Should Anne Boleyn be Pardoned and Reburied as Queen?
Posted By Claire on May 26, 2011
The Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula
Before I start this article, I would just like to say that I am not criticising anyone’s beliefs or views and I realise that this is a very controversial topic which will undoubtedly lead to heated comments, but I just needed to state my own position on this subject and reaffirm what my mission is in running this website.
Claire and The Anne Boleyn Files
First of all, I want to explain how The Anne Boleyn Files website began. In early 2009, I had a very vivid dream about being a spectator at Anne Boleyn’s execution. I was a member of the crowd and all I can remember now is hearing Anne’s speech, being impressed with her courage and dignity, and being overcome with sheer horror and terror as I realised that this innocent woman was going to be executed. It was one of those times when you are so terrified that you cannot move or speak, you are just rooted to the spot and your mouth is like sandpaper, and all I wanted to do was to stop the execution and save Anne. As the French swordsman swung his blade I woke up in a cold sweat and shook Tim awake telling him that he had to design a website for me called The Anne Boleyn Files and that I had to get the real truth out there about Anne Boleyn. That dream led to the birth of The Anne Boleyn Files and I now spend every waking hour researching Anne Boleyn and Tudor history.
Now, I don’t believe in reincarnation or the idea that Anne was reaching to me from beyond the grave etc. I think it was just my brain’s way of giving me purpose at a time when I really needed it. I was a freelance writer at the time and I’ve always loved history, so creating The Anne Boleyn Files was the perfect project and it’s grown from a project to a full-time job or perhaps a “mission”. My mission statement, if you look at the top of this page is to give “The REAL TRUTH about Anne Boleyn “The Most Happy” ” and I try to do that by looking at the contemporary sources, researching the period, debunking myths and sharing my findings with you all. At the end of the day, it is hard to get at the truth when history is written by the victors and attempts were made to obliterate Anne, to pretend that she never existed, or to paint her as a witch and whore, but I try my hardest and I have dedicated my time and energy to revealing the truth as I find it.
Should Anne Boleyn be Pardoned and Reburied as Queen?
So, that’s me and my mission but what has that got to do with the question “Should Anne Boleyn be Pardoned and Reburied as Queen”? Well, plenty, because I didn’t wake up from that dream with the urgent need to get Anne Boleyn pardoned and reburied, I woke up knowing that my mission was to educate people, and even now, with all I know about Anne and the passion I have for her and her story, I do not feel the need to start a campaign to get her pardoned and to get her re-interred in a magnificent tomb at Westminster Abbey.
Again, I’d just like to re-iterate that I am not criticising anybody who believes that Anne should be pardoned and I have the greatest respect for Wing Commander George Melville-Jackson who, in 2005, called on Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, to pardon Anne Boleyn and who also wanted her remains laid to rest alongside her daughter, Elizabeth I. The Wing-Commander worked tirelessly on his campaign, writing to the Queen and historians, consulting a barrister etc. but it was all in vain and sadly he died without completing his mission. I wholeheartedly believe that Anne Boleyn was innocent and that her trial was a sham and she suffered a huge miscarriage of justice, and I have nothing against those who want to get her pardoned, it’s just not my mission and does not fit in with my own feelings on the subject.
So, what are my feelings and why haven’t I led a campaign to get Anne Boleyn pardoned and reburied?
- Time and evidence – Anne Boleyn was executed in 1536, 475 years ago, and, as a barrister told the Wing Commander, it is impossible to go to court and get a judicial review when there is no new evidence. We can see that the indictments against Anne Boleyn and the five men just don’t make sense, but a court of her peers accepted these indictments and found her guilty. It is impossible for us now, 475 years later, to challenge that evidence with our own evidence and we don’t even have the full trial records to challenge. We can believe and know in our hearts that Anne Boleyn was innocent, we can question the evidence used against her, we just cannot definitively prove her innocence.
- Where do you stop? – It’s not only Anne Boleyn who suffered a miscarriage of justice, what about George Boleyn, Sir Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, Sir William Brereton and Mark Smeaton? What about Margaret Pole? What about Francis Dereham? What about all the other innocent victims? I don’t feel I could campaign for Anne Boleyn without campaigning for all of them!
