On 28th May 1533, Henry VIII’s Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, proclaimed the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn valid.
This was following the ruling of Cranmer’s special court at Dunstable that Henry VIII’s first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, was invalid and therefore annulled.
All this was great news for Henry and Anne because they’d been busy organising Anne’s coronation, which began on 29th May 1533 with a lavish river pageant.
Of course, Catherine of Aragon never recognised the annulment of her marriage or her new title of Dowager Princess of Wales.
