Katherine of Aragon

Henry VIII is the most Infamous monarch in English history.

I, Katherine I, Anne, take thee, Henry, to be my husband. I do.
Famously, over his 38-year reign he married six times.
Divorced, Beheaded, Died Divorced, Beheaded, Survived.
But the women Henry married were more than just six wives.
They were the six queens.
The six queens were formidable individuals.
Some were ambitious, some brave, some ruthless.
All changed history.
They shaped the man who became the monster, and in turn they shaped England itself.
But who were these women? What drove them? And what was it really like to be married to
Henry VIII? In this series we'll dissect these marriages from the rival perspectives of Henry and
his queens.
- I will call you Henry.
We'll uncover the passions that created them, the obsessions that darkened them and the
betrayals that brought them to an end.
This time, Henry's first wife, Katherine of Aragon, is often over-looked by history but she was
the warrior queen who taught Henry how to be a king.
Be ready to defend your territory! This is the little-known story of their love, their passion and
the tragedies that tore them apart.
You are not my wife! On November 14th 1501, Princess Katherine of Aragon was being
prepared for her wedding night in London.
She was 15 years old, over a thousand miles from home and she spoke little English.
But Katherine had a big future ahead of her.
Hours earlier, she had stood in front of thousands of people in Saint Paul's Cathedral and married
Arthur, Prince of Wales.
The eldest son of Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England.
Prince Arthur was the heir to the English throne, and Katherine was one day to be his queen.
The marriage of Arthur and Katherine was hugely important to Henry VII.
It allied his fledgling Tudor dynasty with Katherine's powerful royal family in Spain.
To strengthen the bond, King Henry expected the young couple to produce a son and heir.
A king who would one day rule England.
The future of the Tudor dynasty depended on it.
Little did anyone know that what went on beneath the royal sheets that night would one day have
consequences that would change England forever.
In December 1501, newly-weds Arthur and Katherine moved here, to Ludlow Castle in
Shropshire.
This is where Arthur would begin his training to one day rule England with Katherine by his
side.
This probably wasn't the life that Katherine had been expecting.
She had been born in Madrid and had grown up in some of the most beautiful palaces in Spain.
And now she was stuck here - on a damp and draughty hilltop, miles from the capital.
And whilst this castle was certainly the grandest place about it hadn't been renovated for 150
years - it wasn't exactly glamorous.
The cold and dank castle took its toll on the royal couple's health.
Around Easter 1502, just four months into their marriage both Arthur and Katherine fell
seriously ill.
People feared they had caught the plague.
Then on April 2nd, Prince Arthur died.
The mysterious illness also looked like it would finish off Princess Katherine.
But she was made of strong stuff, and after a fight she pulled through.
Where is Arthur? Where is my husband? Where is he? Katherine had been married for just five
months and a day.
the news of Arthur's death threw her back into a sickness and into deep mourning.
One day she was Queen-in-Waiting.
The next she was a 16-year-old widow, alone in a foreign land.
Katherine's life wasn't the only one turned upside down by the sudden death of Prince Arthur.
Here at Eltham Palace on the outskirts of London the spotlight now fell on Arthur's 10-year-old
brother, Prince Henry.
Henry was a bright, intelligent child, but he had been brought up at palaces like this surrounded
mostly by women and he had never been prepared for rule.
Henry was no longer the second son.
Suddenly he was next in line to the English throne.
When we think of the towering and majestic Henry VIII it's easy to forget that he was never
meant to be king at all.
So this sudden change in circumstances must have been very disconcerting but things were about
to get even worse.
Less than a year after Arthur's death.
Henry's mother, Elizabeth of York, also died.
Now there could be no more sons.
The future of the Tudor dynasty rested heavily on Prince Henry's young shoulders.
The sudden, drastic loss of Henry's brother and mother was more than just a personal tragedy it
was a harsh political lesson.
And it drilled into Henry the paramount importance of securing the line of succession.
But to do that he'd need a suitable wife.
Henry was still only a child, so he had no say in who he would marry.
His father decided for him.
And he made a strategic choice - Arthur's widow, 17-year-old Katherine of Aragon.
This was Katherine's second chance to be Queen of England.
But to get the throne would take all the fight she had.
In June 1503, a marriage contract was arranged between 11-year-old Prince Henry and 17-year-
old Katherine of Aragon.
The couple were scheduled to marry in two years' time.
Unfortunately for Katherine recovering her position as future Queen of England was not going to
be straightforward.
A condition of her marriage was that her father, Ferdinand of Aragon provide 100,000 crowns in
plate, jewels and coins as a dowry in advance.
But by 1505, this had not been received.
So the date of the wedding came and went.
The stalemate between Katherine's father and King Henry VII continued.
Katherine was now 20 years old, in limbo and starved of money.
Her household was sinking into debt.
Desperate, Katherine wrote to her father appealing for help.
Those personal letters are kept at the British Library.
This is an original letter from Katherine to her father from 1506 and it's an extraordinary letter
because it says in it that she is in the greatest trouble in the world.
She says that she has only two chemises and she has had to sell some bracelets in order to buy a
robe of black velvet, because she was all but naked and a little later on she says that she doesn't
have money for food.
This is an incredible situation - we have a princess from one of the great royal houses of Europe
writing to her father to say that she has to sell her jewellery in order to buy food and clothes.
The stand-off continued for 3 more years.
Henry VII kept Katherine penniless and made no promises about her future.
Katherine was so isolated and desperate she even considered suicide.
Then on April 21st 1509.
King Henry VII died of tuberculosis.
Within hours, his now 17-year-old son was proclaimed Henry VIII, King of England.
Henry was tall, good-looking and accomplished, and he was welcomed to the throne with near
universal acclaim, both in England and abroad.
Henry was England's most eligible bachelor and, now his father was dead, he was free to choose
his own bride.
He wanted a queen who could help him bring glory to England and a wife who could produce a
batch Of healthy sons.
There was only one woman for Henry.
Katherine of Aragon, his brother's widow.
Katherine had endured 7 years of heartbreak and hardship but now she would finally be queen.
On June 11th 1509 the young couple married in a small private ceremony in Greenwich Palace.
Katherine was 23 years old and Henry was about to turn 18.
I, Henry take thee Katherine to be my wife to have and to hold, from this day forward for better
for worse, until death us do part and thereto I plight thee my troth.
So why did Henry choose Katherine? Well, we know he was physically attracted to her but he
didn't just want a pretty wife - he wanted a queen.
He was an inexperienced ruler and he was looking for someone to help him achieve the glory
that he'd dreamed of.
So in that sense Katherine's 7-year struggle to marry Henry was one long job interview.
And she had excelled.
She was exactly what this young king needed.
I, Katherine take thee, Henry to be my wedded husband to have and to hold, from this day
forward 'til death do us part.
I now pronounce you man and wife.
Katherine 's strength of character had paid off and she had the ultimate prize, the English crown.
Her days of wearing rags and selling her possessions to survive were long gone.
She had the world at her feet and she was going to make her impression on it.
Katherine adored her handsome, athletic and vigorous new husband.
She wrote to her father to thank him for allowing her to be 'so well married.
' She loved Henry and it seems that Henry loved her.
Henry and Katherine did their duty to the Tudor dynasty.
And just months into their marriage Katherine became pregnant.
The royal couple were happier than ever.
But on January 31st, 1510, their happiness turned to sorrow when their baby was stillborn at
nearly 8 months.
It's okay.
It's not your fault.
Katherine was devastated by the stillbirth, and suffered a crushing sense of shame.
When she wrote to her father to break the news she said that it was an 'ill omen' and she begged
him 'not to be angry with her for it was the will of God'.
Henry was just as distraught, but he didn't blame his wife.
In fact, he was very gentle and supportive.
And the stillbirth was kept a closely guarded secret.
Apart from the royal couple, only 4 people knew about it.
Katherine remained in confinement, hidden away from the rest of the court until she was
pregnant again.
Which didn't take very long.
On New Year's Eve 1510, the Queen went into labour.
All Katherine's hopes rested on giving Henry a healthy son and heir.
She blamed herself for losing the first child and she felt couldn't afford to fall again.
Henry probably prayed more than anyone that this time a healthy child would be born.
He needed a son and heir to continue the Tudor line.
At 1:30am on New Year's Day Katherine gave birth.
To her utter delight, it was a boy.
Precious boy.
Little Prince, Little Prince.
Wait until your daddy sees you.
Katherine was now the wife of a king and the mother of a prince.
Her status had never been so high.
The public rejoiced, bonfires were lit, wine flowed in the streets and cannon were fired from the
Tower of London.
Henry VIII was beside himself with joy.
Just a year and a half into his marriage and already he had a son.
He was the triumphant, virile, ultra-masculine king.
Henry was probably more in love with Katherine at that moment than at any other time in their
marriage.
He had lived up to his father's expectations.
I have a son Shh a son.
I will call you Henry.
But Henry and Katherine's happiness was not to last.
Less than eight weeks after his birth.
Henry and Katherine's precious son died.
The death of Prince Henry tore Katherine apart.
Henry VIII was equally devastated.
He tried to hide his grief from Katherine.
But this meant more to him than the death of a son.
This was a real blow to his kingly prestige.
But if Henry had failed so far to have a son, there were other ways that a king could boost his
self-image.
Henry decided to go to war with England's old enemy, France and Katherine encouraged her
husband's ambitions.
On June 30th 1513, here at Dover Castle.
Henry appointed Katherine Regent.
She would rule England while Henry was at war.
Henry declared publicly that he was leaving his realm in the hands of a woman whose honour
and excellence could not be doubted and he instructed his subjects to obey her every command.
This was a massive compliment and a huge vote of confidence in his wife.
And it tells you a lot about the strength of their marriage - despite the miscarriage and the death
of their son.
Being Regent was the greatest challenge Katherine had so far faced as queen.
But she believed it was a responsibility that she was strong enough to bear.
Katherine had been educated by her mother, Isabella of Castile - in her day Europe's most
powerful woman.
Isabella taught Katherine that women could be as strong and as powerful as men.
And that if they fought for themselves, they could more than equal the other sex.
It was a lesson that Katherine never forgot - and it was just as well.
Two months after Henry went to war, Katherine 's ability to rule was tested to the limit.
News from the borders, Your Majesty.
The King of the Scots means war.
James IV, King of Scotland, knew Henry was away fighting in France and invaded England.
30.
000 Scottish troops swept south and captured 3 English castles.
England is surrounded by enemies worse still, neighbours, who want to destroy it.
Be ready to defend your territory.
Katherine leapt into action and took command.
She rallied the English troops and ordered two armies to face the Scots.
Then she too marched North at the head of a third.
Why has the mayor and the sheriff of Gloucester not responded to my letters? There is no time to
delay.
They have 15 days to tell me how many men and horses they can supply.
Katherine was ready to go to war.
She was prepared to fight to defend her husband's crown.
On September 9th 1513, an invading Scottish army met Katherine's English forces at Flodden
Field in Northumberland.
Katherine 's army was commanded by the Earl of Surrey.
The Scottish soldiers were led by King James IV himself.
Hold your lines, men! James launched a ferocious pike attack on the English right flank, and it
crumbled.
Panic gripped Katherine's army.
James and his men fought valiantly but then his forces hit boggy ground and lost momentum.
English archers stepped up and fired at the stricken soldiers.
James was struck in the jaw.
The English moved in for the kill.
With the Scottish king dead, the battle became a bloodbath.
Today, it's hard to imagine the carnage that took place here on the 9th of September 1513.
1,500 Englishmen were killed, but the real massacre was amongst the Scots.
Around 12,000 Scottish soldiers were slaughtered in an afternoon.
Including James IV, the King of Scotland himself.
Katherine's victory was total.
Triumphant, Katherine sent Henry the blood-drenched coat of King James IV along with a letter.
Sire, you shall see at length the great victory that our Lord has sent your subjects in your
absence.
This battle has been to you the greatest honour that could be.
More than if you should win all the crown of France.
Henry probably greeted Katherine's letter with mixed emotions.
Relief that his kingdom had been saved but perhaps a little jealousy too.
His wife had won a far greater victory in England.
Than he was ever able to do in France.
1513 was the moment when Katherine showed Henry how to be a king.
All he'd won after all were a couple of skirmishes and two minor French towns.
Katherine had fought a real war and utterly annihilated one of England's oldest enemies.
There's understandably a touch of boasting about her letter.
Henry and Katherine were a team, but in this case there's no doubting who the senior partner
was.
It would be hard to imagine a more perfect queen.
But Henry no longer wanted a queen to fight his battles.
He needed a wife who could give him a son.
But that was proving far harder than he could possibly imagine.
In the four years Henry and Katherine had been married they suffered the loss of two babies.
Then in 1513, another son tragically died just hours after his birth.
The following autumn, another boy was born, but he also died.
This was now a cycle of grief.
It must have been deeply upsetting for Katherine.
She had no problem getting pregnant but why wouldn't they live? It wasn't her fault but it was
seen as her failure.
The repeated stillbirths and infant mortalities began to take their toll on this happy marriage.
Henry was growing more and more desperate.
The throne his father had fought for and won was in jeopardy.
The strain weighed heavily on the young king.
Then, in February 1516.
Katherine went into labour for the fifth time.
Henry was probably terrified that once again the baby would not survive.
