Ok, well, obviously the second one has been sort of brought to light and popularized with TOBG.  Whether or not it's true is another matter.  I mean, these are reports being sent to the Spanish court which we all know was none-too-happy with Anne and likely to believe some of the most heinous stuff.  I mean, look at Chapuys.

However, the first one that you referenced–wow!!  I had never heard that one!  It would be interesting to know how they suggested that Anne faked a pregnancy and labor and childbirth without Henry ever knowing about it.

I think people think I'm crazy, but I still say that Henry had Anne murdered because he couldn't stand the thought of going through another 7-year divorce.  He had decided (probably somewhat correctly) that Anne would fight him.  Not only that, but he was also probably trying to save face before his subjects.  He had spent 7 years ridding himself of a very popular wife, telling his people over and over again that she wasn't his true wife–that this woman, Anne Boleyn, was destined to be his true wife.  And his subjects had accepted it, even if some of them didn't like it.  And Anne, for all her admirable qualities, never managed to attain the level of love and acceptance that Katherine had won.  And part of the reason why Anne never achieved that was precisely because of those qualities that we find admirable in a woman, but men and women of Tudor England did not.  Henry and Anne both knew that she wasn't popular, so making treason charges–no matter how outrageous–stick was easier for him than going through another divorce.  Before Anne would agree to a divorce, she had to be broken, and I don't think Anne was truly broken until she was taken to the Tower and realized there was no hope for her.  I mean, what was Henry going to say, “Oops, my bad.  Remember how I thought Anne was my true wife?  Yeah, I was wrong.  Again.  Silly me.  You'd think I'd have figured it all out by now, but clearly not.  So, yeah, I know I plunged everyone into this huge political mess with the Pope and everything, and I wound up treating Katherine like crap and turned my eldest daughter into a bastard for this woman.  But…I'm just going to divorce her and try again!”  Does that sound like Henry?  Of course not!  And that's the message that simply divorcing Anne would have given.  This man can't even pick a wife–how can he competently run our country?

I think he killed her because of all the people who didn't accept the concept of divorce – quite a large percentage of England had been raised under Catholicism, which taught that divorce was wrong. Those people had had to accept the King's wishes to rid himself of KOA, but didn't like it. Now that Katharine was dead, they considered him widowed. If he had simply put Anne away, there would have been an uproar again, because he had declared Anne his wife and had had a child with her and that constituted a common-law marriage that would affect the legality of him marrying Jane. But if Anne is dead (and conveniently blamed for the divorce from Katharine), then Henry's slate is wiped clean and no one can question his marriage to Jane.

Henry never questioned Elizabeth's parentage. Amazingly he didn't. Just saying…

I agree with Starkey's argument that blood had been shed to make Anne's marriage, so blood would be shed to have it undone. It seems the whole thing had come full circle, and Anne found herself in a den of wolves, out for blood, and wanted rid of her. It was not simply Henry who wanted her gone. Anne had many enemies, few friends, and none as powerful as KOA had years before.

I agree with Impish. To Catholics, Henry was a widower. His “real” wife dead, and he was free to marry. Anne was his mistress, not wife or Queen. To kill her was no great loss. She was not a princess. Who would speak for her? No one. So, be rid of the cancer and move on. For many, it is better to be the right hand of the devil than in his path.

Putting Anne away was too risky a venture. There was always a risk by keeping her alive. Remember the problems surrounding KOA and Mary. The constant risk of rebellion, violence, or Elizabeth supporting her mother and joining forces.

By 1536, divorcing Anne was not an option. Henry had to save face, and killing her was the best option. He moved heaven and earth to marry her, ripped apart English society, and was simply going to divorce her. No way. Anne's removal had to be permanent. Out of sight, out of mind. Nopt just take her down, but those of her closest friends.

Henry was not only getting rid of a wife he no longer loved, but was making a clear statment to others: I am King. Do not cross me. Any who deny me will meet the same fate as Anne Boleyn.

If Christina of Denmark truly made that statement (and I hope to dear God that she did), then I would imagine that Henry's interest in her waned significantly once he heard that 😀

Henry declared that he was putting Katherine aside because his conscience was troubled, not because he wanted a Son that she could not give him. 

When Anne could not give him a Son either, it would have looked highly suspicious if he said the same about her and moved on to Jane.  There had to be a swift, permanent solution that could not be challenged, and treason/adultery/incest was it.  If people believed the charges against Anne, then Henry would get sympathy rather than becoming the laughing stock of Europe.

I was wondering if Henry had Anne beheaded it was partly because he believed she was guilty and had committed adultery, whereas with Katherine of Aragon there was never any suggestion of such behaviour on her part?

Boleyn said:

Actually Claire the website is wrong.. Weston, Brereton, Norris and Smeton, were executed on the 17th of May as was Anne’s brother George.. Weston, Brereton, Norris and Lord Rocheford were simply beheaded, because they were landed gentry, Poor Mark Smeton however being a commoner didn’t have that favour, he had to go through the full horror of being Hung Drawn and Quartered.

All my cites say that Smeaton was beheaded . The only royal adulterer who has hung drawn and quartered was Francis Dereham the supposed lover of Katherine Howard.

Sorry to use wiki but all my books got tidyed away for the new stash