617. Elizabeth I: Anne Boleyn's Bastard (Part 2)
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What happened to Elizabeth I after Anne Boleyn's execution?
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Now, as my lady Elizabeth is put from that degree she was in, and what degree she is at now I know not by hearsay, I know not how to order her or myself or her women or grooms. I beg you to be good lord to her and hers, and that she may have raiment, for she has neither gown, nor kirtle, nor petticoat, nor linen for smocks, nor kerchiefs, sleeves, rails, boots, bodices, handkerchiefs, mufflers nor caps. So we'll discover who that was in a couple of moments. Was it Mrs. Thatcher? No, it definitely was not. But these are very, very dark days for the infant Elizabeth I, as she will become. She's not yet three years old, but she doesn't have enough mufflers. There's no kerchiefs. There's no kirtle. There's no gown.
There's no bodice. And there's no mummy. There's no mummy. This is a terrible, terrible scene. So... If you listened to our previous episode, well, if you didn't listen to our previous episode, what are you doing? But if you listen to our previous episode and recall it, you will know that Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, has severed the head of her mother, Anne Boleyn, because he's fed up with her being a bit of a nag and also fed up with her not giving him a son. And he is very keen to marry his new lady friend, the excitingly boring Jane Seymour. So Anne is out. Mummy is dead. And we ended last time by saying, what will this mean for Elizabeth I? And how will she fare in the snake pit of Henry's court?
And now we will find out. And the first bit of bad news, no handkerchiefs. Yeah. So, Tom, let's put people out of their misery. That was not Margaret Thatcher. That was Lady Brian. Yeah, which is a great name, I think.
And Lady Brian is the sort of Mary Poppins. Yeah, so she's in her 60s. She's actually Elizabeth's great aunt. And so she was the obvious choice to serve Elizabeth as her lady mistress, as it was known, which is, as you said, a kind of very posh Mary Poppins. And Lady Brian is facing up to the fact that Elizabeth, who previously had been so fated, had been so privileged, now suddenly all that privilege seems to have gone. And poor Elizabeth, you know, not yet four, is kind of immersed in effectively a very dark fairy tale. So she's no longer the heir to the throne. She's now officially proclaimed a bastard. She's no longer a princess. She's just the Lady Elizabeth. Henry VIII has ordered that she be kept from his sight.
So she had been at Greenwich Palace when her mother was executed. She's been sent away. Henry doesn't want her there. And Henry's also ordered that her household be cut back. And then on top of that, there's this further cruelty. So to quote David Starkey in his book Apprenticeship, the shower of lovely clothes which Anne Boleyn had lavished on her daughter suddenly dried up. And in fact, as Starkey points out, this wasn't conscious cruelty on Henry's part, but it was still neglect.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What happened to Elizabeth I after Anne Boleyn's execution?
0:00–7:00
2
How did Henry VIII's marriages affect Elizabeth's status?
7:00–13:47
3
What challenges did Elizabeth face as a young girl?
13:47–21:15
4
How did Elizabeth navigate her relationship with Mary, her sister?
21:15–28:43
5
What role did Thomas Seymour play in Elizabeth's life?
28:43–37:15
6
How did Elizabeth respond to the scandal involving Seymour?
37:15–43:21
7
What impact did Catherine Parr have on Elizabeth's upbringing?
43:21–50:25
8
How did Elizabeth's political acumen develop during her youth?
50:25–59:34
Speakers
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