Did Queen Elizabeth I Ever Visit Anne Boleyn’s Grave?

Did Queen Elizabeth I Ever Visit Anne Boleyn’s Grave? Queen Elizabeth I displayed a curious disinterest in building tombs. Unlike many monarchs who reign for decades, she never commissioned her own tomb during her lifetime. Nor did she fulfill her predecessor Mary I’s wishes to be buried alongside Katharine of Aragon, a request outlined in Mary’s will that Elizabeth simply ignored. Her brother, Edward VI, also received no memorial from her, and she left her father Henry VIII’s tomb unfinished. Given this pattern, it’s not surprising that Elizabeth never relocated her mother, Anne Boleyn, from her modest grave in the chapel floor of St. Peter-ad-Vincula at the Tower of London. Despite her reluctance to openly honor her mother, Elizabeth kept Anne’s memory close. She famously wore a ring with a hidden portrait of Anne inside and showed favor to her maternal relatives. Still, Elizabeth was trapped by the complexities of her mother’s legacy. Acknowledging Anne Boleyn’s innocence would have meant challenging the judicial process that condemned her and questioning the verdict of a jury that included lords still alive during Elizabeth’s reign. To do so would have opened a political Pandora’s box, one she wisely chose to avoid. While Elizabeth never provided a grand tomb for Anne, it raises the question: did she ever visit her mother’s grave? When Elizabeth was imprisoned in the Tower during Mary I's reign, it's unlikely she had the opportunity. Confined either in the Bell Tower or royal apartments, her movement was strictly limited. Although she may have been permitted short walks around the grounds, these areas did not extend to the chapel where Anne was buried. As queen, Elizabeth rarely returned to the Tower. She spent a few days there after her accession in November 1558, following tradition, and again the night before her coronation. However, the Tower’s association with imprisonment and death likely kept her away afterward. There is no record of her visiting the chapel of St. Peter-ad-Vincula, but even if she had, it would have been difficult to do so discreetly. The chapel was far from the royal apartments, and a visit would have drawn the attention of guards, servants, and courtiers, sparking unwanted gossip. Elizabeth, known for her careful image management, would not have risked that. Yet, despite not visiting the grave or building a grand memorial, Elizabeth found other ways to honor Anne’s memory. Anne Boleyn's burial itself was unceremonious. After her execution, her body was left lying on the scaffold. Although King Henry VIII had meticulously planned every detail of her death, from the French executioner to the cloth on the scaffold, no instructions were given regarding her burial. With no coffin prepared, those in charge had to improvise. Sir William Kingston, the Constable of the Tower, likely took charge, and Anne’s body was placed in a wooden chest used for storing bow staves. Stripped of her clothes, which were claimed by the executioner as part of his payment, Anne was hurriedly buried in the chapel, with little fanfare or respect. While the events surrounding Anne's death were marked by a lack of care, Elizabeth’s quiet reverence for her mother speaks to a more complex relationship—one that, while never fully public, was deeply personal.