before her. 369 She was taken to the queen's bed- 

 chamber, where she found Mary alone, seated on 

 a chair of state. Elizabeth, as usual, acquitted her- 

 self with great courage and prudence, maintaining 

 stoutly her innocence. The queen ended the 

 interview by saying ' Sabe Dios ' ' God knows,' 

 and then added, ' Whether innocent or guilty I 

 forgive you.' 37 A week after Elizabeth was set at 

 liberty, allowed to have a separate establishment, 

 and treated with deference as heir to the throne, 37 ' 

 although to the end of her life Mary refused to 

 abandon her hope of a child. Her health had 

 broken down completely, and the accounts of the 

 ambassadors who visited her at Hampton Court 

 give a terrible picture of her physical and mental 

 condition. 3 " Elizabeth remained at the palace, 

 attended mass in the chapel, and otherwise affected 

 a complete submission to her sister ; but when Mary 

 left for Oatlands on 3 August, Elizabeth asked and 

 received permission to retire from court. 5 " A 

 curious incident is recorded by Machyn, that when 

 Mary left the palace on this occasion, as she went 

 through the garden to enter her barge, she met a 

 cripple, who was so much overcome by his joy on 

 seeing her that he threw away his crutches and ran 

 after her. Mary appears to have looked on this as 

 a miracle, and gave him a reward from her privy 



374 



purse. 



Mary and Philip were at Hampton Court again 



" They left on 28 September, 

 Machyn's Diary (Camd. Soc.), 69. 



M1 There was some considerable 

 ceremony on 2 September, when Sir 

 Anthony Browne was created Viscount 

 Montague. He was Master of the 

 Horse, and Lieutenant of the Honour 

 of Hampton Court j Cal. S.P. Dom. 

 1547-80, p. 63. 



863 Courtenay was admitted to kiss 

 hands before his departure as ambassa- 

 dor to the Netherlands, and the Duke 

 of Alva paid a short visit to Philip; 

 Wiesener, Touth of Queen Elix. ii, 154, 

 158, &c. 



" 8 Holinshed, Chron. (ed. 1808), 

 iv, 69. 



8IH S.P. Dom. Mary, v, 28, 32. 



865 Machyn i Diary (Camd. Soc.), 85. 



8651 It is also mentioned with further 



detail in Mr. Shaw's MS. coll., but he 

 does not give his authority. 



866 Wriothesley, Chron. ii, 128. 



867 Heywood, England" i Elix. 191; 

 vide also Wiesener, La Jeumsse 

 if Elisabeth (ed. 1878), 310; Fried- 

 mann, Dipfches de Micbiel, 36. 



sea A few years ago remains of the 

 ancient water-gate, or rather of its 

 foundations, were found under the 

 towing-path, just beyond the present 

 water-gallery, which dates from the 

 time of William and Mary. 



M Holinshed, Chron. ; Heywood, 

 England 1 ! Elix. ; Foxe, Acts and 

 Monuments, viii, 621, cit. Law, Hist, of 

 Ham f ton Court Palace, i, 274. 



70 Foxe and Heywood (vide supra) 

 both declare that Philip was concealed 

 behind the arras on this occasion and 



343 



heard all that passed. He was said to 

 be tbnd of such tortuous methods of 

 obtaining information ; vide Strick- 

 land, Lives of the Queens of Engl. 

 iv, 108. 



871 Leti, Vie Elisabeth, 267. 



*!* Cal. S.P. Venetian, 1553-4, p. 

 532; Holinshed, Cbron. iii, 1160 ; Cal. 

 S.P. Foreign, Introd. p. Ixziii ; Am- 

 bassades de Noailles, iv, 342, cit. Law, 

 op. cit. i, 277. In Mary's will, dated 

 seven months before her death, she 

 made provision for settling the Crown 

 on her issue ; Madden, Privy Purse 

 Expenses of Mary, App. 



? S.P. Dom. Mary, v, 48 ; Machyn's 

 Diary (Camd. Soc.), 92. 



"< Mschyn's Diary (Camd. Soc.), 

 92. 



