Elizabeth Tudor (1492–1495)

Elizabeth was born on 2 July 1492 at Sheen Palace in Surrey (later rebuilt by her father as Richmond Palace, the remains of which are now part of Richmond-Upon-Thames, London). Her wet nurse, Cecily Burbage, was a married gentlewoman from Hayes.[1]

Elizabeth died at Eltham Palace in Kent on 14 September 1495 at the age of three years and two months.[2] Her tomb in Westminster Abbey is made from Purbeck and black marble. On top of the monument is a finely polished slab of black Lydian, upon which were placed inscriptions to Elizabeth and her effigy of copper gilt, both of which have now disappeared with time. The Latin from the inscription can be translated:

Elizabeth, second child of Henry the Seventh King of England, France and Ireland and of the most serene lady Queen Elizabeth his consort, who was born on the second day of the month of July in the year of Our Lord 1492, and died on the 14th day of the month of September in the year of Our Lord 1495, upon whose soul may God have mercy. Amen.[2]

The plate at the feet of her effigy is translated:

Hereafter Death has a royal offspring in this tomb viz. the young and noble Elizabeth daughter of that illustrious prince, Henry the Seventh, who swayed the sceptre of two kingdoms, Atropos, the most severe messenger of Death, snatched her away but may she have eternal life in Heaven.[2]

The following year in 1496, Henry and Elizabeth had another daughter, Mary, who became the Queen of France. Their final two children, Edmund (who died in 1500 at the age of 1) and Katherine (who died in 1503 shortly after birth), were laid to rest by young Elizabeth's side.

• Henry VIII's Lost Sister Elizabeth Tudor