autrenecherche:A lady-in-waiting stepped forward, shaking, and tied a cloth around the Queen&rsquo
autrenecherche: A lady-in-waiting stepped forward, shaking, and tied a cloth around the Queen’s eyes, but the last sight she saw on this earth was an edifying one: moved by her bravery, Sir John Aleyn, the current Lord Mayor of London, sank to his knees. Modern historians are wrong to suggest that this was customary at Tudor executions; it is not recorded at the vast majority of them and it is not recorded en-masse at any except Anne Boleyn’s. One by one, just before the Queen was blindfolded, she saw two thousand people sink to their knees, impressed by her courage, moved by her plight or deeply respectful of the high and mighty title she still held – most likely a mixture of all three. Even Thomas Cromwell, who had helped bring her to this place, removed his cap and knelt; only the Duke of Suffolk and the King’s bastard son, the Duke of Richmond, remained obstinately and disrespectfully standing. [ x ] -- source link