A Model of Queenship: Lady Elizabeth's Summer with Katherine Parr at Hampton Court
Date: 20 September 2024
Author: Tracy BormanIt’s often thought that Elizabeth I had little to do with Hampton Court. But this sprawling Tudor palace – built by her father, Henry VIII – was the scene for several events in Elizabeth’s life and reign.
Here, Chief Curator Tracy Borman travels back to 1544, when Elizabeth spent a happy summer at Hampton Court Palace watching her beloved stepmother, Katherine Parr act as Regent. This visit would have an enduring impact on the young princess, years before she would finally take the throne as Queen of England.
On 31 December 1544, the 11-year-old Elizabeth, younger daughter of Henry VIII, presented her stepmother Katherine Parr with a New Year’s gift that she had spent months working on. It was a beautifully bound book containing her translation of a poem, 'Le miroir de l’âme pêcheresse' ('The mirror of the sinful soul'). On the cover, Elizabeth had carefully stitched ‘KP’ in silver, mirroring the new Queen’s customary signature.
Elizabeth’s choice of poem was significant. That summer, during her time as Henry VIII’s Regent, Katherine had read it to her youngest stepdaughter at Hampton Court Palace. The poem was written by Marguerite of Navarre, sister of the King of France and a former companion of Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn. Marguerite was a shining example of a powerful female figure; she had influenced the lives of many at the French court with her learning and intellect, just as Katherine aspired to do in England.
The gift spoke of Elizabeth’s love for her last stepmother and served as a lasting testimony of how profoundly the summer of 1544, spent with Katherine at Hampton Court, had changed her.
Image: Elizabeth I when a princess in around 1546. © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust
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'Le miroir de l’âme pêcheresse' Embroidered by the Lady Elizabeth
The 11-year-old Elizabeth gave this book as a New Year’s gift to her stepmother, Katherine Parr, on 31 December 1544.
Image: The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Cherry 36, binding.
Katherine Parr: Sixth Queen, Favourite Stepmother
Henry VIII married Katherine Parr, his sixth and final queen, at Hampton Court Palace in July 1543. Twice-widowed and in her early 30s, Katherine was more experienced than his previous wives. She brought the King much-needed comfort and companionship in his later years.
Katherine’s mother had been a favourite companion of Henry’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon, and she had been appointed to the household of their daughter Mary in February 1543. Unusually well-educated for a woman in this age, Katherine Parr was of strong reformist opinions and wrote several works, including Prayers or Meditations – the first original book published by an English queen.
Image: The Lady Chapel (also known as the Queen's Closet) in the Royal Pew within Henry VIII's Apartments at Hampton Court Palace. © Historic Royal Palaces
'I Revere You With A Daughter’s Love'
Katherine exerted considerable influence over the joint education of Elizabeth and her younger brother Edward, encouraging Henry’s youngest children along the path of reform. But Katherine soon realised that Elizabeth was fast out-stripping her brother. She arranged for Elizabeth to have a tutor of her own – the renowned Cambridge scholar William Grindal.
Elizabeth flourished under Grindal’s charge and showed off her newly-acquired skills in a series of letters to her stepmother. In the first, written in July 1544, she thanked Katherine for her ‘care and solicitude’ and assured her: ‘I am bound to serve you and revere you with a daughter’s love’.
Shortly after sending this letter, Elizabeth was overjoyed to receive an invitation from her stepmother to attend her at Hampton Court. It was a visit she would remember for years to come.
Image: Katherine Parr, c.1545. © National Portrait Gallery, London
A Woman's World: Katherine's Regency at Hampton Court in 1544
For the first time in Elizabeth’s life, she arrived at a royal palace to find a queen, not a king, presiding over the court. Her father was away leading a military expedition to France; he had appointed Katherine to reign as Regent in his absence, with the full exercise of royal authority.
Not since 1513, when Henry had left his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, in charge while he went on campaign to Scotland, had England been ruled by a queen. It was a task that Katherine embraced with relish, wielding all the power that was usually the sole right of her husband. At a stroke, the Tudor court had been transformed into a woman’s world. Elizabeth was utterly captivated.
From the outset, Katherine was determined both to exercise and enjoy her newfound authority. She demanded all the pomp of a reigning sovereign. She sat in state in the royal presence chamber, being served on bended knee and lauded by all who came to seek her favour. It was far more than just a symbolic role: the Queen assumed full powers in her husband’s absence, presiding over the regency council, signing royal proclamations and approving expenditure on additional troops for the French wars.
It would have been a challenging enough task during a period of peace and prosperity, but Katherine had assumed control over a kingdom beset by war, plague and religious division, and troubled by the ever-constant threat of trouble along the Scottish border. That she succeeded not just in avoiding catastrophe but in establishing herself as a figure of decisive authority is a testament to her shrewdness and political acumen.
All this was witnessed by Elizabeth, who was constantly in attendance upon her stepmother that summer at Hampton Court Palace. The young Elizabeth looked on as courtiers and ambassadors paid court to Queen Katherine with as much state as they had to Henry VIII. She saw members of the council presenting matters of business for Katherine’s advice or approval. And she was present at the banquets and other state occasions that were held in Katherine’s honour.
A Glimpse of the Future?
Elizabeth had been raised to be in awe of her father the King, whom she learned was God’s representative on earth. She had also been taught that women were the weaker sex, incapable of bearing the responsibility of monarchy. And yet here was Katherine presiding over the court with as much confidence and authority as any king.
The sight of some of the most influential men in the country bowing low before a woman must have left a profound impression. Katherine had done more than merely deputise for her husband: she had provided Elizabeth with a powerful role model for queenship.
This was undoubtedly one of the happiest periods of Elizabeth’s life. She had lived as a virtual exile from court since her mother’s downfall and execution at the Tower of London eight years earlier. After having her declared illegitimate and removed from the line of succession, her father had all but forgotten about her. Now she was once more at the heart of court life, attending a stepmother whom she adored and gaining a tantalising glimpse of what her own future might be.
It came to an end all too soon. Henry VIII signalled his intention to return in September 1544 and Elizabeth was sent away from court before he arrived. But Katherine was determined that this time she would not be forgotten.
Elizabeth is Restored to the Succession
It was almost entirely thanks to Katherine’s influence that both Elizabeth and her sister Mary were restored to the line of succession the same year. In less than 12 months, Katherine had not only shown Elizabeth how a queen could match a king in authority, but ensured that Elizabeth might one day emulate that authority.
A magnificent new painting was commissioned to celebrate Henry’s new family dynamic, which hangs in the Haunted Gallery at Hampton Court Palace today. The Family of Henry VIII was completed in around 1545 and shows the King enthroned with his ‘precious jewel’ Edward on his right and his daughters Mary and Elizabeth at either ends of the composition.
Image: The Family of Henry VIII c.1545. © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust
Henry VIII died with the firm belief that his son would reign for many years, followed by a long line of Tudor kings. In fact, Edward died just six years after his father, and was succeeded by three women. His elder sister Mary claimed the throne from his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, but died a few years later. It was finally Elizabeth’s time.
Elizabeth would reign for longer and more successfully than any of Henry’s other heirs. That she came to the throne at all was largely thanks to her stepmother, Katherine Parr. Now, as Queen, she could at last fulfil the ambition that had first been sparked all those summers ago at Hampton Court.
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