Christmas at Whitehall, All Invited...

Christmas at Whitehall

Her gracious majesty, Queen Mary I, intends to make her first public appearance, and calls on her subjects to be in attendance at court for the Christmas festivities this year.

~~~

A Tudor Christmas was a time for serious feasting for the royal household and the gentry. The traditional meat was swan, goose or woodcock if they could be caught. Turkey first came in 1523 and popularity grew. The Tudors would probably also have eaten venison, peacock (which was skinned and roasted then put back inside the cured skin with the feathers on as a table decoration) and wild boar which was often the centre piece. There is a long tradition of having a Boars Head for feasts, possibly originating from an Anglo-Saxon tradition of sacrificing the boar for their Yuletide celebrations. It would be carried into the banqueting hall on a gold or silver dish accompanied by trumpets and the songs of minstrels and is still remembered in the well known carol.

Another common Christmas feast dish was Souse which was pickled pigs feet and ears and then there was the Tudor Christmas Pie. This consisted of a pigeon inside a partridge inside a chicken inside a goose inside a turkey, which was then put in a pastry case called a coffin and served surrounded by hare and other game birds.

The Tudors enjoyed mince pies, but they had far more significance than today in that they had thirteen ingredients to represent Jesus and the apostles, they contained fruit (raisins, currants, prunes) and spices (cloves, mace, black pepper, saffron) and also mutton to represent the shepherds. The fashion was for them to be shaped like a crib.

The Tudors also had Christmas pudding but this was shaped like a sausage and contained meat, oatmeal and spices. The twelfth Night Cake was fruitcake baked with an item in like a coin or dried bean, whoever found it became King or Queen or host for the evenings entertainment. The Tudors often had salads in the shape of the family coat of arms.

Taken from Tudor Christmas.

She entered the Banquet Hall of Whitehall and stopped in the door for a moment to let her eyes roam about the room. It had taken her a great deal of convincing herself to be here. Not because of the new times that were about to begin but because of her own condition. When was it she had seen all the pomp of the Palace the last time? Was it some months ago or already a year that has gone by? To hell with thinking about that! Frances arranged her appearance and posture before she walked with head held high through the crowd.

'Has the whole of England gathered here?' She thought as she walked past some gentlemen and women. Here and then she thought it properly to bend her head, showing some kind of respect for those she didn't know or like - could only be good, if she wanted to start anew.

Frances, always determined in her thinking and proud of who she was, had needed an amount of hours and nerves to decide on a gown just to be a new person. But it was not only out of arrogance or vanity that made her to pick the red gown for the night. No, Frances had a plan. She wanted to gather attention (not as much as the royal family of course) but enough to make some new and maybe important acquaintances and to have a bit fun.

Beneath the surface of determination and comfort, she was highly nervous and spoke to herself to not turn around and flee the hall and all the eyes that were on here automatically as she had entered the hall. 'Is there any familiar face? Please, just one...' That was the thought that had occupied her mind and let her eyes rush over all the faces, hoping that there is one person she knew and could approach, just to get rid of this disturbing feeling of running away. 'Breathe easy, Frances. It will not last long and there will be someone you can talk to. -- Where in God's name is my brother!!?

In her mind she cursed Henry and Jane that they weren't ready as she was ready; she was cursing herself that she hadn't the patience to wait for them! But well, it was in vain to think of what she hasn't done; now she just had to see what she good she made of her being here alone. Soon, a servant crossed her way and she took a goblet of wine; now she could cling on it instead of her hands fiddling nervously on her gown.

The last weeks weren't the easiest for her, for England but especially for Mary and Anna tried her best to comfort Mary, to convince her that it was God's will that she became Queen of this isle and that she shouldn't doubt her own strength. Anna wasn't quite sure if she gave the right advices but she wasn't with Mary to just be an advisor but to be with her as a friend and the aunt, she still felt she was.

Yes, it was a unbearable shock for Anna as she learned about the death of little Edward, he was a good boy and hadn't deserved to leave the world that soon. Although she was at her estate in Hever since her last visit here and although she wanted to spent some happy days there, God thought it otherwise and led her way back to court to be there for Mary and to give Edward the last honor. No matter how broken her heart was, no matter how she felt and wished to be alone Anna stood her ground and remained at court, helping where it was needed and as good as she could.

Anna even got the time to see Francis or even to write a letter to him; probably he will think that she had abandoned him once again. This thought frightened Anna and she deeply hoped that he knew her well enough by now and would know that she was needed elsewhere.

Deep sighing, she looked at the reflection of her face in the mirror, looking at herself she was glad that the tiredness wasn't visible. One of her maids placed the tiara on her head before Anna turned to the right and to the left to look at her gown if everything was all right. Satisfied with her appearance she turned around and left her room, walking through the familiar corridors to the Banquet Hall. She could already hear the merry music that was playing mixed with happy voices and laughers. Somehow strange that the people could carry on as if nothing terrible had happened days weeks ago.

