The Friends of Ipswich Museums share a ‘Royal Pair’

The Lower Tudor Room at Christchurch Mansion. just off the Great Hall, is licensed for weddings and civil ceremonies.  The room is genuinely of Tudor date, but it is not original to the house.  In the 1920s, many timber-framed buildings in Ipswich were being demolished, often for road-widening, and this room, and the one above, were saved from total destruction by being re-erected at the back of the Mansion.  We therefore have a good idea of how a wealthy Ipswich merchant’s house would have looked, and a delightful setting for a wedding.

Although the room is full of interesting Tudor furniture and artefacts, this article is about a pair of marriage portraits of Philip II of Spain and Queen Mary I.  Queen Mary was in many ways a tragic figure.  She started life as a pampered princess, only child of Henry VIII and therefore the most eligible princess in Christendom.  However, by the time she was in her teens, Anne Boleyn was on the scene, her mother, Catherine of Aragon,  was ousted and she was declared illegitimate – making her practically unmarriageable.  When she finally inherited the throne in 1553 she was in her late 30s and set about reinstating the Catholic religion.  She earned the name ‘Bloody Mary’ from the execution of so many Protestants who refused to renounce their faith.  In Christchurch Park you will find a monument to nine Protestant martyrs burned to death on the Cornhill for heresy during her reign.

She married King Philip II of Spain, the most important Catholic monarch in Europe and hoped for an heir despite her age.  She thought she was pregnant and prepared for her confinement, but in fact probably had uterine cancer and died aged 42.

These portraits are copies produced from original paintings done at the time of their marriage.  The copies would have been commissioned by wealthy people to hang in their homes and show their loyalty.  The original portrait of Mary by Anthonis Mor is in the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid.  Artists copied from the originals by placing tracing paper over the paintings and pricking the paper with a pin to copy the outline.  The tracing paper was then put over a new canvas and fine powder blown over it so that the outline was traced onto the new canvas.  Unfortunately, they got the one of Mary back to front as in the original, she is facing the other way and these marriage portraits were always done so that the couple faced one another.

Mary is wearing a necklace containing La Peregrina, the largest pearl ever found weighing 55 carats.  It was given to her as a wedding gift by Philip.  After she died, it returned to the Spanish royal family, and was briefly the property of Napoleon.  It earned the name La Peregrina meaning “the wanderer” and found its way into the British aristocracy, before eventually being bought as another wedding gift by Richard Burton for Elizabeth Taylor.  After her death in 2011, it was sold for £7 million.

So, if you are attending a wedding at Christchurch Mansion or just visiting this fascinating place, spare a thought for that other wedding almost 500 years ago.

Submitted by Erica Burrows – Friends of the Ipswich Museums

You can support your Museums, Christchurch Mansion and Ipswich Museum and Art School Gallery by becoming a Friend of the Ipswich Museums.  Membership is only £12 per year here: https://www.friendsofipswichmuseums.org.uk/

The Friends of the Ipswich Museums (FoIM)

We are a charity dedicated to supporting and promoting the three Ipswich Museums.

Events with The Friends of the Ipswich Museums (FoIM)

• A Peep into the Past Tours
  Sat 14th Jun 2025
• A Peep into the Past Tours
  Sat 14th Jun 2025
• A Peep into the Past Tours
  Sun 15th Jun 2025
• A Peep into the Past Tours
  Sun 15th Jun 2025
• A Peep into the Past Tours
  Tue 17th Jun 2025

Who wrote this about Ipswich?

Erica Burrows

Erica is Vice President of FOIM responsible for Guides/Tours