- History – As I’ve said before, history is written by the victors and my mission is to correct bad history and to try and reveal the truth of Anne Boleyn’s life and death, not to rewrite history.
- My feelings on Anne Boleyn’s resting place – People often say that Anne Boleyn’s remains should be dug up and re-interred in somewhere more befitting of a Queen of England and that she is not buried as Queen, however, Anne Boleyn is buried as Queen. In 1876 and 1877 when work was carried out in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, the chapel of the Tower of London, the Victorian workers unearthed the remains of a woman thought to have been Anne Boleyn, in that she was buried where records suggest that Anne was buried. After Dr Mouat had examined the remains of Anne and others found in the chancel, they were “soldered up in thick leaden coffers, and then fastened down with copper screws in boxes made of oak plank, one inch in thickness. Each box bore a leaden escutcheon, on which was engraved the name of the person whose supposed remains were thus enclosed, together with the dates of death, and of the year (1877) of the re-interment.”1 The boxes were then buried where they had been found and memorial tiles placed on the floor of the chancel to mark the graves. These memorial tiles are “octagon panels of white marble, in which are inserted the armorial bearings of those historic persons who were interred in the chancel; their names being inscribed on the border of yellow Siena marble which surrounds each panel.”2 Anne’s tile says “Queen Anne Boleyn” so she was buried as a Queen in 1877 and does not rest in some mass grave.If you have visited the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, you will know that it is a beautiful chapel, a place of God and a place that is used regularly for services. Anne’s tile is there for all to see and on the 19th May it receives a basket of roses and flowers from visitors. I, personally, would hate to see the beautiful tiled floor ruined and the peace and tranquility of the chapel disturbed in order to re-inter Anne in Westminster Abbey. The tile may act as a focal point for Anne Boleyn fans and Tudor history lovers, but Anne Boleyn is not there. Her remains lie under that floor but those who have the same faith that Anne Boleyn had believe that Anne is in Paradise, she is with her Father in Heaven. She has no need to be re-interred and I don’t believe for one minute that she is a restless spirit haunting the Tower and other places crying out to be moved to the Abbey.I actually feel that her resting place is a fitting memorial to her. That tile at the Tower of London speaks to people about Anne’s story. Tourists wonder why a Queen of England is buried in a little chapel at the Tower and I hope that it makes them ask questions. When I go to visit that tile, I feel such peace and am very moved, I’m not sure I’d feel that in the busy Westminster Abbey.
- Time and Energy – Researching Anne Boleyn’s life takes up all of my time, I just do not have the time or energy to launch a campaign, to seek legal advice on the matter and to rally the troops. My aim is to educate and re-educate people about who Anne Boleyn really was and I see that as a hugely important mission.
- It won’t change anything – Pardoning Anne Boleyn and moving her body will not, in my opinion, change anything. It won’t change history, it won’t help Anne and we will still be arguing with those who are convinced that she was a whore and traitor. I sincerely believe that a pardon will not change people’s attitudes, only re-educating people will change those.
Please don’t get me wrong, I am passionate about Anne Boleyn – just ask my husband Tim who calls himself an “Anne Boleyn widower” and my children who are completely indoctrinated! – but my passion lies in education and challenging the misconceptions that are out there. Also, please don’t read this as an attack on people who do believe that pardoning Anne is their mission and I am certainly not setting out to alienate people or to say that they are wrong, I just wanted to explain why I, a woman who freely admits to being obsessed by Anne Boleyn, am not campaigning.
Anne Boleyn was Queen of England and mother of Elizabeth I and no-one can take that away from her.
I hope that makes sense and I would love to hear what you feel about this issue.
For those of you interested in Anne Boleyn’s resting place, there are some photos of the Chapel in our album from last year’s Anne Boleyn Experience – see http://www.flickr.com/photos/theanneboleynfiles/4622969596/.