Actually, Anna wanted to take Mary with her but then she decided otherwise, knowing that it wasn't her place to accompany Mary into the Hall but her husband's duty and it was better this way. The Duke of Bavaria and her nephew was of better assistance and support for Mary than she would have been. After a short pause before the door she entered the Hall and was announced as soon as she had set a foot into the hall. Happily smiling and not showing her true feelings in this very moment she walked through the crowd, bending her head to the people as a sign of recognizing and greeting. After some steps she had reached her place that was told her to take as long as the officially part of the evening was not over.

Her eyes wandered over all the faces and here and there she saw familiar ones; faces from the past and new faces but the one she had hoped to see here wasn't there. Taking an offered goblet of wine she thanked the servant and then waited for the officially part of the evening to begin.

After Frances had left them - she had annoyed him and Jane since an hour - and after he had managed to persuade Jane that she looked beautiful in that dark-red gown they finally had managed to get out of Launde Abbey! But not that Jane had stopped to doubt her being at court once again. Henry didn't exact understand why she was that anxious to be at the place where they first had met each other, but it slowly dawned to him - or to say it otherwise, he thought it could be her father. After all, there was a slight possibility that he would be there as well, celebrating Christmas after Mary had become the Queen of England. Oh, Sir William Dormer would be proud now and if he could he would laugh at Henry full of scorn.

At the thought of this man all the memories of the past months returned and Henry had to struggle hard not to start cursing again. No, he wanted to be the person he was before, before all of this had happened and he wanted to spend a wonderful time at the Christmas feast, together with Jane. They really had deserved some distraction for they still struggled with keeping control of their desires. Hopefully, this evening wouldn't give them any single opportunity to sneak out and find a hidden place so they could...

Henry didn't want to bring this thought to an end! No, he was sure there will be too much that would distract them to not think of that; too much familiar faces that will take care they won't have a moment alone.

His thoughts returned back to Mary. He wondered how she felt now. He wondered what had happened that it came that far. No, not because he didn't like the thought of Mary being Queen; he was certain that Mary would be a great Queen as well, if she would overcome her fears concerning some specific things. He thought about the passing of Edward VI. The former King of England, only a child on the throne of England. Many had doubted him but if God would have given Edward a chance, Henry was sure he would have been a good King. ... Sighing, he looked out the window and recognized that the carriage had already stopped in front of the Great Door of the Palace.

Smiling, he looked to Jane and then got out of it first so he could reach out his hand to help Jane. Now, it is time to be merry, my dear. He said smiling and followed the servant inside the Great Hall. For a brief moment even he forgot to breath, but had he really expected a cheap-looking feast at Whitehall? He let his eyes roam about the room and saw his sister standing on the right side of the hall, but before she could notice his glance he looked to the other side but then decided that it was in vain to look for his friends at this moment.

He led Jane to the left side of the hall, so both of them and his sister Frances could be here on their own to enjoy this evening.

Thomas Wyatt had been practically kicked out of his own home, and thrown into the carriage bound for Whitehall Palace. The Wyatts spent little to no time at all at court, so whenever a banquet was thrown, and they were invited, they never refused. Thomas' business kept him away from court life anyway, for any mishaps that occurred in the area of Kent, he, as the sheriff of that region, was expected to quell it. If the situation became difficult to control, only then did he report it to the king. For the last few months it felt odd for the eldest son of the infamous poet to no longer report such things to a teenage king, but a much older queen. Not that he even saw her in person; all correspondents had been handled through letters.

People claimed she was scared, terrified of greeting a Protestant England. And as Thomas strolled into the great hall for another Christmas banquet, he couldn't understand why. Lines of tables, and lines of people, half of which he recognized as Catholics due to his own beliefs, and the other half of which he recognized as Protestant due to his father's beliefs, and none of them looked remotely unnerved... if anything, they looked considerably drunk. In Thomas' own opinion, the new queen didn't have a lot to worry about. Her brother had repressed many Catholics over the course of the last few years, so if she learned from his example, and avoided doing the same to the Protestants in her kingdom, he couldn't see any reason why she wouldn't make a great queen.

The former princess, then lady, and now queen of England, came from an impressive line of kings and queens, and as the granddaughter of two great dynasties, she was destined for greatness. Thomas couldn't describe how happy he was to sit at one of the tables lining the great hall, reach out to pour himself a mug of ale, and not having an excitable five year old bouncing around him, while a teething one year old howled upstairs. Tonight had been particularly bad where Frances and Anne were concerned, so much so Thomas' darling wife cracked, ushering her husband out of the house, complaining that he always had a tendency to rile them up. He didn't argue, Thomas knew better than to argue with Jane when she was like that.

