Firstly, congratulations to HJ on winning the blog contest and thank you to everyone who entered!
Today I’m talking about a trip to London I made this week to see the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery entitled The Lost Prince: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart.
There are a number of historical characters who never live to fulfil their promise or who become largely lost from history. One example would be Prince Frederick Louis, the father of King George III. Despite knowing my English royal genealogies fairly well I often forget that George III was the grandson not the son of George II. Frederick Louis, George’s father, is largely forgotten by history. Thus it is with Henry Stuart, Prince of Wales, the first son of King James I. We all know what happened when James I died; his son Charles inherited the throne and a very turbulent period of English history followed. But Charles was not the first born. Henry “born to make our eight Henries nine” as one contemporary put it, was Prince of Wales until he died tragically at only eighteen years of age.
This exhibition celebrates Henry’s life, his interests, influences, and his place in the wider world. It is a glorious display of art and artefacts from the early 17th century. From the letters Henry wrote to his parents as a child to the highly-decorated armour he wore, the exhibition splendidly illuminates 17th century life in the court of the young heir to the throne. There are full length portraits and tiny miniatures (including one of wicked Sir Walter Raleigh looking every chaperon’s nightmare!) There is even the wooden effigy that was made to lie on top of Prince Henry’s coffin, now missing the head and hands, which had been modelled in wax. The exhibition is sumptuous in its reflection of the riches of the Jacobean court but it is also tragic. It was fascinating to see the expectations that had been riding on Prince Henry and the way in which his public image as a heroic, martial ruler was being built. It was moving to see the genuine grief that erupted on his death, from the devastation felt by his parents to the outpouring of grief on the streets to see the brightest star of the next generation go out: “Our Rising Sun Is Set.”
On a lighter note, we took Rochester the Guide Dog Puppy with us and he behaved like an angel dog during the entire day. Thank you to the National Portrait Gallery for allowing him to train there and a special note on how delicious the lunch in the cafe was afterwards! Here is Rochester outside Buckingham Palace as part of his training that day!
Over on the Ashdown House Blog I will be blogging in more detail about those elements of the exhibition that involved Henry’s sister Elizabeth of Bohemia.
Thank you again for my prize!
I find the whole subject of elder sons and heirs dying before they succeed fascinating, although I have to admit I tend to think about it more from the point of view of the second son who unexpectedly did succeed. (I’m thinking not only of royalty, but of the aristocracy too.) Often the heir was brought up differently, educated for his role, and the second son then had to be trained-up quickly on his older brother’s death. And of course the second son wold have grown up believing that he wouldn’t have those responsibilities and obligations, and might be more free to live his life.
As for royalty – yes, we often forget that the second son would not have expected to become king, and might therefore have a different mindset than he might have had if he’d been brought up as the heir.
A pleasure, HJ!
Yes, it’s a fascinating topic. I think that was the case with Charles; when Henry died he was thrust into the spotlight and the whole image-building thing started again. Interestingly, later in Charles’s reign when people were becoming disillusioned with his politics the royal family tried to promote Charles (II) as the heir to his uncle Henry’s virtues.
Co-incidentally I have just finished writing a book where the hero is a second son whose elder brother dies. He quarrels with his grandfather over his role as heir and takes off abroad. A very interesting subject.
Congrats HJ. Facinating post Nicola. Rocester (gret name BTW) is adorable and looks like he had a fab time at Buckingham Palace. Caroline x
Thanks, Caroline! Yes, it was a fascinating exhibition. Rochester really enjoyed his trip to London. He’s at that stage of training now where he needs something challenging to keep him occupied!