Notes and Sources
- Notices of the Historic Persons Buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London, with an account of the discovery of the supposed remains of Queen Anne Boleyn, by Doyne C Bell, 1877, p30
- Ibid., p18
Hi Claire, Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your telling us about how and why you started this website. I am so in agreement with your passion of our Queen Anne and about if she should be moved. I agree with you that she is at peace where she is and have also visited her resting place and it is such a lovely peaceful chapel. Very glad she is inside the building too, and at the altar there for all to be reminded of this amazing lady and her story for all future generations. I also read a comment here from one of the readers about why Elizabeth perhaps did not talk about her Mother very much and I have to say I would think it was because she was afraid to do so, as she was a single woman all her life and the knives were constantly out to replace her and perhaps she lived in fear of igniting the enemies of her Mother against herself? Please do keep up the good work, its a most worthy cause and I do very much enjoy the website. I live in Australia, and am heading to London again in November and will be visiting her resting place and Hever Castle again then. Anne B
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I think its a llovely thing each year that the Tower place flowers on Anne Boleyn’s tile in her memory. I am not sure what moving her remains or campaigning for her pardon will achieve, Times were different 475 years ago
It is interesting Claire that you mention your dream. In July 2009, i too had a dream of Anne Boleyn that i cant explain. I was walking in some forest with a group of others and came across a chapel that had a red carpet. I peered inside and said, ‘Oh look its Anne Boleyn’. I rushed up to her and hugged her. she was wearing a grey sation damask dress and had her hair up in a bun. She was beautiful. I said to her’I am so sorry for what happened to you’ and she replied ‘Oh i got over what happened a long time ago, buit i have never forgiven him. But we do not have long to talk, and you must come and visit ne at Hampton Court or Richmond Palace’
And with that i woke up. I do not know what all this means, i do believe in reincarnation so maybe i was a lady in waiting of Annes or maybe i was a member of her court, i dont know. I have always felt strongly about what happened to Anne Boleyn. i just wish i knew what to make of the instruction to visit Hampton Court and Richmond Pallace
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juliane Reply:
March 27th, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Hi Sarah,
Go and visit those places. There might be something there for you. And if you believe in reincarnation, then you would know that Anne is living in the same time as you under another name. X juliane
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Why didn’t Elizabeth pardoned her mother. Just curious love your web page big fan of English history
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Claire Reply:
May 27th, 2011 at 4:20 am
Hi Brian,
I think Elizabeth thought it was best to let sleeping dogs lie. If she had attempted to legitimise herself or move her mother it would have brought attention to the fact that she was the daughter of a convicted traitor and was also illegitimate. I think Elizabeth was sensible.
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I think it would be really lovely to get Anne pardoned – not so much to move her body, I think that the chapel is a beautiful and peaceful resting place – but just because I believe she suffered so much injustice. However, I totally agree with your points as to why this is illogical; being a huge fan of George Boleyn, I would find it extremely unfair and frustrating if Anne was cleared and he was not. I think that Anne’s life as we remember it is tribute enough for her, whn we think of all the wonderful things that she did for our country. I will always admire her whether she is buried under her little tile at St Peter Ad Vincula or whether she has a massive marble monument at Westminster Abbey. As you said, where she is buried does not change who she was.
By the way, I love the term ‘Anne Boleyn Widow’. My husband will be a ‘George Boleyn Widow’, I think. Actually, just a ‘Boleyn Widow’ in general! xx
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Sharon Reply:
August 18th, 2011 at 10:15 am
I wonder if Anne was cleared of those charges, would it stand to reason the George and the others be cleared as well? If Anne was innocent of affairs with them, then there would be no charges against them anymore. Right? Maybe? Not that I think anyone should try to change history. Just an observation.
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Keeping my feelings of this matter out of it, I shall say this:
Whatever the beliefs may be, Anne was Queen for quite a period of time. Thus she should be buried as such.
Even if not pardoned she did give the world Elizabeth I whom ruled The Golden Age. And in this aspect aloneshe shouldbe given proper respect.
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So many people have agreed with you, Claire, that I scarcely need write my own response. I agree with everything you say. And yet I will add a few more comments because I feel strongly about them.
