Disappointed in his hope of further issue, Henry had, in a more special manner than at her christening, declared his daughter heiress to the Crown, and Princess of Wales, consoling himself with the conviction, that her extreme popularity would be a sufficient counterpoise to the somewhat hazardous novelty of a queen regnant. The news of her departure for the west was communicated to the Venetian Government by Lorenzo Orio in August, 1525:— “On Saturday, the Princess went to her principality of Wales, with a suitable and honourable escort, and she will reside there until the time of her marriage. She is a rare person, and singularly accomplished, most particularly in music, playing on every instrument, especially on the lute and harpsichord.”[44] The term borders or marches of Wales was somewhat loosely applied, and “the parties thereabouts” seem to have included the whole of the south-western, and some of the midland counties, for we find Mary during this time not only at Chester and Shrewsbury, but also at Tewkesbury and Gloucester. A great deal of power was put into the hands of her council, with the means of enforcing their decrees, but the details of her short sojourn in the west are very meagre, and we are entirely dependent on a few sidelights, to show the kind of authority that was centred in her person, and the amount of state that was kept. This last was indeed considerable. A communication from her council to Sir Andrew Windsor, Sir John Dauncy and Sir William Skeffington, refers them to the King’s pleasure, “touching such ordnance and artillery as should be delivered for the Princess into the marches of Wales, and for despatching the payments for carriage by land or water. They desire that the two gunners, John Rauffe and Laurence Clayton, and the armourer, William Carter, now being the Princess’s servants, may have livery coats of the Princess’s colours.”[45] What those colours were may be learned from a letter of Wolsey’s to Sir Andrew Windsor, authorising him to deliver to Dr. Buttes, “appointed physician to my lady Princess, a livery of blue and green in damask, for himself, and in blue and green cloth for his two servants; also a cloth livery for the apothecary”. On the margin of a document, in which are inscribed the names of all the ladies and gentlemen who accompanied the Princess, is a memorandum, signed by Wolsey, relating to the quantity of black velvet to be allowed and delivered to each. Those of inferior rank were to have black damask. Mary’s head-quarters were at Ludlow, but she travelled constantly from place to place, visiting all the more accessible parts of the principality, and the surrounding country. On the 3rd September 1526, she was at Langley, as we learn from a letter addressed to Wolsey from that place:—