FORGOTTEN TUDOR CHILDREN AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY
All of the legitimate children of Henry VIII are buried at Westminster Abbey.
Mary I and Elizabeth I, England’s first two reigning Queens – share a large tomb in the Henry VII Chapel, although only bearing Elizabeth’s monument.
Their half-brother Edward’s grave is recorded by a modern stone located to the west of the vault, which also contains his paternal grandparents, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.
The first Tudor King and Queen, lie in the magnificent tomb created by the Italian sculptor Pietro Torrigiano, who also designed the tomb of Henry VII’s mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort – also buried at the Abbey.
At least four royal Tudor children, however, have almost vanished…….
Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth of York’s daughter, Princess Elizabeth Tudor, died from a short illness at Eltham Palace, on 14th September 1495, aged three years and two months.
Her devastated parents, spent the sum of £318, on little Elizabeth’s funeral, a vast sum according to the time.
Princess Elizabeth’s tomb consisted of a small chest of grey marble, with a black marble slab on top.
Her copper-gilt effigy has not survived, over time, and it may be seen to the right of the altar, in front of the great shrine of St. Edward the Confessor.
Their baby son Edmund, died on 19th June 1500, at the Old Palace, Hatfield, aged 15 months.
The cause of Edmund’s death is unknown.
When Queen Elizabeth of York, died on 11th February 1503 – her birthday – it was from the tragic result of giving birth to another child, while still grieving for her eldest son, Arthur
Her newborn daughter Princess Katherine, died just eight days later.
Prince Edmund and Princess Katherine, were both buried at Westminster Abbey, but no memorial exists to either of them, and the location of both is unknown.
Henry, Duke of Cornwall, eldest son of Henry VIII and his first queen Katharine of Aragon, was born at Richmond Palace in 1511.
The baby prince died, however, 52 days later on 22nd February.
He was buried at Westminster Abbey, the location of the burial is believed to be in the Sacrarium, on the north side of the Sanctuary.
Amongst those interred in the tomb of Mary, Queen of Scots, are many children of the Stuart dynasty – who died in infancy.
These include the first ten children of James II, and the eighteen babies of Queen Anne – the last Stuart monarch, one of whom was laid to rest in Henry VIII’s crypt.
While these royal children did not survive to maturity, their lives are still of great historical importance.
As children of Monarchs, they have been ‘forgotten’ in favour of their more well-known siblings, who survived to adulthood.
But they did live, even if for a short while, and should still be remembered.
Image © 2022 Dean and Chapter of Westminster
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