The wedding of Frederick V of the Palatinate (1596–1632) and Princess Elizabeth (1596–1662), daughter of King James VI and I, was celebrated in London in February 1613. There were fireworks, masques (small, choreography-based plays), tournaments, and a mock-sea battle or naumachia.Maria Shmygol, "Jacobean Mock Sea-Fights on the River Thames: Nautical Theatricality in Performance and Print", The London Journal, 47:1 (2022), pp. 13–35. Preparations involved the construction of a "Marriage room", a hall adjacent to the 1607 Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace.John Pitcher, "Jacobean and Caroline Revels Accounts, 1603–1642", Malone Society Collections, 13 (1986), p. 55: Edward Francis Rimbault, The Old Cheque-book, Or, Book of Remembrance, of the Chapel Royal (London: Camden Society, 1872), p. 163 The events were described in various contemporary pamphlets and letters.Mary Anne Everett Green and S. C. Lomas, Elizabeth, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia (London, 1909): Sara Smart & Mara R. Wade, The Palatine Wedding of 1613: Protestant Alliance and Court Festival (Wiesbaden: Harrossowitz, 2013).
Arrival of the Count Palatine Frederick arrived at Gravesend on 16 October 1612.Jemma Field, "Dressing the Stuarts: The Sartorial Politics of Mourning and Matrimony, 1612–1613", British Art Studies 29 (December 2025). He was met by Lewes Lewknor, the master of ceremonies, and he decided to come to London by river.HMC Laing Manuscripts at Edinburgh University, vol. 1 (London, 1914), pp. 125–7, Lewknor's expenses. The Duke of Lennox brought him to the water gate of Whitehall Palace where he met Elizabeth's brother Prince Charles, Duke of York. He went into the newly built Banqueting Hall (or rather a new adjacent hall, the banqueting house had been built in 1607)Maurice Lee, Dudley Carleton to John Chamberlain, 1603–1624 (Rutgers UP, 1972), p. 99. to meet King James. They spoke in French,Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers Venice, 1610–1613, (London, 1905), p. 444, no. 680. as it seems Elizabeth did not speak much German, and Frederick did not speak much English. Frederick kissed the hem of Elizabeth's dress. James took Frederick to his bedchamber and gave him a ring. He was lodged at Essex House.Green & Lomas, Elizabeth, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia (London, 1909), pp. 37–8. His companions included two counts of the House of Nassau, with Count John of Nassau or John Albrecht of Solms and Frederick Henry, Prince of Nassau.Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers Venice, 1610–1613, (London, 1905), pp. 443-4, no. 680, 446 no. 684, John was married to a daughter of the Duke of Württemberg.
According to popular opinion, Elizabeth's mother, Anne of Denmark, was not keen on the marriage, and believed that Elizabeth was marrying below her station,Clare McManus, Women on the Renaissance stage: Anna of Denmark and Female Masquing in the Stuart Court, 1590-1619 (Manchester, 2002), p. 136. but after meeting him, "was much pleased with him". James Howell wrote that Anne called Elizabeth "Goody Palsgrave" after the wedding.James Howell, Epistolae Ho-Elianae: Familiar Letters (London, 1705), p. 70.
Frederick was said not to enjoy tennis, riding, or the equestrian sport of "running at the ring", but only his conversations with Princess Elizabeth.David M. Bergeron, Royal Family, Royal Lovers (University of Missouri, 1991), p. 113. He changed his lodging to the late Lord Treasurer's house, apparently Salisbury House on the Strand.Thomas Birch & Folkestone Williams, Court and Times of James the First, vol. 1 (London, 1848), pp. 198, 201: Henry Ellis, Original Letters, 3rd series vol. 4 (London, 1846), pp. 170–3.
Elizabeth's wardrobe was updated with silks and satin from Baptist Hicks and Thomas Woodward, gold lace from Christopher Weever, and John Spence made her whalebone "bodies" and farthingales.Sarah A. Bendall, 'Whalebone and the Wardrobe of Elizabeth I: Whaling and the Making of Aristocratic Fashions in Sixteenth Century Europe', Apparence(s), 11 (2022). This was noted by the Venetian ambassador Antonio Foscarini as an adornment to her great natural beauty. David Murray, a Scottish poet in the household of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, organised the embroidery of the wedding gown.Frederick Devon, Issues of Exchequer: Pell Records (London, 1836), pp. 151–2, 158, 160: Calendar State Papers Venice, 1610–1613, (London, 1905), p. 444 no. 680. William Brothericke, an embroiderer, made hangings for the bride-chamber. A fool at court, Archibald Armstrong, was bought a crimson velvet coat with gold lace to wear at the wedding. Dionysius Pepper made a green hat for Armstrong and a black hat for the keeper of the royal leopard.Frederic Madden, 'Warrant for the Apparel for the Marriage of the Princess Elizabeth', Archaeologia, 26 (1836), pp. 385, 392
Death of Prince Henry Prince Henry, heir to the throne, died of a fever on 6 November 1612. The wedding plans were altered in a period of mourning and grief. Some courtiers now thought Elizabeth should not marry and leave England.Calendar State Papers Venice, 1610–1613, (London, 1905), p. 451 no. 693. There were rumours that since the death of Prince Henry a Scottish faction at court advocated a marriage with the Marquess of Hamilton instead. This alternative could ensure the future of the Union as the Hamiltons also had a place in the royal succession.Clare McManus, Women on the Renaissance Stage: Anna of Denmark and Female Masquing in the Stuart Court (Manchester, 2002), pp. 136–7: McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 399.
