Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII who met a terrible end inside the Tower of
London, losing her head after her husband and his advisor Thomas Cromwell had plotted
her downfall.
But before the Tower became the place of her execution and her burial site, it was a place
of great happiness for Anne Boleyn as it was where she would wait for her coronation as
Queen.
This was traditional, as during the medieval period many Kings and Queens stayed in the
Tower before they were crowned monarchs.
But Anne was a woman who many believed was a homewrecker and a woman who stole the King
away from his rightful Queen and his wife.
She was not a popular woman, and it was rumoured that a rebellion even tried to take her hostage
and captive.
But what is the story of the coronation of Anne Boleyn?
At the time, coronations of Kings and Queens were huge celebrations that lasted a number
of days.
On the first day Anne would be taken by river to the Tower of London where she was to stay
for two nights, on the third day a procession by road would take place from the Tower to
Westminster, and on the final day the coronation and great banquet would take place at Westminster
Hall.
On the first day, elaborately decorated great royal barges carrying the London Livery escorted
by a number of smaller vessels left Billingsgate en route for Greenwich.
They rowed against the tide and it took two hours to reach Greenwich.
It was said that, ‘Flags and bunting overall, hung with gold foil that glistened in the
sun and with little bells that tinkled; the vessels were packed with musicians of every
kind, and more cannon than seems safe on such a crowded waterway.
The fleet was led by a light wherry in which had been constructed a mechanical dragon that
could be made to move and belch out flames, and with it were other models of monsters
and huge wild men, who threw blazing fireworks and uttered hideous cries.’
The river procession was a work of art aimed to shock the Londoner’s and we are not sure
how many people came to greet Anne Boleyn.
Some may have watched the procession pick her up out of loyalty to their king Henry
VIII, but many would have turned their backs in protest.
Regardless of this, thousands of people lined the banks of the River Thames to see the procession.
Anne boarded her own decorated barge with her ladies in waiting and the principal ladies
of her court.
The rest of her women were taken in a second barge and the King followed behind with his
own guard and they were dressed in their finest and best clothes.
It was estimated that there were 120 larger boats and 200 smaller ones in the procession,
and when they got close to the Tower there was a wave of canon fire shot from Tower Wharf.
Anne Boleyn was met by a group of officials and heralds who led her to the King himself.
The royal couple then spent the next two days in the private apartments that Cromwell had
made sure were ready for them, and they enjoyed ancient court rituals linked to their upcoming
wedding.
The apartments they stayed in cannot be seen today, and they were close to the white tower
and the main curtain wall.
During the two days at the Tower, 18 Knights of the bath were created, and many of these
were linked to the Boleyn’s through family.
One of them was Francis Weston who would later be taken back to the Tower as a prisoner.
At 5 o’clock on the 31st May 1533, the procession left the Tower of London en route to Westminster.
Around 300 people of varying importance made up the procession and it slowly travelled
through the crowds.
There were 6 stops along the route, and there were many locations which had been decorated
for Anne.
Anne travelled in a carriage that was covered in white satin and white cloth of gold.
Her hair was worn loose to her waist and she was dressed, in ‘filmy white, with a coronet
of gold.’
It was then said, ‘Over her was a canopy of cloth of gold held up by the barons of
the Cinque Ports.
Then came her own palfrey, also trapped in white.
Twelve ladies in crimson velvet rode behind, then two carriages- one white, one red- and
thirty gentlewomen on horseback, this time in black velvet.
These were followed by the king’s guard in two files, one on each side of the street…and
last all the servants in the livery of their masters or mistresses.’
On the 1st June 1553, Anne Boleyn would enter Westminster Hall ready to be crowned Queen
of England.
She was dressed in coronation robes of purple velvet, furred with ermine with the gold coronet
on her head which she had worn the day before.
The procession then walked to the high altar of Westminster Abbey where Anne was crowned
on St Edward’s chair.
She was now an anointed Queen.
But other accounts of the proceedings do exist.
A Tudor Chronicle Edward Hall told of the events of the days.
He wrote, ‘On Thursday 29 May, Lady Anne, marquess of Pembroke, was received as queen
of England by all the lords of England.
