The Funeral Of King Henry VIII of England
After the news of King Henry’s death became public, Dowager Queen Katherine Parr, donned widow’s weeds and mourning jewels – for the third time in her life
The queen secluded herself while she mourned, and prepared for the funeral of the king.
Vast amounts of black cloth had been ordered for mourning clothes for the Lady Mary and Lady Elizabeth, as well as the queen’s ladies and Henry’s household.
For ten days the king’s embalmed body lay in the privy chamber in a huge chest.
On 8th February 1547, an official announcement was made that the King was dead.
Bells rang throughout the kingdom, prayers and Requiem masses were said for the king’s soul.
A week later, on 14th February, a great procession of 1,000 horsemen and hundreds of followers formed around a large hearse made for the king.
It was seven stories high, adorned with a carefully crafted effigy of the monarch.
The procession moved from Westminster down to Windsor stopping at Syon for the night.
A tale says that when Henry’s coffin stayed overnight at Syon Abbey, it leaked a foul-smelling fluid on the floor, and a dog came to lick Henry’s blood.
However, it’s unlikely that the matter below Henry’s coffin was actually blood.
The fluids were likely the products of decomposition, and could have been tinted from the perfumes and spices used in the embalming procedure.
Reports of Henry’s coffin being jostled about on the bad Tudor roads, may have caused a separation in the plates of the lead coffin, causing a leak to seep through the cracks.
The vehicle that Henry’s body travelled in was called a chariot.
The chariot was a many-wheeled wagon covered with black velvet, hung with heraldic banners, and drawn by eight strong horses being rode by eight children.
The lead used to encase Henry’s embalmed corpse weighed more than half a ton alone, so the whole chariot and its royal cargo must have been enormously heavy.
On top of Henry’s coffin was his effigy.
The effigy was carved from wood and wax, dressed in expensive robes and wore the Imperial Crown on its head.
The effigy was so valuable, that when the cortège stopped overnight at Syon, the effigy was placed under guard in the vestry.
Sadly Henry’s effigy hasn’t survived.
Henry VIII’s burial took place on 16th February 1547 in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
Dressed in blue velvet lined with purple, Dowager Queen Katherine Parr watched the proceedings from the Queen’s Closet, her private Chapel above the choir.
Katherine watched as Henry was interred with his “most beloved” wife, Queen Jane Seymour – mother of the new king, Edward VI.
After all that Henry had done to break from Rome, Henry still wanted to have the familiar Latin Mass of the old religion, to ensure the good of his soul.
Henry lay undisturbed next to his queen for a hundred years until his vault was opened to hastily admit the remains of Charles I after his exEcution.
When the vault was opened, it was noted that Henry’s exterior wood coffin was in fragments.
The inner lead coffin had gaped open substantially.
Henry’s skeleton – including his skull, with traces of beard – was still visible.
Jane Seymour’s coffin, to Henry’s right, was still in perfect condition.
? Henry VIII of England c.1540
Hans Holbein the Younger.
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