The result; a lost battle.

Francis Walsingham was only too happy to bid this year farewell, especially after the last six months or so. If he wasn't busy with parchments upon parchments of Latin scripts, requiring translation, then he had the fortuity of being the one to listen to his classmate's paranoid ramblings about how every Protestant in the country was going to be burned now. It was a relief to return home, even to the gaggle of children that were his younger siblings, just to get away from it all. His mother seemed pleased to see him, if his stepfather was then he hid it well, but Francis had given up a long time ago on seeing anything aside from a frown crinkling that man's face. He may have been his brothers' father, but he wasn't Francis'.

He intended to visit court, but only for a few days, two maximum, but only so he could see Anna. While he didn't give much credence to his classmate's insinuations, he still didn't feel all that comfortable as he arrived at court that afternoon. But then again, Francis felt like a sore thumb there last year anyway, standing out from a crowd which consisted mostly of royalty and the nobility, two categories of which Francis didn't fall into. The only claim to fame he had was his uncle, Sir Anthony Denny, who had once been a member of Henry VIII's privy council, and was well awarded in the king's will upon his death in 1547. But because of his surname, not many were aware that Francis was indeed the man's nephew.

Then he spotted her. The only contact he'd had with Anna Von Kleve was through letters, which was something, but not enough as far as the young man was concerned. In that moment, he could clearly recall how they were reunited last year, and it was with a smile that he noted red was a colour she wore well. It made the golden shade of her hair shimmer all the more under the candles, positioned in the chandelier above the great hall. And those rich brown eyes of hers... it was always easy for Francis to tell whenever Anna was sad, or happy, for her eyes always seemed to lighten, or darken in such a way, reflecting her mood. Tonight she seemed a little conflicted, and as much as Francis wanted to be at her side, that would have to wait until later, for where she was seated was reserved for members of the royal family only.

Instead, he took a goblet of wine from a passing servant, balancing five of them on the one tray, and raised it to the former queen of England, smiling broadly at her as he did so. How Henry VIII could annul his marriage to such a woman, and marry a young girl, much too young, and too foolish for him, Francis would never know.

Jane walked into the great hall slowly. She didn't want to rush the moment when she was finally back at court again. No, not as if she would be greedy for power, titles or anything she could have here. She was never interested in such things. But cout always meant more excitement and more fun. There were more men, more opportunity to flirt a bit. And in this very moment she really needed that. Her last days at Kent weren't a piece of cake. The children nagged her for everything. Well, the little one didn't really nag, but cried all the time, which was all the same. So tonight she wanted to br just a woman having fun not an exhausted mother. And in this plan of hers no one will stop her. Not even Tom. Well, he wouldn't dare to make a scene in front of the whole court actually. And he won't have a reason to that either.

She looked around in the hall. She couldn't see the Queen yet. If she wanted to be honest she was not at all pleased that a Chatolic was on the throne again... but well, that's life. And she cannot be as dearing as almost 15 years ago when she marshed of to France to spread Protentantism. No, she must be a bit more careful now. Now she has things to loose, like Tom or her children. No, she will wait in silence until she knows what the plans of the new Queen are and what that means to her.

And a feast is a perfect place for gathering information and... admiring looks. With whom should she start? There is Henry Cromwell, but he seems to be lost in a brown beauty. What a shame! Well, maybe he should wait for the "King". It is said that Her Majesty managed to find quite an attractive husband. We will see... We will see..

She smiled at Tom, got a goblet of wine in her hand and walked towards the bigger crowd.

As the carriage suddenly stopped Jane looked up abruptly. They have arrived already? Couldn’t they wait a bit? As she looked down at her hand she realized that she folded her fingers so firmly that they were all white. “Jane you have to stop this.” She scolded herself. “You are here for a feast not for an execution. And you cannot ruin Henry’s evening with your nervousness. Nothing wrong will happen, and if, they you aren’t alone here to face it. ” As she looked up and lovingly smiled at Henry, who returned her smile it took her breath away again. This man always had this effect on her, no matter what happened. Her love just grew stronger for him. And now she realized that she should simply be happy that they are together now. She still hardly saw Henry these days. It was because the chapel. Well, it was his explanation at least. And Jane really tried to believe him, but her instinct told her something was going on. The only plausible explanation she could find for his behavior was that he was afraid that a scene with the broken mirror would repeat itself, so he chose to keep distance till they get married. She suppressed a sigh. She didn’t dare to ask about this topic and Henry wasn’t mentioning it either, so she kept silent although she felt more and more uncomfortable to live with Henry without God’s blessing.

