I can’t quite believe that I’m even handling these two questions, but this is 2020 after all!
Yes, my inbox, my Messenger box and my YouTube channel are full of emails regarding a ‘theory’ (see how polite I’m being there!) that Anne Boleyn survived her execution and that a man is claiming to be descended from her and has laid claim to the British crown. Yep.
Now, I’ve happily ignored the ones written in capital letters and insulting me for the information I share, which apparently is incorrect and I’m closed-minded, but I’ve also received some rational messages and emails just asking me for my thoughts on this, so here you go…
Oh, and by the way, the answers to those questions are no and no.
And I know I’ll have at least one person saying that I need to provide evidence disputing each of his claims, so here’s my answer to that: No, I don’t. Hallett’s making outlandish claims which go against accepted historical fact, so it’s Hallet who needs to back up his claims with evidence. My books, articles and videos put forward evidence regarding Anne Boleyn’s execution from contemporary sources and his ‘documents’ are not evidence in any shape or form.
Hallett’s website can be found at https://www.kingof.uk/, but do be warned that you’ll be going down a rabbit hole of craziness – Holy Grail, prophecies, predictions, sang real, outlandish claims, bad history….
If you prefer articles to videos, there is a transcript at the bottom of this post.
As you probably know, as well as running the Anne Boleyn Files, producing history videos and writing history books, I also run the Tudor Society, a membership website. As part of that, I do talks on Tudor topics three to four times a month. I’ve shared this week’s one on YouTube as an example, so here it is. You can test out membership of the Tudor Society, which also includes, magazines, expert talks, live chats and lots of resources, with a 14-day free trial at https://www.TudorSociety.com
Transcript
Did Anne Boleyn survive and does the UK have a new monarch?
Ok, for those of you who just want short and straight answers, no and no.
For those of you wanting slightly longer answers, no, poppycock, no, absolute rubbish.
And for those of you wanting to know what on earth I’m on about, keep on listening…
I’m receiving quite a few comments, messages and emails at the moment regarding a man named Joseph Gregory Hallett, who has proclaimed himself the UK’s true monarch, King John III. According to the emails and comments I’ve received, the pope has recognised him as king and the queen has gone into hiding and Prince William has abdicated in favour of Greg Hallett. Now this is not new, he’s been around a while and I came across him a few years ago, but he’s re-emerged and renewed his claim to the throne.
In the past, I’ve just ignored him and his claims, and I must say that I’ve been ignoring all the YouTube comments I’ve had about him as I really didn’t want to give him any air time, but enough’s enough and I’m going to address his claims in this video, as they relate to Anne Boleyn, and then I will move on.
What on earth am I going on about? You may well ask.
Well I won’t even get into the religious predictions, Holy Grail, Book of Predictions mumbo jumbo, and that’s the most polite term I can think of to describe it, I’ll just focus on the bit surrounding my favourite Tudor personality, Queen Anne Boleyn, and how Greg Hallett claims to descend from her and be King of England.
In a document on his website, which is a rabbit hole of completely bizarre stuff, he has a scan of what is described as a “Certified declaration of Queen Anne Boleyn’s royal lineage in Joseph Gregory Hallett”, which he appears to have sent to members of the royal family, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the pope and several world leaders – Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and which is stamped “Common Law Courts Great Britain” and Prince Regent Duke Governor Joseph Gregory Hallett. In this huge document, which made me want to prick out my own eyes, he writes the following:
- That Queen Anne Boleyn ruled 1532/3-1536, which she didn’t, her husband was the monarch
- That she was the highest Queen of England possible, erm, no, she was a queen consort not queen regnant
- That she avoided her execution – erm, it was witnessed and her ladies dealt with her very dead remains. But no, she lived to breed again, reinvigorating the Royal Holy Grael lineage… I’m thinking Da Vinci Code here… And, according to Hallett’s documents, Anne, her relatives and friends, many of whom also had their executions faked, were granted 94% of England to occupy. Now, Henry VIII may not have noticed this, because apparently he was mad, but you’d think someone would have noticed Anne being alive and taking over that much of the country. Perhaps they were all mad or Anne put something in their drinks.
- That her grandson became Sir Walter Raleigh and was born with the title Christ and earned the title Christ in July 1596 and 1609-10 “creating the legitimate independent posthumous Royal Holy Grael lineage”, and obviously Hallett is descended from this line, and Hallett pulled the sword from the stone, joined kingdoms and time, and he is the fulfilment of predictions and a prophecy come true… – can you see why I wanted to prick out my eyes yet? I was constantly snorting coffee on to my laptop screen reading his claims.
- That Anne Boleyn carried the titles Roman Emperor and Pontifex Maximus from Rome and France to England, “providing enough leverage to end the Papal Vassal State, reclaim a quarter of the land of England, develop and publish the first complete Old Testament and New Testament Bible in English, and establish the Church of England” dot dot dot, lots more mumbo jumbo.
Oh boy, I really don’t know where to start. I love Anne Boleyn, I think she played a part in the Reformation and was a patron of religious reformers and supported the dissemination of the Bible in English, but this is all just such rubbish and I hate that her name is being brought into this. But, according to Hallett and his documents, the royal family, Archbishop of Canterbury and everyone important, all accept his claims, so I must be the one who’s stupid.
Ha!
Even if Anne Boleyn could have survived her execution and bred again, having a child whose son was Sir Walter Raleigh, how does that have anything to do with a claim to the throne? Anne wasn’t the monarch. Hallett doesn’t really explain that. And how does this have anything to do with the present queen’s claim? Well, it doesn’t.
Other outlandish claims on Hallett’s website, just to put his claims regarding Anne in context, are:
- That King Juan Carlos of Spain is Prince William’s father – Untrue
- That Grace Kelly was executed by her former lesbian lover, Queen Elizabeth II – Untrue
- Quote: “The Coins of the United Kingdom spell “Elizabeth to Greg” over ‘11,011’ days, which spells “MoM”, which renders a Son.” – Nope, I don’t understand that one either.
- Elizabeth II wasn’t George VI’s daughter, but was actually conceived using sperm donated by Winston Churchill, she sat over a fake Coronation Stone, and her acceptance speech backwards sounds: “Someone’s making it up”. Now you’re all going to dash away and play her speech backwards, aren’t you? I think you’ll find that Hallett is the one making it up.
- Quote “Monty Python and the Holy Grail literally spells out: “Gregory Hallett Holy Grael, Give him Holy Grael, 777”. This translates as ‘Gregory Hallett will represent the End Times and New Age and Times of the End, and the Shin’ … just as it happened.” Ok… Nope, I can’t make sense of that one either.
- That the queen actually abdicated to Greg in 1981 – Nope, don’t get that one either.
And I won’t even go into how the movies My Fair Lady, Roman Holiday, X Men, The Wolverine, The Mummy and others all connect to Hallett and his claim.
And why does he call himself John III and not John II? Well, according to him, Queen Victoria’s eldest son by her first marriage to Blind Prince George of Cumberland – remember that marriage? No, nor do I? – was Marcos Manoel who was exiled to Portugal but who was made King of England, as John II, in 1869. So that clarifies that, obviously. Well, nope!
I went and had a look at his Twitter account and that’s just as mad, but I did love a tweet from a man named Colin who declared Hallett the “rightful hare of England”. That just about sums it up.
It’s all so wacky. Is he mad or just trying to make some money from books and videos, who knows, but I don’t expect to see his coronation any time soon. I find it sad that people are encouraging him in his pursuit.
And, yes, this is 2020, a year that nobody will forget, so we might as well have a madman trying to claim the throne of England as well.
