I think Anne could hold her own in the looks department. Marillac claimed she was of medium beauty…whatever that means. Many of Henry’s other contemporaries claimed she was quite lovely. However, what draws me to Anne isn’t so much her looks, but her personality. Everyone thought she acted in a queenly manner including Henry. She was quick to laugh. She responded to Henry “with most amiable aspect and womanly behavior.” The people took to her immediately. It was Henry’s opinion that mattered and he just did not like her, and his opinion never changed. IMO, had he given her a chance they would have been great together. Henry made a big mistake by rejecting Anne as he did.
Hall’s description of Anne at festivities and jousts a few days after the wedding took place, “Anne looking on dressed after the English fashion, with a French hood, which so set forth her beauty and good visage that every creature rejoiced to behold her.” Here was a woman who was eager to please the King. Henry never gave her a chance.
Henry was so eager to make Anne his, until he met her. He wasn’t use to mail order brides. He was different from other kings in that respect. He had always chosen his own brides after romancing them. KOA was the only bride who was from a different country, but they had known each other for years. Same with Anne and Jane. Although he may have thought he would fall in love with Anne at first sight, I don’t think he liked the idea of meeting a woman and marrying her before they could even understand each other. Henry was a romantic and in his mind he needed to “love” his women before he married them. Why didn’t he take the time after they were married to fall in love? Maybe because there was someone else who had caught his eye?
The black and white is beautiful! I had never seen that before.

I agree Sharon. Anne wasn’t what you would call beautiful but her appearence is very pleasing, her true beauty was from within. From what little I’ve read about her or should I say what little we know about her, she was intelligent, freindly and there was no hint of spite of vindictivness in her nature. She was happy with her lot. If only Lard arse had given his marriage a chance I’m sure they would have been quite happy, considering they were quite freindly with each other after the divorce, it adds to me at least that the marriage might have worked out well if Henry had given it go.
Of course we all know that Henry was allowing his doodle to rule his head over the whole affair the reason for that was quite simple, because lard arse only ever had enough blood to power one thing, and it wasn’t his brain.
Yes I agree Anne’s sisters were lovely, but I find Amelia a little bit harsh in appearence maybe it’s just the way the picture has been drawn, but her features seem to be more masculine in appearence, instead of the softer appearence than either Anne or Sybilla.
I wonder why Anne didn’t send for her sister after Lard Arse divorced her? I would have thought she would have wanted to have her sister with her for company, as I kind of get the impression that for the most part Anne and Amelia were ignored by their brother.

Yes Mariette you could well be right, the style of dress is more in keeping with what was around at the time when K.P was Queen. Although Holbien was comissioned to paint both of the sisters, wasn’t he? In which case one has to ask just who was this portrait of? was it possible that it was another potential bride for Henry which is believed it was Amelia? Holbien surely didn’t just do one or 2 portraits when Henry was being railroaded into another marriage, surely Holbien would have been ordered to do a job lot of portraits. So it’s possible that this sitter is from one of the Europeon courts.
I agree Amelia is a bit of an enigma which is I don’t understand why Anne didn’t send for Amelia. It can’t have been a lot of fun for Amelia just shut up in her brother’s castle all but forgotten. From what I have read Anne’s life at her brother’s court was fairly mundane, she was taught reading and writing, but things like cards, dancing, singing or playing any instrument her brother felt were un-necessary, although she was an expert with a needle. Granted she was given a crash course in English court ettiquette, but not enough to please Henry.
Henry couldn’t afford to send Anne packing back to Germany, as the Cleves dukedom was being threatened by the Spanish Catholics I believe. If Henry sent Anne back, her brother could have teamed up with the Emperor and given England a bloody nose or worse still turfed Henry off the throne and placed Mary on it. On the other hand, by keeping Anne in England and treating with all due respect it sent a message to the Emperor to leave Cleves alone or else. At least that’s the way I see it.
By treating Anne as his adopted sister Henry (who was a craven coward) guarenteed that he had an army abroad to fight his battles. If England was threatened by some forgien invader Anne’s brother would come to bat for Henry.

