Anne Boleyn at Traitors Gate The story of Anne Boleyn and her journey through Traitors Gate is a very poignant one. The twenty-nine year old Queen of England was arrested on the charges of treason, adultery and incest. Never a popular Queen she had been reviled by the population with cries of "Witch" and "Whore" and detested by many courtiers. King Henry VIII had been madly in love with her but this soon turned to hate when he met Jane Seymour. Her enemies moved swiftly against her and people started to disappear from court. Sir Henry Norris and the Queen's own brother, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford were arrested and taken to the Tower of London by barge and through the Traitors Gate entrance. On May 2 1536, the Queen herself was arrested at Greenwich and was taken to the Tower by barge along the same path she had travelled to prepare for her coronation just three years earlier. She passed through Traitors Gate and was met by William Kingston the Constable of the Tower at the top of the slippery steps leading from Traitors Gate. Her first question was: 'Shall I go to some dungeon?' Kingston replied, 'No, madam, you shall go to your chambers whereat your Grace lay before your Coronation.' Anne Boleyn was terrified and alternated from fits of hysterical laughter to uncontrollable weeping. She was executed on 19th May 1536. Princess Elizabeth at Traitors Gate The story of Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth I, and her journey through Traitors Gate is an equally frightening one. Her sister Queen Mary (Bloody Mary) ordered her arrest believing that the Princess was involved with Sir Thomas Wyatt and a rebellious plot. Princess Elizabeth was taken on Palm Sunday 1554, by barge, to the entrance of the Tower of London - Traitors Gate. Her thoughts must have raced back to that of her mother, Anne Boleyn, who had also passed through Traitors Gate and had been executed at the Tower when Elizabeth was just three years old. The princess was terrified - she believed that she would never leave the Tower once she had passed through Traitors Gate. Elizabeth refused at first to land at the gate, angrily proclaiming that she was no traitor. There was a heavy down pour of rain. Elizabeth had no choice but to be lead into the Tower. At the age of 21, Princess Elizabeth was taken through the Traitors Gate and imprisoned in the Tower of London. She was released 8 weeks later. Traitors Gate Interesting facts and information about the history of the Tower of London and Traitors Gate. |