Queens of England: The Remarkable Lives of Henry VIII’s Wives

Catherine of Aragon

Catherine was born near Madrid in 1485. She came to England in 1501, aged fifteen, where she married Arthur, Prince of Wales (brother of her future husband, Henry VIII). Just five months later, Catherine and Arthur fell ill. Catherine recovered, but Arthur did not. He died at age sixteen, leaving Catherine a widow.

Catherine married Henry VIII in 1509, just after he had ascended to the throne. He was seventeen years old, and she was twenty-three. Over the course of eight years, Catherine gave birth to six children, though only Mary survived. It is believed that Henry truly loved Catherine but was anxious for a male heir, which he didn’t think Catherine could give him. Henry’s eyes wandered, and one of his mistresses gave birth to an illegitimate son. In the late 1520s, Henry met Anne Boleyn. He was smitten, but Anne would not give in to his advances. Henry sought an annulment from the Pope but was refused. Despite this snub, he separated from Catherine. This led to the breakaway from the Catholic Church and the formation of the Church of England.

Catherine died at Kimbolton Castle in 1536, aged 50.

Anne Boleyn

Once Henry had set eyes on Anne, nothing would stop him from marrying her. Henry and Anne wed on November 14th, 1532, though his marriage to Catherine was not officially declared over until May 1533. It didn’t take long for Anne to fall pregnant, and on September 7th, 1533, she gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I. After several miscarriages, Henry was convinced that Anne would never give him the son he wanted. Thomas Cromwell was asked to find a way to eliminate her. While efforts to discredit her were in progress, another woman caught Henry’s eye: Jane Seymour, one of Anne’s ladies-in-waiting. He even gave her an expensive locket as a token of his appreciation.

In 1536, charges of adultery, incest, and high treason were brought against Anne. The evidence was spurious, with most of her “confessions” obtained through torture. Nevertheless, Anne was sentenced to death. As a "kindness", Henry allowed Anne to be beheaded (instead of being burned to death) and even had a skilled swordsman brought from France to do the deed. On May 19th, 1536, Anne was executed. She swore her innocence until the very end.

Jane Seymour

Jane Seymour had served both Henry’s previous wives as a lady-in-waiting and now found herself in the hot seat. Henry and Jane married on May 30th, 1536, just eleven days after Anne’s beheading. Henry was forty-four years old; Jane was just twenty-eight. Jane was instrumental in repairing the relationship between Henry and his daughter Mary, though she couldn’t convince Henry to reinstate her to the line of succession. On October 12th, 1537, she gave birth to a child of her own—a son, Edward.

Sadly, Jane died on October 24th. The cause of death cannot be known for sure, but theories range from a bacterial infection to complications caused by a retained placenta. Jane was laid to rest in Windsor Castle. When Henry died in 1547, he was buried beside her. It is thought that Jane was his favourite wife, as she provided the thing he craved the most—a male heir.

Anne of Cleves

Two years after the death of his beloved Jane, Henry eyed another wife. Thanks to Thomas Cromwell forming an alliance between England and Cleves (an area in modern-day Germany), Anne was brought to the King’s attention. Henry dispatched famed portrait artist Hans Holbein the Younger to paint Anne so that he could see a likeness before he proposed. When Hans arrived with his easel and oil paints, he was denied by Anne’s brother. He could paint her, but he would have to do it without looking at her directly. This was a tricky proposition, but Holbein did his best. Upon returning to England, Henry was duly impressed by her beauty, and marriage was on the table.

Unfortunately for Henry, her true likeness did not match the canvas. He was unimpressed and reportedly likened her to a ‘Flanders Mare.” Quite simply, Henry didn’t fancy her. Their marriage only lasted six months and was not consummated. Anne stayed in England when it was annulled, remaining friends with Henry and his family. She inherited properties and outlived the king and both his future wives. Anne died in 1557, most likely from cancer. She is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Catherine Howard

Henry’s fifth wife, Catherine, was part of a strange web of familial connections. She was a cousin of Anne Boleyn, a second cousin of Jane Seymour, and was living with Henry’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, when she caught the King’s eye. She was in a casual, non-sexual relationship with her cousin, Thomas Culpeper, but that came to an end when the king laid out his intentions. They married on July 28th, 1540 (the same day Thomas Cromwell was executed). Henry was forty-nine years old, while Catherine was barely twenty-one. He was also riddled with gout, had ulcerous legs that darkened his mood, and had developed diabetes.

In 1941, rumours of an affair with Thomas Culpeper surfaced. An investigation took place, and a love letter written by Catherine was found in Culpeper’s chambers. It is thought that the letter predated her marriage to Henry, but the cantankerous king wasn’t about to let a technicality get in the way! The letter was all the evidence Henry needed to strip Catherine of her title and condemn her to death. On February 13th, 1542, she was beheaded.

Catherine Parr

Catherine was Henry’s last wife; he married her in 1543. While Henry was warring in France, Catherine wrote a series of books, becoming the first woman to publish work under her own name in England. She also enjoyed a close relationship with Henry’s children, and it was under her insistence that Mary and Elizabeth were added to the line of succession.

Henry VIII died on January 28th, 1547. Six months later, Catherine married Thomas Seymour (who would go on to be executed for treason), the younger brother of Jane Seymour. Their marriage was short, as Catherine died during childbirth in 1548. Her funeral was the first to be held in the English language. She was buried in the grounds of Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire. During the English Civil War, her grave was disturbed, and, over the years, vandals broke into it, cutting locks of her hair and fragments of her dress. The coffin was moved to its final resting place inside the restored chapel in 1861.