King Henry VIII was one of the most iconic and brutal Kings to have ever ruled over England,
and he is remembered today as the man who had 6 wives and would deal with two of them
using an axeman or a swordsman to dispatch them.
But Henry VIII also is well known for his huge size, and the King became colossal following
a number of injuries and illnesses that led him to be restricted in his mobility.
He was one a very healthy and good looking man and King, but as he got older the King
ate a huge amount and he was rather grotesque and suffered from gout.
He had to be carried around the palaces in his final years, but the once sporty Henry
VIII was a shadow of his former self.
However as 1547 came around, King Henry VIII would become rather ill and sick and within
weeks of the new year coming in, a new dawn was breaking upon England as their beloved
but savage King was on his deathbed inside of the Palace of Whitehall.
But Henry VIII would be buried inside of a very secretive and small vault in Windsor
Castle’s church, and he had dreamed that a huge tomb and monument would be made for
him but this was not the case, and 500 years on the King’s coffin still lies in that
vault.
But the Coffin of Henry VIII and vault would be broken into a number of times.
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On the 28th January 1547 Henry VIII died, and following this his body was washed and
he was then embalmed in a number of spices and materials, and it’s believed that his
heart and entrails were removed.
Where these are today are rather debated, and there is some belief that the notorious
Tudor monarch’s heart is actually within the Palace of Whitehall, or the Houses of
Parliament today.
His coffin would then lay in state inside of the presence chamber of Whitehall palace,
and it would surrounded by burning tapers and it would also be moved then to Windsor
Castle and specifically to St Georges’ Chapel.
Henry VIII had specified in his will and to his servants and family that he wished to
be buried alongside his third wife Jane Seymour.
Jane Seymour would give the King his greatest wish in the form of a male successor and a
son who would go on to be King Edward VI.
But Jane Seymour within weeks of giving birth to the heir was very sick and she would never
make it out of Hampton Court Palace where she gave birth, and this greatly upset the
King.
Many have considered that if Jane Seymour would have not tragically died, then Henry
VIII would not have been married 6 times, and he would have settled with Jane raising
his son for Kingship.
But this was obviously not the case, and Jane following her death was embalmed herself and
her inside and heart were removed.
These organs were buried inside of Hampton Court’s Chapel Royal under the altar, but
her body was then taken to Windsor Castle and St George’s Chapel and they would be
buried in a vault underneath the Quire in the royal vault.
This was a lonely place for Jane as she would be initially buried here all alone.
But Henry VIII stipulated that he wanted to be buried with Jane Seymour, and he planned
for a huge tomb to be made for them together.
The King’s tomb had been planned for decades before his death and he wanted a huge ornamental
tomb which would eclipse the grandeur of his parents Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.
This tomb would have been the largest ever created, and it would have seen Henry and
Jane interred inside of it most probably inside of Westminster Abbey.
He planned to use marble and black touchstone, in the same style as his parents’ tomb,
but he wanted it to be around 25% bigger and italian sculptors would get to work on this,
and Henry VIII would argue about the design and plans during his reign.
But Henry would then give more money to others to create the monument, but the King’s tomb
would never be finished, and it would have been ornate with marble pillars, gilded angels
and life sized effigies of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour.
But as mentioned this was never finished, and the King’s dreams of being buried in
a huge memorial would be over, and his children would refuse to continue the work as it was
too expensive.
The coffin of Henry VIII following his death was then taken on the procession from Whitehall
palace to Windsor Castle and St Georges’ Chapel.
The procession was colossal and was 4 miles long, and a hearse carried the huge coffin
of the King and this was pulled by horses draped in black cloth.
Also on the hearse was a wax life like effigy of the King covered in jewels and ornaments
of royalty, but to many who saw this procession this was the first time they had seen an image
of their king.
The funeral procession moved towards Syon Abbey, and whilst here it took a break for
the evening, and whilst here it has been rumoured that the King’s body may have exploded and
splintered part of the coffin as gasses escaped the body of the deceased monarch on the final
journey, and there were even rumours that dogs licked at the dripping remains of the
King.
But then the journey would continue onto the burial site, and the Coffin did get there
and it was carried into the church by 16 strong Yeoman of the Guards.
It was then carried into the church for the funeral service, and it would then be lowered
into the vault where still to this day the coffin of Henry VIII is laid to rest.
However despite the King’s coffin being placed in the vault, the vault would be disturbed
a number of times throughout the years.
This was not a place that Henry VIII would have liked to have been buried for all time
either, as the King who liked the lavish things in life is still buried today under a rather
modest marble slab that states, ‘‘In a vault beneath this marble slab are deposited
the remains of Jane Seymour Queen of King Henry VIII 1537, King Henry VIII 1547, King
Charles I 1648 and an infant child of Queen Anne.
This memorial was placed here by command of King William IV 1837.’
But with this, we must talk about the breaking into the coffin and the vault of King Henry
VIII.
The King would never have believed that future Kings would be buried along side him, and
because of this the vault would be opened a number of times throughout the centuries
to accommodate other burials.
The most significant person buried in the same vault is Charles I, and Charles was of
course the executed King of England who was a stuart.
Henry VIII had during his reign issued instructions to ban the stuarts of Scotland from ever taking
the throne of England, so the fact he is buried literally next to a Stuart King would be a
form of disgrace to the Tudor monarch.
Charles I would lose the English Civil War and he lost his head outside of Whitehall,
the same place where Henry VIII died inside of.
But to get Charles I’ body into the vault, Henry VIII’s coffin was moved and shifted
and there may have been some damage with this.
Charles was buried next to Henry VIII to make sure that the enemies of Parliament following
the Civil War would not be able to get their hands on the King’s body and remains.
It was deemed as a safer place to bury hum.
But the vault of Henry VIII was now populated with the remains of one of his greatest enemies
descendants, and a disgraced King.
But the vault would be opened again to accomodate another stuart child and member of the royal
family.
Queen Anne the last Stuart monarch suffered a lot regarding childbirth, and she had one
of her children interred in the same vault as Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and Charles.
With this the vault was disturbed again and the small coffin was placed in the vault.
However this was not the end of the breaking in to the royal vault.
In the following centuries it was believed that the coffin and remains of Henry VIII
had been lost to time, but in 1813 building work was being carried out inside St George’s
Chapel and specifically inside of the royal vault.
The buildings would break into the vault containing the remains of Henry VIII, and then the decision
would later be made to open the coffin of King Charles I and the Prince Regent was even
there to oversee this.
But what was found in the vault was a number of relics of King Charles I, but there were
observations made that Henry VIII’s coffin was in somewhat of a sorry state.
At this time it had been buried almost 300 years inside of the vault.
It was noticed that Jane Seymour’s coffin seemed okay, but Henry’s coffin was broken.
The trestle which had been supporting the coffin had collapsed and broken, and this
was probably done when Charles I’s coffin was squeezed into the vault.
It was also said that there may have been pressured created from within from Henry’s
body that splintered the wood, but the coffin of the Tudor monarch had allegedly split open.
There is no record of any exhumation work or of Henry VIII’s remains being placed
in a different coffin, meaning his remains may be exposed to the elements still to this
day.
But Henry VIII would be one of the most barbaric and horrific Kings that England ever had,
but he was buried in a place where he never wanted to be interred forever.
But 500 years later, the King is still there and the plans for his huge marble tomb and
effigy would never be carried out.
However Henry VIII is the most famous King that England has ever had, and surely his
legacy deserves a tomb and monument outlining this, especially as next to him in the Quire
of St George’s Chapel are huge tombs for Medieval Kings who did not have as much as
an impact as he did on history.
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