Royal assent of the Crown, standing on the sovereign's right, then read aloud the titles of the bills (in earlier times, the entire text of the bills). The Clerk of the Parliaments, standing on the sovereign's left, responded by stating the appropriate Norman French formula. A new device for granting assent was created during the reign of King Henry VIII. In 1542, Henry sought to execute his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, whom he accused of committing adultery; the execution was to be authorised not after a trial but by a bill of attainder, to which he would have to personally assent after
Catherine Howard 1537. Margaret Douglas died in March 1578, age 63. Her grandson James Stewart became king of both Scotland and England. Other exist, mostly showing her decades after these portraits were painted. The portrait shown on this page, attributed to Hans Holbein, dated circa 1535–1540, is exhibited at the Toledo Museum of Art as "Portrait of a Lady, Probably a Member of the Cromwell Family" (1926.57). Another version of the portrait, now located at Hever Castle, dating from the 16th century, is exhibited as Queen Catherine Howard. The National Portrait Gallery exhibits a similar painting, "Unknown Woman, Formerly Known as Catherine