Fortunately, Oh the 18th Of February, a healthy child was born.
Katherine was ecstatic.
News of the birth was immediately sent to Henry.
But it wasn't the news he wanted to hear.
His baby was a girl.
If it is a daughter this time, boys will follow.
We're still young.
Call her Mary.
Henry tried to swallow his disappointment.
But the truth was, he needed a boy.
Only three women had attempted to rule England as queen and in each case it had ended in civil
war.
The Tudor dynasty was two generations old.
Without a son, it wouldn't make it to a third.
So a princess simply wasn't good enough.
Over the next nine years, Katherine conceived only once more.
Again, a girl.
Sadly, she too died at birth.
Katherine was now in her late 30s and would not conceive again.
To her horror, Henry did father a son with his mistress - one of Katherine's ladies-in-waiting.
The boy was christened Henry Fitzroy.
Fitzroy's birth confirmed to Henry that he wasn't to blame for the lack of a male heir- it was all
Katherine's fault.
Katherine had failed to give him the son he desperately needed.
Her last pregnancy had been 4 years earlier, and there were no signs of any more.
The Tudors were in danger of disappearing.
Henry kept up appearances, but in truth his heart had left the marriage.
He was looking for a way out.
Around 1526, Henry found it.
His gaze fell on a young woman in court.
Another of Katherine 's ladies-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn.
Katherine had seen it all before.
Henry wasn't the great womaniser we have been led to believe but he had had two short-lived
affairs.
Katherine knew of his attraction to Anne and probably thought that he would have his way and
then grow bored and move on.
But this time, things were different.
Anne was intelligent, charming and sophisticated.
She 'd learnt elegant manners and the latest fashions in the glittering courts of the Arch Duchess
of Austria and the Queen of France.
Once Henry noticed her he became absolutely obsessed.
In a bid to make her his mistress, Henry started to send Anne secret love letters.
These are copies of Henry's letters to Anne.
The originals are in the Vatican.
But they tell you the depth of infatuation that Henry felt for Anne.
In this one he says he's 'stricken with the dart of love'.
Here he says 'my heart and I surrender ourselves into your hands'.
There's also a feeling of real, raw, physical longing so here Henry says he dreams of being 'in my
sweetheart's arms whose pretty dukkys I trust shortly to kiss.
' Now dukkys is Henry's affectionate term for Anne's breasts.
The feeling you get from all of these letters though is of Henry begging Anne constantly to
become his mistress.
Here he says if she'll do that, he'll 'cast off all others besides you out of my thoughts and
affections and serve you only.
' That's quite an offer.
We don't have Anne's letters back to Henry, so we don't know exactly what her response was but
from the way Henry is begging and begging it doesn't feel like she is desperate to fall into the
royal bed.
But why? After all, Henry was the ultimate catch.
it's possible that Anne was holding out for a far greater prize.
Put yourself in Anne's position for a moment.
She was in her mid-20s, and she needed to find a husband.
Agreeing to become the king's latest bed mate was hardly a smart way to achieve that.
He'd had mistresses before, and he'd always gone back to his wife.
No woman had ever gone from being mistress to being Queen of England.
In fact Anne knew a lot about Henry's mistresses - the latest had been her own sister Mary.
Anne knew that the position brought no status and an uncertain future.
Is it any wonder she held back? But Anne's unwillingness to jump into the royal bed didn't
dampen Henry's spirits - it enflamed them.
Henry just wrote more letters and sent gifts.
After a year, Henry's tactics finally worked.
Evidence of Anne's change of heart survives and is kept at the British Library.
This beautiful book is Anne Boleyn's own personal Book of Hours it is a collection of prayers
and devotions.
And in it, Henry has written to Anne it's written in French, their shared language, but what it says
in translation is: 'If you remember my love in your prayers as much as I adore you, I should
surely never be forgotten because I am yours, Henry R.
Always.
' And Henry has put this on a page that shows the Biblical Man of Sorrows just to emphasise
how lovesick he is.
But it's Anne's response that is most revealing.
On this page we have Anne's handwritten message to Henry and this one is in English.
It says 'By daily proof you shall me find to be unto you both loving and kind.
' And even more important than the words is the setting because Anne has written this on a page
that depicts the virgin Mary being told by an angel that she will give birth to a son.
So what Anne is saying to Henry is that she will love him, but on her own terms.
She won't be a mistress for sex who might give birth to an illegitimate child.
Instead, she is offering him the thing he wants most of all in the world - a son and heir.
Anne was aiming higher than any mistress in English history.
Henry now had the greatest reason to end his marriage.
But this warrior queen had no intention of giving up her husband or her crown without a fight.
Henry was genuinely very pious and a keen student of scripture.
So, naturally he turned to the Bible to help him understand the reasons for the failure of his
marriage and to justify trying to wriggle out of it.
While studying his Bible.
Henry found a passage that seemed to have been written specifically for him.
This is the passage, it is from Leviticus chapter 20, verse 21.
'And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's
nakedness; they shall be childless.
' To Henry, this was the proof that his marriage to Katherine wasn't just coming to an end it had
been illegal right from the start.
Henry was now convinced that God was on his side.
So he asked the Pope to annul his marriage.
Even without the benefit of hindsight, this was a pretty extraordinary decision.
So why did Henry do it? Well, certainly he was smitten with Anne Boleyn, and he genuinely
doubted the validity of his marriage.
But I think there was something more fundamental at work.
The truth was, Henry had grown up.
Seventeen years into his reign, he had power, he had experience.
Now much of this he'd learned from Katherine, but he didn't need a teacher any more.
He needed a son.
So whatever their past, whatever love they'd shared, Katherine had to go.
Your Majesty.
In June 1527, Henry decided to tell Katherine that he believed their marriage was against God's
law.
Katherine, my conscience has been troubling me.
Sire? It is the opinion of many theologians that we have been in mortal sin all the years we have
lived together.
Henry, what are you saying? I have decided for the sake of both our souls that we should
separate from both bed and board.
I would like you to choose somewhere to retire.
No.
Katherine, this is for the best.
Katherine could have accepted what Henry said and retired from court in comfort and security.
But that wasn't Katherine's character.
She had fought to get her crown, and she wasn't about to toss it to Henry's latest mistress.
She had fought to get Henry, and now she would fight to keep him.
Henry's case for an annulment rested On the fact that Katherine was his brother's widow.
But Katherine had a shock in store for Henry.
Katherine said that 26 years earlier, she and Henry's brother Arthur had slept in the same bed.
But sleep was all they did.
Katherine claimed they had never had sex.
The marriage was unconsummated.
In legal terms, this meant she and Arthur had never been married.
Katherine's defiance destroyed Henry's case and the Pope refused to grant a quick annulment.
Henry was furious, he hadn't expected any opposition let alone an opponent as strong and
fearless as Katherine.
Henry decided to change tactics.
If Katherine wanted a fight then he would give her a fight.
To discredit his wife, he orchestrated a vile smear campaign.
Henry's chief minister, Cardinal Wolsey, wrote to the pope saying that Katherine had a sexual
disease.
He added that she was consumed by ravenous desire.
It was all lies, mud flung at the Queen in the hope that some would stick.
But it showed just how far Henry was willing to go.
For the best part of a year, Henry and his lawyers petitioned Katherine to step down as queen and
give him an annulment, but she refused.
Then in April 1528, tensions boiled over and Katherine confronted her husband.
Dowager Princess.
- Queen Katherine.
Your wife.
- You are not my wife.
All the legal experts of England have made a declaration to that effect.
I know very well that if I am granted a hearing, no judge will be unjust enough to condemn me.
If I am to be judged, please let me defend myself.
If their marriage had to be judged. Katherine wanted it done in a public court.
Henry wanted to keep the annulment private, but to end his marriage quickly he had little choice.
I agree that it should be so.
But it must be done now, without delay.
Katherine now had a chance to save her crown and to keep the man she still dearly loved.
For Henry, this was now a flight for the future Of the dynasty his father had started.
And Henry refused to let Katherine stand in his way.
Katherine of Aragon was brave, majestic and utterly determined.
She showed Henry how to be a king.
But there was one lesson that Katherine never meant to teach.
Henry VIII learned how to be cruel.
 Anne Boleyn

DAN JONES: Henry VIII is the most Infamous monarch in English history.
I Katherine I Anne, take thee Henry to be my husband.
I do.
SUZANNAH UPSCOMBE: Famously, over his 38-year reign, he married six times.
DAN: Divorced, beheaded, died SUZANNAH: Divorced, beheaded, survived.
DAN: But the women Henry married were more than just six wives.
SUZANNAH: They were the six queens.
The six queens were formidable individuals.
Some were ambitious, some brave, some ruthless.
All changed history.
They shaped the man who became the monster and in turn they shaped England itself.
But who were these women? What drove them, and what was it really like to be married to
Henry VIII? SUZANNAH: In this series, we 'll dissect these marriages from the rival
perspectives of Henry and his queens.
I will call you Henry.
DAN: We'll uncover the passions that created them, the obsessions that darkened them and the
betrayals that brought them to an end.
SUZANNAH: This time, Anne Boleyn was the most notorious mistress in English history.
She was intelligent, sophisticated and ambitious.
I'd rather see her hanged than acknowledge her as my mistress.
DAN: She captivated King Henry VIII and together they destroyed the queen, Katherine of
Aragon.
But Anne grew too confident.
You would look to have me.
And paid for the Crown with her life.
SUZANNAH: 1529, and Henry has been in love with Anne Boleyn for 3 years.
She had been Lady-in-Waiting to his wife.
Queen Katherine of Aragon but Anne was tired of being mistress and wanted to be queen.
To get the Crown she promised Henry the one thing Katherine had failed to give him in 20 years
of marriage - a living son.
DAN: But Anne had one condition.
She wouldn't sleep with Henry until he left his wife.
Henry tried to divorce Katherine but she refused to step aside for Anne Boleyn.
SUZANNAH: Katherine had been Henry's loyal wife for two decades.
She had loved him, supported him, even fought a war for him.
She wasn't going to give up Henry without a fight You are not my wife.
DAN: Katherine asked Henry to allow their marriage to be judged in a public court.
He had little choice.
Please, let me defend myself.
I agree that it should be so.
SUZANNAH: Katherine now had a chance to save her marriage and her crown.
Without knowing it, Katherine had been preparing for this moment all her life.
Her childhood under her warrior mother.
Those agonised years of waiting, first for Arthur, then for Henry.
Even her command of troops at Flodden.
Every stage had reinforced her utter determination not to be crushed by any man.
If she lost, she would lose her husband and have to declare in public that her 20-year marriage
was a sham.
It was all or nothing.
DAN: On June the 21st 1529 in the Great Hall of Blackfriars Priory, London Henry VIII's
struggle to get Anne Boleyn was finally made public.
He faced Katherine in the divorce court.
The public packed the gallery, eager to see this sensational trial.
We know the details of what was said, thanks to eye-witness accounts.
I come for a swift decision.
Am I legally bound to this lady? DAN: Henry's case rested on the fact that Katherine had once
been married to his older brother, Arthur.
Marriage to your brother's widow was forbidden in at least two places in the Bible.
SUZANNAH: It was now the queen 's turn to speak.
According to court convention Katherine was supposed to give her testimony stood beside her
chair but she refused to do as she was instructed.
DAN: Henry was caught off guard.
It was humiliating to have Katherine acting as an innocent victim.
Sir, I beseech you, let me have justice.
Get up, Katherine, get up.
For 20 years I have been your true wife and by me you have had many children although it has
pleased God to take them out of this world.
This was no fault of mine.
You're making a fool of yourself, get up! DAN: By kneeling, Katherine had driven Henry to
anger making him look brutal, and now she played her trump card.
As God is my judge when you had me at first I was a true virgin without touch of a man.
SUZANNAH: Katherine said that 26 years earlier she and Henry's brother, Arthur, had slept in
the same bed but she claimed that in the five months they were married they had never had sex.
Under Church law this meant that they had never been married.
DAN: Henry knew that if Katherine was believed by the court his case for a divorce and his
hopes of a swift marriage to Anne Boleyn would be in ruins.
Get up.
Now.
His only chance was to keep Katherine there while his lawyers attacked her testimony.
SUZANNAH: But Katherine had another act of defiance in store for Henry.
She stormed out, never to return.
By walking out, Katherine had stopped the divorce case in its tracks.
She and Henry were still married and now the case would be sent to the Pope and he was
sympathetic to Katherine.
DAN: Henry had wanted to deliver Katherine a knockout blow.
Instead she had given him a slap in the face.
But worse was to come.
Anne Boleyn had been waiting for the news she hoped would make her queen.
Now Henry had to explain his failure to the woman he loved and had promised to marry - Anne
Boleyn.
I am beyond anger.
That woman will not see reason.
Did I not tell you that whenever you disputed with the queen she would surely have the upper
hand.
SUZANNAH: But if Henry was looking for sympathy, he had come to the wrong place.
It was I - Fine warning.
You will succumb to her reasoning and cast me off.
I've waited too long for this to happen.
- I would never All this time I might have contracted some advantageous marriage.
I may even have had children.
But no, farewell to my time and youth.
By 1529 Anne was almost 30 years old.
In Tudor terms, she was entering middle age.
By 30, Katherine of Aragon had had four pregnancies; Anne had had none.
