On this day in Tudor history, 26th August 1533, Anne Boleyn took to her chamber at Greenwich Palace to prepare for the birth of her first child.
This was a centuries-old tradition, which saw a Tudor woman going into “confinement” for the last 4-6 weeks of her pregnancy. For Anne, her pregnancy would end less than two weeks later with the birth of a healthy daughter, Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth I.
For Henry VIII’s second wife, taking to her chamber was rather more involved than simply retiring from court to rest. Anne’s chambers were carefully prepared for her confinement, according to royal protocol set out by Lady Margaret Beaufort, the king’s grandmother, and she would withdraw into a female world, away from the bustle of court and from most men, to await the birth.
Of course, everyone was hoping that the child Anne was carrying would be the son and heir that Henry VIII so desperately wanted. Preparations had been made for the arrival of a prince, and neither Anne nor Henry could have known that the baby born on 7th September would instead be a girl. Royal astrologers had apparently predicted the birth of a prince.
But what exactly did “taking to her chamber” involve? What were Anne’s rooms like? Who was allowed to be with her? And what happened during those final days before Elizabeth’s birth?
Find out more in my video:
And here are more resources on Anne’s confinement and Elizabeth’s birth: