Not only does Framlingham in Suffolk have its own castle, the parish church of St. Michael's also has a close connection with King Henry VIII's illegitimate son.
About Henry Fitzroy
Henry Fitzroy was the son of King Henry and Elizabeth Blount, a lady in waiting to Katherine of Aragon; born on 15 June 1519, at the Priory of St. Lawrence at Blackmore in Essex. The birth delighted the king who so desperately wanted to sire a healthy living son. Fitzroy was the only illegitimate offspring that Henry acknowledged and Henry held a banquet to celebrate his birth.
The proud king took an active interest in his son's welfare, as he resembled his father so much. He even asked Thomas Wolsey to make his son legitimate and gave him the honour of being the baby's godfather.
When Fitzroy was only six years old, he became a Knight of the Garter at a ceremony held at St. George's Chapel in Windsor. Soon after, he became the Earl of Nottingham, and the Duke of Richmond and Somerset. A month later, he held several important posts such as Lord High Admiral of England, Ireland and Normandy. Later on, he lived at Sheriff Hutton Castle where he lived like a renaissance prince. All of this made Fitzroy the richest person in England next to his father.
Henry Fitzroy's Education
Henry Fitzroy received a basic education, and tried everything to get out of it to pursue his love of hunting. Fitzroy shared lessons with Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey, at Durham Place in The Strand. The two boys became close friends.
The boys were not ideal pupils. Their tutor Richard Coke often complained that they were too tired to participate in their lessons, as they hunted beforehand. A clerk went to Sheriff Hutton, investigated, and found that these complaints were true.
Fitzroy was already making contact and exchanging gifts with his Aunt Margaret and James V of Scotland. This included sending hunting hounds along with a man to train them. James then began to fear for his succession to the English throne after he found out that Fitzroy was being introduced as King Henry's heir.
Soon after, John Palsgrave replaced Richard Coke as tutor. Taught to the same standard as Princess Mary, Fitzroy was a challenge to teach and the new tutor resorted to bribery. He even allowed him to write to his father to ask for his permission to fight.
At the age of ten, Fitzroy became a temporal Lord in Parliament and brought charges against Cardinal Wolsey. King Henry's favouritism for his son came more to light when he presented Fitzroy with a suite of rooms at Windsor, normally used by the Prince of Wales, while Princess Mary received a less important suite.
By the age of fourteen, Fitzroy was attending many events and state banquets on behalf of the king. His father married Anne Boleyn who saw Fitzroy as a threat, believing that he would take preference over her own children with the king.
The Boisterous Prince
In 1532, Fitzroy went to France with his father and ended up staying there with Henry Howard, the French princes and the French king Francois I, who regarded Fitzroy as his own son. However, the young boisterous prince was not always so popular. It was even reputed that he and the French princes did many awful things, including putting rotting corpses in the beds of the court ladies.
In July 1533, Fitzroy and Howard fell ill and Fitzroy was in danger of dying. They had drank some wine, thought to be possibly poisoned. Anne Boleyn's brother George who was staying in France left swiftly, taking all his belongings with him. Later his wife claimed that he had tried to poison Fitzroy with Anne's knowledge.
By November 1535, Fitzroy was back at Windsor Castle, where he found out about Anne and that he and his sister were lucky to be alive. The King charged Anne with infidelity, a treasonous offense at the time. Fitzroy attended both Anne's trail and execution.
The Marriage and Death of the Prince
For Fitzroy, the search for a foreign princess was unsuccessful as he was illegitimate. On 25 November 1533, he married his friend Henry Howard's sister, Lady Mary Howard. However, the couple were ordered to wait as it was feared that the act of consummation too early could kill Fitzroy.
Henry Fitzroy died from tuberculosis on 22 July 1536 at St. James Palace, just as an act was going through parliament to allow the king to nominate his son Henry as the next king.
The Duke of Norfolk was trusted with the funeral arrangements, but King Henry became furious when his son did not receive a burial with full honours. The orders were that the body be wrapped in lead, and then be taken in a closed cart for secret burial at St. Mary's Priory in Thetford, Norfolk. Due to the carelessness of the Duke's servant's, instead they placed the body in a wagon and covered it with straw. Only two attendants followed Fitzroy and this was at a distance. The King later complained and the duke feared that he the King would send him to the Tower of London.
Henry Howard received his late friend's favourite black jennet horse, along with the saddle and harness made for the funeral. His young widow Mary retired from court. The couple did not consummate their marriage and the King refused her a pension as he expressed doubts as to the validity of her marriage. This meant that Mary would lose more than her jointure if the marriage was void.
Mary never remarried and died in December 1557, and Henry Fitzroy's tomb was moved from Thetford Priory to St. Michael's Church in Framlingham in Suffolk.
Read about King Henry VIII's daughter and queen Mary Tudor.
Sources:
Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond & Somerset (1519 - 1536) by St. Michael's Church, Framlingham. Information Leaflet.
Bastard Prince, Henry VIII's Last Son by Dr Beverley Murphy, published by The History Press, 2004.
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Tracey White - A photojournalist and history writer who specialises in UK/ Scottish history and travel especially of the Tudor era.