She'd given three years to this affair and had listened to Henry's promises but nothing had
happened.
The despair was beginning to show.
SUZANNAH: Anne's hatred for Katherine now took a far darker turn.
I care nothing for the queen.
I would rather see her hanged than acknowledge her as my mistress.
Her despair now turned to action.
She went on the attack.
Anne now banned Katherine's male courtiers from visiting her.
She infiltrated Katherine's entourage with her own spies.
The Spanish ambassador said that Anne was braver than a lioness.
She wasn't going to let the greatest prize of all, the king, get away from her.
In the backstabbing world of Tudor politics Anne was revealing herself to be a ruthless operator.
She wasn't yet queen but she began taking control of the court.
As Anne attacked Katherine at home.
Henry took his fight to the international stage.
DAN: Henry couldn't leave Katherine because the Pope refused to annul his marriage.
But if the Pope wouldn't give him what he wanted then Henry would take it for himself.
DAN: Driven by his absolute obsession and desire to marry Anne Henry made one of the most
momentous decisions in English history.
He would split the English Church from Rome.
Henry reasoned that if he were free from the Pope and made himself head of the English Church
he could force his bishops to grant him an annulment.
DAN: Now this was a staggering decision.
Nearly a thousand years of English Catholic tradition would go up in flames but Henry's
obsession with Anne knew no limits.
He would literally move heaven and earth to get the woman he wanted.
SUZANNAH: This was the moment the couple had been waiting for.
After holding off for seven years.
And confident that they would soon be married Henry and Anne finally had sex.
Anne had got her king.
Now she would give him his prince.
But there was still one major problem.
Any son they had would be illegitimate and couldn't inherit the English throne.
So Henry and Anne took their next dramatic step.
DAN: On 25th of January 1533, the King of England committed bigamy.
He married Anne Boleyn in a secret ceremony, attended by just a handful of close friends.
I Henry take thee Anne to be my wife.
This was an extraordinary move by Henry.
In the eyes of Catholic Europe he was still legally married to Katherine of Aragon and here he
was, marrying his mistress.
To have and to hold from this day forward.
For better for worse, for richer for poorer.
But Henry didn't care what anyone thought.
All he cared about was Anne.
She was the woman who had promised him a son and heir.
I Anne take thee Henry to be my wedded husband.
SUZANNAH: It had taken seven years but Anne had finally married the man she loved.
For richer for poorer, in sickness and in health.
And now she was making history.
No mistress had ever married the King of England.
And thereto I plight thee my troth.
I now pronounce you man and wife.
It was Anne's triumph and the wedding was just in time because, exactly as she had promised.
Anne was pregnant.
ANNE PANTS AND CRIES in the first week of September 1533 Queen Anne went into labour
at Greenwich Palace in London.
ANNE SCREAMS DAN: Henry eagerly awaited the birth of the son he 'd dreamed Of for more
than 20 years.
He was so fired up, he had letters prepared in advance announcing the birth of a prince.
BABY CRIES SUZANNAH: On the 7th of September a strong and healthy child was born but it
wasn't the boy Anne had promised.
It was a girl, Elizabeth.
This was a real blow to Henry's pride.
His astrologers had assured him that the child would be a boy and in his excitement, the king had
arranged a tournament a show of manliness to greet the new prince.
DAN: Now the jousts were cancelled.
There was no need for them.
SUZANNAH: Despite Henry's initial frustration the birth of Elizabeth wasn't a complete disaster
for the royal marriage.
Elizabeth showed that Anne could have healthy children and once Henry got over his
disappointment he was soon taking pride in his bonny daughter.
What's often forgotten is that Henry and Anne now began more than two years of happiness
together.
They were described as being merry with each other far more often than Henry with any of his
other wives.
They had worked seven long years to be together.
Now they were going to enjoy it.
SUZANNAH: But as the king and queen's happiness grew life for Katherine became intolerable.
Even after her marriage to the king had been annulled Henry and Anne kept up their attacks on
her.
For the next five years Katherine was deprived of money and supporters.
Henry moved her at will from house to house.
One of her last residences was here at Buckden, now in Cambridgeshire but even here,
Katherine's rebelliousness refused to die.
SUZANNAH: In December 1533 Henry sent the Duke of Suffolk to Buckden to stamp out the
fast flames of Katherine's defiance.
Katherine declared that she would rather be hacked to pieces than accept the king's new
marriage.
She then retreated to her rooms looked the door and shouted through a hole in the wall if you
want to take me with you, you'll have to break down the door.
But it was too Sate for Katherine.
It was the tragic end to one of the greatest love stories in English history.
As a teenager, Katherine had lived as a virtual prisoner, waiting for Henry.
In her final years, cast out by him, she became a prisoner once again.
But what I find incredible about Katherine is that she didn't give up hope in her husband.
She wrote of 'the great love that hath been betwixt him and me' and said that for her that love
was as faithful and true as it ever was.
In her last line of her last letter to him, she said 'mine eyes desire to see you above all things.
' Despite all that she had suffered, for Katherine one thing never faded - she never gave up on the
man that she had married.
SUZANNAH: On the 7th of January 1536 three years after Henry married Anne Katherine died.
She is thought to have been killed by cancer of the heart.
To the very end she insisted on being called Henry's queen.
Henry was delighted.
Katherine had been a thorn in the side of his marriage and now, at long last, she was dead.
One observer said that Henry was transported with joy and there was even better news to come.
Anne was pregnant again.
Henry's great gamble was paying off and he celebrated the best way he knew how.
DAN: On the 24th of January 1536, just two weeks after Katherine's death Henry was at
Greenwich Palace to joust.
He was addicted to this thrilling and dangerous sport.
He didn't yet have a son but he could still show off his man/mess to the world.
Henry suffered a terrifying fail.
The force was more than enough to kill a man.
Anne Boleyn hadn't yet given him his heir.
Henry VIIIs life and the Tudor dynasty hung by a thread.
CLERGYMAN: I now pronounce you man and wife.
ANNE PANTS - BABY CRIES MAN SCREAMS ANNE: I Anne, take thee Henry to be my
wedded husband and thereto I plight thee my troth.
Finally, after two hours.
Henry came round.
Henry's brush with death was more than just a painful experience.
It was a reminder of the fragility of his dynasty.
In the 27 years that he had been married, first to Katherine of Aragon and then to Anne he still
hadn't secured the succession.
Henry was 45 years old and time was running out.
All his hopes for the future now rested on the child in Anne's belly.
SUZANNAH: But five days after the [ousting accident, tragedy struck.
Anne had a miscarriage.
She thought it had been caused by the stress of Henry's fall and the foetus had developed enough
to show that it would have been a boy.
I see that God will not give me male children.
I'll see her when she's up.
DAN: Henry must have feared that history was repeating itself.
SUZANNAH: Katherine of Aragon 's pregnancies had ended in the deaths of at least five babies.
It looked as though the same thing might be happening to Anne.
Now she was vulnerable.
What's worse, she was soon to make a fatal mistake and it was caused by the very thing that had
attracted Henry to her in the first place.
Anne's flirtatious sex appeal had been the key to her success.
DAN: Henry's court was a hotbed of sexual tension.
Courtiers teased each other in a game of organised flirtation known as courtly love.
SUZANNAH: it was supposed to be innocent fun but the ambiguity of the game made it
thrilling.
The greatest player of them all was Anne Boleyn.
As queen, Anne couldn't stop playing the game of courtly love.
In fact the reverse was true.
She was now the summit of all male desire at the court the queen bee around whom all men
swarmed and she had to absorb their compliments without dishonouring the king.
It was an incredibly fine line to walk and caught up in the thrill of playing the game, Anne
slipped.
SUZANNAH: On the 29th of April 1536 Anne Boleyn was in her private apartments.
As she always had done, she began to tease the men of her court.
Her attention was drawn to a court musician called Mark Smeaton.
Why do you look so sad? It's of no matter, my lady.
Do you want me to talk to you - is that it? I cannot talk to you as I would a nobleman as you are
an inferior person.
No madam - a look suffices me.
DAN: Smeaton appeared to have a crush on Anne.
She had told him she was out of his league but the focus of Anne's next flirtation was far more
controversial.
Henry Norris.
Henry Norris was a gentleman of the king's privy chamber and Henry VIIIs oldest and closet
friend.
He was handsome, rich and powerful.
Tell me, Henry, why have you not yet married Madge Shelton? I shall take my time.
You come into this chamber more for me than for Madge.
I think you look for dead man's shoes, Henry for if anything bad should happen to the king you
would look to have me.
SUZANNAH: Even though this was just flirtatious banter what Anne was saying was that Norris
wanted to marry her if her husband was dead.
That meant that Anne had imagined Henry dying.
To imagine the death of the king in words was high treason.
If I had any such thoughts I would have my head cut off.
Oh Henry, come back! Henry! Anne realised her mistake but the words could not be taken back.
The Tudor court was rife with gossip and malicious tongues soon started to wag.
Anne had dominated this world but her power had made her many enemies.
DAN: It didn't take tong for the scandal to reach Henry's Chief Minister, Thomas Cromwell.
Cromwell was a cunning and ruthless politician.
He had risen from nothing to a position of great power.
Now he saw an opportunity to serve his master.
Cromwell.
- Your Majesty.
Sire, I have been informed that the queen has been acting freely with gentlemen of her Chamber.
Freely? She has spoken words of love and they to her.
What? Sire, it may have gone further.
It isn't yet known how far.
DAN: If the rumours were true and Anne had been unfaithful it would throw into doubt the
legitimacy of all future royal children.
I want this investigated, fully.
Cromwell.
She's not to know.
Sire.
Cromwell began to round up suspects.
One of the first to be questioned was the musician, Mark Smeaton.
How well do you know the queen, Mark? I have served her court for three months, sir.
There are reports that she has given you special favours.
Is that true? I cannot discuss it.
You will, Mark.
One way or another.
What happened next is unclear but some reports say that Smeaton was tortured by Cromwell 's
men.
SM EATON SCREAMS SMEATON WHIMPERS Whatever the truth, Smeaton made an
extraordinary confession.
These are his exact words.
The queen took me to her bed.
Go on.
She gave into my passions three times.
Smeaton 's confession may have been obtained under torture but true or not, Cromwell now had
evidence against the queen.
CROMWELL: Give me the names of the others.
Fear swept through Henry's court as six courtiers were arrested.
They included Anne's own brother, George Boleyn, and Henry Norris.
DAN: Norris was one of Henry's closest friends.
He'd known him for over 20 years but in a heartbeat, with no evidence beyond an accusation
Henry decided that Norris was guilty.
Now the fact that he would do that to his friend tells you just how lacerated Henry was by the
idea that Anne might have been unfaithful.
He'd been obsessed with having her and the thought that someone else might have, turned that
obsession into a desperate jealousy.
SUZANNAH: The very next day, Henry lashed out at the woman who had made him so jealous.
Anne Boleyn, the Queen of England.
Was arrested and taken to the Tower of London.
Imagine how terrifying this must have been for Anne.
The day before, she was the most powerful woman in the kingdom.
Now she was in the tower, denied access to Henry and with no idea of the charges against her.
Shall I die without justice? SUZANNAH: But the case against Anne was still weak.
There was Smeaton's dubious confession but no one else confessed any wrongdoing and there
were no witnesses.
But then events took a terrible turn for Anne.
She wasn't to know it, but she would be the architect of her own downfall.
SUZANNAH: Desperate to work out why she had been arrested Anne wracked her brains for
things she might have said or done to offend the king.
I said why have you not yet married Madge Shelton and he said, and he said, he was taking his
time.
DAN: But Anne wasn't alone in the tower when she spoke.
Several female attendants kept her company.
I said you look for dead man's shoes, Henry.
You look for dead man's shoes.
Little did Anne know, the women were spies, passing everything Anne said back to Cromwell.
She asked Mr Norris why he did not go through with his marriage and he replied that he would
wait a while.
Then the queen said to Norris you look for dead man's shoes or if bad things came to the king,
you would look to have me.
The case against Anne was growing stronger but the man who mattered most had already made
up his mind.
Henry's obsessive imagination now went into overdrive.
He claimed that Anne had slept with more than 100 men and he wept in gratitude at having
escaped her attempts to poison him.
He reacted this violently because he honestly believed that Anne had deceived him.
In Henry's eyes, he was the victim.
Anne was the villain.
On the 15th of May 1536 the Kings Hall at the Tower of London was the location for arguably
the most famous trial in history.
Anne Boleyn, the Queen of England, stood accused of high treason and adultery.
The judge was Anne's own uncle, the Duke of Norfolk and a jury of 26 men looked on.
Henry VIII was nowhere to be seen.
Seven years earlier, Henry had been humiliated at his divorce trial.
Get up.
You're making a fool of yourself.
Get up! It appears he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.
Henry was relying on his lawyers to secure Anne's conviction.
SUZANNAH: As Anne sat on the witness stand she still had no idea of the accusations against
her.
The first she knew was when the clerk of the court stood and read out the charges.
These are the original words spoken in court that day.
Queen Anne has been married to King Henry VIII for three years and more despising her
marriage and entertaining malice against the king and following daily her carnal lusts.
She did procure by base conversations and kissings, touchings and gifts many servants to be her
adulterers and concubines.
