Palace of Richmond, England. 12th of January, 1528.
"No! I don't want to!"
"Your Highness, you must," Dorothy said in a hushed tone, running behind Prince Edward. It was an early January morning, seasonably cold and she was worried for his constitution. The fear, although coming from the heart, was slightly misplaced for the royal nursery was truly warm with the multitude of fireplaces and rugs covering every inch of the floor, as well as the thick tapestries hanging from the walls. Besides, His Highness had left his hot bath barely a minute before.
Dorothy continued following the Prince, for she knew that, though her long skirts were tangling between her legs, she was much faster than him. In her hands, she held the first two layers of his clothes, as well as a wooden brush to set his golden locks which grew more and more wild with each passing year.
Edward shrieked in defeat when she caught him at last, face red, but Dorothy did not let it deter her. The Prince needed to be suitably dressed for his ennoblement ceremony that day and the Queen had given Lady Bryan permission to treat her son as the governess saw fit, a permission which trickled down to nurses such as her. If she had to shake Edward or slap some sense into him, she would.
"No!" the little boy screamed as she stuffed his head in the neckhole for the shift, taking in big gulping breaths as he screamed. Dorothy, who was nearly forty with more than enough children in her history as a caretaker, was not cowed by his wiggling. Prince Edward was not the first child of three who refused to put on clothes and he certainly would not be the last. "No! Dothy, don't want to!"
"I know, I know," she murmured soothingly, helping him up to coax his little feet into his white shoes, "But you want to look beautiful before the King and Queen, don't you, Your Highness?"
Edward, who had grown tired of fighting, sat down and crossed his arms, pouting furiously. "No," he responded with as much strength as a boy his age could muster.
She moved to grab the rest of the layers of his clothes, which were the same as worn by his older half-brother when he was named the Prince of Wales and sent to Ludlow with a household of his own. Now, it was Edward's turn since with a little Elizabeth needing the attention of Lady Bryan. When he was named the Duke of York, he would leave Eltham and go to Pickering Castle under the careful watch of Lady Worcester, the King's first cousin. Dorothy and Lady Bryan would remain with Princess Elizabeth until the day a younger sibling came and she be allowed to join the tutelage of the Countess of Salisbury.
"Yes, you do," Dorothy said. She took advantage of this to brush his hair to look neatly under his hood, which she picked up as he was distracted. "I know His Highness very well, for I have taken care of him since he first left his mother's body. The Prince wants to look very handsome before his royal mother and father."
Edward said nothing, still pouting and with his arms crossed. Dorothy leaned back to see him, his white smock with frilled cuffs under a gown with fashionably wide turnback sleeves and a simplified version of a French hood. She helped him attach the religious amulets to his belt and his dress, which had been made to safeguard his health. Edward, much like his brother John, was healthy and hale but the King had waited too long for a son of his own to let them catch an illness without protection.
When he was dressed and ready, Dorothy sent him with Alice who would bring him to Lady Bryan. It was his day, but he was not the only star who would shine at court. Dorothy had heard rumors when she moved from Eltham with His Highness' household that the King's two illegitimate sons would also be honoured with their own titles.
It was said that the King had made Prince Edward's ennoblement be on the same day as his half-brothers' so that the Queen would be forced to attend, otherwise she might be inclined to avoid such an occasion. There were even those who said that the King had not said when Prince Edward would be honoured with York so that the Queen could not claim indisposition and leave with her son.
Of course, those were only rumours.
We were just arguing that there are more sensible titles. But Henry has never been sensible haha. As for Fitzroy’s OTL title, one should remember that at the time he was Henry’s only son unlike ttl where he has 3 other healthy sons
