Today is the anniversary of the arrests of Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII, and her brother, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford.
By this time, court musician Mark Smeaton had confessed, after spending 24 hours in the custody of Thomas Cromwell, to having slept with the queen, and Henry VIII’s good friend and groom of the stool, Sir Henry Norris, had been arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London.
On 2nd May 1536, Anne Boleyn, who was at Greenwich Palace, was asked to meet with members of her husband’s royal council. They informed her that she stood accused of committing adultery with three different men: Mark Smeaton, Sir Henry Norris and a third, unnamed at this stage. Although she denied the charges, she was escorted to the Tower of London.
Anne’s brother George was arrested at York Place (Whitehall) on the same day and escorted to the Tower of London.
You can read more about the arrests by clicking here, or you can enjoy the extract from my book The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown below.
Find my book on Amazon at http://getbook.at/fallanneboleyn
Picture: The Tower of London, copyright Tim Ridgway.