Inside the Wardrobe of Anne Boleyn by Barbara Parker Bell

Author:Barbara Parker Bell [Bell, Barbara Parker]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Historical Fashion
Published: 2014-01-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8:

Twenty yards of green satin

On New Year’s Day of 1534, Anne Boleyn presented Henry VIII with a magnificent silver-gilt table fountain. It had a water-pumping device which circulated rosewater into a basin so that the King could rinse his hands in it before dinner. It was described as:

“A goodly gilt basin, having a rail or board of gold in the midst of the brim, garnished with rubies and pearls, wherein standeth a fountain, also having a rail of gold about it garnished with diamonds, out whereof issueth water at the teats of three naked women standing about the foot of the same fountain.”

Anne’s mother, the Countess of Wiltshire, presented the King with a velvet case embroidered with the royal arms with three collars inside; Lady Jane Rochford, Anne’s sister-in-law, gave him a shirt with a collar of silver work. Among Anne’s first gifts to her ladies as Queen were saddles and palfreys, probably to enhance their appearance on royal progresses.[140]

During the festive season of 1534 Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII had yet another reason to celebrate because the Queen was with child again. It is doubtful that the court knew of Anne’s condition at such an early stage of pregnancy; the imperial ambassador, however, was able to report with confidence at the end of January that “Anne Boleyn is now pregnant and in condition to have more children”.[141]

Four months later, Anne’s pregnancy was public knowledge; she had a “goodly belly” and her subjects “prayed our Lord to send us a prince”.[142] Henry VIII ordered an elaborate silver cradle from his goldsmith, Cornelius Hayes; Hans Holbein was employed to paint the figures of Adam and Eve on the cradle. Decorated with Tudor roses and precious stones, the cradle contained gold-embroidered bedding and baby clothes made of cloth of gold.[143]

Sometime in early March 1534, Anne Boleyn paid a visit to her daughter at Hatfield; on this occasion, she decided to extend a hand of friendship to Henry VIII’s elder daughter, Mary, who lived in the same establishment. Anne Boleyn sent a message to her stepdaughter, promising that she would reconcile Mary with her father if she would only accept her as queen. Mary obstinately replied that she knew no other queen but her mother, and should Anne intercede on her behalf with the King, she would be most grateful. Even though this answer was offensive to Anne, she nevertheless sent another message with “profuse offers”, but Mary remained unmoved. In the end, Anne Boleyn departed Hatfield vowing to “bring down the pride of this unbridled Spanish blood”.[144]

At the end of March, Princess Elizabeth’s household moved from Hatfield to Eltham. On 18 April 1534, Anne and Henry travelled to Eltham Palace together to see Princess Elizabeth and inspect the arrangements “against the coming of the prince”; an iron canopy was placed over the silver cradle, the suite was redecorated in yellow ochre and special measures were taken to exclude draughts.[145]

According to the imperial ambassador, Anne Boleyn gave orders to place guards outside Mary’s room and banned her to go out during the visit.

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