In my latest video, I’m diving into ten of the most-searched questions about Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s ill-fated fifth wife.
From her relationship with Henry VIII to the scandals and secrets that surrounded her, I’m peeling back the layers to reveal the real Catherine — beyond the myths.
Was Catherine Howard simply reckless, or a victim of court intrigue?
Who was the real Catherine Howard? Was she truly in love with Thomas Culpeper? How did her past come back to haunt her?
I do believe Catharine Howard was out of her depth a little when she consented to marry the king, this young woman had a most unconventional upbringing and was no pure maiden when she married the ageing obese king who was thirty years her senior, and one wonders what on earth was the king thinking of also? But as we know Henry V111 liked the wedded state though it did not bring him much happiness, his fifth marriage was a disaster and ended with more blood being shed and left him feeling bereft depressed and more bad tempered than ever, I don’t believe we will ever know the real Catherine but give her credit, her conduct as consort was exemplary she entertained visiting dignitaries and hosted ambassadors, her northern progress with the king was a success and like queens in the past, she helped the poor and needy and championed women’s problems who asked for her help, she tried her best and made the king very happy and he treated her with the deepest of respect, and spoiled her with lavish gifts, she appears to have got on well with other women and probably was a warm hearted sociable girl, her marriage initially was a success, alas if she had not strayed towards another man but passions ran high in this young woman, and she could not control them, any other woman her age would be the same, but Catherine was the queen and had to be above reproach, she cannot be blamed for her upbringing which was lax to say the least, and neither she not her family knew she would one day catch the eyes of the king, but her behaviour in seeking out the company of the kings groom of the stool was extremely foolhardy, and here we are shown the depth of her youth and naivety, one wonders also what the king was doing in ever marrying her, he was well aware of the age gap between them but maybe with a good deal of pragmatism, he was thinking she would be able to give him a fine healthy prince, youth is everything but sadly, that oft repeated saying, ‘youth is wasted on the young ‘, was never more apparent in the sad story of Catherine Howard, she did not possess the maturity that an older woman possessed and risked her position her very life for a few snatched stolen hours with her lover in the dark, some have said they don’t believe she ever slept with Thomas Culpeper but I believe she did, or maybe she was hoping the king would die so she could marry Culpeper and so this young foolish couple decided to wait, but if adultery in the biblical sense of the word had not taken place, betrayal there certainly was, for a queen to meet with another man alone, and we do not know what words were spoken, was enough to infer that wrongdoing had occurred, Catherine also placed the life of her lady in waiting in jeopardy and brought her entire family into disrepute, I don’t think there was a plot to bring her down although being catholic and a member of the snobbish Howard family did not endear her to many, it was her own foolishness that was her undoing, John Lascelles whose sister Mary had known Catherine whilst at her grandmothers house was not a catholic , and it was through her he decided to inform on the queens past misdeeds, but how do we know if his intentions was merely to bring her down and the catholic faction or simply down to the lack of moral standards, which as queen she should have possessed, had Catherine not met with Culpeper she could have escaped with her life, the past was in the past and could have stayed there, and the king could have been merciful, unfortunately her meetings with Culpeper destroyed any vestige of mercy she could have hoped for, her death certainly was an example for any future queens to heed.