Tudor royal wedding traditions

Tudor royal wedding traditions

What did Tudor royal brides wear to their wedding?

Katherine of Aragon wore white satin for her first wedding to Prince Arthur Tudor, which was embellished with gold, pearls and precious stones. But white wedding gowns were by no means an established tradition by the Tudor period.

For public celebrations, royal Tudor brides were dressed to impress, with gold and silver being the ultimate show of wealth. For her marriage to the new Henry VIII, Katherine of Aragon wore cloth of gold and silver, bedecked in jewels inherited from Henry’s indomitable grandmother, Margaret Beaufort. 

Then, when the King’s sister Mary married the King of France, she wore a gown of white gold brocade on her arrival into her new country, then changed into the French style for her wedding.

Anne of Cleves wore gold to her wedding to Henry VIII. Mary I wore cloth of gold and was wedded with ‘a plain hoop of gold, because maidens were so married in old times’.

Tudor wedding vows

Henry VIII and Katherine Parr used wedding vows that had been used for hundreds of years. Henry vowed to ‘have and to hold… for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death us depart’. The slightly altered phrase, ‘til death us do part’ that is used today in some Christian ceremonies was introduced in the 17th century.

In response, Katherine promised 'to be gentle and courteous, and buxom in bed and in board,' to her husband. These same vows form the basis of those exchanged in a modern-day Church of England wedding ceremony – with some notable alterations! 

The ‘bedding ceremony’

During the traditional ‘bedding ceremony’, a royal groom was escorted by a throng of courtiers to meet his wife in the royal bedchamber. The bed was then blessed and the courtiers departed – but listened in to make sure the newlyweds were having sex (known as ‘consummation’ of their marriage). 

A ‘bedding ceremony’ might seem like a scandalous invasion of privacy. But in the 16th century, when royal marriages could make or break a dynasty, it had an important purpose; it proved the marriage had been ‘consummated’ and therefore could not be broken down. So everyone had to be sure the deed was done.

The ‘bedding ceremony’ was so important that Arthur’s grandmother (and Tudor matriarch) Lady Margaret Beaufort laid down detailed ordinances (instructions) about how the ceremony should be conducted. 

Uniting the Roses

The wedding of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York: St Paul’s Cathedral, London, 18 January 1486

Although Tudor monarchs generally didn’t see a wedding as an excuse for a party, the first royal wedding of the Tudor era was a splendid affair. Henry VII, who founded the dynasty, had finally brought an end to years of civil strife by taking Elizabeth of York as his bride. 

The union of the Houses of York and Lancaster was ‘celebrated with all religious and glorious magnificence at court and by their people with bonfires, dancing, songs and banquets throughout all London’, as one contemporary recorded. 

Henry VII and Elizabeth of York married at St Paul’s Cathedral on 18 January 1486. John de Gigli, canon of St Paul’s, enthused about ‘bright Elizabeth’ with her necklace ‘framed in fretted gold’ about her ‘snowy neck’, her ‘beauteous form’ clad in ‘robes that glow with gold and purple dye’. 

The event was so spectacular that it even eclipsed Henry’s coronation the previous year.

Stealing the show

The wedding of Prince Arthur Tudor and Katherine of Aragon: St Paul’s Cathedral, November 1501

In another notable exception to the modest marriage tradition, St Paul’s was the venue for a magnificent wedding in November 1501, when Henry VII and Elizabeth of York’s firstborn child and heir, Prince Arthur, married a Spanish princess, Katherine of Aragon. 

She was escorted to the cathedral by Arthur’s 10-year-old brother Henry, Duke of York (the future Henry VIII). The tall, handsome young Duke stole the show at the entertainments that followed at Baynard’s Castle; Henry danced so energetically that he threw off his gown and continued in his doublet. 

While the citizens of London enjoyed free wine, the guests were treated to two full weeks of entertainments, including ‘disguisings’ (parties and entertainments), banquets and tournaments. 

At the conclusion of all this, the newlyweds underwent a bedding ceremony.

This didn’t prevent all problems, though: Arthur died less than a year later, leaving Katherine a widow. Whether or not they had consummated their marriage would be the subject of intense controversy during Katherine’s later marriage to his brother, Henry VIII. Indeed, Henry justified their annulment with the theory that she had consummated her marriage to Arthur (a claim that Katherine strenuously denied).

Arthur and Katherine’s wedding would be the last public royal wedding for more than 50 years.

A secret ceremony

The wedding of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn: Holbein Gate, Whitehall Palace, around 25 January 1533 

Henry VIII was no shrinking violet: he loved to be the centre of attention and his court was renowned for its ostentation and glamour. And of course, Henry had six wives, so he loved a wedding. But most of his weddings were quite low-key affairs, certainly compared with the pomp and ceremony that we are used to today. 

