of
Queen Mary I with
Princess Elizabeth into London in a 1910 painting by
Byam Shaw Mary had been at
Kenninghall in
Norfolk and
Framlingham in
Suffolk. At
Ipswich children presented her with a golden heart. She met her sister
Princess Elizabeth at
Wanstead. Elizabeth had arrived in London on 29 August, with a large and armed household and retinue. Mary rode into London on 3 August 1553, in procession. On this occasion, according to Estienne Perlin, she wore violet velvet, "velours violet".
Wriothesley says she changed her clothes in a house in
Whitechapel, to a rich apparel of "purple velvet French fashion, with sleeves of the same, her kirtle of purple satin all thick set with
goldsmith work and great pearl, with her foresleeves of the same set with rich stones". The ambassador
Simon Renard described this costume similarly, as violet velvet, with skirts and sleeves
embroidered with
gold. She was followed by as many as 180 ladies and gentlemen. The French ambassador,
Antoine de Noailles, avoided attending the Entry. According to Renard, Noailles claimed to be busy deciphering letters in his lodging at the
Charterhouse. Renard wrote that Noailles was spotted observing some of the proceedings from a window, and he was able to provide a description of the procession. On this occasion, she entered the city at
Aldgate. Renard describes around 100 poor children dressed in blue as being at the city gate. One of them asked the Queen to take care of them. The incident appears in the chronicle of
Edmund Howes and
Charles Wriothesley, who mention a pageant at
St Botolph's Aldgate involving the children of
Christ's Hospital, a charity school founded by Protestants following the
dissolution of the monasteries, arranged on a specially built stage. John Howes, writing in 1582, relates that when the Queen "came near unto them she cast her eye another way, and never stayed nor gave any countenance to them". However,
Robert Persons wrote that Mary listened appreciatively to an oration made by the young
Edmund Campion. The funeral of
Edward VI took place on 8 August at Westminster Abbey. Mary would make a formal
Royal Entry or procession through the city on 30 September as a preliminary to her coronation. She gave Elizabeth a
number of jewels on 23 September at
St James's Palace, perhaps to wear on the day.
Coronation eve Mary left St James' Palace by barge for the
Tower of London on 28 September 1553. She left with Elizabeth after dinner, or at 3 o'clock in order to "shoot"
London Bridge at high tide. As Mary passed down the
Thames, she was followed by boats trimmed with streamers and banners which carried the
Mayor,
Thomas White, and the
Aldermen. Trumpets sounded, and minstrels and waits sang to the playing of
shawms and
regals. The garrison of the Tower fired a
gun salute as she approached. After she alighted, and all was quiet, Mary turned and thanked the Mayor and aldermen in a loud voice. The wardrobe accounts include sumptuous costume for Mary and her ladies for the reception on the "eve" of the coronation. Mary's robe and mantle were of gold and
silver tissue. The phrase refers to a ceremony before the coronation when the
Knights of the Bath made their preparations and bathed, which took place "according to the old usage of England" at the Tower of London on 29 September. In the morning, new knights were
dubbed in the queen's chamber of presence by the
Earl of Arundel, steward of the queen's household. He was given Mary's commission to make knights on this occasion, and to
dub knight batchelors on 2 October at Westminster Palace. Edward VI's coronation accounts also include payments for a robe and mantle to wear at the creation of the Knights of the Bath. The costume historian
Janet Arnold proposed that Mary's tissue clothes were re-used by
Elizabeth I at her coronation, after alterations, and may be depicted in a coronation portrait of Elizabeth.
The coronation entry Mary made her
royal entry on 30 September in the afternoon. She came from the Tower in a chariot or litter to the
Palace of Westminster. The windows of houses along the route were decorated with tapestry or cloth of gold and cloth of silver, and the roads were strewn with grass and flowers. There are several accounts of the procession, and these vary in detail, possibly confusing the colour of fabrics used for the
caparisons of horses and to drape the vehicles with the colours of costume worn by the participants.