CROWD CHATTERS JUDGE BANGS GAVEL - Silence, silence! On the 6th of October she
did procure Henry Norris of Westminster gentleman to the privy chamber, to violate her.
They had illicit intercourse on many occasions and she did also on the 2nd of November incite
her only natural brother, George Boleyn, to violate her alluring with her tongue into George's
mouth and George's tongue into hers.
CROWD GASPS SUZANNAH: The salacious detail of the charges was deliberate.
The river Of scandal that poured forth, including adultery and incest was meant to blacken her
character beyond redemption.
Anne Boleyn, you stand charged with treason, adultery, incest plotting to marry Norris after the
king's death, plotting the king's death.
How do you plead? Not guilty.
DAN: Now it was up to the jury to give their verdict.
In an ordinary trial it's highly likely that Anne would have been acquitted due to lack of evidence
but this wasn't really a trial at all.
Every member of the jury owed allegiance to the king and thought they were doing his will.
Anne didn't stand a chance.
My lords, how do you find the accused? Guilty.
- Guilty.
Guilty.
- Guilty.
- Guilty.
JUDGE BANGS GAVEL - JUDGE: Silence! Silence! SUZANNAH: The Duke of Norfolk now
passed sentence on his niece.
Because you have offended against our Sovereign, the king's grace in committing treason you
shall burn here within the Tower of London on the green or else have your head smitten off.
Do you wish to speak? Do you wish to speak? In her darkest hour.
Anne Boleyn showed her true strength.
My lords.
I am clear of all the offences you have charged me with.
I have always been a faithful and loyal wife to the king.
I confess; I have had jealous fancies and suspicions of him but God knows, and is my witness
that I've never failed otherwise towards him.
SUZANNAH: It's an extraordinary moment.
Anne had just been condemned to death, yet here she was confessing that there were parts of the
love affair she'd got wrong.
She'd been jealous and headstrong.
In an overwhelming atmosphere of manipulation and lies Anne was trying to be honest about her
own character.
It gave her a dignity that's often forgotten, but it couldn't save her life.
SUZANNAH: Four days later, Anne became the first Queen of England to face execution.
She had waited for seven years to get Henry.
Her whole world collapsed in just three weeks.
Anne knew she was innocent but at the last, she chose to accept her fate with dignity.
Good Christian people, I have not come here to preach a sermon.
I have come here to die.
I pray God save the king for to me he was ever a good, gentle and Sovereign Lord.
Anne kept looking around, perhaps hoping for a reprieve from Henry but none came.
DAN: The king did show some mercy.
Executions were traditionally carried out by axe but this was a painful and clumsy way to die.
Henry paid for a swordsman to sever Anne's head more skilfully.
SWORD SLASHES SUZANNAH: Anne Boleyn gambled for the very highest stakes.
She played a brilliant hand and she almost won.
She was brave, strong and dignified.
But she could never stop being the dangerously flirtatious woman that Henry fell in love with.
But if Anne couldn't change, Henry did.
DAN: He began as a smitten lover but his obsession with Anne drove him to break his Church
and seize more and more power.
His jealousy turned to murderous paranoia which he kept long after he cast her off.
After Anne, Henry was a tyrant.
Jane Seymour & Anne of Cleeves
Henry VIII is the most Infamous monarch in English history.
I, Katherine I, Anne, take thee, Henry, to be my husband.
I do.
Famously, over his 38-year reign he married six times.
Divorced, Beheaded, Died Divorced, Beheaded, Survived.
But the women Henry married were more than just six wives.
They were the six queens.
The six queens were formidable individuals.
Some were ambitious, some brave, some ruthless.
All changed history.
They shaped the man who became the monster, and in turn they shaped England itself.
But who were these women? What drove them? And what was it really like to be married to
Henry VIII? In this series we'll dissect these marriages from the rival perspectives of Henry and
his Queens.
- I will call you Henry.
We'll uncover the passions that created them, the obsessions that darkened them and the
betrayals that brought them to an end.
This time Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, has often been overlooked but Henry called her his
true love.
She fought to teach Henry the importance of family.
But Sire, she is your daughter.
Do you not think she should be restored to her former position as heir? I am warning you not to
get involved in matters that do not concern you.
She battled to reunite him with his daughter and Jane gave Henry the one thing he desired above
all else - a son and heir.
I have a son.
But Henry's greatest love was snapped from him in a cruel twist of fate.
I feel myself growing old.
And injury, death and betrayal transformed the once powerful king into a bitter and angry old
tyrant.
Stop this marriage.
And Henry made his most disastrous marriage yet - to Anne of Cleves.
I take thee to be my wedded wife.
In 1536, Henry VIII was 44 years old.
He'd divorced one wife and his second, Anne Boleyn was in the Tower of London, awaiting
execution.
Anne had been accused of sleeping with 5 other men including her own brother, George Boleyn.
Guilty! And Henry's best friend, Henry Norris.
Guilty! Anne's infidelity utterly humiliated Henry and cast doubt over his sexual prowess.
While Anne sat in the Tower, Henry immediately set about finding her replacement.
One woman that caught the king's eye was Jane Seymour.
Jane Seymour was around 24 years old.
She'd come to court to serve first Katherine of Aragon and then Anne Boleyn.
She was described by many as being kind and sweet natured she was virtuous and honest and
above all unassuming.
In April 1536, Henry had sent Jane a letter.
We think it contained a summons to the royal bed, but Jane sent it back unopened.
And told the messenger that she wanted to make an honourable marriage.
Jane's display of virtue had stirred Henry's chivalrous side and aroused his desire and his recent
years and wives had shown, once Henry set his mind on having something he was prepared to do
absolutely anything to get it.
Henry began to court Jane in earnest.
It seems even before Anne Boleyn had been executed Henry had her fined up to be wife number
3.
And King Henry didn't have to wait long to make her his queen.
On May 19th, 1536, Anne Boleyn was taken to Tower Green.
As she stood before her executioner.
Anne still hoped Henry would show her mercy.
After all, he'd once sworn his undying love for her.
But Anne was out of luck.
Henry had already switched his affections to Jane Seymour and the two were busy making plans
for their future together.
Less than 24 hours after Anne's head hit the cobblestones Henry and Jane were engaged to be
married.
We've no record of how Jane reacted to the news that Anne had been beheaded but I don't think
it could have concerned her too much for she showed no hesitation in stepping over the body of
her rival to get to the throne.
Jane may have looked inoffensive, but I think she had a far steelier streak than anyone realised.
Just 11 days after Anne's beheading.
Henry and Jane married.
The King was deeply in love again.
Not everyone shared Henry's high opinion of Jane.
The Spanish ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, was mystified by the King's choice.
He wrote in a letter of May 1536 that Jane was a woman of middle stature and no great beauty
she's over 25 years old, she inclines to be proud and haughty and she's a woman of no great wit.
So why did Henry consider Jane to be good wife material? Especially after he'd previously been
married to two attractive, extraordinary and intelligent women.
I think Jane suited Henry precisely because she was the polar opposite of his last two wives.
He didn't need her to be as experienced and intelligent as Katherine or as sophisticated and witty
as Anne.
He didn't want her to challenge him.
Instead he saw a woman who'd be compassionate and loyal and above all, who'd do whatever he
told her, without question.
In May 1536, 44-year-old Henry VIII took Jane Seymour to be his third wife.
Henry chose Jane because he thought she was sweet natured, mild mannered and above all, she
would do what he told her without question.
But Henry was in for a surprise.
Beneath her submissive exterior.
Jane had a core of steel.
There is evidence that Jane planned to use her royal influence to advance a cause that she held
very dear.
She wanted Henry to reinstate Mary, his daughter by Katherine of Aragon back into the court
and into his affections.
Henry had once loved his daughter Mary but when she was around 17, he divorced her mother,
Katherine.
He declared Mary illegitimate and, under the influence of Anne Boleyn he stripped her of the
title Princess.
Mary was now 20 years old and a lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn 's daughter, Elizabeth.
Jane Seymour took the risky decision to fight for Mary to be restored as a princess.
No, I will not tell you again.
But Sire, she is your daughter.
Challenging Henry was an incredibly dangerous thing to do - he hated being questioned,
especially by a woman.
Do you not think she should be restored to her former position as heir? I am warning you not to
get involved in matters that do not concern you.
But Sire, I speak only what is right - Jane, you are a fool.
You should seek the advancement the children we'll have together, not the others.
But by asking for your daughter's restoration, I seek peace and happiness for you, for us and for
our future children.
I fear if you don't do this, you will never be happy.
Sire, please.
Get up, Jane! I beg you, restore Mary.
Stop this! Look, I'm warning you the last queen that interfered in matters that were none of her
business died as a consequence.
Get up! Get up! Get up! I will hear no more.
Jane knew how risky voicing her opinions could be.
She 'd seen first hand how ruthlessly Henry had dealt with his previous wives.
So why was Jane putting herself in such jeopardy for a child that wash 't even hers? We may
never know why Jane did such a selfless act, but I think he shows her true character.
Jane was kind, good natured, and compassionate and she'd been a supporter of Katherine of
Aragon so she deeply cared about how cruelly Mary had been treated.
Even though the risks involved were enormous, Jane believed that she was doing the right thing.
On the 6th of July 1536, Henry finally did as Jane had asked.
He agreed to meet Mary.
My daughter.
This was the first time Henry had seen Mary in 5 years.
She who caused you so much harm and prevented me from seeing you for so long has paid the
penalty.
Jane also welcomed Mary into the family with open arms.
She treated her as if she were her own daughter.
Jane had brought Henry the greatest gift of all - he had never been so happy.
But Henry's good fortune was not to last.
He'd gained a daughter, but in less than a month.
He lost his only son.
The illegitimate Henry Fitzroy.
Fitzroy's death was a terrible blow.
Although he was illegitimate, the king had begun to think of him as a possible successor but not
any more.
27 years and 3 wives into his reign and still Henry had no male heir.
He began to lose hope.
Henry had only been married to Jane for 2 months but he was already convinced his dynasty was
doomed to fail.
We know that the depths of Henry's despair because he confided his anxiety to his close friend
and most trusted adviser.
Thomas Cromwell.
These are his exact words.
I feel myself growing old.
I doubt if Jane and myself will ever have children.
Cromwell may have caught Henry at a low point but it tell us just how fragile the King was
starting to feel.
His health was failing.
His masculinity was increasingly discredited.
In his darkest moments, Henry was starting to sound like a bitter, angry old man.
For Henry all seemed lost.
But 7 months later, the king's fortunes changed.
this was the news Henry had been waiting for.
In September 1537, Jane was moved to Hampton Court Palace to have her baby.
The room were she was brought is in the centre of the Palace.
It's now closed to the public, but I've been given special permission to have a look around.
This is the room in Hampton Court where Jane was confined in late September 1537.
It's now romantically known as apartment 33 and it looks very different to how it must have
looked in the 1530s.
But imagine; the walls were hung with precious tapestries, the floors were covered with thick
carpets.
One window was probably left partially uncovered to allow in a little light but it would have
been dark and suffocating.
Fresh air was considered unnecessary, even dangerous.
Inside the room, Jane had a small army of people to serve her.
Henry made sure she had the best care money could buy.
He would do anything to protect his wife and their unborn child.
The royal doctors and astrologers confidently predicted the child would be a boy but the royal
birth was a long way off and there was plenty of danger still to come.
On October 9th 1537.
Jane went into labour but things did not run smoothly.
After 2 days, there was still no sign of a baby.
Henry grew more and more anxious as the days passed.
He and the whole kingdom prayed for Queen Jane and their future monarch.
Henry feared that history was repeating itself.
And once again his child would not survive the birth.
Then on the third day of labour.
At 2 o'clock in the morning, Jane finally gave birth.
And just as the royal doctors predicted.
It was a boy.
Jane must have been elated - she had finally given Henry what he wanted and in return the birth
had given her security.
Safety and power.
She could do anything, ask for anything and Henry would almost certainly give it to her.
Henry VIII finally had a legitimate son and heir.
He called Jane his true love and his true wife.
This was what all the upheaval, the trouble, the misery and the slaughter of the last 10 years had
been leading up to.
Now at last, he was a King with a male heir.
And if Jane could have one son.
There was no reason why she couldn't have more.
It looked like Henry's Tudor dynasty was finally secure.
Plans were drawn up for Queen Jane to return to London the triumphant mother of a future King
of England.
But those plans would have to wait.
On Monday October 15th.
3 days after giving birth, Jane fell seriously iii.
She had caught an infection during labour, probably caused by poor hygiene.
For the next 9 days, Jane fought for her life.
It was a fight she would not win.
Around midnight on October 24th 1537.
Jane Seymour died.
Jane's reign lasted just 17 months.
It was short-lived but incredibly successful.
She proved herself to be a compassionate queen and a loving wife.
The Tudor court underestimated Jane, but she was the queen who gave Henry a son and helped
reunite him with his daughter.
Over the course of his reign, Henry had done some terrible things but he'd also had to endure
some pretty rotten luck: the deaths of his children, the perceived betrayals of his last wife and
now in what should have been his moment of greatest triumph he had to endure another of fate's
stabs to the heart.
It's impossible not to feel at least a pang of sympathy for him.
Henry was inconsolable after Jane's death.
He locked himself away from court and mourned.