The most private of all Henry’s weddings was his second, to Anne Boleyn, who was reviled throughout his kingdom as a usurper and ‘concubine’. The need for secrecy was paramount because Henry’s marriage to Katherine of Aragon had not yet been annulled. But time was running out: Anne was already pregnant (with the future Elizabeth I) and it was imperative that their child be born in wedlock.  

Henry and Anne’s discretion was so successful that even to this day, the date and location of their wedding is not certain. Most historians believe that the ceremony took place on 25 January 1533 in the Holbein Gate at Whitehall Palace. 

After the wedding, Henry’s courtiers were quick to notice that something had changed. The Imperial ambassador Chapuys reported to his master Charles V: ‘On Saturday… dame Anne went to mass in Royal state, loaded with jewels, clothes in a robe of cloth of gold frieze… and was brought to church, and brought back with the solemnities or even more, which were used to the queen.’

But Anne’s new life of luxury was not to last; she would be executed at the Tower of London just three years later.

All that glitters is not gold

The wedding of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves: Greenwich Palace, 6 January 1540

Ironically, of all Henry VIII’s weddings, the one that was celebrated with the greatest ceremony was also the shortest-lived. His fourth marriage, to Anne of Cleves took place early in the morning of 6 January at Greenwich Palace, amidst several days of lavish pageantry and entertainment. 

The bride and groom were bedecked in sumptuous gowns of cloth of gold decorated with pearls and flowers. Around her neck, Anne wore a chain studded with such large stones that they ‘glistened all the field’.  

All of the attendants were similarly dressed, so the whole wedding party made such a dazzling sight that the watching crowds − who were well used to the spectacle of Tudor pageantry – had never seen the like. It was as if Henry was trying to blind them to the true farce that was being played out before their eyes.  

After choosing Anne from a portrait, the King had disliked his future bride when he met her in the flesh. Even as the wedding took place, ministers such as Thomas Cromwell were desperately trying to find a way to have the marriage annulled. 

Anne and Henry’s marriage was annulled six months later; Henry was already besotted with the young Catherine Howard, who became his fifth wife. Anne maintained her dignity throughout and was rewarded with land and property. 

Sixth time lucky…?

The wedding of Henry VIII and Katherine Parr: Hampton Court Palace, 12 July 1543

Henry’s sixth and final wedding was – like the marriage – one of the most straightforward. The bride was Katherine Parr, a twice widowed, 30-year-old who had served the King’s eldest daughter, Mary. 

Katherine was the most intelligent of all Henry’s wives and something of a religious radical. Her calm and sensible demeanour formed a welcome contrast to Henry’s fifth wife, Catherine Howard, whose alleged adulterous affairs had left the King broken-hearted and humiliated. 

Henry VIII and Katherine Parr were married on 12 July 1543 in the Queen’s Private Apartments at Hampton Court Palace (later demolished), with just 20 guests in attendance. 

The ceremony was performed by Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, a religious conservative who was hostile to the new queen. Gardiner would try to engineer Katherine’s downfall three years later. 

It was noted that Henry married his sixth wife with ‘none opposing and all applauding’. The wedding was followed by a celebration breakfast at the palace.  

Unlike her predecessors, Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, Katherine Parr was not crowned – probably because by now, in the closing years of Henry’s reign, the treasury was so depleted that it could not bear the cost. Instead, she was proclaimed Queen on the day of the wedding.  It had all been an occasion as modest and discreet as the new Queen herself.

The next generation

The wedding of Mary I and Philip of Spain: Winchester Cathedral, 25 July 1554

Henry VIII’s daughter Mary I married Philip of Spain after fallen 'half in love' with his portrait (the Tudor equivalent of internet dating!). Mary and Philip were married in Winchester Cathedral, making Mary the only one of Henry VIII’s legitimate children to be married.

A banquet was held in nearby Wolvesey Palace and lasted three hours, after which there was dancing. Mary’s modesty would not permit a bedding ceremony so the couple enjoyed greater privacy than was usual for a royal wedding night. 

Afterwards, Philip, who was 11 years younger than his 38-year-old wife, confided that she was ‘no good from the point of view of fleshly sensuality’. 

Mary’s marriage to Philip brought her deep unhappiness and no heir. Little wonder her sister Elizabeth I chose to be the 'Virgin Queen', who proclaimed herself married only to England.

The end of Tudor royal weddings

Mary I’s marriage to Philip was the last royal wedding to be celebrated publicly for three centuries. Not until Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840 did the people have an excuse to celebrate in style once more.