![]() Instead, in April 1614 a bill expressing the right of the Elector, his wife and their children to inherit was laid before the Westminster Parliament. In the event this did not happen, as Elizabeth quickly became pregnant. The possibility of a Wittelsbach succession was considered as early as Elizabeth’s marriage, when it was agreed that Elizabeth and her husband would return from the Palatinate in the autumn and remain in England until Charles grew stronger (or died). Were James and Charles to die within the next few years, the thrones of England and Scotland would pass to James’s sole surviving daughter Elizabeth, whose marriage at the age of sixteen in February 1613 to the Elector Palatine Frederick V raised the prospect of a foreign succession. In the wake of Henry’s death, the Stuart dynasty was faced with the frightening prospect of imminent extinction in the immediate male line. When Henry VII tried to father another son in the wake of Prince Arthur’s death the result proved fatal, both to his thirty-seven year old wife, Elizabeth of York, and to the baby. Even had he attempted to do so – and it seems unlikely that James continued to enjoy physical relations with his wife by this date – the risks were severe. Although aged only forty-six his wife, Anne of Denmark, was thirty-eight and so unlikely to bear him any more children. There was little likelihood that James himself would father another son. Many contemporaries clearly expected that Charles, who was not quite eleven when his brother died, would not survive to reach manhood let alone marry and produce heirs of his own. His condition was almost certainly hereditary, since his father had not learned to walk until he was five. However, whereas the future Henry VIII had been a robust young man, Charles was a physically poor specimen: his legs and ankles were so weak that as an infant he preferred to crawl, and as a child he had been required to wear specially made reinforced iron boots. James’s dynastic hopes now rested on the shoulders of a single surviving son, Charles, Duke of York, just as Henry VII’s focus had necessarily shifted to Arthur’s only brother. The unexpected death at the age of eighteen of the heir to the thrones of England and Scotland was a major blow to the Stuart dynasty, just as the equally sudden death of the fifteen year old Arthur, Prince of Wales in April 1502 had been to the first of the Tudors, Henry VII. “We may have provided the platform, but you provided the magic, and don’t you ever forget that.The sudden death of Henry, Prince of Wales from typhoid fever on 6 November 1612 sent shock waves through the Court of James VI and I. “But I hope you are mentally stronger than when you arrived. “I’m sure you’re all physically exhausted,” he said. He told the competitors gathered in the arena with their families that their strength and courage had proved an inspiration to millions of people around the world, showing how joy can emerge from struggle. The Duke thanked Cpl Gendron for his courage and for “sharing his gift”. What had once haunted him – dare I say it – may now be what helps heal him.” “This week he wasn’t sure whether he could bring himself to play them. “For four years after that last ceremony, he couldn’t touch them,” Prince Harry revealed. The Duke added that during his time serving in Afghanistan, Cpl Gendron had played the pipes during 63 ramp ceremonies – the memorial service held for a fallen soldier, held at the airport in the moments before their bodies are flown home. The Games saw more than 500 sick and injured service men and women from 21 countries compete in sports from seated volleyball to power lifting.Īs he spoke, the Duke was watched by his wife, Meghan, 42, who was wearing a blue Cult Gaia dress, and clapped warmly from her seat in the audience. The Duke’s five-minute speech – which aimed to keep the focus on the competitors – was delivered at the closing ceremony of the Games, a two-hour extravaganza bringing the curtain down on a week of extraordinary achievement. ![]() ![]() “You’ve shown us the power in not defining people by assumption, their backstory or past pain, but rather instead on their ability, how they show up, and who they are in the present.” Prince Harry, 39, delivered an emotional farewell speech at the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf on Saturday evening, saying that it was important to judge people by who they are in the present.Īddressing the competitors directly, he said: “Your mission to heal and grow has been a shining example to us all. The Duke of Sussex has said there is “power” in not defining people by their past pain.
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