King James was not with his wife during her last moments, but Prince Charles kneeled at her bedside and received her dying blessing. She was conscious to the end, and when the Bishop of London prayed, he said: "Madame, make a sign that your majesty is one with your God, and long to be with him." She held up her hands, and when one failed she raised the other until both dropped, and she was no more. The royal corpse was taken to Somerset House, where it lay in state for three days, and was then carried to the grave by ten knights, followed by most of the nobility then sojourning in London. The Countess of Arundel was chief lady mourner, and walked between the Duke of Lenox and the Marquis of Hamilton. All the ladies of the royal household came after, and as each one was enveloped in from twelve to sixteen yards of heavy black cloth, it was difficult for them to walk even at a funeral gait. Prince Charles preceded the funeral car, which was drawn by six horses, and the Archbishop of Canterbury walked by his side. The queen's riding horse was led by one of the officers of her household, and half a dozen heralds carried banners and flags bound with _crepe_ just behind the pall. Queen Anne of Denmark died in the forty-sixth year of her age, and was buried at Westminster Abbey. She left two children, one who became Charles I. of England, and the other was Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia. {144} CHAPTER VI. HENRIETTA MARIA, QUEEN-CONSORT OF CHARLES I., KING OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND (A.D 1609-1669.) |Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I., was the youngest child of Henry IV. of France, and his second wife, Marie de Medicis. [[A.D. 1609.]] She was born at Louvre in 1609, and Madame de Monglat, the royal governess, took charge of her, as she had done of all her brothers and sisters from the time of their births. This princess had a grand baptism, no less a person than the pope's nuncio acting as sponsor. The name given to her was Henrietta Marie, but it became anglicized when she was so young that we must speak of her as she was known during the greater and more important part of her existence. She was unfortunate in having a mother who was so weak-minded, petulant, and bigoted as to be quite incapable of instilling into her children the wise principles that they needed to fit them for the battle of life. The little Henrietta was but six months old when her father was killed by Ravaillac; and her first appearance in public was made on the occasion of his funeral. She was carried in the arms of Madame de Monglat in the doleful procession, and her baby hands sprinkled the murdered {145} [Illustration: 0151] {147}corpse with holy water, according to the national custom in Normandy. The coronation of Louis XIII. followed close upon his father's assassination; but in consequence of his extreme youth his mother was appointed queen-regent, and civil war never ceased to rage in France while she continued in power.