As Henry helped her to get out of the carriage for a moment she just admired the building. It was still beautiful, and her memories slowly returned as well. This was the magical place where she met Henry. And she did everything to concentrate on this memory our on his marriage proposal and not on the scene with her father. And she really hoped that he wasn’t here tonight. She didn’t want to have a scene, or pretend in front of the Queen that they are a loving family. She rarely ever mentioned her father ever since, although accepted if others wanted to mention him. She didn’t mention that his father’s words echoed in her mind nowadays often. He said if Mary becomes a Queen Henry will be in danger. But she had that not in her mind. Now she listened to Henry’s words and smiled, before she planted a soft kiss on his lips.

I’m happy, Henry. More than that. I’m just worried a bit because this whole thing and if I can make you proud with my behavior and with my appearance. But I promise I will enjoy this evening but I have a serious request. You have to dance with me.

Before they entered the hall she squeezed Henry’s hand once more, arranged her gown once more (it was Henry’s present and was the most beautiful she had ever seen) and tried to smile. Inside she saw a huge crowd and thought they will never find Frances, but then she felt how Henry gently governed her to the corner. As she glimpsed her soon to be sister in law a soft smile played on her lips. Despite everything that happened they got along very well recently. She stepped to her and asked.

Was it worth to rush here so badly? Did we miss something?

Phillip was standing in the huge door of the Hall but somehow he couldn't enter. He was so confused and undecisive as in the last weeks all the time. Edward's death was a huge shock for him. In the last time of his life he and the young King finally got along very well. Edward finally believed him that he wasn't am enemy, but a supporter. If God would have been merciful enough they could have become even friends with time. It was very hard to witness how life left such a young soul.

And then seeing how devastated Mary became because of the death of her brloved little brother broke his heart. Not many knew about his wife's true feelings, as Mary was a master of showing a mask to the public and hiding her true self. But with Phillip she was diferent. He saw her crying, sobing. He was by her side all the time. Or better to say as much as Mary let him to be there. As there were such depths of her grief that even he wasn't allowed to see.

He was beside her when she started to doubt if she really could be a good Queen of Englang if at all. She was worried if she was prepeared or not, if her country and her people will accept her. Phillip did everything to assure and support her, but he also knew she has to win her strength from herself. And there was another delicate issue. His own position. He was Mary's husband but he never had any intention to be King or man of power an any form. But many didn't believed him, attacted him openly or behind his back claiming he wants the English throne. He didn't wanted to be a King but wouldn't want to be a boy that simply is running after the Queen. And even the Privy Council couldn't agree what title and adress Phillip should wear now. The long negotiations had no result yet and even Mary seemed undecisive yet. So Phillip hanged in the air...

And even now he saw the confusion on everyone's facr how to adress him. Your Majesty, Your Grace? And what should he do? Wait for Mary to enter and escort her to the main table, or should simply walk in? And on how many people will he notice tonight that their attitude changed toward him? As he lurked into the room he searched for sure points, friends. His aunt was already sitting by the table. He knew that he can always count on her. And there was also Henry. As he spotted him with the two most important women of his life he had to smile softly. Both Lady Frances and Lady Jane were beautiful. And sudenly Phillip longed for their simpler life. And while he was still waiting for his wife to arrive or for his own courage to enter he could just hope that his friendship with Henry will never change no matter what.

A total of an hour passed before Mary had the courage to step outside her chambers, the black skirts of her dress flowing around her, with a tiara fixed in to her hair, perfectly restrained in a bun at the back of her head, and even then the last thing she felt was courageous. For months, Mary had been terrified to so much as step outside her door, never mind showing her face to the public. It resulted in a slight case of agoraphobia, coupled with cabin fever, but Mary knew that Christmas festivities were as good a time as any for her first public appearance.

She was anxious as she approached the great hall, but that anxiety seemed to give away as she noticed Phillip, standing in the doorway. If Mary was ever troubled, then it didn't often last long in the presence of her husband. So many tears had been spilt in the last few months since her brother's death, and so many temper tantrums had been thrown at the duties that were now Mary's. She could only ever show that side of herself to Phillip, no one else, because if she did, she risked showing weakness. She could vividly recall how people spoke of that woman, and how emotional she was, and unable to cover it up, such a thing that was regarded with disdain.

Mary prided herself on being her mother's daughter, and therefore would only show half of herself to her subjects, just as her mother had done before her. She would smile and laugh when it was required of her, she would never frown or become angry, not like that woman did. As she walked down the corridor, Phillip drawing nearer the further she walked, issues regarding his status rose up in her mind, but she quickly fought them back. Those would be settled another time, not here, and not tonight. Christmas was a time for celebration, after all.

"Husband" Mary smiled as she stopped beside him, sliding her arm around his, and taking a deep breath before they entered the great hall together.