Hello, Claire. These are my questions: 1) What is actually known of Anne Boleyn`s burial? How many stories are there related to this topic? Who gave the permission for her body to be buried in St. Peter ad Vincula, even after she was stripped of all her titles? Did her parents ever visit the final resting place of their children? 2) How come there are no reliable portraits of Anne Boleyn? We have Catherine Howard`s portrait, a queen also charged with treason and infidelity. Henry was really depressed after Catherine’s death, but still I kind of think that he made more effort to remove traces of Anne’s presence from court and his life.
1) We know that that Anne Boleyn's ladies wrapped her head and body in white cloth and then placed them in an elm chest which had once been used for bow staves. The Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula was the Tower chapel and had already been used as the burial place for the Earl of Kildare (1534), Thomas More (1535) and Bishop John Fisher (1535). George and Anne, as traitors who were also important people, were buried in the chapel and Norris, Smeaton, Weston and Brereton were buried in the chapel graveyard. I doubt that Anne's parents would have visited the Chapel to pay their respects as George and Anne had died as traitors to the crown. You can read more about Anne's resting place and the exhumation of her body in my articles https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/anne-boleyns-remains-the-exhumation-of-anne-boleyn/6426/ and https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/where-is-anne-boleyn-buried/4891/
2) We actually only have one definite portrait of Catherine Howard and that is the miniature of her. We have a contemporary image of Anne Boleyn: the medal struck in 1534 and the NPG portrait dates to the late 16th century, so in living memory. Although both Queens died as traitors Anne's name was far more blackened, I suspect because she had been Queen longer and also because of her religious persuasion.
