Editing Anne of Denmark (section)

===Betrothal and proxy marriage===

The constitutional position of Sophie, Anne's mother, became difficult after Frederick's death in 1588,{{Efn|The clergyman observed at Frederick's funeral service that "had the King drunk a little less, he might have lived many a day yet."{{Sfnp|Williams|1970|p=6}}}} when she found herself in a power struggle with the Rigsraad for control of her son King Christian IV. As a matchmaker, however, Sophie proved more diligent than Frederick and, overcoming sticking points on the amount of the [[dowry]] and the status of [[Orkney]],{{Efn|The [[Orkney Islands]] had been a provisional part of the dowry of [[Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland|Margaret of Denmark]] on her marriage to [[James III of Scotland]] in 1469, returnable to Denmark upon full payment of the dowry.{{Sfnp|Williams|1970|p=10}}}} she sealed the agreement by July 1589.{{Efn|The Danes waived their claim to Orkney, and James, declaring he would not be a merchant for his bride, dropped his demand for an excessive dowry.{{Sfnp|Williams|1970|p=14}}{{Sfnp|Willson|1963|p=88}}}} Anne herself seems to have been thrilled with the match.{{Sfnp|Williams|1970|pp=14–15}} On 28 July 1589, the English spy [[Thomas Fowler (courtier)|Thomas Fowler]] reported that Anne was "so far in love with the King's Majesty as it were death to her to have it broken off and hath made good proof divers ways of her affection which his Majestie is apt enough to requite."<ref>Letter to [[William Asheby]], English ambassador in Denmark, {{Harvp|Williams|1970|p=15}}</ref> Fowler's insinuation, that James preferred men to women,{{Efn|"All his life, except perhaps for six short months, King James disliked women, regarding them as inferior beings. All his interest was centred on the attractions of personable young men."{{Sfnp|Williams|1970|pp=14–15}}}} would have been hidden from the fourteen-year-old Anne, who devotedly embroidered shirts for her fiancé while 300 tailors worked on her wedding dress.{{Efn|There were other dresses: five hundred Danish tailors and embroiderers were said to have been at work for three months.{{Sfnp|Willson|1963|p=87}} A dress of peach and parrot-coloured [[damask]] with fishboned skirts lined with wreaths of pillows round the hips was especially admired.{{Sfnp|Williams|1970|p=14}}}}

Whatever the truth of the rumours, James required a royal match to preserve the [[House of Stuart|Stuart]] line.{{Sfnp|Croft|2003|pp=23–24}} "God is my witness", he explained, "I could have abstained longer than the weal of my country could have permitted, [had not] my long delay bred in the breasts of many a great jealousy of my inability, as if I were a barren stock."{{Sfnp|Willson|1963|p=85}} On 20 August 1589, Anne was [[married by proxy]] to James at [[Kronborg Castle]], the ceremony ending with James's representative, [[George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal]], sitting next to Anne on the bridal bed.{{Sfnp|Williams|1970|p=15}}{{Sfnp|McManus|2002|p=61}}