From Pin-Up Prince to Powerhouse King: The Transformation of Henry VIII

Henry V111 did resemble his grandfather in not just looks but in character to, jovial warm hearted and generous, but quick tempered and when aroused, they were both terrifying in their anger, Edward was described as very handsome physically with a broad chest and long limbs, so was Henry V111, and their portraits do show a family likeness, but not only were they blessed with great beauty, they were both prone to gluttony as they grew older, but Henry V111’s girth far exceeded that of Edwards, painted when a teenager, his fresh looks soon deteriorated into the king we know and love to hate, the king whose character darkened as he moved into his twilight years with the blood of many on his hands, including his two wretched queens, Holbein really captured the image of this iconic king in his famous portrait, over large and richly apparelled he beams benignly down at us, his famous cap with the feathers on one side, his bulging codpiece which was a mere front and his fine shapely calves evident in his legs astride, in his early portrait he looks what he was, a young lad on the cusp of adulthood, a callow youth, no flabby jowls around his heart shaped face and his eyes are wide, then we can see how his face and figure broadened over the years, in the pictures of him his face is looking more bull like and his narrow eyes become slit like, his armour had to be much bigger and in the armoury section in the Tower the difference can be clearly seen in the ones he wore as a young king, and as much older, his doctors would have tried to make Henry partake of less food and wine, but I think his appetite increased when he became quite infirm after his leg injuries and final fatal jousting accident, depression would have set in and thus a downward cycle begins, hardly any exercise more food and the weight piles on, and as we age our tendency to put on weight increases as our metabolism slows down, the more obese one becomes, and the more immobile one becomes, towards the end of his days he was so huge he had to be winched onto his horse and was pushed around in a wheelchair, he was bad tempered suspicious and paranoid, he spared none in his fury, there is a picture of him at this time, and he looks a world away from the fresh man of his youth, his face was bloated and his eyes are nearly embedded in layers of flesh, his winged eyebrows and tiny pursed mouth makes him look cruel and spiteful, in fact he looks every inch the king whom Charles Dickens described as with the Humpty Dumpty face of nightmare, tragic to contemplate what this man had once looked like what he had been, and this is the king whom the world knows of, but look beyond the sad carcass of this prince and there was still a fine cultured mind, a mind who once composed music who wrote poetry and who could speak several languages, a king whose court was once spoken of as the most beautiful in Europe and who himself was called the most handsomest prince in Christendom.