I think she was just a really naive air-head, who was her uncle's pawn. She just didn't connect herself, her adultery and Anne Boleyn. Henry seemed to love her so much that I think she thought her would let her away with absolutely anything, if she acted upset enough.

But to be honest, I don't blame her. At all. Henry was old enough to be her grandfather, let alone her father. It was extremely perverted. And he was the size of a house (at least), he stank to the high heavens, and was lame to boot. And there was dashing young Culpepper, and Henry was thrusting them together for dancing and whatnot. So no wonder she sought solace else where. And with Lady Rochford helping, a senior lady in waiting, she probably though she was doing nothing seriously wrong, the King took mistresses, did he not? (Admittedly not with her, but I can see LR feeding her that rubbish).

The poor girl was completely mislead by adults whom she trusted.

I heard a definition of insanity recently;

\”doing the same thing over and over but looking for different results.\”

This could well be attributed to Henry, I do think.

While no stretch of the imagination could put the Love element into Henry and Catherine Howard's relationship, however, her eyes were not shut. The influential power wielders of Henry's court would have found a way to prevent the union if it was not going to be advantageous to them. Henry was  not expected to last too long and as he had bedroom difficulties with Anne of Cleaves, (as he was the Great King, it must have been his wife's fault!) as they say in the Spaghetti Westerns \”someone was shooting from the side\” but Catherine broke rule number one of having an affair, \”Don't get caught\” It would seem that every one was in a hurry to see the Queen pregnant.

Getting caught playing away from home as Queen to Henry meant but one thing, The Tower of London. So angry was Henry, he ordered her body covered in lime after her execution, the ultimate insult that he could give. This would seem to be true, as in the excavation of Saint Peter Ad Vincula, one body believed to be Catherine was found burned with lime.

There was a portrait of all six wives in Hampton court when I visited last May, Catherine Howard was strikingly beautiful, in my humble opinion.

Death wish or silly girl?

Don't think she had a death wish, I do believe that she was lifted from obscurity for more reasons than to keep Henry's bed warm and knew the risks and dangers she faced. Within court, it was almost impossible to keep an affair a secret. after all, Kings and Queen's lived in constant fear of being murdered even in their sleep and would never be left alone. Many people would have known what was going on and kept it well hidden from Henry and anyone who could give Catherine up to him. Silly girl for being led perhaps?

I believe she thought that in her position, she could do whatever she wanted, with no consequences. She did what she wanted at her grandmother's house… What would make being queen any different? She had clothes, jewels, and men throwing themselves at her. She loved the attention, I think. I don't know if she knew what it was really like, and sad to say, it ended up being her downfall.

I don't blame her really.. Henry was past his prime when he found her, and thought she was going to restore his youth. He was sadly mistaken. I wouldn't want him to paw at me in public, and the smell of his wound? OMG. I would be soo sick from the smell. He could've just put her in a convent, but he executed her. Her family should've taken better care of her. Not throw her in the lion's den and leave her to die..

I don't think she had a death wish. I think it was a matter of risk vs. reward. Lots of people risk their lives for fame and fortune. In those days she didn't have a lot of options. She probably also had a lot of pressure from her family for what it would mean for them as well.

~ Mark

Thanks Gina!

Another thought is maybe she figured he'd die soon. 🙂

Another thing to bear in mind here, is that a lot of the evidence against Katherine Howard came from the affair with Dereham (her marraige to the King was annulled due to a pre-contract that existed between Howard and Dereham), wich happened before she met the King. Her affair, (if that is what it was), with Culpeper also, has doubts surrounding it. Yes, they were meeting up late at night, but theres doubt as to whether or not full sexual intercourse actually took place. Atleast, thats what David Starkey seemed to be implying in Six Wives.

About the tudors, I'm completely the same. I was in a blind rage for about a week after that episode. I thought they would of gone for the silly, self-obsessed teenage girl angle, not the teenage prostitute angle. I'm still furious.

Jasmine said:

The Tudors is a light entertainment programme, certainly not history, and therefore should not be taken too seriously!

Oh yes, I realise that. I just don`t know why they felt the need to vilify Katherine Howard so badly. There`s a malicious edge to it.