Felipe during his English period and Mary Tudor.
Eduardo González. 12/07/2017
The British Embassy has repeatedly remembered, on the occasion of the visit of the Spanish Monarchs, the ties existing between both Royal Families since the wedding of Alfonso XIII with Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. Nevertheless, the most important took place between 1554 and 1558, when the powerful Philip of Habsburg was prince consort of England.
Everything started when the emperor Charles V, who considered an alliance with England to be vitally important for commercial and military reasons, convinced the still prince to marry the Queen Mary Tudor, who was 37 years old and ten years older than him.
On 25 July 1554, a wedding took place in Westminster, which, according to what was stipulated, did not entail the political union and guaranteed, therefore, England’s full independence. In fact, during the time he stayed in London, Philip did not take part in the decisions made by the Royal Council and he avoided politically suspicious actions, with the exception of his interventions to restore Catholicism.
Charles V had ordered the Duke of Alba to supervise his son’s behaviour in England and the young prince did everything he could to be well liked since he arrived in the country. He received everyone, he ate in public and drank beer (two customs he disliked), he spoke bad English in his first meeting with Mary and he gave the Queen a kiss on the mouth and cheek, an English custom unconceivable to Spaniards. At the wedding, Philip even accepted that Mary sat on a higher throne.
Philip of Habsburg married Mary Tudor advised by his father, Emperor Charles V
Despite all these attentions, the obsession of the English with their independence translated into incidents in the streets of London, assaults and thefts to Spaniards, and even an attack against the life of Philip in March 1555. “Good land, but the worst people in the world”, a member of the Spanish retinue said.
Philip barely resided in England as prince consort, since, in 1556, he inherited the Crowns of Castile (including America) and Aragon, Sicily, Sardinia and the territories of Burgundy from his father. Mary died without descendants in November 1558 and she was succeeded by her sister Elizabeth, recognized by the, at that time, King Felipe II immediately.