For 2 years, he did little exercise, he ate, drank and buried himself in religious texts and prayers.
We are by the sufferance of God King of England and Kings of England in time past have never
had any superior but God.
For the first time, Henry was alone without a future wife waiting in the wings.
In fact, Henry was reluctant to ever marry again.
Henry's unwillingness to take a new bride was a matter of real concern to his ministers.
His Privy Council had advised him to marry again days after Jane's death but it wasn't just about
producing new heirs, England needed an ally.
Marriage was now a political necessity.
When Henry broke Eng/and from Catholic rule, the Pope made him public enemy number one.
Your Majesty And commanded that his kingdom should be invaded.
It fell to Henry's close friend, Thomas Cromwell to convince the king to marry again.
England needed an ally.
My Lord, time is not on our side.
We are vulnerable to our enemies overseas; a marriage could strengthen our position.
With your permission, I can instruct my people to make enquiries.
I am sure I can find a suitable match.
Must it be done? I think so, Sire.
Henry reluctantly agreed to Cromwell's request but finding the old king a new queen wasn't
going to be an easy task.
3 years earlier, Henry had a horrific Jousting accident.
The fall nearly killed him and had left him with a deep, open wound on his leg which was now
riddled with infection, and stank.
Henry was no longer the great catch he once was.
Henry was 48, he was fat, he was lame and he had a notoriously bad temper and his wives didn't
exactly have a great record when it came to staying alive.
But after scouring Europe for possible brides Cromwell settled on the small, but potentially
influential Duchy of Cleves in what's now Northern Germany.
The Duke of Cleves had a 24-year-old sister called Anne.
Cromwell believed a marriage to Anne would give England the strong ally it needed but what
Henry cared about most was how Anne looked.
If Cromwell was to make a match, he needed to convince Henry that Anne was attractive.
In August 1539, Cromwell wrote to Henry singing Anne's praises.
He described her as beautiful, both the face and body.
Cromwell 's description aroused Henry's interest.
He ordered Court painter, Hans Holbein, to travel to Cleves to paint her portrait.
This is a copy of the painting Holbein made; the original hangs in the Louvre in Paris.
Now, to the modern eye, Anne looks perfectly pleasant.
There were rumours that Holbein chose to paint her from the front because she had rather a large
nose but to be honest we have no idea how true that is or what Henry's first reaction was when he
saw this.
What we do know is that this painting and the compliments passed by Cromwell to the king
convinced Henry that Anne would make a fine bride.
He agreed to marry her.
On October 4th 1539, Cromwell 's agents negotiated Henry's marriage contract.
On New Year's Eve 1539.
Henry VIII 's bride to be, Anne of Cleves arrived here at Rochester Castle in Kent.
The plan was for her to rest for a few days before entering London and marrying Henry.
But Henry was desperate to see his future wife, especially after hearing Cromwell's glowing
reports.
So in a fit of passion, he decided to ride to Rochester and surprise her.
It was to be a big mistake.
On New Year's Day, the castle was bustling with life.
Anne stood on her own looking out of the window.
Henry was a die-hard romantic and he planned to surprise Anne by appearing before her in
disguise.
Henry lived and breathed chivalry.
Tales and games involving knights, maidens and daring do were incredibly popular
entertainment as his Court.
Henry believed if Anne was his true love, then she would see straight through his disguise and a
kiss from his lips would make her fall into his arms.
My Lady.
Anne had no clue that the man who stood before her was King Henry VIII.
I have a gift from the king.
My Lady.
All the women of Henry's court would have known instantly how to react to Henry's romantic
gesture but Anne wasn't educated in this world of romance.
She was a simple girl who'd led a relatively sheltered life in a parochial court.
Anne had failed Henry's love test and he was furious.
He instantly rejected his bride to be, claiming she was fat and ugly.
He believed he'd been duped into the marriage contract.
He turned on the man he felt responsible - his close friend and advisor, Thomas Cromwell.
Your Majesty.
My Lord.
What did you make of Lady Anne? She is not as well as she was spoken of or as fair as you
reported.
Majesty.
My faith Sire, I told the truth, I thought the Lady Anne had queenly manner.
Well, you were wrong! I am shocked that a wise man like yourself would make such claims.
Find me a remedy.
I don't care how you do it - by all means necessary stop this marriage! Leave me.
Sire.
Leave me! With the royal wedding scheduled to take place in less than a week Cromwell needed
to act quickly.
It wasn't going to be easy.
The contract to be married that Cromwell had arranged was a legally binding agreement.
Henry's lawyer would have to use all his cunning to avoid offending Anne's brother.
England didn't need any more enemies.
While Cromwell plotted in private, Anne had no idea how Henry felt about her.
But the kings court loved nothing more than juicy scandal and rumours soon spread.
It wasn't long before the whole court was gossiping about the royal farce.
The only person who wasn't in on the joke was Anne herself.
She didn't speak a word of English, so she was spared the humiliating truth.
While many laughed, one man didn't see the funny side Thomas Cromwell.
He could find no legitimate reason to break the marriage contract.
His master would have to marry Anne, like it or not.
Is there no other remedy other than I just against my will put my neck in the yolk? I am sorry,
Sire, there are no legal grounds.
If it were not for the fear of making a ruffle in the world and driving Anne's brother into the
hands of my enemies I would not do what I must.
I am sorry, Sire.
Cromwell had failed.
He probably hoped against hope that Henry would change his mind and that the marriage would
work out.
On Tuesday January 6th 1540, King Henry stood in a small, private chapel in Greenwich Palace
waiting to marry Anne of Cleves.
To add insult to injury, his bride was 2 hours late for the ceremony.
I take thee to be my wedded wife to have and to hold from this day forward As Henry said his
vows, his blood must have boiled, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health But the King
didn't let on.
- Till death do us part.
And thereto I plight thee my troth.
Anne still didn't have a clue.
I, Anne, take thee, Henry, to be my wedded husband to have and to hold For Anne, this was a
moment of great triumph.
Henry may have been fat and old, but he was still one the greatest kings in Europe and Anne
would now be queen in one of the most sophisticated courts around a far cry from the provincial
court she had left behind.
With this ring, I thee wed.
With my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
I now pronounce you man and wife.
Those whom God has joined, let no man put asunder.
Cromwell must have prayed that now Henry and Anne were married the king would change his
mind about his new bride.
Good morning, Your Majesty.
How did you like the queen, Your Majesty? Soberly.
I didn't like it much before and now I like it even less.
Judging by her belly and her breasts, she is no virgin.
After I felt them I had neither the will nor the courage to continue.
I have left her as good a maid as I found her.
Clearly, this marriage was not going to work.
Anne of Cleves had to go.
The question was how to do it.
Just 6 months into his marriage to Anne, a rumour started to circulate court that Henry had
recovered his vigour but it wasn't in his wife's bed it was in her maid 's.
Henry had fallen for the beautiful Catherine Howard, Anne's teenage Lady-in-Waiting And now
the old king was planning to make Catherine wife number 5.
Henry refused to allow the farce of his marriage to continue a moment longer.
Fortunately, he found a way to end it with the law, rather than the sword.
When Anne of Cleves was 12, she'd been betrothed to the son of the Duke of Lorraine.
Now the wedding had never happened and the agreement had been cancelled but the papers
proving it had gone missing so Henry's lawyers were able to argue that his marriage to Anne was
invalid and any future children they might have would be illegitimate.
What is the meaning of this? So far Anne was oblivious to Henry's scheme but that changed in
July 1540.
What is this? Anne was informed that Henry was concerned about her previous marriage contract
to the son of the Duke of Lorraine and for that reason, he intended to have their marriage
annulled.
What? What contract? Anne argued that there was no deception and that she had been free to
marry Henry but there was little she could do.
At first Anne refused to agree to the annulment but then Henry offered her a very attractive deal.
She would stop being Henry's wife but she would be honoured as his sister.
Being the King's sister meant that she would have precedence over all the ladies of the court
except any future queen.
He also gave her a lucrative sum and a clutch of houses.
Importantly this meant that Anne was spared the utter humiliation of returning home the poor
rejected wife of a king.
Anne also knew that being the king's sister was a far better fate than that which befell both
Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn.
On Sunday 11th of July, Anne wrote to the King "your most Excellent Majesty I've been
informed by certain others of Your Grace's council of the doubts and questions which have been
moved and found in our marriage.
" and then she says, "but having been ascertained by the same clergy that they have given their
judgement and sentence I acknowledge myself hereby to accept and approve the same wholly
and entirely And what is their sentence? She states it: "the pretended matrimony between us is
void and of null effect".
So what Anne is saying is that she accepts this judgement on her fate she accepts that the
marriage is invalid and to make the point really clear she signs off the letter "Your Majesty's
most humble sister and servant, Anne".
There's a very sad tone to the letter.
Anne talks of being most sorrowful and of the great love, which she bears to the King - she
clearly didn't want the marriage to end.
It brought her purpose and prestige, but Anne was smart enough to figure out that her best
possible future lay in accepting Henry's demands.
On July 21st Anne sent Henry the letter along with a small purse containing her wedding ring.
She asked Henry to break the ring into pieces as it was a thing of no force or value.
For Henry, Anne's easy submission must have been a little surprising.
He probably expected her to put up more of a fight.
After all it had taken him nearly 7 years to shake off his first wife, Katherine of Aragon.
He got rid of Anne in less than 3 weeks.
Before Henry put this chapter of his life behind him he sought revenge against the man he felt
responsible for this disastrous marriage.
Henry believed his once trusted friend Thomas Cromwell, had failed him and now he must suffer
the consequences.
Cromwell was arrested on the 10th of June 1540 and thrown into the Tower of London.
He was found guilty of treason, heresy, taking bribes and appropriating money.
He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
Terrified, Cromwell wrote to Henry pleading for mercy.
Most gracious king and most merciful sovereign.
Never in all my life did I think to displease you.
I have meddled in so many matters, I cannot answer all.
Cromwell begged the man who had been his close friend for the last 7 years to spare him.
Most gracious prince I cry for mercy.
Mercy.
Mercy.
On July 28th 1540, Cromwell was taken to the public scaffold at Tower Hill.
Henry did show Cromwell some mercy.
He commuted his sentence from a stow and painful disembowelling to beheading.
But according to some reports, Cromwell 's death was neither quick nor painless.
It's believed the executioner botched his first attempt.
He had to take a second swing to finish the job.
With Cromwell dead and Anne's settlement paid Henry's fourth marriage came to an end.
Altogether Henry VIII's marriages to Jane Seymour and then to Anne of Cleves had lasted less
than 2 years, but both had a profound effect on the king.
Jane Seymour gave Henry VIII the son and heir he'd been searching for.
Anne's queenship brought about the execution of Thomas Cromwell one of the most powerful
men in Tudor England.
Henry had gone from utter joy to total humiliation and his reaction to this fiasco drove him to
make his worst decision yet.
 Jane Seymour & Anne of Cleeves
Henry VIII is the most Infamous monarch in English history.
I, Katherine I, Anne, take thee, Henry, to be my husband.
I do.
Famously, over his 38-year reign he married six times.
Divorced, Beheaded, Died Divorced, Beheaded, Survived.
But the women Henry married were more than just six wives.
They were the six queens.
The six queens were formidable individuals.
Some were ambitious, some brave, some ruthless.
All changed history.
They shaped the man who became the monster, and in turn they shaped England itself.
But who were these women? What drove them? And what was it really like to be married to
Henry VIII? In this series we'll dissect these marriages from the rival perspectives of Henry and
his Queens.
- I will call you Henry.
We'll uncover the passions that created them, the obsessions that darkened them and the
betrayals that brought them to an end.
This time Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, has often been overlooked but Henry called her his
true love.
She fought to teach Henry the importance of family.
But Sire, she is your daughter.
Do you not think she should be restored to her former position as heir? I am warning you not to
get involved in matters that do not concern you.
She battled to reunite him with his daughter and Jane gave Henry the one thing he desired above
all else - a son and heir.
I have a son.
But Henry's greatest love was snapped from him in a cruel twist of fate.
I feel myself growing old.
And injury, death and betrayal transformed the once powerful king into a bitter and angry old
tyrant.
Stop this marriage.
And Henry made his most disastrous marriage yet - to Anne of Cleves.
I take thee to be my wedded wife.
In 1536, Henry VIII was 44 years old.
He'd divorced one wife and his second, Anne Boleyn was in the Tower of London, awaiting
execution.
Anne had been accused of sleeping with 5 other men including her own brother, George Boleyn.
Guilty! And Henry's best friend, Henry Norris.
Guilty! Anne's infidelity utterly humiliated Henry and cast doubt over his sexual prowess.
While Anne sat in the Tower, Henry immediately set about finding her replacement.
One woman that caught the king's eye was Jane Seymour.
Jane Seymour was around 24 years old.
She'd come to court to serve first Katherine of Aragon and then Anne Boleyn.
She was described by many as being kind and sweet natured she was virtuous and honest and
above all unassuming.
In April 1536, Henry had sent Jane a letter.
We think it contained a summons to the royal bed, but Jane sent it back unopened.
And told the messenger that she wanted to make an honourable marriage.
Jane's display of virtue had stirred Henry's chivalrous side and aroused his desire and his recent
years and wives had shown, once Henry set his mind on having something he was prepared to do
absolutely anything to get it.
