ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the ritual marking the start of a new reign, the coronation, and moves through the reign towards death and a funeral. Henry VIII's life was punctuated by a series of births, marriages and deaths that shaped both his destiny and that of the country. The format of these events — encompassing christenings, marriages, churchings, coronations and funerals — was controlled by tradition and the specific details were often described in household ordinances and the accounts produced by the royal heralds. The coronation provided the context in which the monarch received the regalia 'in an open and stately place before all their subjectes' so ensuring 'perpetuall reverence, whiche is fountayne of obedience'. The timing of a queen's coronation was often linked to her being pregnant or having had a child. The role of the queen consort was to provide legitimate children to secure the royal line and to create further alliances through marriage.
