"Alas, my lord, that I am alive! the fear of death grieved me not so much before, as doth now the remembrance of the Kings goodness: for when I remember how gracious and loving a prince I had, I cannot but sorrow, but this sudden mercy, and more than I could have looked for, shewed unto me, so unworthy, at this time, maketh mine offences to appear before mine eyes much more heinous that they did before: and the more I consider the greatness of his mercy, the more I do sorrow in my heart that I should so misorder myself against his majesty."
Katherine continued the confession admitting that she had been sexual with Francis Deerham [Dereham] saying her often called her wife, kissed her and entrusted her with a large amount of money when he was away. You can read the entire examination of the Queen online at archive.org
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| Portrait believed to be of Katherine Howard By Hans Holbein the Younger ca 1540 |
Did she really go to the scaffold saying, "I die a queen, but would rather be the wife of Culpepper" ??
ReplyDeleteDoubtful, she asked for prayers for her soul and for her family to be forgiven. She claimed her punishment was just, so it is unlikely that she counteracted this dignified exit with these words. There is no primary source evidence to support it.
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