Henry began to court Jane in earnest.
It seems even before Anne Boleyn had been executed Henry had her fined up to be wife number
3.
And King Henry didn't have to wait long to make her his queen.
On May 19th, 1536, Anne Boleyn was taken to Tower Green.
As she stood before her executioner.
Anne still hoped Henry would show her mercy.
After all, he'd once sworn his undying love for her.
But Anne was out of luck.
Henry had already switched his affections to Jane Seymour and the two were busy making plans
for their future together.
Less than 24 hours after Anne's head hit the cobblestones Henry and Jane were engaged to be
married.
We've no record of how Jane reacted to the news that Anne had been beheaded but I don't think
it could have concerned her too much for she showed no hesitation in stepping over the body of
her rival to get to the throne.
Jane may have looked inoffensive, but I think she had a far steelier streak than anyone realised.
Just 11 days after Anne's beheading.
Henry and Jane married.
The King was deeply in love again.
Not everyone shared Henry's high opinion of Jane.
The Spanish ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, was mystified by the King's choice.
He wrote in a letter of May 1536 that Jane was a woman of middle stature and no great beauty
she's over 25 years old, she inclines to be proud and haughty and she's a woman of no great wit.
So why did Henry consider Jane to be good wife material? Especially after he'd previously been
married to two attractive, extraordinary and intelligent women.
I think Jane suited Henry precisely because she was the polar opposite of his last two wives.
He didn't need her to be as experienced and intelligent as Katherine or as sophisticated and witty
as Anne.
He didn't want her to challenge him.
Instead he saw a woman who'd be compassionate and loyal and above all, who'd do whatever he
told her, without question.
In May 1536, 44-year-old Henry VIII took Jane Seymour to be his third wife.
Henry chose Jane because he thought she was sweet natured, mild mannered and above all, she
would do what he told her without question.
But Henry was in for a surprise.
Beneath her submissive exterior.
Jane had a core of steel.
There is evidence that Jane planned to use her royal influence to advance a cause that she held
very dear.
She wanted Henry to reinstate Mary, his daughter by Katherine of Aragon back into the court
and into his affections.
Henry had once loved his daughter Mary but when she was around 17, he divorced her mother,
Katherine.
He declared Mary illegitimate and, under the influence of Anne Boleyn he stripped her of the
title Princess.
Mary was now 20 years old and a lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn 's daughter, Elizabeth.
Jane Seymour took the risky decision to fight for Mary to be restored as a princess.
No, I will not tell you again.
But Sire, she is your daughter.
Challenging Henry was an incredibly dangerous thing to do - he hated being questioned,
especially by a woman.
Do you not think she should be restored to her former position as heir? I am warning you not to
get involved in matters that do not concern you.
But Sire, I speak only what is right - Jane, you are a fool.
You should seek the advancement the children we'll have together, not the others.
But by asking for your daughter's restoration, I seek peace and happiness for you, for us and for
our future children.
I fear if you don't do this, you will never be happy.
Sire, please.
Get up, Jane! I beg you, restore Mary.
Stop this! Look, I'm warning you the last queen that interfered in matters that were none of her
business died as a consequence.
Get up! Get up! Get up! I will hear no more.
Jane knew how risky voicing her opinions could be.
She 'd seen first hand how ruthlessly Henry had dealt with his previous wives.
So why was Jane putting herself in such jeopardy for a child that wash 't even hers? We may
never know why Jane did such a selfless act, but I think he shows her true character.
Jane was kind, good natured, and compassionate and she'd been a supporter of Katherine of
Aragon so she deeply cared about how cruelly Mary had been treated.
Even though the risks involved were enormous, Jane believed that she was doing the right thing.
On the 6th of July 1536, Henry finally did as Jane had asked.
He agreed to meet Mary.
My daughter.
This was the first time Henry had seen Mary in 5 years.
She who caused you so much harm and prevented me from seeing you for so long has paid the
penalty.
Jane also welcomed Mary into the family with open arms.
She treated her as if she were her own daughter.
Jane had brought Henry the greatest gift of all - he had never been so happy.
But Henry's good fortune was not to last.
He'd gained a daughter, but in less than a month.
He lost his only son.
The illegitimate Henry Fitzroy.
Fitzroy's death was a terrible blow.
Although he was illegitimate, the king had begun to think of him as a possible successor but not
any more.
27 years and 3 wives into his reign and still Henry had no male heir.
He began to lose hope.
Henry had only been married to Jane for 2 months but he was already convinced his dynasty was
doomed to fail.
We know that the depths of Henry's despair because he confided his anxiety to his close friend
and most trusted adviser.
Thomas Cromwell.
These are his exact words.
I feel myself growing old.
I doubt if Jane and myself will ever have children.
Cromwell may have caught Henry at a low point but it tell us just how fragile the King was
starting to feel.
His health was failing.
His masculinity was increasingly discredited.
In his darkest moments, Henry was starting to sound like a bitter, angry old man.
For Henry all seemed lost.
But 7 months later, the king's fortunes changed.
this was the news Henry had been waiting for.
In September 1537, Jane was moved to Hampton Court Palace to have her baby.
The room were she was brought is in the centre of the Palace.
It's now closed to the public, but I've been given special permission to have a look around.
This is the room in Hampton Court where Jane was confined in late September 1537.
It's now romantically known as apartment 33 and it looks very different to how it must have
looked in the 1530s.
But imagine; the walls were hung with precious tapestries, the floors were covered with thick
carpets.
One window was probably left partially uncovered to allow in a little light but it would have
been dark and suffocating.
Fresh air was considered unnecessary, even dangerous.
Inside the room, Jane had a small army of people to serve her.
Henry made sure she had the best care money could buy.
He would do anything to protect his wife and their unborn child.
The royal doctors and astrologers confidently predicted the child would be a boy but the royal
birth was a long way off and there was plenty of danger still to come.
On October 9th 1537.
Jane went into labour but things did not run smoothly.
After 2 days, there was still no sign of a baby.
Henry grew more and more anxious as the days passed.
He and the whole kingdom prayed for Queen Jane and their future monarch.
Henry feared that history was repeating itself.
And once again his child would not survive the birth.
Then on the third day of labour.
At 2 o'clock in the morning, Jane finally gave birth.
And just as the royal doctors predicted.
It was a boy.
Jane must have been elated - she had finally given Henry what he wanted and in return the birth
had given her security.
Safety and power.
She could do anything, ask for anything and Henry would almost certainly give it to her.
Henry VIII finally had a legitimate son and heir.
He called Jane his true love and his true wife.
This was what all the upheaval, the trouble, the misery and the slaughter of the last 10 years had
been leading up to.
Now at last, he was a King with a male heir.
And if Jane could have one son.
There was no reason why she couldn't have more.
It looked like Henry's Tudor dynasty was finally secure.
Plans were drawn up for Queen Jane to return to London the triumphant mother of a future King
of England.
But those plans would have to wait.
On Monday October 15th.
3 days after giving birth, Jane fell seriously iii.
She had caught an infection during labour, probably caused by poor hygiene.
For the next 9 days, Jane fought for her life.
It was a fight she would not win.
Around midnight on October 24th 1537.
Jane Seymour died.
Jane's reign lasted just 17 months.
It was short-lived but incredibly successful.
She proved herself to be a compassionate queen and a loving wife.
The Tudor court underestimated Jane, but she was the queen who gave Henry a son and helped
reunite him with his daughter.
Over the course of his reign, Henry had done some terrible things but he'd also had to endure
some pretty rotten luck: the deaths of his children, the perceived betrayals of his last wife and
now in what should have been his moment of greatest triumph he had to endure another of fate's
stabs to the heart.
It's impossible not to feel at least a pang of sympathy for him.
Henry was inconsolable after Jane's death.
He locked himself away from court and mourned.
For 2 years, he did little exercise, he ate, drank and buried himself in religious texts and prayers.
We are by the sufferance of God King of England and Kings of England in time past have never
had any superior but God.
For the first time, Henry was alone without a future wife waiting in the wings.
In fact, Henry was reluctant to ever marry again.
Henry's unwillingness to take a new bride was a matter of real concern to his ministers.
His Privy Council had advised him to marry again days after Jane's death but it wasn't just about
producing new heirs, England needed an ally.
Marriage was now a political necessity.
When Henry broke Eng/and from Catholic rule, the Pope made him public enemy number one.
Your Majesty And commanded that his kingdom should be invaded.
It fell to Henry's close friend, Thomas Cromwell to convince the king to marry again.
England needed an ally.
My Lord, time is not on our side.
We are vulnerable to our enemies overseas; a marriage could strengthen our position.
With your permission, I can instruct my people to make enquiries.
I am sure I can find a suitable match.
Must it be done? I think so, Sire.
Henry reluctantly agreed to Cromwell's request but finding the old king a new queen wasn't
going to be an easy task.
3 years earlier, Henry had a horrific Jousting accident.
The fall nearly killed him and had left him with a deep, open wound on his leg which was now
riddled with infection, and stank.
Henry was no longer the great catch he once was.
Henry was 48, he was fat, he was lame and he had a notoriously bad temper and his wives didn't
exactly have a great record when it came to staying alive.
But after scouring Europe for possible brides Cromwell settled on the small, but potentially
influential Duchy of Cleves in what's now Northern Germany.
The Duke of Cleves had a 24-year-old sister called Anne.
Cromwell believed a marriage to Anne would give England the strong ally it needed but what
Henry cared about most was how Anne looked.
If Cromwell was to make a match, he needed to convince Henry that Anne was attractive.
In August 1539, Cromwell wrote to Henry singing Anne's praises.
He described her as beautiful, both the face and body.
Cromwell 's description aroused Henry's interest.
He ordered Court painter, Hans Holbein, to travel to Cleves to paint her portrait.
This is a copy of the painting Holbein made; the original hangs in the Louvre in Paris.
Now, to the modern eye, Anne looks perfectly pleasant.
There were rumours that Holbein chose to paint her from the front because she had rather a large
nose but to be honest we have no idea how true that is or what Henry's first reaction was when he
saw this.
What we do know is that this painting and the compliments passed by Cromwell to the king
convinced Henry that Anne would make a fine bride.
He agreed to marry her.
On October 4th 1539, Cromwell 's agents negotiated Henry's marriage contract.
On New Year's Eve 1539.
Henry VIII 's bride to be, Anne of Cleves arrived here at Rochester Castle in Kent.
The plan was for her to rest for a few days before entering London and marrying Henry.
But Henry was desperate to see his future wife, especially after hearing Cromwell's glowing
reports.
So in a fit of passion, he decided to ride to Rochester and surprise her.
It was to be a big mistake.
On New Year's Day, the castle was bustling with life.
Anne stood on her own looking out of the window.
Henry was a die-hard romantic and he planned to surprise Anne by appearing before her in
disguise.
Henry lived and breathed chivalry.
Tales and games involving knights, maidens and daring do were incredibly popular
entertainment as his Court.
Henry believed if Anne was his true love, then she would see straight through his disguise and a
kiss from his lips would make her fall into his arms.
My Lady.
Anne had no clue that the man who stood before her was King Henry VIII.
I have a gift from the king.
My Lady.
All the women of Henry's court would have known instantly how to react to Henry's romantic
gesture but Anne wasn't educated in this world of romance.
She was a simple girl who'd led a relatively sheltered life in a parochial court.
Anne had failed Henry's love test and he was furious.
He instantly rejected his bride to be, claiming she was fat and ugly.
He believed he'd been duped into the marriage contract.
He turned on the man he felt responsible - his close friend and advisor, Thomas Cromwell.
Your Majesty.
My Lord.
What did you make of Lady Anne? She is not as well as she was spoken of or as fair as you
reported.
Majesty.
My faith Sire, I told the truth, I thought the Lady Anne had queenly manner.
Well, you were wrong! I am shocked that a wise man like yourself would make such claims.
Find me a remedy.
I don't care how you do it - by all means necessary stop this marriage! Leave me.
Sire.
Leave me! With the royal wedding scheduled to take place in less than a week Cromwell needed
to act quickly.
It wasn't going to be easy.
The contract to be married that Cromwell had arranged was a legally binding agreement.
Henry's lawyer would have to use all his cunning to avoid offending Anne's brother.
England didn't need any more enemies.
While Cromwell plotted in private, Anne had no idea how Henry felt about her.
But the kings court loved nothing more than juicy scandal and rumours soon spread.
It wasn't long before the whole court was gossiping about the royal farce.
The only person who wasn't in on the joke was Anne herself.
She didn't speak a word of English, so she was spared the humiliating truth.
While many laughed, one man didn't see the funny side Thomas Cromwell.
He could find no legitimate reason to break the marriage contract.
His master would have to marry Anne, like it or not.
Is there no other remedy other than I just against my will put my neck in the yolk? I am sorry,
Sire, there are no legal grounds.
If it were not for the fear of making a ruffle in the world and driving Anne's brother into the
hands of my enemies I would not do what I must.
I am sorry, Sire.
Cromwell had failed.
He probably hoped against hope that Henry would change his mind and that the marriage would
work out.
On Tuesday January 6th 1540, King Henry stood in a small, private chapel in Greenwich Palace
waiting to marry Anne of Cleves.
To add insult to injury, his bride was 2 hours late for the ceremony.