First, however, let me thank you so, so much for what you’ve done for Anne’s memory. Your devotion to her is amazing, and the Anne Boleyn files is a wonderful achievement, providing a historically nuanced, detailed forum for discussions of Anne and Tudor history. Bravo!!
As for Anne’s resting place: personally, I don’t set store by distinctions of class or rank. My almost life-long attraction to Anne stems not from my interest in her as a queen but from my admiration for her as a strong-minded woman in a period which viciously policed female sexuality and power. Not being a royalist, I don’t see Westminster Abbey as a more hallowed or appropriate space than St. Peter’s Chapel. More to the point, since Anne’s courage at her death was so very great, I think the most fitting place for her to rest is the spot where she demonstrated it. And how appropriate, too, that the chapel is dedicated to St. Peter “in chains”; it is a prisoner’s chapel. Let’s face it: the victims of feudal monarchs were generally executed for political reasons rather than because they committed what we would judge as crimes. Even someone who quite possibly did what she was accused of–Katherine Howard, who may have committed adultery–did nothing deserving of death or judicial penalty (those who would kill a woman for sexual infidelity are not, I think, the people we should identify with). So in that case the victims resting with Anne in the tower chapel are all her true comrades, linked by their sacrifice to the brutal politics of their time and their courage and dignity in meeting their fate. They are outcasts and martyrs, and I myself would much rather keep company with them than with history’s apparent winners.
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Thank you for your reply on why Elizabeth didn’t pardoned her mother that makes sense. Is there a deathmask of Henry VIII and maybe of George III
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I am going to stray out of the ‘norm’ here. While not necessarily believing that HRH Anne’s remains should be re-interred, I do believe that she should receive a full pardon by not only the English Parliament but by the current monarchy. Why bother now? Because it would be sending a statement, a huge one, that HRH Anne and all the others who suffered at the hands of a tyrant are remembered and honored for their sacrifices. Sure we can’t re-write history, however, what we can do is move forward, and with this pardon a heinous crime that has been committed is acknowledged publicly as wrong. I think it’s not so much that people can’t see the forest for the trees, but more a long the lines of an ‘anti-hero’ worship of ‘good king Hal’ whom by the way, is still celebrated within British society. Maybe we need to truly acknowledge what a complete tyrannical monster he was, take him down from this ‘pedestal’ of hero worship and bring back some dignity to those who suffered so horribly at his hands. Just my opinion, and I make no bones about the fact that I consider Henry IV to be in the same company as Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and the many other monsters that have savaged humankind throughout history. I believe a formal pardon and consecration of HRH Anne Boleyn would at least be a step in the right direction of de-popularizing a man who made everyone around him suffer according to his whim or mood.
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gwenne Reply:
May 27th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Henry VIII I meant..lol spell check gwenne, spell check
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I’m also fascinated by Anne Bolyen but not sure what good a pardon would do at this stage – it would make a lot of people who feel that Henry VIII treated (me among them) Anne badly feel better.. I’m of the belief that when we die we become source energy and move on to the next world. All the stuff that happened in the lifetime here is a lesson to take to the future. To use Anne’s words, after the execution she was “past her pain”. I don’t even visit relatives’ grave sites because my feeling is that their bodies are there, not their souls.
I love this site and everything Claire has done and getting the truth out about Anne is more useful than working towards a pardon. Thank you Claire for all your hard work.
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Hi Clair,
I too believe that Anne’s body should not be moved. But I wonder why Elizabeth didn’t give her mother a more fitting tomb or at least a marker. Of course, I am assuming that Anne’s remains did not have a marker until the 1800s. Please correct me if I’m wrong. I love Anne and am sorry that people described her as having a sharp tongue and being a “goggle eyed whore”. I’m sure Anne was no saint but then haven’t we all had those times when we’ve felt like screaming? I know I have. Rest in peace Anne.
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i would not like to see Anne’s body moved, but I would like her to recieve a pardon, I think that she deserves that.
