The Fall of Anne Boleyn – 14 May 1536 – Jane Seymour moves closer to the king

Chapyus was bemused when he looked at Jane and his thoughts echoed most at court, this little wallflower being courted by the king, certainly Holbein did the lady no favours but he was known for his very lifelike portraits, and because of his genius, we know what many of the men and women at the Tudor court looked like, she was of middling stature, the term used for medium height in Tudor times, but Janes features were ruined by her heavy nose and she had little piggy eyes with an upward slant to them, a heavy jowly face and tightly pursed mouth, her colouring also was very fair, we do not know what her hair was like but it was probably mousy blonde, and although a white skin was fashionable she appeared too pale, as Chapyus noted, Alison Weir believes she could have suffered from anaemia which could have been a factor in her death, her personality also was like a mouse, very quiet not much to say merely did what she was bid and yet she caught the eye of the king, by now Henry was tired of his volatile wife and Jane was the complete opposite of Anne, but it was not her vapid looks or character which attracted him I believe, merely the fact she came from a very fertile family where her mother had borne fine healthy sons, Chapyus also did not care for her certain haughtiness but this maybe was Jane merely trying to assert herself as the kings intended queen to be, whilst she was wined and dined at Chelsea the kings toady Thomas Cromwell once a friend of the imprisoned queen was writing dispatches to the ambassadors in France, about the said queens incontinent living, one can smell the stench of disgust and betrayal at the way she was described, he mentioned her ladies who had had to endure their mistresses abominations, to whom was he referring? It is alleged that amongst Anne’s women there were three who testified against her, and the Countess of Worcester and Nan Cobham were two named but we no not the third, Elizabeth Browne was said to have been the first informant against the queen but we do know they had been interrogated by the kings men, possibly Fitzwilliam as he had interrogated Smeaton, and Elizabeth was pregnant at the time so in an emotional state, there is the conversation she had with her brother over her loose morals, she then said it’s nothing to what the queen gets up to, but this woman is thought to have been the queens friend and I feel it very unlikely she actually said those words to her brother, maybe her words were twisted by her brother who was not a fan of the queens and she was merely referring to some of the queens ladies not the queen herself, Anne had lent her the sum of £100 an awful lot of money in those days but Elizabeth and her husband it is believed suffered from financial difficulties, and Anne was helping her out, she was known to be quite close to her mistress so I think her words were embellished somewhat, and there is Jane Lady Rochford the queens sister in law, quite possibly her words were twisted to and she has been condemned down the years for accusing her husband and sister in law of incest, the truth is these women must have been bullied into saying things by the threat of death, like Smeaton must have been promised with a merciful end for betraying the queen, it must have been frightening for theses poor women especially Lady Worcester who was carrying a child and therefore was probably weepy and feeling unwell most of the time, to be interrogated by the harsh Fitzwilliam or maybe Cromwell himself or any other of the kings men, we do not know what Nan said about the queen and really we know nothing what Lady Worcester or Lady Rochford or what any of her other women said, it is mere speculation but we can be certain they must have thoroughly frightened at the time.