I take thee to be my wedded wife to have and to hold from this day forward As Henry said his
vows, his blood must have boiled, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health But the King
didn't let on.
- Till death do us part.
And thereto I plight thee my troth.
Anne still didn't have a clue.
I, Anne, take thee, Henry, to be my wedded husband to have and to hold For Anne, this was a
moment of great triumph.
Henry may have been fat and old, but he was still one the greatest kings in Europe and Anne
would now be queen in one of the most sophisticated courts around a far cry from the provincial
court she had left behind.
With this ring, I thee wed.
With my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
I now pronounce you man and wife.
Those whom God has joined, let no man put asunder.
Cromwell must have prayed that now Henry and Anne were married the king would change his
mind about his new bride.
Good morning, Your Majesty.
How did you like the queen, Your Majesty? Soberly.
I didn't like it much before and now I like it even less.
Judging by her belly and her breasts, she is no virgin.
After I felt them I had neither the will nor the courage to continue.
I have left her as good a maid as I found her.
Clearly, this marriage was not going to work.
Anne of Cleves had to go.
The question was how to do it.
Just 6 months into his marriage to Anne, a rumour started to circulate court that Henry had
recovered his vigour but it wasn't in his wife's bed it was in her maid 's.
Henry had fallen for the beautiful Catherine Howard, Anne's teenage Lady-in-Waiting And now
the old king was planning to make Catherine wife number 5.
Henry refused to allow the farce of his marriage to continue a moment longer.
Fortunately, he found a way to end it with the law, rather than the sword.
When Anne of Cleves was 12, she'd been betrothed to the son of the Duke of Lorraine.
Now the wedding had never happened and the agreement had been cancelled but the papers
proving it had gone missing so Henry's lawyers were able to argue that his marriage to Anne was
invalid and any future children they might have would be illegitimate.
What is the meaning of this? So far Anne was oblivious to Henry's scheme but that changed in
July 1540.
What is this? Anne was informed that Henry was concerned about her previous marriage contract
to the son of the Duke of Lorraine and for that reason, he intended to have their marriage
annulled.
What? What contract? Anne argued that there was no deception and that she had been free to
marry Henry but there was little she could do.
At first Anne refused to agree to the annulment but then Henry offered her a very attractive deal.
She would stop being Henry's wife but she would be honoured as his sister.
Being the King's sister meant that she would have precedence over all the ladies of the court
except any future queen.
He also gave her a lucrative sum and a clutch of houses.
Importantly this meant that Anne was spared the utter humiliation of returning home the poor
rejected wife of a king.
Anne also knew that being the king's sister was a far better fate than that which befell both
Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn.
On Sunday 11th of July, Anne wrote to the King "your most Excellent Majesty I've been
informed by certain others of Your Grace's council of the doubts and questions which have been
moved and found in our marriage.
" and then she says, "but having been ascertained by the same clergy that they have given their
judgement and sentence I acknowledge myself hereby to accept and approve the same wholly
and entirely And what is their sentence? She states it: "the pretended matrimony between us is
void and of null effect".
So what Anne is saying is that she accepts this judgement on her fate she accepts that the
marriage is invalid and to make the point really clear she signs off the letter "Your Majesty's
most humble sister and servant, Anne".
There's a very sad tone to the letter.
Anne talks of being most sorrowful and of the great love, which she bears to the King - she
clearly didn't want the marriage to end.
It brought her purpose and prestige, but Anne was smart enough to figure out that her best
possible future lay in accepting Henry's demands.
On July 21st Anne sent Henry the letter along with a small purse containing her wedding ring.
She asked Henry to break the ring into pieces as it was a thing of no force or value.
For Henry, Anne's easy submission must have been a little surprising.
He probably expected her to put up more of a fight.
After all it had taken him nearly 7 years to shake off his first wife, Katherine of Aragon.
He got rid of Anne in less than 3 weeks.
Before Henry put this chapter of his life behind him he sought revenge against the man he felt
responsible for this disastrous marriage.
Henry believed his once trusted friend Thomas Cromwell, had failed him and now he must suffer
the consequences.
Cromwell was arrested on the 10th of June 1540 and thrown into the Tower of London.
He was found guilty of treason, heresy, taking bribes and appropriating money.
He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
Terrified, Cromwell wrote to Henry pleading for mercy.
Most gracious king and most merciful sovereign.
Never in all my life did I think to displease you.
I have meddled in so many matters, I cannot answer all.
Cromwell begged the man who had been his close friend for the last 7 years to spare him.
Most gracious prince I cry for mercy.
Mercy.
Mercy.
On July 28th 1540, Cromwell was taken to the public scaffold at Tower Hill.
Henry did show Cromwell some mercy.
He commuted his sentence from a stow and painful disembowelling to beheading.
But according to some reports, Cromwell 's death was neither quick nor painless.
It's believed the executioner botched his first attempt.
He had to take a second swing to finish the job.
With Cromwell dead and Anne's settlement paid Henry's fourth marriage came to an end.
Altogether Henry VIII's marriages to Jane Seymour and then to Anne of Cleves had lasted less
than 2 years, but both had a profound effect on the king.
Jane Seymour gave Henry VIII the son and heir he'd been searching for.
Anne's queenship brought about the execution of Thomas Cromwell one of the most powerful
men in Tudor England.
Henry had gone from utter joy to total humiliation and his reaction to this fiasco drove him to
make his worst decision yet.
 Catherine Howard & Catherine Parr

DAN JONES: Henry VIII is the most Infamous monarch in English history.
I, Katherine I, Anne, take thee, Henry, to be my husband.
I do.
SUZANNAH UPSCOMB: Famously, over his 38-year reign he married six times.
DAN: Divorced, Beheaded, Died SUZANNAH: Divorced, Beheaded, Survived.
DAN: But the women Henry married were more than just six wives.
SUZANNAH: They were the six queens.
The six queens were formidable individuals.
Some were ambitious, some brave, some ruthless.
All changed history.
They shaped the man who became the monster, and in turn they shaped England itself.
But who were these women? What drove them? And what was it really like to be married to
Henry VIII? In this series we'll dissect these marriages from the rival perspectives of Henry and
his queens.
BABY CRIES - I will call you Henry.
DAN: We'll uncover the passions that created them, the obsessions that darkened them and the
betrayals that brought them to an end.
SUZANNAH: This time, after four failed marriages Henry VIII wed the ravishing Catherine
Howard the teenage wife of his dreams.
But she had a guilty secret He did kiss me.
I was a young girl.
DAN: His final wife, Catherine Parr, appeared to be more obedient but she wasn't all that she
seemed.
Would she too betray the king? Speaking the words she spoke deserves death.
By 1539 Henry VIII was 48 years old.
SUZANNAH: His first three wives - Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour -
were all dead.
Henry was now stuck in a loveless marriage to the German princess, Anne of Cleaves.
DAN: Henry called his new bride fat and ugly.
He claimed he was so disgusted by her face and body that he'd been unable to perform his sexual
duties.
This was a big problem for Henry and his Tudor dynasty.
The king had one son but in 16th-century England child deaths were very common so one heir
wasn't enough.
He needed a spare.
SUZANNAH: Just months into his marriage to Anne Henry began to look around for her
replacement.
As usual, he didn't look far.
In 1539 a girl of around 17 arrived at the Tudor court.
Her name was Catherine Howard.
Catherine came from a rich and powerful noble family.
DAN: When Henry laid eyes on her.
It was love at first sight.
DAN: Catherine was everything that Anne of Cleeves wasn't.
The very thought of Catherine rejuvenated Henry.
She made him feel manly, powerful and vigorous.
But more than anything else, Henry saw Catherine as absolutely virtuous.
Young, pure and virginal, he would call her "my blushing rose without a thorn".
DAN: Within months of arriving at court.
It's believed Catherine became Henry's lover.
In the Spring of 1540, as his marriage to Anne of Cleeves was disintegrating Henry was spotted
making regular trips, day and night, to Catherine's house.
Henry planned to make Catherine wife No.
5.
SUZANNAH: That meant Anne of Cleeves had to go.
Just six months after their wedding.
Henry ditched his fourth wife.
He used her previous engagement to a French nobleman as grounds to annul their marriage.
Anne was paid off and sent away.
On July the 28th, just two weeks after his marriage to Anne was annulled Catherine became
Henry's fifth queen.
SUZANNAH: For Catherine, being queen was everything she'd dreamt it would be.
Henry showered her with jewels.
In the Summer of 1540 he showed her off at a series of summer banquets and hunting
expeditions.
Catherine had arrived.
DAN: Henry was in love and in lust.
Drunk with desire for his new bride the king's sexual problems disappeared instantly.
SUZANNAH: The newly-weds enjoyed a ten-day private honeymoon.
The French Ambassador wrote 'the king is so amorous of her that he cannot treat her well enough
and caresses her more than he did the others.
' In other words, Henry was having the time of his life.
He thought he'd finally found his perfect bride.
But a less loved-up old man might have stopped to wonder how it was that an innocent virgin
like Catherine knew her way quite so well around the bedroom.
SUZANNAH: But soon, rumours began to spread and secrets about Catherine's past were
whispered around court.
On November the 2nd 1541 50-year-old Henry VIII arrived in his private chapel in Hampton
Court, ready for mass.
On his seat he found a Setter.
It was written by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer and what it said was
sensational.
Cranmer claimed that Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard was not the innocent virgin she had
claimed to be.
Instead she was a woman with a dark and seedy past.
SUZANNAH: It all began here at Chesworth House in Sussex.
Around 1532 when Catherine was 11 or 12 years old she was sent to live here in the household
of her step-grandmother the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.
Here she learnt everything that was necessary for a girl to know at court but she also learnt one
or two things that she'd have been better off not knowing.
It was alleged that while Catherine lived at Chesworth House men would visit her dormitory late
at night and she engaged in illicit sex.
DAN: Archbishop Cranmer expected Henry to fly into a rage when he read the allegations but to
his surprise, the king simply refused to believe them.
Someone is trying to blacken the name of my wife.
Sir, I too thought this was vile gossip but I think it would be wise to investigate.
There's no other way? - I fear not.
Any investigation must be conducted in secret.
This must not spark any scandal against the queen.
Yes, Your Majesty.
DAN: Henry's reaction wasn't what Cranmer expected at all.
Instead of flying into a rage the king dismissed the claims as gossip and lies and that might seem
like a strange reaction for someone as notoriously bad-tempered as Henry but maybe, after the
mess with Anne Boleyn Henry refused to believe that another one of his wives could be tainted
in the same way.
Surely no one's luck was that bad.
DAN: But Cranmer knew that there had been immoral living at Chesworth House.
He knew because there was a witness.
SUZANNAH: Her name was Margaret Bennett.
She was immediately brought in for questioning.
I looked; there was a hole in the door.
I looked through.
Margaret said that she saw Catherine with a young gentleman called Francis Dereham.
I saw him get Catherine's clothes above her navel.
He saw her naked body.
Dereham said to Catherine that although he used the company of women he would not get her
pregnant.
Catherine replied, a woman may meddle with a man and not conceive.
DAN: Margaret Bennett's evidence was all Cranmer needed.
DOOR CLICKS SHU He now had proof that Catherine was no virgin when she married the
king.
This was a very dangerous situation.
THEY LAUGH It was absolutely essential that any previously unwed woman who married the
king should be a virgin, or at the very least disclose her true sexual history.
The reason was a fear of illegitimacy.
If the queen fell pregnant there should be absolutely no doubt who the father of the baby was.
DAN: Cranmer now had to tell Henry the truth about his wife's sordid past.
It utterly devastated the king.
He broke down in tears.
HENRY SOBS When we think of Henry we think of this big macho king hands on hips, legs
astride; the very picture of masculinity.
You'd never imagine he'd show emotion, let alone vulnerability.
SUZANNAH: Catherine had no idea her sexual secrets were being dragged out of the shadows
but then on November the 7th, a little over a year into her marriage Cranmer confronted
Catherine.
Well, what's going on? Queen Catherine, you are accused of committing adultery with Francis
Dereham.
What? I never would never Oh DAN: Cranmer knew she was lying but to get a confession, he
offered her mercy.
Tell me everything truthfully.
I'm sure the king will look favourably upon you.
He did kiss me and he did lie with me.
Sometimes in his doublet and hose and two or three times naked.
I didn't consider how much of a fault it was to conceal my youthful mistakes.
SUZANNAH: Catherine knew a sex scandal could cost her life just as it had Anne Boleyn.
To avoid the executioner's block.
Catherine wrote a full confession throwing herself off on Henry's mercy.
It was an act of utter desperation, but would it work? DAN: When Henry read Catherine's words,
his heart thawed.
He wanted her punished but he would spare her life.
For now.
Remove her from the queen's household to the nunnery at Sion.
She's to remain there in modest chambers until this matter is fully resolved.
In many ways I think Henry was relieved.
He loved Catherine.
He didn't want to believe she'd done this and frankly, he couldn't take any more blows to his
masculinity.
Above all, he genuinely couldn't bear to lose her so he was able to reason, to himself at least that
all of these incidents took place long before he even met his wife.
SUZANNAH: But if Henry was satisfied with Catherine's confession, Cranmer wasn't.
He didn't believe the queen's affair with Dereham was a thing of the past and he was determined
to find the truth by any means necessary.