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I don’t think she should be moved. It seems to me very disrespectful to uproot her and disturb the peace of the chapel now. I also think that pardoning her would be unfair to all the inoccent men who died with her, and the many more innocents who died at the hands of Henry. If we reburied her, surely that would mean we should also honour the other innocent people buried in the chapel? and What difference is it going to make if she’s buried in the chapel of st. peter or Westminster abbey? She has been there for nearly 500 years! I think that wherever she is she will be at peace now and that we should have respect to leave her alone.
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I agree with Claire completely, whilst I do not think a tile on the floor is that befiting for a Queen of England, it would be disturbing her resting place, not to mention disturbing the course of history as it was written.
Also Henry VIII own resting place with Jane Seymour is in the floor, with a tile on the top to mark their memorial place. Moving Anne would mean having to move Henry VIII and Jane Seymour too! Like Claire says we would want to move them all and we really can’t.
Claire your work on this website is brilliant, and I enjoy coming on and reading the various articles etc.
I am visiting Sudeley Castle again tomorrow with my mother, and I shall enjoy the gardens and the castle, but most of all I shall enjoy visiting Catherine Parr in her memorial place most befiting to her in St Marys Church.
Keep up the good work!
Rachel
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Although this comment comes a bit late, I’d like to add my own “two cents worth” to the mix. I’ve just returned from England (after attending the Executed Queens tour followed by some time traveling on my own). When in London I always attend services at St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower and – although Macauley wrote in the 19th C. that “in truth there is no sadder spot on earth than this little cemetery”, I feel that it is a beautiful, serene place which is the perfect resting place for Anne and all of the other unfortunates who were buried there following their executions. After I attended services there on May 22, I asked the Chaplain if I could look at the flowers left on the altar for Anne. The basket of flowers that is always sent was still there (it arrived when our group was leaving the chapel on May 19), along with several other bouquets that were brought for Anne, including the one from The Anne Boleyn Files. While Westminster Abbey is beautiful, it isn’t really a place of quiet comtemplation. While it would be nice to see Anne be exonerated, it would really be to make her admirers feel better – Anne is in a better place now, and really isn’t affected by things that happen on earth. Besides, there are people who are as violently anti-Anne as most of the people on this site are admirers of hers, and an exoneration wouldn’t change their minds. I believe in my heart that Anne was innocent (as I’m sure that most of the people reading this believe), and nothing can change that!
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I honestly think that Anne should be pardoned and re-buried as a Queen. Anne couldn’t have been that bad a Queen or a woman. But then again that’s my own opinion, which won’t officially count until I’m 18.
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Claire, I have just found your website. I have been a Tudor addict since the young age of 12 (I am now 53). I have always felt that Anne Boleyn was innocent of the charges for which she was put to death. I feel very strongly that she did not deserve the punishment she received, nor did the others that were tried and sentenced to death. Although I believe that she was innocent of treason, witchcraft and adultery (after her marriage to Henry VIII) she was not innocent of adultery while Henry was married to Catherine. I think sometimes we get caught up in her trial and murder, that we forget she was having an affair with a married man. She took a huge risk carrying on with the King of England. I have sympathy for Catherine as well as for Anne. Catherine was a faithful and loving wife to the end. Henry tossed her aside when she became unable to bear him the longed for son for the younger, prettier Anne Boleyn. I sincerely believe that seeking a pardon or moving her remains serves no real purpose. Those of us who have studied the Tudors know that she was most probably innocent of the charges that brought her down. Anne is at peace now. She asked God to forgive her sins and acknowledged Jesus Christ as her Savior. She is in a much better place now and has been there almost 500 yrs. She was only human and gave in to human weaknesses. Unfortunately those weaknesses cost her her life. I will be in Europe in two weeks. We will spend a total of eight days in England, I plan on visiting the Tower of London (missed it on my last trip) and I will be sure to stop by Anne’s final resting place. Thank you for all you are doing to educate people about Anne, the Tudors and all the others associated with this time period.
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You know Claire, I actually had a Tudor times dream, too! In mine I was at Queen Elizabeth I’s christening.
I agree that Anne is innocent, but a reburial ipdiesnt seem necessary. Thanks for the website by the way, I check it ALL THE TIME!!!!
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Oops sorry, I mean’t a reburial doesn’t seem necessary. Spell check tends to rearrange my words haha.
