same time, Charles I gave all three children a conflicting instruction "to be faithful to the Anglican Church, but more than that, to their Catholic mother". In October, Parliament planned to move the children to St. James's Palace for the winter; learning of this, the King asked the government to allow the Earl of Northumberland to transmit letters between Charles I and his children and to allow them to visit their father from time to time. Charles I' request was granted, but in November 1647 the King managed to escape. Upon learning of her father's escape, Elizabeth took every opportunity to persuade her older brother, the Duke of York, to flee the country; this was done, probably, according to the instructions given by Charles I earlier and in correspondence with Elizabeth. Thanks to the ingenuity of the princess, James managed to deceive the personal guard and, disguised as a woman in Elizabeth's chambers, escaped to the continent to The Hague at the side of his sister Mary on 21 April 1648. Probably, the King planned that Henry would also escape with the Duke of York, but Elizabeth was afraid to let Henry go because he was too small. After James's escape, Parliament investigated and ordered the Earl of Northumberland to transport Henry and Elizabeth without delay to one of the residences –Syon House or Hampton Court– and the Earl chose Syon House. In August 1648, Charles I was again captured, but in October he sent an encouraging letter from Newport to his daughter Elizabeth with his trusted servant Sir Thomas Herbert, with whom the princess had a long conversation about her father. The fateful autumn and winter of 1648 remained vague for Henry and Elizabeth: they did not receive any more news from their father, in addition, the Earl of Northumberland took them out of town for the whole winter and did not devote all the details of the trial of the King – a process that horrified him. However, the royal children knew that on 26 January 1649, Charles I was convicted and sentenced to death. The day before the sentencing, he asked to see the children; a similar request was submitted to the government on 27 January. On 29 January, the day before the execution, the King was allowed to see Henry and Elizabeth, after which the royal children were returned to Syon House. At their last meeting,