If you look at the portrait of Anne in her germannic dress she does look awful to be honest, the dress doesn’t do her any credit at all, but she does have a pleasing looking face. If it is Anne in the picture that is generally accepted as K.H, the change of dress has made a very big difference to the whole outlook of Anne. it really doesn’t look like the same person if that makes sence. The sitter of this portrait looks vivacious and and very pretty. The Germanic dress does make Anne look lumpy and out of proportion, but the French style of dress completely flatters her figure.

In some ways it’s fairly possible that although Henry fell in love or should I say what he felt was love with the portrait of Anne when he met her in that awful dress, that was the turn off. If she had been dressed in the English/French style of dress things would have been a lot different. The old saying first impressions count, was certainly true here.. Yet I still find it funny that over time Henry and Anne became very good freinds. I’ve said it before, if Henry had given his marriage to Anne a chance I rather think it would have been happy and successful, there may have even been a Duke of York and a few other children too.

I totally agree about the portraits…in fact I posted the selfsame thing just a few weeks ago! I don’t think the ‘french hood’ image is Katherine Howard at all, I think it’s been misidentified, as so many portraits were. To me she looks just like AOC in English clothes.