Mary Stuart (8 April 1605 16 September 1607) was the third daughter and sixth child of James VI and I by Anne of Denmark. Her birth was much anticipated. She developed pneumonia at 17 months and died the following year.
Preparations
The first child to be born to Anne and James after James succeeded Elizabeth I of England, her birth was thus awaited with much excitement among both the Scottish and the English. The queen's doctors advised her to go Greenwich Palace in December 1604 because it was thought to be healthier. There was an outbreak of smallpox at court and the doctors tried to stop her visiting a favourite maid of honour who had fallen ill. Anne went to Greenwich after the performance of the Masque of Blackness in January, as Dudley Carleton described it, "to lay down her great belly".
The nobility and gentry competed for places in the establishment for the unborn child. In January 1605 Sir Richard Leveson talked to one of the royal physicians, and had courtiers praise Anne Newdigate to the queen in an unsuccessful attempt to get her made nurse. Samuel Calvert said there would be 40 or more nurses and women to rock the cradle and other positions.
Even a few days before the birth, Anne had not decided who would be the midwife and kept three women near her, without making a choice. Finally, Alice Dennis was chosen and received a reward of £100.
The cost of rich fabrics ordered by the king for the christening went up to £300, currently worth around £790,000. Linen provided by Audrey Walsingham to be used by the queen in childbed and by the baby in the first year cost £600. A crimson velvet and damask bed with a canopy or "sparver" for the queen cost £908.
Life
On 8 April 1605, at Greenwich Palace, Anne of Denmark delivered a girl. Although the peoples of King James were slightly disappointed, the birth of the first princess of the two united realms was a cause for celebration. Throughout the realms, bonfires were lit and church bells rung all day long; the celebrations were encouraged by the fact that 68 years had elapsed since the birth of a child to an English sovereign, the last being Edward VI. The next day, King James drank health to his wife and new daughter. In letters announcing Mary's birth to his relatives, James described her as "a most beautiful infant" and punned on her not-yet-revealed name, saying that "if I would not pray to the Virgin Mary, I would pray for the Virgin Mary."
Preparations for a royal christening started immediately after the birth. The location decided upon was the chapel at Greenwich Palace and the date, 5 May. Mary was carried by Elizabeth de Vere, Countess of Derby, who was supported by the Dukes of Holstein and Lennox. The infant's clothing, a train of purple velvet, embroidered with gold and furred with ermines, was supported by two countesses, being so long that it fell to the ground. The archbishop of Canterbury, Richard Bancroft, christened the child with the name Mary, as her godparents, Ulrik of Denmark, brother to the queen, Lady Arbella Stuart, first cousin to the king, and Dorothy Percy, Countess of Northumberland, had decided to name her. According to the Venetian ambassador, Nicolò Molin, she was named after her grandmother Mary, Queen of Scots. Immediately after the ceremony was complete, the noblemen put on their coats and the trumpets sounded. As a way to further celebrate this joyful occasion, the king presented Queen Anne with new jewelry and created several new peerages. His gifts included £1550 worth of jewels provided by Arnold Lulls and Philip Jacobson.
On 19 May 1605, Anne of Denmark, who had no role at the christening, was "churched". This ceremony took place at Greenwich Palace. The king and the lords heard a sermon in the King's Closet. He then went into the Chapel. The Queen came from her private lodging, where she had had her "laying in", to her Closet with a train of ladies. Some of the lords came to bring her into the Chapel, and she came to the altar supported by the Dukes of Holstein and Lennox, then went to her seat in a canopy called a "traverse" opposite the king. After prayers and music the king and queen came to the altar together and embraced, then walked to the door of the King's Presence Chamber.