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Your article is very much supporting you mission to re-educate people about QUEEN ANNE BOLEYN OF ENGLAND.Keep it up !!! Just like everyone on this page I too am a tudor history addict.Let me inform you that I am 16 and from India , where one might rarely know a thing about Anne Boleyn. I first read about her in a history magazine about henry viii. There were just few lines about her and same for the rest of his wives but her story attracted me so very much. my drawback is the lack of sources in India. I have to work my ass off just to find a book.My only source of info is internet .I too had the same views about anne’s innocence from the very first time I googled her.i wish i could visit her grave at St. Peter’s Chapel but that s far from possible.I think that she should not be reburried but definitely should be pardoned.keep up the good work and thanks for providing enormous info to the world.
(P.S.:sorry about the length . its just that this topic makes me very enthusiastic.)
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I don’t see where it is necessary to have Anne pardoned. She wasn’t really guilty. Perhaps a declaration of her obvious innocence might be more appropriate.
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Very well said, Claire. Articulate, factual, and very supported defense of your position; just like all of your articles!
I for one am incredibly grateful you had that dream and found your purpose. I’ve been an “Anne-dict” since I was about 11 years old. For a Midwestern girl in the US, that was perceived as a bit odd!! What I love about your site is that it has the proper mix of fact and fantasy (i.e. speculation).
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WE have pardoned Anne. Our work, our forum, our constancy to the truth and her memory — all those are forms of pardon. Her resting place may not be as grand as other royal residences. But Anne truly has almost solo rights on St. Peter’s. She stands alone, and her people must go to her and seek her there, and share in the peace of that beautiful sanctuary. Just as one does a pilgrimmage to Princess Diana’s final resting place, one does one for Anne. The solitary nature of their resting places also allowed their children privacy — a rare thing in regal circles — to grieve and remember. As we can ,too.
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juliane Reply:
March 27th, 2012 at 2:35 pm
This is beautiful.
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Personally I feel as you do Claire, that it won’t change anything except to possibly distroy a beautiful and tranquil setting. It won’t change history’s view of Anne. What I feel is important is that she is buried as Queen. She was an influential Queen of England and should rest in peace as Queen. It is her right. Queen Elizabeth was the only one who could have changed a bit of history and chose not to do that. We do not have the right to do something her own daughter did not want to do. ( Not to say Elizabeth didn’t want to reinterr her mother, she possibly decided the church was a fitting place for Anne to rest) We should respect those wishes and leave Anne to rest in peace where she is.
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It is the love, respect, and admiration the visitors bring to Queen Anne’s grave that makes it a memorial that can never be out done; not even if an entire cathedral was built and dedicate to her and her remains placed within in a solid gold tomb. Part of the feeling you get from visiting her comes from the fact she was buried in a simple place of worshop compared to other monarchs and even her daughter. That a Queen would be buried so sparingly and still generate such love and respect 475 years after her death is truly inspring. Her life, the simple beauty of St. Peter’s, her untold millions of visitors over the years are memorial enough. My she soar with the Angels.
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TOTALLY AGREE. SHE SHOULD REMAIN AT THE TOWER IN THAT LOVEY CHAPEL. I HAVE BEEN THERE ON 2 DIFFERENT OCCASIONS AND I LOVE THE IDEA OF BEING IN THAT WONDERFUL ANCIENT COMPOUND WHERE SHE STAYED BEFORE HER CORONATION, WHERE SHE WAS HELD PRISONER -THEN EXECUTED AND LAID TO REST (AT FIRST IN AN ARROW BOX). THE FACT THAT SHE WAS LATER LAID IN A PROPER CASKET WITH A MARBLE TILE CLAIMING HER QUEEN IS ALL THAT IS EVER NEEDED.
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I guess it’s based on perspective. If u believe she was legitimately queen then perhaps.
I don’t believe in my poor mind she was. I believe that Katherine of Aragon was truly Queen of England to her death. As much as I find Anne fascinating and not of the crimes she was accused I feel she was never legimately Queen. Again just an opinion and again just looking at a still argued point.
