Festina Lente

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Coronation

15th of July 1531 - London, England

Making her way into Westminster Abbey, Anne held her head high dressed in her coronation robes of ermine trimmed purple velvet with a coronet of gold on her head; she had spent the night in the Tower of London as was custom. 

It had been a month since she had married Henry and Anne was most certain that she was in fact with child; she could hardly believe how fast things seemed to be progressing it seemed like that night in France had been lucky in more ways than one. 

The procession route in which Anne was carried towards the Abbey for her coronation was filled with pageants and displays in celebration of her crowning as Queen of England; each seeming grander than the last. 

It pleased her that the people cheered as she passed, having feared that alone that they might not be as welcoming to her since she was not in the company of Henry for this trip through London. 

Anne walked barefoot under a canopy of cloth of gold carried by the barons of the Cinque Ports and her train was borne by the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk and the Duchess of Bedford. 

She had wished to honour the woman that had become her closest ally in her time at court, Anne did not know what she would have done without Clarice at her side; she did not trust many of her ladies especially knowing that Henry might one day take one of them as his mistress. 

As Anne processed behind the sceptre of gold, the dove-topped rod of ivory and the Lord Great Chamberlain (the Earl of Oxford), who bore the crown of St Edward, she was followed by the bishops of London and Winchester, ladies and gentlewomen all dressed. 

This was something that she had never imagined and she knew that somewhere hidden in the Abbey was Henry, he was watching secretly hidden behind a lattice screen in a special stand. 

When she reached the gold-draped chair of St Edward made her way to the high altar and prostrating herself for the Archbishop to pray over her.

With every step that she took, Anne prayed that God would be kind to her and bless her with the son that Henry so desired; there was no ignoring the theme that seemed to greet her at every step of her journey. 

It was expected of her to birth Henry a son, a healthy son that would bring about a golden age and she could not imagine just what would happen if she could not give him a son; as much as she loved Henry, she was not a fool. 

Katherine had failed in giving him a living son, she had been cast aside and would spend her life banished to the countryside known as the Dowager Princess of Wales but what would become of her. 

Getting to her feet, the Archbishop moved to anoint her before she was allowed to take a seat on St Edward's chair while orations were said. 

The Archbishop then crowned her with the crown of St Edward, a crown usually reserved for crowning the reigning monarch, and placed the sceptre in her right hand and the rod in her left hand. 

Anne never felt more powerful and she looked around the room taking in all that stood before her, they all bowed down to their new Queen and she prayed that the child in her belly would be a son and one day he would be seated in such a position. 

The Te Deum was sung and the Archbishop helped Anne exchange the heavy crown for a custom-made lighter version that Henry had commissioned just for her. 

It had been a gift along with the Queen's Crown jewels, he had wanted everything to be perfect for this day and nothing was too good for Anne; it had surprised Anne how determined he was to make her seen as his only Queen.