Mary Tudor - Anna Whitelock [126]
MARY WAS EXPECTED to give birth on or before May 9. The chamber and nursery were made ready, the chief gentlewomen of the kingdom summoned to witness the birth, wet nurses and rockers put on standby, and the royal cradle “sumptuously and gorgeously trimmed” and a Latin verse and English translation inlaid upon it:
The child which thou to Mary, O Lord of might! hast send,
To England’s joy, in health preserve, keepe, and defend!9
A series of letters announcing the baby’s safe arrival was prepared and signed by Mary herself, ready to be sent to the pope, the emperor, the king of France, the doge of Venice, and the queen regent of Flanders. In most, the sex of the child and date of delivery were left blank to be filled in by clerks at the last minute, but the letter to the pope specifically informed “his Holiness” of the “happy delivery of a prince.”10
Because of the dangers of childbirth, provision was made in the event of Mary’s death for Philip to be made guardian of the realm during the minority of the expected child. He would still be confined within the limits of the marriage treaty and could not call Parliament, declare war, or arrange for a marriage of his heir without the consent of a council of eighteen peers.11 The final bill of regency justified the need to avoid the “dolorous experience of the inconstant government during the time of the reign of the late King Edward the sixth.” For this and other reasons, the king was to have charge of “the rule, order, education and government” of any children and the “rule, order and government (under such issue or issues)” of the realm during the minority of the heir.12
Finally, at the beginning of April, the king and queen moved to Hampton Court in advance of Mary’s confinement. Mary preferred Windsor, but it was considered too far from London for her to be secure. At Hampton Court she would have the protection of her full guard and have closer access to the troops from the city and the arsenal at the Tower.
Two weeks later, Mary underwent the usual ceremonies in advance of “the lying-in” and withdrew to her chamber with her ladies and gentlewomen. On Saint George’s Day, April 23, she showed herself at a window of the palace as she watched Philip lead the celebrations of the Garter, in which the king, Gardiner, the lord chancellor, knights and lords, and numerous clerks and priests, dressed in copes of cloth of gold, processed with three crosses, singing “Salve Festa Dies.” As Mary looked out from her chamber she turned side-on to show off her great belly—“that a hundred did see her grace.”13
While Mary prepared for the birth, Elizabeth was summoned to court from Woodstock.14 She arrived in late April and repaired to the prince of Wales’s lodging, which had been built for her brother, Edward. It was more than two years since the sisters had seen each other, but after arriving at court Elizabeth was kept waiting three weeks before Mary agreed to see her. Then, at ten at night, Elizabeth received her summons. With guards bearing torches, she was escorted through the garden to the privy lodging and, accompanied by Susan Clarencius, Mary’s favorite woman, was ushered into the queen’s presence.
Elizabeth knelt while Mary spoke over her, chiding her for her refusal to acknowledge her offense in Wyatt’s rebellion. “You will not confess your offence, but it stands stoutly in your truth. I pray God it may so fall out,” she told her. “If it doth not,” Elizabeth answered resolutely, “I request neither favour nor pardon at your Majesty’s hands…. I humbly beseech your Majesty to have a good opinion of me, and to think me to be your true subject, not only from the beginning hitherto, but for ever, as long as life lasteth.”15
As Mary and Elizabeth were finally reconciled, the country held its breath for the birth of its heir.
AT DAYBREAK ON Tuesday, April 30, bells rang out the news that Mary had safely delivered. Henry Machyn wrote in his diary, “the Queen’s grace