Charles I gave instructions to his children. He feared that after his death, Henry might be proclaimed King and made a puppet in the hands of Parliament. The King knelt down in front of his son and said: "Now they will deprive your father of his head. Listen, my child, what I say: they will decapitate me and, perhaps, make you King. But remember what I say. You must not become King while your brothers Charles and James are both alive...I oblige you not to become King before them". Eight-year-old Henry replied that he would rather be torn apart first. Change of guardians and death of sister There are no records of how the royal children spent the fateful hours of 30 January 1649. By this time, their guardian the Earl of Northumberland had become very attached to the children of Charles I. He became one of five English peers who opposed the execution of the King. As a result, the royal children were transferred to the care of the Earl and Countess of Leicester at Penshurst Place. Elizabeth, who did not want to move to new, and in her opinion, less benevolent guardians, again sent a request to Parliament to let her and Henry go to live with their sister Mary in Holland, and again to no avail. The royal children, accompanied by the Countess of Leicester and ten or eleven servants, arrived at Penshurst on 14 June 1649. In Penshurst Place, the Countess of Leicester was mainly involved in the upbringing of the royal children, since the Earl was almost constantly in London. The numerous children of the Earl and Countess became companions of Henry and Elizabeth; with them, they sat at the table without royal honors, but as members of the family. This was done on the basis of instructions given by Parliament. Here the royal children were lucky to have a mentor, Robert Lovel, who was a maternal relative of the Earl of Leicester and a supporter of the royalists. Shortly after being sent to the Leicester household, rumors spread that royal children might be poisoned or sent to an insane asylum or charity school under the names of Harry and Bessie Stewart; there were also fears that the children would become victims of the matrimonial plans of their guardians. However, most likely, these rumors were spread by order of their mother Henrietta Maria, who was