Page:The Queens of England.djvu/354

314 THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. Jane gave birth to Prince Edward, in Hampton Court Palace, an event which filled the king with transport, and consequently delighted his courtiers. His joy was manifested by noisy hilar- ity, and theirs by an affectation of irrepressible rapture. This turbulent joy, however gratifying to the newly-made mother's feelings, was very injurious to her in the weak state to which she had been reduced, and the christening, which fol- lowed only three days after, from appearing at a portion of which splendid but tedious ceremony she was not exempted, proved too much for her exhausted frame. This solemn rite took place at midnight in the chapel of Hampton Court, with all the etiquette peculiar to such occasions, and when concluded, the infant prince was borne back to receive the benediction of his mother, attended by a stately procession, heralded by loud clarions, and as loud shouts of rejoicing — a terrible trial to the queen in her state of languor, and from the effects of which she never recovered. In twelve days after her confinement she re- , signed her breath, ere yet satiety had weaned from her the affec- tion of her fickle husband, and while he was still rejoicing in his new-born heir. Henry, albiet unused to give way to grief, evinced some natural sorrow for his lost queen. He wore mourning for three months, an honor he never paid to any of 'her predecessors or successors, and his courtiers observed the same etiquette. All respect and honors were shown to the re- mains of the departed queen. Every insignia of royalty was used to. attest her dignity; innumerable masses were offered up for the repose of her soul, and, after lying in state till the 12th of November, her body was removed, attended by a grand funeral procession, from Hampton Court to Windsor for inter- ment, where it was laid in the vault of St. George's Chapel. In the will of Henry, directions were found inserted that the bones of his "loving Queen Jane" were to be placed in his tomb — in- structions which were faithfully carried into effect.