And the mayor and aldermen, with all the guilds of the City of London, went to Greenwich in
their barges after the best fashion, with also a barge of bachelors of the mayor’s
guild richly hung with cloth of gold with a great number to wait on her.
And so all the lords with the mayor and all the guilds of London brought her by water
from Greenwich to the Tower of London, and there the king’s grace received her as she
landed, and then over a thousand guns were fired at the Tower, and others were fired
at Limehouse, and on other ships lying in the Thames.
And on Saturday, the last day of May, she rode from the Tower of London through the
City with a goodly company of lords, knights and gentlemen, with all the peers of the realm,
richly appareled.
She herself rode in a rich chariot covered with cloth of silver, and a rich canopy of
cloth of silver borne over her head by the four Lords of the Ports, in gowns of scarlet,
followed by four richly hung chariots of ladies; and also several other ladies and gentlewoman
riding on horseback, all in gowns made of crimson velvet.
And there were various pageant made on scaffolds in the city; and all the guilds were standing
in their liveries, every one in order, the mayor and aldermen standing in Cheapside.
And when she came before them the Recorder of London made a goodly presentation to her,
and then the mayor gave her a purse of cloth of fold with a thousand marks of angel nobles
in it, as a present from the whole of the city; and so the lords brought her to the
palace of Westminster and left her there that night.
On 1 June Queen Anne was brought from Westminster Hall to St Peter’s Abbey in procession,
with all the monks of Westminster going in rich copes of gold, with thirteen mitred abbots;
and after them all the king’s chapel in rich copes with four bishops and two mitred
archbishops, and all the lords going in their parliament robes, and the crown borne before
her by the duke of Suffolk, and her two sceptres by two earls, and she herself going under
a rich canopy of cloth of gold, dressed in a kirtle of crimson velvet decorated with
ermine, and a robe of purple velvet decorated with ermine over that, and a rich coronet
with a cap of pearls and stones on her head; and the old duchess of Norfolk carrying her
train in a robe of scarlet with a coronet of gold on her cap, and Lord Burgh, the queen’s
Chamberlain, supporting the train in the middle.
After her followed ten ladies in robes of scarlet trimmed with ermine and round coronets
of gold on their heads; and next after them all the queen’s maids in gowns of scarlet
edged with white Baltic fur.
And so she was brought to St Peter’s church at Westminster, and there set in her high
royal seat, which was made on a high platform before the altar.
And there she was anointed and crowned queen of England by the archbishop of Canterbury
and the archbishop of York, and so sat, crowned, in her royal seat all through the mass, and
she offered at the said mass.
And when the mass was done they left, every man in his order, to Westminster Hall, she
still going under the canopy, crowned, with two sceptres in her hands, my Lord Wiltshire
her father, and Lord Talbot leading her, and so dined there; and there was made the most
honourable feast that has been seen.
The great hall at Westminster was richly hung with rich cloth of Arras, and a table was
set at the upper end of the hall, going up twelve steps, where the queen dined; and a
rich cloth of estate hung over her head.
There were also four other tables along the hall; and it was railed on every side, from
the high dais in Westminster Hall to the platform in the church in the abbey.
And when she went to church to her coronation there was a striped blue cloth spread from
the high dais of the king’s bench to the high altar of Westminster on which she went.
And when the queen’s Grace had washed her hands, then came the duke of Suffolk, high
constable for that day and steward of the feast, riding on horseback, richly dressed
and decorated, and with him, also riding on horseback, Lord William Howard as deputy for
the duke of Norfolk in his office of marshall of England, and there came the queen’s service
followed by the archbishop’s with a certain space between, which was all borne by knights;
the archbishop sitting at the queen’s board, at the end on her left hand.
The earl of Sussex was sewer, earl of Essex carver, earl of Derby cup bearer, earl of
Arundel butler, Viscount Lisle panter, and Lord Grey almoner.’
Anne Boleyn was a queen who divided England, and her refusal to take to the King’s bed
even split religion across the nation.
She would years later return to the Tower of London as a prisoner of her husband Henry
VIII, and it would be a place where today she is laid to rest, her head having been
separated from her body.
Anne is considered a victim of her husband Henry VIII, but her coronation was one which
was not considered the most popular.
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