Robert Wingfield wrote that the number of her female attendants was uncountable and a novel sight, though the procession accorded to ancient custom. First on the route were heraldic officers, knights, the justiciary, the secretaries, the treasurer of the household
Thomas Cheney, lords and barons, the ambassadors and their escorts, representatives of the
Steelyard, the bishops, and the Mayor of London. The Earl of Arundel carried the sword, flanked by the Duke of Norfolk and the
Earl Marshal. Mary wore a mantle and kirtle of cloth of gold, furred with
miniver, or, according to the account of
Antonio de Guarás, her litter was furbished with cloth of gold, and she was mantled in cloth of silver. On her head was a gold
circlet, a kind of crown, set with precious stones and pearls, with a jewelled
caul or veil made of
tinsel fabric. She also wore this newly-made circlet to the coronation. Some chronicle accounts mention the weight of the circlet and caul, and that Mary had sometimes to support it with her hand. These comments may imply
misogynistic criticism of this unprecedented female coronation. Following behind was a procession, including the women of her household. Princess Elizabeth and
Anne of Cleves followed in another litter or "chariot", with a covering "all of coth of silver all white". According to the French ambassador
Antoine de Noailles and other diplomats, Elizabeth and Anne were dressed in cloth of silver with robes or gowns in the French fashion. Elizabeth's silver costume, although more elaborate than those of the women of the household, would have marked her status as lower than her elder sister's costume. rode in a chariot during the
Royal Entry, then aged around 16 , rode in the chariot with Lady Lumley Four ladies in waiting rode on horseback beside the queen's litter, as the "ladies of Estate". These were the
Duchess of Norfolk, the
Marchioness of Exeter, the Marchioness of Winchester, and the
Countess of Arundel. The women of the household followed, riding in three carriages called "chariots" or on horseback. Although English and Spanish accounts say the women were apparelled with crimson velvet, and their horses "trapped" with the same fabric, Noailles wrote that the ladies and women of the household were all dressed in furred silver and gold gowns, also in the French fashion, and their horse mantles,
couvertes, were of red
cramoisy velvet. The wardrobe account of Elizabeth I's coronation details similar fabrics for the chariots, and includes equivalent lengths of crimson velvet bought for the women's saddles. The second chariot carried four "ladies of Honour"; Dorothy, the "old"
Countess of Oxford, the
Countess of Oxford; the
Countess of Shrewsbury; and the
Countess of Derby. The third chariot carried six ladies in waiting;
Lady Stourton,
Lady Lumley,
Lady Wentworth,
Lady Rich,
Lady Paget, and
Lady Mordaunt, followed by five ladies on horseback. Behind this group followed ten ladies and gentlewomen riding on horseback including
Cecily, Lady Mansel, Elizabeth Kempe,
Susan Clarencieux,
Mary Finch, and "Mrs Sturley" (
Frideswide Strelley). More noblewomen and gentlewomen with mantles of crimson satin followed on horseback with the
maids of honour, including
Anne Bacon,
Anne Basset,
Anne Dormer, and the
Mother of the Maids, Mistress Bayneham (perhaps, Cecily Gage, wife of
George Baynham of
Clearwell), or, according to some sources, Mistress
Anne Poyntz. With the maids, riding behind the three chariots, were the serving gentlewomen known as
chamberers, with mantles of crimson damask. There were 46 female riders in the procession, and Noailles estimated seventy women in total including the passengers in the litters. Behind them rode the henchmen and their master, dressed in the green and white Tudor colours. These were young men of school age. There were pageants with music and speeches. At
Fenchurch Street, Genoese merchants staged a welcome salutation given by a young actor portraying a girl in a chair or throne suspended in the air. There were four giants. Latin inscriptions on the triumphal arches were recorded by
Giovanni Francesco Commendone, a Papal diplomat, and the French ambassador Noailles.
Hanse merchants made their pageant at
Gracechurch Corner, with a mount and fountain running with wine. and an actor "flied down a rope" as the queen passed by. At the other end of the street, the Florentine merchants had built an arch with three entries, six actors above welcomed Mary, and on top a statue of an angel dressed in green appeared to play a trumpet. The Florentine pageant included Queen
Tomyris and
Judith, leaders who defeated and decapitated their enemies, and seems to have celebrated Mary's recent triumph over the
Duke of Northumberland. The City of London made a pageant at the Conduit in Cornhill. Aldermen stood at their pageant by the Conduit in Cheap, and the
Recorder of London gave a speech. By
St Paul's school,
John Heywood made an oration in Latin and English. At
St Paul's Cathedral, "Peter, a Dutchman", danced with streamers on the steeple. Sympathetic reporters of Mary's accession proclamation and royal entry, like the Imperial ambassadors and
Charles Wriothesley, wrote that the London streets were full of her supporters, who threw their caps in the air without any hope of recovering them in the crowds, crying 'Long live Queen Mary'. ==Coronation==