Call me cynical, but I suspect part of the reason Henry refused when her brother tried to renegotiate the marriage after Kat Howard was executed was that Anne wasn’t wholly his subject. Whatever false titles he gave her. He only married two foreign princesses, and with the threats he faced after his struggle to annul his first marriage, I wouldn’t think Henry would want to marry a wife he couldn’t control easily. He may have had those regrets in the first few months in his marriage, but I’m just speculating. That’s also why I think he offered her such a generous settlement, he couldn’t really just get rid of her or frame her in any way.

Mariette said

Boleyn said

I even suspect that little Kitty Howard would have been cast off sooner or later, as I should imagine at times she perhaps irritated Henry, with her flighty and reckless behaviour. Whether she would have been executed it another matter. I shall always believe that her death was a terrible travesty and miscarriage of justice just as Anne’s was, but I do have a theory about why she was executed.

I agree with you, Boleyn. What’s your theory about why KH was executed?

Mariette my theory to why Kitty Howard was killed all revoves around Henry’s over inflated (well all of him was over inflated) ego.
It all starts with a remark that Anne B may or may not said (I don’t think Anne said it, Cromwell invented it to blacken Anne.)
Right the chance remark being that Anne said “Henry is no good in bed, and can’t satify a woman.” If we say for the sake of arguement here that she did say it, this is why poor Kitty Howard had to die.
Thin about it. C.O.A was dead, so she couldn’t say anything to defend Henry’s bedroom frolics, Anne was dead, Jane Seymour was dead so couldn’t say otherwise. A.O.C maintained that the marriage was never consummated so wouldnt have known if he was any good or not.
Kitty Howard and Henry had loud and noisy sex so she could certainly say “Yeah do you know something my cousin Anne was right Henry is crap in bed” He couldn’t afford to take the risk that she wouldn’t say anything about his prowess or lack there of.
Henry’s ego took a battering when Anne B was murdered, and to be honest I don’t think he really ever recovered from that.
Poor Kitty Howard was doomed from the start once her indiscretions came to light, he couldn’t live with the fact that Kitty may have all along been comparing Dereham’s lovemaking skills to Henry’s lovemaking skills. The only way of guarenteeing that nothing was said was by killing her.
K.P certainly wouldn’t have said anything about Henry’s sausage or his lovemaking skills whilst he was alive (assuming they even had sex), and once Henry was dead it wouldn’t matter what K.P said.

Yes Olga, Henry loved his silly games of make believe and he played the role of the poor bleeding martyr to perfection, Hell he would have put many good Shakespearean actor to shame, with his performances.
What makes me laugh about the whole fiasco at Rochester castle, is did he seriously think that a woman who had been told perhaps very little about the man she was going to marry, should recognise him when he doffed his cap and played the fool basically. Which again leads me to question, what exactly was she told about him? What he would look like etc?
I’m not too sure about this but I think when Anne recieved him she felt he was a servant of the King, and one that was acting beyond his station, especially when he went to kiss her. She must have thought “Dear God what sort of a court has my brother sent me to, to allow servants to go around kissing the King’s wife?”
I didn’t know that Anne felt she was still Henry’s wife after the sham of his 5th marriage began to tear apart, but I did know that when Lard Arse married K.P, she did feel that K.P was of lower status to her. Interesting notion about her remarrying him and I feel that perhaps if they had remarried they would have been happy. Henry’s ego was a large one, and perhaps Anne was just the person to keep it in control so to speak. In some ways looking at Anne behaviour wise her manner is similar to J.S and C.O.A, meek, humble and grateful for what she had and was given. She might not have been as educated as C.O.A, but she was certainly intelligent enough to use her head and keep it when Henry wanted rid of her.
Thanks for the tip on the book I’ll give that a whirl, no not into the chipmunk cage Olga, LOL…