Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-04-05
QUEEN OF HEARTS
When Elizabeth of York Was
Crowned.
s w EFT LADY BESSIE
BUT THE KING WAS CROSS
GRAINED AND sTINGY.
Pretty Story of the Greatest corona~
ton in the Annals Of Lon
don Town.
SWEET LADY BESSIE
Written 70. Thc Evening Star

! Written To- Tho Evening Star
Apropos OF the coming coronation OF King
| Edward VII with his queen. IL may not
! be out Of place to recall the most joyous
ceremony OF the kind ever celebrated In
! England. When the news Of the battle OF
! Bosworth reached London, and 1t was GER
! tainly known that King Richard III had
died fighting like a lion and that his bat
! tered crown had been placed on the head
of his rival. Richmond. the commons OF
! England met ioyfully, and the crown was
rendered to King Henry VII by both
houses. One single proviso was made. that
he should at once marry Elizabeth OF York.
the eldest daughter and heiress of Edward
! ". and thus settle forever the dispute be-
! tween York and Lancaster
It was against nature for Lancaster to
love York. therefore the king reluctantly.
and with no cordially. accepted the condi-
! ton, though the lady was young and hand
some, was to have no share in the governs
| ment, and the marriage with her would
| unite the rival claims, and secure his throne
| forever; the attitude OF the commons being
"a plague on both your houses, well have
! no more war" Now he had accepted this
condition. been acknowledged by the Eng
| fish people. and crowned king with very
moderate enthusiasm, yet he hesitated
| about the marriage, he baked; he would
| have retracted and Tilted the Lady Bes-
| of another civil war. had not the house OF
/ commons and the citizens Of London en-
couraged, threatened and gently goaded
! him on to keep his promise. AT last, re-
/ luctanty and with no great splendor he
| married the princess and took her to Rich-
mond palace to live.
Bosworth Field.
London, which has turned the tide IN
every civil war, had thus settled the throne
| more securely than the triumphs OF Bos-
worth Field. But still the queen remained
uncrowned, though the people expected
and the commons demanded It. son and
! heir was born to the king. he had been
christened and cut his teeth. and yet his
mother was not crowned. Finally when
| the commons demanded her coronation,
and the city OF London clamored for it.
| the king felt 1t impolltic TO longer defer
his wifes brief triumphs. Elizabeth OF
York entered the metropolis IN an open
litter drawn by handsome horses: her
golden hair, held back from her forehead
by a slight sliken. pearl-embroidered net.
streamed and rippled its glossy lengths
down her back, even to her ankles Her
straight, stately form, her delicate rose
complexion and large blue eyes. recalled
to the cockneys her father, Edward ~,
their idol for twenty years; and the gentle,
| inoffensive queen of nineteen years; the fu-
ture mother OF one bad king UIenry Wild,
and the daughter OF another took the city
J
went mad with loyalty; It opened Its heart
and its purse, and went in for a week Of
| glorious revelry. The mob roared,
| screamed shouted Long live the old house
of York; God save the white rose OF York;
| God bless Queen Elizabeth the city gave
a magnificent pageant for the queen and a
! free feast for the people; her picture was
! painted on every pack of cards as Queen
| of Hearts. The king was not In IL. SO to
| speak; he was but shadow In the back
| ground and his wife's turn had come with
| q vengeance.
No expense was spared for the ceremony.
! The bishops and court ladies took IL into
! their own hands and spun ont the actual
! coronation into four days. while they bore
! the queen hither and thither, with pro-
! digious ceremony, changing her rich SYM
! boiical vestments many times, robing and
| unrobing her. amounting and finally crown
! ing her, after high mass many prayers aid
! a great flourish of trumpets. During all
! this time her feet never once touch d the
| ground but to tread the red and white
| roses of Lancaster and York.
A Day of Feasting.
Then came the coronation feast. which
occupied one whole day. Elizabeth sat
under a rich canopy OF state. her pretty
sisters beside her. while the noblemen OF
J highest rank in England waited on her.
presenting the dishes in turn on Bonded
knee; then came her procession through
the city, which occupied two successive
days, when London presented her with a
purse of gold which made her independent
| of stingy King Harry OF Richmond for
some time to come; and she, arrayed in
purple and gold and ermine, with her
crown upon her head, smiled and beamed
upon the people, she turned from right
| to left and passed slowly between the
/ throng of upturned faces, caps were
thrown up in the air and men roared them
selves hoarse in her honor.
| Now King Henry, an entirely natural
man, hated his mother-in-law, the queen
| dowager, as any modern American citizen
might hate relations by marriage, but with
out his power TO injure. He had quarreled
with her, ousted her, would have prevented
her daughter to see or correspond with her,
would have prosecuted her for witchcraft.
had not London disapproved. She took no
active part but she was at her daughters
triumph. a pale phantom OF former gran
deur, and the cockneys were touched at the
sight of her wasted form and pinched,
careworn face. They had welcomed her a
| bride, quarter of a century before and
was she not the widow Of the man whom
they had delighted to honor, the mother OF
| his murdered sons? Had she not fluttered
| through London like frightened hen, with
her chicks all about her, to seek protec-
| ton in the sanctuary of Whtefriars, be-
upon and destroyed the noblest of her
| blood? The city gave her Jewel and purse
| of gold at her daughters coronation, and
| said a kind word to the forlorn queen
mother, did the king dare to forbid her
presence. He noticed once during the
procession, by voice in the crowd crying,
king Harry-our old bad penny-a cheerl'
| followed by a burst of laughter and a roar
Of God save Queen Elizabeth"