OK here's a query for you peeps to opine upon.....when Fitzroy died in the summer of 1536 (methinks he was at Margaret Beaufort's old hangout of Collyweston at the time), Henry VIII did a few very odd things. First, he charged Norfolk (Fitzroy's FIL via his marriage to Mary Howard) with planning the funeral, & later had a colossal Tudor rage that Norfolk didn't do it right & accede his son with the honor he deserved. Also, he directed Norfolk to place Fitzroy in a lead-lined coffin, which I'm thinking is unusual especially as it was remarked upon as being so.
So what's up with that? Did Fitzroy die of something so nastily contagious that he had to be contained for eternity? Why the swift & hush-hush funeral? Why send Norfolk to bury his only son? Why did Henry himself not see to it, or have one last look at his darling boy? Why did he charge Norfolk with getting the kid in the ground ASAP?
In the Joanna Denny bio of Catherine Howard, she speculates that Fitzroy was known to be gathering supporters that summer, prior to the Pilgrimage of Grace, & that he may have been one of its ringleaders & intriguing against his father in hopes of overthrowing him & gaining the throne a lil earlier than anticipated. She dramatically hurls out the suggestion that Henry may have had his own son poisoned (not so far-fetched a notion when he'd just executed his wife & was threatening Mary with same), & wanted Fitzroy planted with no honors & in such a coffin that it would prohibit opening to view the corpse.
Even if that's untrue, the questions I've raised regarding Fitzroy's arrangements still stand....what was up with that?
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