King James discussed the matter with his Privy Council and the dates were brought forward. Now there would be a ceremony of espousal or marriage on 6 January and a state wedding on 14 February.Nadine Akkerman, Elizabeth Stuart: Queen of Hearts (Oxford, 2021), pp. 70-71. Henry's death affected the entertainments at the wedding in February, as the themes of masques were invested with the political aspirations of their patrons.Roy Strong, Henry Prince of Wales and England's Lost Renaissance (London, 1986), pp. 176–83. Henry and Elizabeth's previous plans for masques were abandoned or modified.Clare McManus, Women on the Renaissance stage: Anna of Denmark and Female Masquing in the Stuart Court, 1590-1619 (Manchester, 2002), p. 140: Nadine Akkerman, 'Semper Eadem: Elizabeth Stuart and the Legacy of Queen Elizabeth', Sara Smart & Mara R. Wade, The Palatine Wedding of 1613: Protestant Alliance and Court Festival (Weisbaden, 2013), pp. 146, 149
Frederick joined King James in the country at Royston and Theobalds. Elizabeth obtained one of her late brother's night gowns. Frederick's cook brought her a pike dressed in the German fashion. King James came back from the country and played cards with Elizabeth at Whitehall, almost every night (lost stakes are recorded in her accounts).Green & Lomas, Elizabeth, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia (London, 1909), pp. 43–4.
January 1613 The marriage contract was finalized, and in a ceremony at Whitehall on St John's Day, 27 December, Frederick took Elizabeth's hand in her bedchamber and led her to the King in the Banqueting Hall, where they kneeled on a Turkish carpet and received his blessing and then the Archbishop of Canterbury's.Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers Venice, 1610–1613, vol. 12 (London, 1906), pp. 473–4 no. 734. The letter writer John Chamberlain heard that the contracts were read out by Thomas Lake, but the poor quality of the translations made the guests laugh out loud. Frederick was in purple velvet trimmed with gold, Elizabeth wore mourning black satin with silver lace, with a cloak of black "semé velvet" (sprinkled with silver flowers or crosslets) trimmed with gold lace, and a plume of white feathers in her attire.Olivia Bland, The Royal Way of Death (London: Constable, 1986), p. 40. White feathers were immediately adopted by fashionable London.Nadine Akkerman, Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts (Oxford, 2022), p. 71. Her mother was absent, suffering since Christmas from painful gout.Edmund Sawyer, Memorials of Affairs of State from the Papers of Ralph Winwood, 3 (London, 1725), p. 421: Green & Lomas, Elizabeth, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia (London, 1909), pp. 45–6, citing TNA SP 81/12/73: Nichols, Progresses, 2 (London, 1828), pp. 513–5: Maria Hayward, Stuart Style (Yale, 2020), p. 88. She was being treated by the physician Théodore de Mayerne,Joseph Browne, Theo. Turquet Mayernii Opera medica: Formulae Annae & Mariae (London, 1703), pp. 8–9 but French diplomats thought she avoided the ceremony on purpose.Friedrich Ludwig Georg von Raumer, History Of The Sixteenth And Seventeenth Centuries, 2, p. 227. After the ceremony Frederick and Prince Charles went back to wearing mourning clothes.Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers Venice, 1610–1613, vol. 12 (London, 1906), p. 474 no. 734.
A Scottish courtier Viscount Fenton sent the news that the couple were now "assured" to his kinsman in Stirling, adding, "The marriage is appointed to be on Saint Valentine's day and by mere accident".HMC Mar & Kellie, 2 (London, 1930), p. 47. King James gave orders that the court should prepare their costume for the day, and not wear mourning clothes for Henry.Calendar State Papers Venice, 1610–1613, (London, 1905), p. 472 no. 732.
Frederick gave New Year's Day gifts including medals with his portrait to the women of Elizabeth's household including Theodosia Harington.Nadine Akkerman, Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts (Oxford, 2022), p. 72. There were jewels bought in Germany, for Elizabeth "2 most rich pendant diamonds, and 2 most rich orientall pearles", a pair of earrings, which she wore in the following days, and more jewels for Queen Anne's gentlewomen and maids of honour, King James told Frederick not to overreach himself with gifts for all his servants.Allen B. Hinds, HMC Downshire, vol. 4 (London, 1940), pp. 2, 8: Green & Lomas, Elizabeth, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia (London, 1909), p. 46-7 citing TNA SP 12/81/141.
Frederick ordered more gifts from Paris, including caskets of jewels, and a particularly fabulous coach for Elizabeth covered inside and out with embroidered velvet. French courtiers, and even the Queen of France visited the workshop to see it, as if it were "a precious monument".Allen B. Hinds, HMC Downshire, 1613–1614, vol. 4 (London, 1940), pp. 38–9. On 7 February Frederick was made a knight of the Order of Garter in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.Frances Yates, Rosicrucian Enlightenment (London, 1972), p. 3. Elizabeth went to stay at St James' Palace.Green & Lomas, Elizabeth, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia (London, 1909), pp. 48–9. They were both sixteen years old when they married.Anderson, Roberta, et al., editors. Gender and Diplomacy: Women and Men in European Embassies from the 15th to the 18th Century. Hollitzer Verlag, 2021. Accessed 31 Aug. 2022.
Ambassadors attempted to gain advantage over rival diplomats by securing invitations to the feasts and masques. It was noted that the wife of the ambassador of the Archduke of Savoy visited Somerset House and danced before Queen Anne. The Queen was said to have warmed to Frederick, caressed him, and had ordered new livery clothes for her household. As the wedding drew near the City raised a volunteer guard of 500 musketeers.Nichols, Progresses, 2 (London, 1828), p. 524: McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), pp. 418, 421.
James Nisbet and Edinburgh's gift to Princess Elizabeth