I agree with you here Sharon.Anne is admired for her personality and has a huge impact on history and pop culture but she doesn't have that saintly aura about her.First of all,no matter her historical actions and morals and more on basis with her history,her admirers and her reported charisma and sex appeal ,in my eyes she is the archetypal  femme fatale.She was the it girl of sixteenth century,because everyone knew and talked about what she said,what she wear or lied about that.A woman that even now is considered pure charisma and even scandal(although I believe she didn't cause it or wanted it,she was a scandal for her age).She was bold,cunning,smart,witty and strongheaded.And that is why she attracted a King,make her own chapter in history and still is alive and creating mysteries.Anne will never stop atrracting people to her but she is certainly not a saint or a religious figure.First of all,although protestants used to think of her and Elizabeth as figureheads of the English Protestantism the truth is Anne was not a protestant.Anne was a reformer or more rightly interested in reforming ideas and supportive of freedom in religious matters.But,she died,just like Henry did,practising Catholicism.So Anne,although acceptive of modern ideas,was not immersed in that cause.So,she didn't fought for religious matters.After all the truth is that both she and Henry had benefits for the reformation(their marriage)and their personal gains.And the same goes in my opinion of Katherine of Aragone.Many consider her as a saint but the truth is,apart from the fact that she was left from her husband,that she too played more political games than simple prayers(she fought both for her and her daughter's crown).Yes,religion was a huge part of their life back then but we are talking about royalty and courts.There,the main goal was to keep the crown,defeat your enemies and survive.Henry,Anne,KoA,Jane,they all played their part in the reformation,chosed sides but not for merely for the sake of it but for the power strugle.To me,they used religion more like a weapon than a cause.

Anne was a strong and remarkable woman,an even now attractive person,a wholesome personality with good and bad sides,an interesting story,a legacy herself.Anne inspires awe,you either fall in love with her or you hate her.She was not a saint or a martyr but she did suffered and in the way a big majority of women suffer(when the man you love betrays you)and more than that.She is legendary but not in an ethereal way,more like a real person with her trials,triumphants and sufferings.Anne didn't walk with giants but was one herself

mmmhh this is interesting.  I have never thought of it as a cult-because usually when one refers to a cult there are bad associations but I suppose its just the media and the world making me think that cults are bad but I suppose there is a sort of Anne Cult-with no bad associations though, of course!

Yes, and I think really we're more of a fan club than a cult, but I'm not quite sure of the exact definition of a cult anyway.

And it is strange to think about how Anne would react. My guess is probably that she would have a sort of “well of course, I'm Queen Anne” attitude as a facade, but inside would be happy because I think she must have felt the opressing dislike she faced and realized painfully that most people preferred KoA and Mary to her.

wreckmasterjay said:

Boleynfan said:

Well put, wreckmasterjay…I think, in a way, there is a cult of Anne (a good way of course) because she's touched the lives of so many (us haha) and we constantly discuss and talk basically nonstop about her, so wouldn't that classify as a cult?

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Yes definitely…..you could hardly call it a fan club or a gathering as technically most of us have never met unless you go on the tour. We are all united together via the internet thanks to Anne!
 

Strange when you think of it. Wonder how Anne would have reacted if she knew she would have such a following all these years later

I like to think that Anne would be/is pleased that so many people still think positively about her.

Yes, I'd like to think so too, and I feel the same way, Bella. I feel sorry for her, being surrounded by people who hated her, not because of her personality but because of who she 'usurped.' Poor Anne.