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Although I believe Anne was framed at her trial, I also believe she was guilty of treason by manipulating the King.
Don’t get me wrong. He was a spoiled selfish brat who was manipulated by practically everyone in his court, except Thomas More. I think he was truly loyal to King Henry VIII. He was an innocent victim if there ever was one.
I think Anne was guilty of treason by association since she was forced to manipulate the King in the beginning of their relationship. However, I feel she came to manipulating him for her own purposes in the end.
I believe they truly loved each other. Courtiers destroyed their relationship. To me, Katherine of Aragone was the true Queen of England. If anyone should have an advocate, it should be her. She was an innocent; and, cared very deeply for King Henry. To be wronged in that way was a travesty. Anyway, that is how I feel about it. I’m not trying to disagree with anyone, just stating my opinion.
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Thank you Claire for a passionate and another excellent article, but I have to disagree with one point. We can pardon Anne Boleyn without new evidence as we do not need to re-open a case to pardon someone. We are not asking that she be declared innocent or to put it a modern legal way that the verdict and death sentence against her be vacated and overturned; that requires new evidence and it is hard enough doing that with innocent people framed before DNA proved the real killer. To pardon someone is to state that there is a recognition either that some injustice was done and the process was not fair, but that by the standards of the time it was. However, the state can graciously pardon someone by letting them off the crime that they committed. This is an Act of Pardon and it used to be a regular method of early release for life sentences. Kings and Queens can pardon a wrong doer that they feel merits that favor and Anne Boleyn may fit that brief. It does not need a long campaign and it does not need a waste of money state funeral.
As you have said, she has a proper tomb and prayers are said here every anniversary and a relative leaves flowers each year as well, although they are unknown. Queen Victoria had a plaque naming her queen and I consider that sufficient especially for someone who was not Queen. Catherine of Aragon was the true Queen of England, although she had died, and by 1536 it could be said that Anne Boleyn is now to be seen as Henry’s Queen in reality and we can back date the coronation. I would not wish to see Anne removed from her tomb as there is no shame in being placed in the Chapel Royal at the Tower and here all prayers are said for everyone in the Tower and she is in the book as well of marriage, deaths and births and also a royal prince is buried here.
The Tower is also a royal palace. The first born son to Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII, Prince Henry born on 1st January 1511 and died 58 days later is buried here. So it is no shame to be buried in this beautiful church dedicated to Saint Peter in Chains.
Also if a memorial is here then she is at peace and flowers are left here as well, so someone remembers Anne. I also believe there is a crest on her stone memorial stone on the floor over her coffin. To remove her now would be to insult her grave and she should be left in peace. She has a grander memorial in that of her daughter, Elizabeth whom England claims as its greatest monarch. I do not agree with that claim, but then I have personal reasons for doing so that would make no sense to most people. I also believe that giving Anne Boleyn a grander funeral than Catherine of Aragon and many others who deserve it to be a complete waste of money. When is Sir Thomas More going to get a state funeral for example? He should be in the middle of Westminster Cathedral in a large and expensive tomb as a Catholic saint and martyr, so you see we can go on forever.
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Claire Reply:
May 2nd, 2012 at 2:05 pm
As Wing Commander George Melville Jackson said:
“Ideally, I would like her to be posthumously declared not guilty of the crimes she was convicted of because a pardon only means that you are being excused the crimes you have committed…But I got a barrister’s opinion and it seems that we would not be able to go to court to get a judicial review because, after nearly 500 years, there was not much of a chance of being able to come up with new evidence. So a pardon is the next best thing.”
He contacted the Home Secretary, the Queen and historian Simon Schama but didn’t get anywhere with either a pardon or judicial review.
I don’t believe that there should be a campaign to get Anne pardoned or declared innocent because where do you stop? What about the men? What about Margaret Pole? Lady Jane Grey? etc. etc. As you say, “we can go on forever”. I think we’re best to leave the past as past, as far as trials and legal proceedings are concerned, but tell these people’s stories and educate people about them.
I found it a very moving experience laying flowers on Anne’s tile and I also went and put a rose on Tower Hill for the men as they often get forgotten.
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