We have the gift of hindsight, we know how Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s relationship ended, and so we can be quite cynical about their relationship and Henry’s feelings towards Anne. But Henry pursued Anne for seven years and was married to her for over three, and he broke with his beloved Church, the Church he had once defended against Luther, to be with her, so he obviously felt quite strongly about her.
Today is obviously the day of romance and love, so here are some resources to find out more about the relationship between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn:
- A Timeline of Anne Boleyn’s Relationship with Henry VIII – From 1528-1533
- Henry VIII Falls in Love with Anne Boleyn
- Henry VIII’s Love Letters to Anne Boleyn
- Henry VIII the Romantic Soul
Have a lovely Valentine’s Day and I hope your romance is more successful than Henry and Anne’s!
Henry loved the image of Anne he created in his mind which, for many of us, is the reality at the start of a relationship. However, dear Anne was a woman of flesh and blood. Henry, ever spoiled and not used to things not turning out his way simply couldn’t deal with the reality of Anne. While most of us replace the illusion of a person with the reality once we get to know the other person, Henry did not have the emotional maturity nor was it within his experience to accept something turning out differently than he expected. Had he accepted Anne as the intellegent, independant woman she was I think she would have held his interest. Had he allowed his image of her to be replaced with admiration of her as a woman, a real woman and not his image of a woman, history would be far different, though possibly not for the better. Had Henry and Anne remained married, Elizabeth would’ve been a far different person. Anne’s life and death, though tragic, was not pointless, leaving as her legacy the most beloved of all Queens.
Jill, well said.
I’ve always hoped in some way, Anne Boleyn would have knowledge that her little daughter (for whose sake she stood at the block and called her murderer ‘a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never,’ in order to keep her in the Kings favor,) would be the incredible success that was Elizabeth I.
Imagine how that might have galled her, yet as a mother, she did her best for her baby. And how England would have suffered if Elizabeth I had never been on the throne; Anne made the ultimate sacrifice in her execution speech.
Ahahahahaha!!! That rose in Henry VIII’s teeth picture is PRICELESS!!!! Well done, Claire! It made my morning. 🙂
Henry was a horn dog and always loved what he couldn’t have the most. Anne Boleyn wanted to be Queen of England and held out for the longest time before she let Henry have his way with her. Some traditions never change. And I believe this love story was at such an intense level as not to be forgotten over time transcending history. If only Anne had been a little smarter (and got more powerful friends at court on her side) maybe she wouldn’t have got beheaded, charged with crimes she hadn’t committed, and lived a longer fuller life.
love the pic of harry with red rose! maybe some artist could make that into a locket for me. priceless! the ladies did seem to love him! happy valentines day all you tudor lovers.
Other than Henry being a King and a very powerful man, I don’t know what any woman saw in him. After he had already secured his position with them, by marriage, I think he was a cold man. Only having anything to do with them intimately in the hope that it would bring a son. I do not think he was very good looking, either, even when he was young. And definitely gross in all ways physical in his last years.
agree with you patricia.
Henry was a narcissist. The allusion to him was the reality. Once reality set in he became disillusioned. Henry needed to be in love.
Yes, he was a romantic but he was in love with love. As well as he wanted what he wanted when he wanted it. The love that burns the brightest is the one that leaves the deepest scars. I also think that a love that is born out of grief & hurt to others cannot continue because that love will bear the quilt of what was done to others to have it.
I truly believe that Henry did mourn for Anne after he realized what he had done.
A man that was the epitome of a king when he was young. Handsome, athletic, intelligent,cultured, devoted to God etc., As he aged everything came out from inside and manifested itself outside.
He became grossly obese, his ulcer on his leg poisoned his whole immune system, he fueled his unhappiness with food, he became even more violent. He had no athletic outlets anymore. Women were not attached to him anymore. Henry knew what he had done to Anne. He also destroyed many of his subjects that were involved in the Anne trials and executions.
Others may say that she had the some fault in her own downfall. How could she have known that the man who loved her would become the king that hated her. Anne was being Anne and I don’t think she knew what she had done. Anne married for love and probably didn’t understand what had changed in Henry’s feelings. She tried to defend the relationship and keep the love. But with a narcissist the more you push and rant and rave the more they distant themselves and pull away. Anne must have been totally confused. Henry would have looked for a safe, calm and peaceful haven and Jane was right in front of him.
I like to think that Henry and Anne were one of the great love affairs in that went tragically wrong. It was Anne’s fate/destiny. For if she would have lived her daughter Elizabeth would not have been Queen and one of the greatest Queens that the world has ever known. She would have been proud and I like to think that Anne was with Elizabeth all the way. So, in the end Anne had the ultimate vengeance on her enemies.
I feel he was more Tudor/Beaufort than York/Woodville.
absolutely agree.
There is a new two-part documentary series ‘Henry & Anne: The Lovers who Changed History’ on television in the UK this week which focuses on the couple’s relationship and its consequences.
It is presented by Dr. Suzannah Lipscomb, who has written several books about Henry and his court. The first part will be shown on Channel 5 at 8.00 p.m. on Thursday.
Thank you Jillian for the info on the TV programme. It will be interesting to see how Anne is presented. I wonder how many of us Tudorphiles are old enough to have seen the Son et Lumiere performances at Hampton Court in the 1960s? Dorothy Tutin played our Quene, and to me she is the personification of the real woman we all have so much interest in.
“Don’t spit in the wind because it will fly back in your face.”
“Man plans, God laughs”
Or to put it another way…
Henry plans, Anne laughs.
I’ve always been amused AND bemused by fact that, despite all of Henry’s efforts to deny Elizabeth legitamacy in bastardizing her, in denying and hiding her away, despite his dynastic desire for a son to carry on the Tudor monarchy, his belief that “girls don’t count” (although to be fair this was a belief of the times in which he lived)), and his pathological narcissism that led to Anne’s death…despite ALL this, Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry and Anne, became the greatest English queen and one of the greatest monarchs in the history of the world.
I think Henry liked to think of himself as romantic or at least courtly and gallant when chasing a lady; once the chase was over, however, a very different reality set in. All men are the same: gallant at the start of the romance; old grouches once the ring is on your finger.
I love reading about all of this and the one thing that has struck me about Elizabeth 1 is that she was her father’s daughter. Yes Anne made the ultimate sacrifice any mother would make for their child, Elizabeth grew from the plots that happened around her when she gain the throne. Of course Henry VIII being the cruel man that he was later in life just reinforce that spine in her I think :).
i think that they could have been sexuly active befor there marigge and anne could have been pregnit all this time