Has QEI’s tomb ever been opened?
Plain answer, no. But, when I was looking for more details on the Internet (and because I was curious, I never really investigated her death in depth) I came across two interesting sites.
Now, here I warn you that I got excited and gave you a very long answer to your question.
This first one is from the Westminster Abbey website:
"Her death, at Richmond Palace, on 24th March 1603 was an occasion of universal mourning. For some days the body lay at Richmond and then was brought by barge to Whitehall Palace to lie in state. Thousands of people turned out to see her funeral procession to the Abbey on 28th April 1603 when there was "such a general sighing, groaning and weeping as the like hath not been seen or known in the memory of man". The coffin, covered in purple velvet, was borne on a chariot drawn by four grey horses with black trappers. The coloured wooden funeral effigy lay on top of the coffin.
Her body was encased in lead within the wooden coffin and first buried in the vault of her grandfather King Henry VII (underneath his monument) in the Abbey. (...)
The original funeral effigy, by John Colt, that had been carried on her hearse was remade in 1760 with a wax head and new outer clothes. The original, and unique, corset from 1603 effigy still survives however and after recent conservation was displayed separately from the clothed effigy.
King James I erected the large white marble monument to her in the north aisle of Henry VII's chapel (less tall than the monument James later erected for his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots in the opposite aisle of the chapel). This was made by sculptor Maximilian Colt and painted by Jan de Critz. The recumbert effigy resembles portraits of the Queen in old age. The cost was £1485.
In 1606 the Queen's coffin was transferred to a vault below the new monument and places on top of the coffin of her half sister Mary I.
The gilded collar, with a representation of the "Burgundy" or "Three Brothers" pendant, was added in 1975 and made by Mrs H. Hughes. The crown (designed by Janet Arnold), the cross on the orb and the sceptre the Queen holds are also modern replacements, the originals having been stolen centuries ago. These were the gift of Mr Brian Court Mappin. The railing around the tomb (designed by J. Peter Foster in 1983) is another modern replacement for a lost original. Although the effigy is now just white marble a drawing found in Germany, dated 1618-20, shows the Queen wearing an ermine lined crimson robe with a blue orb in her hand, a coloured dress and flesh colouring on her face. The four lions at each corner of the effigy were gilded. No trace of this colour now remains."
This second one is from the blog The Tudor Travel Guide and here is where it becomes really interesting:
"Elizabeth made it clear that she did not wish to be disembowelled following death (as would be customary). Yet shortly after the queen died, Rober Cecil left orders with the surgeons to do so, while he went to London to proclaim James VI the new King of England. And so the queen was embalmed and her body transferred to a lead-lined, wooden coffin.
During the period in question, Southwell reports how there was a loud ‘crack’ from the coffin as Elizabeth’s ‘body and head’ broke open from the pressures of gases released as the corpse rotted. While the force of the explosion splintered the ‘wood lead and cere cloth’, people speculated on how much worst might it have been if the body had not been opened and disembowelled after death! It is interesting isn’t it, that the story of this event occurring after the end of Henry VIII is much repeated, and seen as a sign of his obesity and gluttony. But here we have the same thing happening with his daughter, who was not subject to such vices!
I came across a book written by Arthur Stanley, published in the 1880s. He had been given permission to survey all the tombs in the abbey by the then queen, Victoria. It makes for fascinating reading since the crypt in which all royal burials are deposited is closed and I have never read anything specific regarding the Tudor tombs that lie beneath the abbey floor. However, Stanley gives us a glimpse inside these hidden vaults.
In trying to find the actual coffin of James I, Stanley explored a narrow aisle located underground between the eastern end of Elizabeth’s monument and those of James’ own infant daughters. He had already looked in this area before; it was empty and seemed of little interest. However, upon closer inspection, Stanley found a tiny aperture in one of the walls. Upon peering inside, he saw a narrow vault containing two coffins, one placed upon the other. Because I have never read this account before, I am going to include it in some detail.
Our intrepid adventurer describes the scene: there was ‘no disorder or decay’ except the ‘centring wood’ at the head of the uppermost coffin had fallen in, and some of the sides were crumbling, which had ‘drawn away part of the decaying lid’. Although no coffin plate was present, a dim light illuminated the lid enough for Stanley to see a carved Tudor rose, ‘simply but deeply incised in outline’. On either side of the rose were the carved initials ‘E.R’ and beneath the year ‘1603’. Stanley goes on to describe the lid being decorated with ‘narrow, moulded panelling’ made of ‘fine oak an inch think’, while the base was made of ‘inch elm’. The whole thing was covered in red silk velvet, ‘much of which remained attached to the wood’."
I don't know if you really wanted to know all this, but I found it so interesting that I wanted to share. xoxo
