The King approv'd the Counsel, and having that Evening disguis'd himself, he left the Palace, follow'd only by the Count and a few Friends. That Night they arriv'd at _Alcantra_, from whence he sent Orders to the Secretaries of State, and to the _German_ Guard, to come to him; and at the same time dispatch'd Couriers to every Town of _Portugal_, to let them know that he was of Age, and by consequence the Regency of the Queen at an end. Most of the Court set out for _Alcantra_, and the Queen saw herself in a manner forsaken; notwithstanding which, she resolv'd to lay down her Authority as became her: wherefore she wrote to the King, to ask him the reason why he took possession of the Throne like an Usurper, that had no Right to it; and added, that if he would return to _Lisbon_, she would lay down her Authority in presence of the Grandees and the Magistrates. The King accordingly return'd, and the Queen having summon'd the Grandees, Magistrates, and others of the Nobility, to attend her, in presence of the Assembly took the Seals out of the Great Purse, and putting them into her Son's Hand, "Here are, _said she_, the Seals, which, together with the Regency, were entrusted to my Care by the Will of my late Sovereign Lord: I return them to your Majesty with all the Authority, which they are the Emblems of; I heartily pray God that you may make a good use of them, and that your Reign may be as prosperous as I can wish it." The King took the Seals, and gave them to the first Secretary of State; after which the Prince, and all the Grandees, kiss'd his Hand, and acknowledg'd him their Sovereign. The Queen Dowager had given out, that she intended in six Months time to retire into a Convent, but that six Months she would spend at Court, to see what Measures the young King would take. But the Favourite Count, who still dreaded that Princess, who knew her tow'ring Genius, and was sensible of the natural Sway which a Mother has over the Mind of her Son, persuaded the King to treat her most inhumanly, that by frequent Affronts he might oblige her to leave the Court much sooner than she intended. The Queen, who was of a haughty Temper, could not bear to be thus us'd, but immediately threw herself into a Convent; where, being fully satisfy'd of the Vanities of human Greatness, she spent the Remainder of her Time, which was scarce a Year, in preparing herself for another World, and died on the eighteenth of _February_, 1666. lamented by the whole Nation: for never was there a Princess of a more extraordinary Genius, or more amply endow'd with all the Vertues requisite to either the one or the other Sex. Whilst on the Throne, she shew'd a truly great and heroick Soul; when she quitted it for a religious Life, she seem'd entirely to have forgotten what Pomp and Grandeur were, and all her Ambition then was to deserve Heaven.