Did Henry VIII father Mary Boleyn’s two children?
Rating: +2
The full question is "What do you think, considering the newer evidence found this year, regarding Mary Carey's children and the possibility of the two children actually being Henry VIII's? What do you think Anne felt about this?" - Ooooh tough one! It's always been debated whether Henry was father to both of Mary Boleyn's (Carey's) children, so I don't think that this is a surprise, although people are still arguing about this! I think Anne would have accepted that Henry had had previous relationships and she would have known about Bessie Blount's son too. The Boleyn family were a close family so she would have known the truth about Mary and her children from the beginning, but it must have been weird for her forming a relatonship with a man who had been so intimate with her sister. Anne wouldn't have been human if she had not been jealous of how easy her sister had had children, when she herself was having miscarriages and couldn't give Henry his longed for son.
There's an interesting article on whether Henry VIII was the father of Mary Carey's children see http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/pdf/Archive/Soc/soc.genealogy.medieval/2008-10/msg00618.pdf. I've also just written http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/did-henry-viii-father-mary-careys-children/965/
I personally don’t think that either of Mary’s children were Henry’s. I find it unlikely that Henry would have allowed Mary to marry whilst she was still his mistress. If he had gotten her pregnant she would have likely like Lady Blount had the child and then been married off. The King would not have missed a chance to show he could produce healthy children and since the birth of Mary’s first child was 1524 two years before he became intrested in Anne there was no reason to hide it if the child was his.
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I love the Tudor period,and have read many books.But regarding the children of Mary Boleyn.I don’t think Mary Boleyn knew herself who the father to her two children were.They could have been sired by the king Henry the eight,or equally by her husband William Carey.So it all remains a mystery.
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It would have been dumb for Elizabeth to admit the Carey children were her half brother and sister as Elizabeth herself had been declared illegitimate and these two were older than her. Especially Henry Carey could have been used as a pawn to try to overthrow Elizabeth as he was a male. Even katheryn could have been used as she could be considered ahead of Elizabeth in line for the throne.
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Thanks for the comment, Betty! Yes, I agree, much better for Elizabeth to let sleeping dogs lie and the Carey children never claimed that they were Henry’s so she never had that challenge to her throne.
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My family traces back to Henry Carey, so although we will never know for sure, I like to think that he was the son of Mary and Henry the 8th!
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Looking, swiftly looking through Eric Ives book on Anne Boleyn for any little tid bit he may have slipped in there regarding Anne’s sister Mary….because during my research for my book I on several occasions ran across this perception that Mary Boleyn did indeed have one child with King Henry as the father, guess the gender, right…..it’s a girl! I will keep looking on this one……I think though that the idea that her sister was “of child” by Henry was one of the things she was miffed about and did not want to repeat with Henry in the beginning of their relationship……It is so interesting that new sources come up on old thought to be facts….But, isn’t the research fun……
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I have a question: Did Anne deliberately make Henry agree to take Mary Boleyn’s son from her and raise her in Henry’s coudrt? And the sources have to be accurate, not “Philippa Gregory” fiction. I’d appreciate knowing because I feel it might have Anne’s idea at first. I have looked through my books and on the Web and found no objective evidence either way. Thanks.
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Mary’s son, Henry actually looks kind of like Henry VIII but that doesn’t mean he’s his. I don’t think either are Henry’s but i could be wrong.
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I do believe that Mary Boleyn’s children were fathered by Henry Viii. Mary was married to William Carey before she became the king’s mistress and there is evidence that Mary and William had a sexless Marraige for the longest time .
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I think that henry fathered at least Catherine Knollys (née Carey) because how else could Laetitia have become a redhead even though none of her parents where redheads (Francis Knollys where blonde and Catherine had brown hair) and neither of her grandparents where redheads (Mary Boleyn was blonde and William Carey her preshumed grandfather had dark brown hair). Other things that could prove this is that Henry liked to make his mistresses not sleep with anyone but him, and Catherine was born within the time period of the relationship. the reason that Henry did’nt acknowledge Catherine as his own was that he was within an divorce dispute to marry Marys sister and if he had acknowledged Catherine as his illegitime daughter the marraige could have been conscidered well.. you all know…
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I believe that both children were Henry’s. Or at least Catherine. I just think that Bessie Blount’s son was aknowledged becuase she was not married. I dont believe Mary would have lain with her husband while also in the bed of the king for the reason of possibly bearing a son, however any child born would have to bare the name of her husband instead of fitzroy due to the marriage. Who knows though. Im also just assuming she wouldnt have slept with her husband- she may have been exhausting herself to please both men. But per her reputation in france she wouldve been in shape for it
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