much negotiation: the first contract had been signed as late as March the same year. Neither does there seem to have been any political purpose behind the marriage. English journey Immediately after the wedding, she traveled to England on an official state visit. She arrived in the autumn of 1565 after traveling some 400 miles by water and 750 miles on ice and snow. Cecilia had been engaged in a correspondence with Elizabeth for several years and seems to have felt admiration for her on a personal level. She successfully asked Elizabeth for an invitation to England already in 1562, and learned to speak English from English people in Sweden. Cecilia traveled to England through Estonia, Prussia, Poland and Germany (without visiting the home of her consort) to Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. She managed to meet her imprisoned brother John before her departure, and when she arrived in Swedish Estonia, Eric asked his governor in Reval to keep her under supervision, as he suspected her to be more loyal to their brother John than to him. In the Duchy of Prussia, she successfully asked the duke to work with the Danish monarch to free her brother John. During her stay with her sister Catherine in East Frisia, she is believed to have discussed the imprisonment of John, as Catherine soon after sent Eric a furious letter about his imprisonment of John. Cecilia left for England from Calais in September 1565. She was given Bedford House in London as her residence, where she was welcomed by the Countess of Sussex and the wife of William Cecil. After a couple of days rest, Cecilia made her formal entrance to London on 11 September, dressed in black velvet trimmed with silver and surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting dressed in red. After this, Elizabeth visited Cecilia in Bedford House. According to the Spanish ambassador to England, Cecilia and Elizabeth got along very nicely. They visited weddings and dinners together, at Christmas 1565, Cecilia received communion directly after Elizabeth, and her consort was given an allowance as long as he allowed Cecilia to remain in England. While there she delivered her first child, Edward, who was carried to his christening by Elizabeth. One of her maids-of-honor was Helena Snakenborg (later Marchioness of Northampton), who was to stay at the English court when Cecilia left in May 1566. Cecilia's visit to England was part of an