of Braganza in Spain was still unacknowledged, it was deemed advisable to postpone applying for the necessary dispensation to the Pope "until after Catherine's arrival in England, for it would have been too great an indignity to submit to the title which such a dispensation would have awarded to Catherine, not of sister of the King of Portugal, but merely of sister and daughter of the Duke of Braganza. To avoid this, Catherine was compelled to waive the honors usually awarded to princesses under her peculiar circumstances. Much ceremony, however, attended her formal embarkation in the vessel which had been prepared to convey her to the shores of England, when a royal salute was fired by the British fleet, and responded to by the Portuguese forts, and on the 13th of April, 1662, Catherine bade adieu to the land of her nativity. The vessel which contained the future Queen of England, and which was called the "Royal Charles," had been carefully fitted up for her accommodation.
Adorn'd with gold and lined with velvet through;
The cushions, stools and chairs, and clothes of state,
All of the same materials and rate;
The bed made for her majesty's repose.
White as the lily, red as Sharon's rose;
Egypt nor isles of Chittim have not seen
Such rich embroideries, nor such a queen;
Windows with taffeties and damask hung.
While costly carpets on the floor are flung.
And, indeed, the poor queen stood in need of every comfort as well as luxury during the voyage, for she suffered much from seasickness, which must have made her voyage to England sufficiently disagreeable in itself. On arriving off the Isle of Wight, after a long and stormy passage, the appearance of the queen's squadron was recognized from the shore by fireworks and salutes of artillery ; and the Duke of York, who had put to sea to welcome the queen, his sister-in-law, with five frigates, sent to request permission to wait on her and kiss her hand. At the interview which followed, Catherine was attired in a white cloth dress, trimmed with silver lace, and she received the Duke and his brilliant suite in the innermost cabinet of the royal cabin. The English nobles were introduced to the queen, and she presented to James the Portuguese fidalgos who had attended her to England. De Grammont
