Henry VIII's Forgotten New Years Prince: Henry, Duke of Cornwall
As pop history goes, Henry VIII is most remembered as the king who struggled to have a son, and who went through multiple divorces and two executions to get one. Yet, what is often forgotten is that the story never started like that: in fact, in the beginning of his reign, Henry VIII fathered two living sons: one who died in infancy and the other being illegitimate.
Henry, Duke of Cornwall was the firstborn son of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, and lived for only 9 weeks before dying suddenly, possibly from SIDs. Called by historians “The New Years Prince,” due to the fact he was born on January 1st, 1511, his presence in the royal household brought much needed hope to the kingdom; a hope that died with the infant prince.
By 1511, Henry VIII would have been king for 2 years come April, and would have turned 20 that coming June. Young, gregarious and kindly, the young Henry was a breath of fresh air for the kingdom, the tyrant of legend having yet appeared. He had proven to be everything his aged father had not, and had righted many wrongs from the previous reign. To make a happy situation happier, his wife Catherine, whom he had married for love the year prior, was with child, and safely within confinement with no sign of complication. It seemed everything was going right for the new royal couple.
On New Years Day, 1511, Catherine of Aragon gave birth to her first living child: a boy. The kingdom rejoiced at the news that their young king now had a son and heir, and the child was named Henry for his father. Beacons were lit ablaze in his honor, and the child’s birth was well timed: Catherine had suffered a stillbirth January prior, so the live birth of this son must have felt like a long awaited blessing. On January 5th, the child was baptized in a lavish ceremony befit for a prince, and the gifts were many: the child was given a gold salt holder and cup by his godfather, Louis XII. The child was to be raised by his father’s own former governess, Anne Denton.
Between the 12th and 13th of January, Henry held a themed tournaments in honor for his beloved child, in which he himself jousted as “Sir Loyal Hearte,” and with the favors of his wife. This event was commemorated with The Westminster Tournament Roll, which is a part of the College of Arms collection.
Yet, the hope and joy that the kingdom lavished in soon turned to grief when on February 22nd, 1511, Prince Henry suddenly died. Whether the child was ill at his time of death, or whether it was sudden, is undocumented; yet infantile mortality during that time was somewhere around 1 in 4. Young Henry was buried in Westminster Abbey, aged 52 days old.
Henry, Duke of Cornwall is often forgotten in the grand scheme of his father’s life; however he was a beloved son, and what we in the modern era would call a “Rainbow Baby.” His birth harkened a time of happiness and peace for the realm, and it is unfortunate that such was ripped away so soon. Young Henry’s death definitely contributed to the tyrant his father became, and possibly to the fight his father made in order to marry again and have a son. If only he had lived, things would have been very, very different.
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