On this day in history, 29th May 1533, the day after Archbishop Cranmer had proclaimed that Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn was valid, the celebrations for the new queen’s forthcoming coronation commenced.
The celebrations would last for four days, from 29th May to the coronation ceremony and banquet on 1st June, Whitsun. These celebrations kicked off with a spectacular river pageant on the Thames which, by the time everyone had joined in, consisted of “some 120 large craft and 200 small ones”.
Read all about the fire breathing dragon, terrible monsters, wild men, gun salutes and more in my article on the river procession from 2012 – click here.