In November, Dereham was arrested and brought here, to the Tower of London to answer some
more difficult questions.
To help loosen his tongue, he was tortured.
DEREHAM WHIMPERS SUZANNAH: Despite horrific torture Dereham denied that he was
still having sex with Catherine but incredibly, he said he did know who was.
You have something to tell me.
DEREHAM WHIMPERS His name is Culpepper.
Thomas Culpepper.
DAN: Dereham's confession was explosive stuff.
Thomas Culpepper was one of Henry VIII 's most trusted advisors.
A gentleman of the privy chamber, he was part of the king's inner circle.
Thomas Culpepper catered to Henry's most private needs.
He dressed him and undressed him.
He even slept at the foot of the royal bed.
Could he really be having an affair with the queen right under the king's nose? SUZANNAH:
Culpeppers rooms were immediately searched for evidence of an affair.
Among his belongings they found a letter.
This is a copy of the original letter found in Thomas Culpepper's rooms.
It says 'Master Culpepper, I heartedly recommend me unto you praying you to send me word
how that you do for I never longed so much for a thing as I do to see you and to speak with you.
' And the letter writer adds 'it makes my heart to die to think what fortune I have that I cannot be
always in your company.
' It was clearly written by someone who loved Thomas Culpepper who was worried about him
being sick and who missed him.
The problem is, it's signed off 'Yours as long as life endures, Catherine.
' This is Catherine Howard's signature; Henry's wife, the queen.
This is as good as a death warrant.
SUZANNAH: Being unfaithful to the king could be considered high treason, punishable by
death.
Would Catherine really have risked her life for sex? SUZANNAH: Personally I think it's entirely
possible that Catherine wasn't actually having a sexual affair with Thomas.
Perhaps he was simply a close friend, someone she could talk to.
But either way, it was sheer foolishness to imagine that she could write to a man in these terms
who wasn't her husband especially when her husband was Henry VIII.
DAN: Thomas Culpepper was immediately arrested.
He denied having sex with the queen but he confessed to something equally as damning.
These are his exact words.
I intended and meant to do ill with the queen and likewise the queen did with me.
This was an admission that he and Queen Catherine had wanted to have sex.
DAN: Culpepper may have been hoping that by a partial admission of guilt he'd find some royal
mercy.
Instead he only sealed his fate.
On December 1st Culpepper and Francis Dereham were brought to trial.
Both were found guilty of high treason and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
DAN: For Queen Catherine Henry's justice was swift.
Denied the opportunity to defend herself in court she was condemned to death by an Act of
Parliament.
SUZANNAH: On the evening before she was due to be executed two servants brought a large
object into her cell.
It was the executioner's block.
This wasn't cruel, psychological torture by Henry.
Catherine had requested it.
She wanted to make a good impression on the scaffold and to die with dignity.
To do that, she needed to practise.
At 7.
00 am on the frosty morning of February 13th 1542 Catherine Howard walked out into the yard
of the Tower of London.
She was little more than a girl but with her dying words, Catherine Howard achieved a dignity
beyond her years.
I desire all Christian people to take regard unto my worthy and just punishment.
Take example of me.
Amend your ungodly lies and gladly obey the king in all things.
As was the custom.
Catherine forgave her executioner and paid him a gold sovereign and then she knelt and did as
she had practised.
DAN: Henry didn't watch the execution.
Catherine had been the latest in a long line of betrayals.
DAN: With Catherine Howard dead, Henry was free to marry again but for once he didn't have
his next wife waiting in the wings.
In fact, the chances of him finding a willing bride seemed pretty remote.
His reputation was about as bad as it was possible to get but he was still the king.
He needed more sons, and above all, he wanted a wife to love him faithfully and wholeheartedly.
As usual, Henry didn't look very far.
SUZANNAH: In late 1542 a 30-year-old woman joined the household of Henry's daughter,
Mary.
Her name was Catherine Parr.
SUZANNAH: Catherine was bright and attractive.
She had been married twice before, both times to older men and both had died, leaving her
financially independent so Catherine was a rare woman in the 16th-century.
She didn't have to marry for security or position; she could marry for love.
SUZANNAH: And Catherine had made her choice.
Thomas Seymour was a handsome and powerful courtier.
The couple were deeply in love and planning to marry.
DAN: But Seymour had a rival for Catherine's hand - the king.
Henry had been watching Catherine and he liked what he saw.
He found himself drawn to this mature.
Intelligent and caring woman.
DAN: We often think that in pursuing Catherine Parr Henry was looking for a nursemaid.
I think he was looking for an equal.
Catherine had been married before and she was older than the giddy Catherine Howard but she
was also beautiful, experienced and self-assured.
She was named after Katherine of Aragon, who was her godmother and she shared many of her
qualities so in a sense here, I think we can see Henry looking back to his first marriage.
This was exactly the sort of queen he'd chosen right back at the beginning.
DAN: For the next few months.
Henry watched Catherine at court.
By the Spring of 1543, his mind was made up and he asked Catherine to marry him.
SUZANNAH: For Catherine, this was a disaster.
She loved Thomas Seymour and she had no ambition to be queen or to lose her head.
SUZANNAH: Catherine could have refused Henry's offer but it was pretty unthinkable.
A proposal from the king was the equivalent of a royal command.
Catherine didn't know what to do so she turned to God for guidance.
And the answer came back loud and clear.
On the 12th of July 1543 in a small private ceremony at Hampton Court, Catherine married.
The man she chose was Henry VIII.
Do you wish to have this man as a husband and to forsake all other men? I do.
But why would Catherine marry Henry when she loved Thomas Seymour? Do you wish to have
this woman as a wife and to forsake all other women? I do.
Catherine wasn't marrying for love or for the Crown.
She was marrying Henry because she believed God wanted her to be queen for a reason.
DAN: A decade earlier.
In order to divorce Katherine of Aragon Henry had split the English Church from Home.
You're making a fool of yourself.
Get up! This explosive act was the start of the Reformation but before it was completed, the king
had hesitated.
Now England was caught in a two-man's land between the Protestant and Catholic faiths.
Catherine Parr was a devout Protestant and wanted Henry to finish the job he had started.
SUZANNAH: We know just how passionate Catherine was because, remarkably, she wrote and
published two religious books.
The originals are kept here at Sudeley Castle.
It's a real thrill to be able to see these.
This is Catherine's own copy of her book, Prayers and Meditations and you can see, it's
beautifully bound.
It was the first work to be written by a woman and published under her own name but it's really
an inoffensive collection of snippets from other holy works.
This, however, is completely different.
This is Catherine's spiritual autobiography.
In this book Catherine attacks what she saw as a superstitious Roman Catholic Church.
She describes the Bishop of Home, the Pope as 'a persecutor of the gospel, a setter forth of all
superstition and counterfeit holiness bringing many souls to hell.
' Catherine believed it was her God-given mission to convince Henry to finish his Protestant
reforms and finally rid England of Catholicism.
I now pronounce you man and wife.
DAN: Henry had no idea of Catherine's religious convictions.
It was just as well.
Extreme Protestant reformers were considered heretics in Henry's England and the punishment
for that was death.
SUZANNAH: The new queen's beliefs would have to remain a secret, at least for now.
Despite Catherine's initial misgivings, the new marriage was a great success.
Catherine had experience looking after temperamental old men.
She was a kind-hearted woman who nursed Henry's badly ulcerated leg.
Before long the old king began to regain his strength.
DAN: The marriage seemed to reinvigorate Henry.
He was happier than he had been for a long time and glimpses of the old, chivalrous knight
began to reappear.
In 1544, when he was well enough he once again attacked England's old enemy, France and
while he was away, he left Catherine as Regent.
Now that alone tells us just how much trust he placed in his new queen.
But was that trust misplaced? 'Make haste, oh God, to deliver me, make haste to help me.
' SUZANNAH: With Henry away at war, Catherine became emboldened.
She held prayer meetings in her private quarters and spread the Protestant gospel.
Let them for their reward be soon brought to shame, that cry over me there.
DAN: But Catherine was making enemies.
CATHERINE: And put to confusion Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester, was one of
Henry's closest advisors.
Gardiner hated Catherine's Protestant ideas.
He wanted Henry to return England to its Catholic past.
To do that he would have to destroy Queen Catherine.
By the summer of 1546 Henry was back from fighting in France and Catherine saw her
opportunity.
Sire, you have to the glory of God begun a good and a godly work in banishing that monstrous
idol of Home.
You should thoroughly finish the job.
Cleanse your Church, clean it of the dregs and purge it of the superstition.
DAN: But Catherine had gone too far.
SUZANNAH: Henry thought he'd cleansed the Church of superstition and he didn't like being
told he hadn't done things properly and he didn't want to be pushed into further reform.
Henry hated all sorts of extremism.
He was mortally offended by Catherine's words and this was an age when words could be
treasonous so why did Catherine say it? Perhaps she thought she could sway the king while he
was sick and weak.
Whatever her reasoning, it was an intensely risky strategy.
Goodnight.
Farewell sweetheart.
DAN: Unfortunately for Catherine, her words were overheard by Bishop Gardiner.
It is a good hearing when women become teachers and a fine thing to come in my old days, to be
taught by my wife.
I think the queen forgets herself.
It's an unseemly thing for any of His Majesty's subjects to reason or argue with you.
Gardiner knew just how to manipulate Henry.
He filled the king's already paranoid mind with thoughts of Catherine 's disloyalty.
The religion of the queen not only goes against the policy of your government it teaches the
people that all should be equal.
It is a dangerous and perilous thing for a prince to suffer such insolent words.
Gardiner then went in for the kill.
Speaking the words she spoke and defending those arguments by law deserves death.
Twice before, when Henry thought he'd been betrayed his queen had lost her head.
Catherine Parr now faced the same fate and she didn't suspect a thing.
Henry decided Catherine Parr should be arrested.
SUZANNAH: But before her arrest, Catherine received a tip-off.
Catherine was utterly shocked by what she found out.
She had no clue that Henry was planning to have her arrested.
She knew only too well what had happened to previous wives when they were taken to the
Tower.
But Catherine had something her predecessors hadn't - warning.
She was now faced with the decision - either stay true to her beliefs and die a martyr or deny her
faith and live.
Catherine went to Henry.
My Lord.
She knew her life depended on her next words.
Finish what you started the other day.
It seems you have clear ideas on matters of religion.
DAN: Henry was setting a trap.
He expected Catherine to repeat her radical views and sign her own death warrant.
But she wouldn't fall into his trap.
Why would you require my opinion? God has appointed you the Supreme Head and governor
here on earth.
No, not so, Kate.
You instruct me and are no longer instructed by me.
Your Majesty has very much mistaken me.
I think it preposterous and unseemly for a woman to try to instruct or teach her husband.
SUZANNAH: Catherine acted the meek and submissive wife.
Is this true, sweetheart? I spoke not to push my own opinion but to hear yours.
She claimed she had only said radical things in order to hear the truth from Henry.
It was a bold lie but would it be enough to save her life? It does me good to hear these words
from your mouth.
Perfect friends we are again.
Catherine had denied her beliefs but she had escaped with her life.
SUZANNAH: Catherine Parr was Henry's final wife but she showed she knew him best of all.
What Henry needed was obedience.
For Catherine this meant a massive personal sacrifice.
Religious reform was her life but she knew she couldn't carry out that reform if she went to the
executioner's block.
Goodnight.
SUZANNAH: So she hid her true beliefs and survived to fight another day.
Catherine Parr chose to live.
DAN: Catherine 's words had a powerful effect on the aging king.
DAN: Here was a man who had been betrayed so many times by his best friend, by countless
advisers, by the wives he'd loved and lost.
To find out that one person had been true to him all along meant everything.
For once there was no betrayal.
For once he'd chosen the right woman to marry.
DAN: Henry believed he had finally found his perfect wife but he didn't live long enough to
enjoy her.
On the 28th of January 1547.
Three and a half years into his final marriage bloated and riddled with disease, the 55-year-old
king died.
SUZANNAH: Four months after Henry's death Catherine finally married the man she loved,
Thomas Seymour.
SUZANNAH: With her fourth husband Catherine's wait was over.
She had finally married for love and to add to the new couple's happiness the 35-year-old
Catherine suddenly and unexpectedly became pregnant for the first time.
In August 1548 she gave birth to a baby girl named Mary but the joy was not to last.
Within days Catherine fell ill with a fever.
Her condition quickly worsened and six days later, she died.
Catherine is known as the queen who survived Henry but she only outlived him by eighteen
months.
This is Catherine's tomb here at Sudeley.
She'd waited her whole life for contentment but there was to be no happy ending for Henry's
final queen.
DAN: Henry's death brought to an end an extraordinary 38-year quest to find the perfect queen
You are not my wife.
Wand a longed-for son and heir.
Henry had gone from a young and passionate lover to a paranoid tyrant consumed by obsession
Get up! and finally, to a bitter and sick old man, haunted by betrayal.
Stop this marriage! SUZANNAH: And it was all thanks to his six extraordinary queens.
The six women who got tangled up in Henry's hopes were very different.
None of them got the glorious marriage a queen might expect and yet there was something they
all achieved.
The queens created Henry by pursuing them, rejecting them, even destroying them.
The character of the king was forged and that had the greatest consequences which are still with
us today.
English history was made by Henry.
And Henry was made by his six queens.