 Henry VII died on 21 April 1509 , and the 17 @-@ year @-@ old Henry succeeded him as king . Soon after his father 's burial on 10 May , Henry suddenly declared that he would indeed marry Catherine , leaving unresolved several issues concerning the papal dispensation and a missing part of the marriage portion . The new king maintained that it had been his father 's dying wish that he marry Catherine . Whether or not this was true , it was certainly convenient . Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I had been attempting to marry his granddaughter ( and Catherine 's niece ) Eleanor to Henry ; she had now been jilted . Henry 's wedding to Catherine was kept low @-@ key and was held at the friar 's church in Greenwich on 11 June 1509 . On 23 June 1509 , Henry led the now 23 @-@ year @-@ old Catherine from the Tower of London to Westminster Abbey for their coronation , which took place the following day . It was a grand affair : the king 's passage was lined with tapestries and laid with fine cloth . Following the ceremony , there was a grand banquet in Westminster Hall . As Catherine wrote to her father , " our time is spent in continuous festival " . 
