Joan of Kent: The First Princess of Wales by Penny Lawne

Author:Penny Lawne [Lawne, Penny]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Amberley Publishing
Published: 2015-02-02T22:00:00+00:00

10

Return to England/

In Sickness and in Health

1371–1376

Alas what should I do, God, and love, if I were to lose the very flower of nobleness, the flower of loftiest grandeur, him who has no peer in the world in valour?

Chandos Herald

While there may have been some relief for Joan in leaving Aquitaine, she would have been grieving the death of her son, Edward, and there must surely have been a sense of anti-climax for her in their return. It was a sad day when her husband, ‘the flower of all the chivalry of the world’, returned an invalid, carried in a litter.1 In addition, the reports that she and the prince would have received from England would not have been reassuring. With Edward III in failing health, there was clearly a need for a strong lead to be taken, and the prince was not fit enough to do this. His illness was severe, and it was possible he would not recover. Would he live to succeed his father? In accompanying the prince back to England and leaving her son Edward to be buried by his uncle, Joan had shown that she considered her first duty and loyalty was to her husband, but she also had their only surviving son, Richard, to consider, and his future to secure. Still mourning, and faced with uncertainties, Joan’s role had become less clear-cut, and more challenging.

On their arrival back at Plymouth they were met by Sir Guy Brian, admiral of the fleet, on the king’s behalf, but the prince needed some time to recover from the voyage, resting at Plympton priory before travelling on. They reached London on 19 April, where they were greeted by the king, the mayor and citizens of London and a band of minstrels, and then escorted to the Savoy, John of Gaunt’s magnificent palace by the river in the Strand. The occasion was marked by a gift to the prince from the city of a new set of gold and silver plate to replace that melted down in Aquitaine.2 This was nevertheless a muted celebration in contrast to previous triumphal returns. It must have been a shock for Edward III to see his son’s condition at first hand, and a devastating blow when the weeks passed and there was no real sign of improvement in his health. Although they had not seen each other for more than seven years, father and son had always been close, and the affection between them would have made the prince’s illness that much harder for the king to bear. It was also deeply worrying. Edward III was now fifty-nine, and finding it increasingly difficult to cope with his affairs. He was encountering political opposition at home, partly caused and certainly exacerbated by the renewed outbreak of war with France. Edward III had always expected that his eldest son would succeed him, and for years the prince had been his second in command. The king had assumed and anticipated that his son would be able to share the burden of government when he returned, and now it looked as if this might not happen.

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