Maria Alejandra Sanguino Rubiano

The King's Tragic Lover

In the room of the little prince Edward VI the sweet voice of lady Margaret Radclyffe sang a
lullaby
“Rock-a-bye baby
On the tree top
When the wind blows
The cradle will rock!
When the bough breaks
The cradle will fall
Down will come baby,
Cradle and all!”
Little Edward raised his arms to the owner of the tender voice looking for the love of a
mother already dead twelve days ago. Queen Jane Seymour dead days later of the birth of
the prince of a puerperal fever, a few hours ago it had been her funeral from Hampton
castle to the Westminster Abey where she was graved with all the honours.
Princess Mary had led the procession in gratitude to the late queen for reconciling her with
her father, King Henry VIII, to the princess follow the family and later the queen’s ladies in
waiting headed by lady Margaret Radclyffe who was the queen's favourite and her
confidant, she carried the baby prince in her arms.
The prince Edward and Lady Margaret had developed a affective bond, they created a tie in
the loss of the queen, who was a mother to both of them, for young Margaret the queen had
been a mother since she had come to court at just 12 years of age, sent to look for a
husband by her father after the death of her mother, the queen chose her as part of her
ladies and took care of her like a mother.
For this reason, Lady Margaret had decided to welcome Prince Edward as her own child
and no one had protested about it because the queen herself in her last moments had
asked Margaret to take care of her son, even the king had agreed to the arrangement
knowing how much the queen loved Lady Margaret.
The king had really loved the queen, unlike Catherine, he had chosen Jane and she really
love him, not only for the power of be queen like Anne Boleyn, that is exactly why the king
found himself in his wife's old rooms crying, thinking how the thing he wanted most in the
world, a male heir, had taken away the person he had loved the most. Right at that moment
he realized that his wife had given him a giant gift, his son, because he was a part of her,
from that moment on he set out to make his son the best monarch in England.
And the best monarchs prepared for their position from the moment they were born, with
the best tutors who taught them everything they needed to know for their reign, on an
intellectual level, but they also need a figure who teaches them how to manage the people
and the nobles, and the king intended to be that figure for his son, he was going to be a
good father for the prince.
With these thoughts the king headed to his son's chambers, which were on the other side of
the castle, when he arrived, he found the image of Lady Margaret singing lullabies to her
son.
Lady Margaret felt someone enter the room and turned to look, as soon as she saw the
monarch of England, she bent her knees making an exquisite bow saying, "your majesty",
"Lady Margaret", replied the king with a nod “To what we owe the pleasure of your visit,
Your Majesty” asked lady Margaret “I just wanted to see how Prince Edward is doing”
answered the king.
“His royal highness is very well, one of the nurses has just fed him, he is a very healthy and
strong child, also is very sweet like his mother, he is going to be a great king” contest the
lady, "In fact, Edward is going to be a magnificent king, that's exactly what I was thinking
before coming here, and I came to the conclusion that the prince needs the best tutors in
the kingdom, that and my guide are going to help Edward to be the best monarch that
England has seen” say in response the king.
Just at that moment someone knocked on the door of the prince's chambers, it was
Thomas Cromwell one of the king's closest advisers, as soon as Cromwell entered the
room and saw his majesty he bowed "Your Majesty, Lady Margaret" said the counsellor as
a greeting, "His Majesty, excuse the interruption, I was looking for you, there are some
urgent matters of the kingdom that I wanted to discuss with you in private. I was wondering
if we could have a meeting in your study. " Cromwell continued to say, “Of course Cromwell
you can go to my study I will be there shortly, I just want to say a proper goodbye to my
son” answered the king.
Cromwell walked out the door after curtsying to the king and nodding to Lady Margaret, as
the king approached the prince in the arms of the maiden bending down to kiss his son on
the forehead, at which time Lady Margaret spoke "If Your Majesty allows me, I would like to
ask if I would be allowed to help in the search for tutors for the prince, I am well versed in
what the late queen would want for her son, I know I am not the most educated person in
the palace, but I knew her majesty the queen very well and I would like to preserve the idea
of education that she had for her son”
The king listened to Lady Margaret's words in amazement, it was known at court that she
was shy, she rarely spoke in public and was never seen without the queen, so he was
surprised to see that she made such a request to be able to interfere in the prince's
education, however it did not bother him because what he said was true, so he replied “I
don't see any problem with your request, Lady Margaret, it even seems totally appropriate
and opportune to me, surely no one knows better than you what my late wife would like, I
give you permission to look for tutors for the prince, and once they are hired I give you
permission to supervise them and revoke their position in case of any problem” Lady
Margaret responded "Thank you, Your Majesty, for this vote of confidence. I assure you that
I will look for the best tutors for the prince".
Immediately afterwards, the king left the room, saying goodbye to Lady Margaret with a
nod, going to his private study. On the other side of the palace, Lady Margaret continued
singing lullabies to the prince until he fell asleep, calm that he could continue watching the
prince education, and taking care of him as the late queen had requested.