In ‘The Tudors’ Natalie portrays the tragic Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII. Before  catching the attention of the King, Anne had spent most of her early teens in the French Court, many  people have commented that when Anne finally did come to the English Court in 1521 she looked  more like a French Lady rather than just an English Girl. Anne was very intelligent and used this to  her advantage, she was not like all the other ladies in court, she was different and interesting and  this, she knew, would intrigue the King.

It is not known exactly when the King first noticed Anne, but is estimated around 1526, although the show ‘The Tudors’ makes it out to be at the Masque, which was Anne’s first recorded court appearance and which actually happened in 1521, thus far to early for Henry to have first noticed her. However when he did notice her, the King set out to make her his mistress which Anne adamantly turned down. Henry had previously been involved with Anne’s sister Mary, but had soon cast her aside. Anne did not want the same thing to happen to her. She continually refused the King’s advances which seemed to have spurred him on.

Soon enough Henry was head over heels in love in Anne, evident by the love letters he wrote to her when she was absent from court. “Wishing my self (specially an Evening) in my Sweethearts Armes whose pritty Duckys2 I trust shortly to kysse. Writne with the Hand of him that was, is, and shall be yours by his will.”

It was in 1527 that Henry first began to seek a divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon, a process that proved to take its time and toll on the couple. As the time grew on Anne became more and more frustrated, often having fits of anger with the King in public. However her position continued to rise, Henry continued to spend large amounts of money on his sweetheart. Also, in September 1532 Anne was given the title ‘Marquess of Pembroke’, a title which meant she attend meetings with the King, most notably meetings between Henry and the King of France where Anne used her excellent French to charm the king.

On the 23rd of May 1533, Henry’s marriage was officially proclaimed invalid and Henry was free to marry Anne, who was already pregnant. Anne received a grand coronation that lasted a few days and was treated with every comfort, for she, it was believed was carrying the King’s son. Special letters were drawn up before the birth of the child announcing to the world that a prince had been born. However on the 7th September, Anne gave birth to a princess, not a prince. Both parties were devastated but held their heads high and gave Elizabeth a grand welcoming.

Elizabeth was taken from Anne and put under the care of a wet nurse as was customary in that time, but Anne made sure she saw the Princess regularly and picked out all her dresses. Thus Anne could focus her maternal instincts on providing a son for the king, and soon enough Queen Anne was pregnant again. However sometime after January 1934 she miscarried, a year later she was pregnant for a third time but gave birth to a still born baby boy. Henry was furious and began to get tired of Anne as it was obvious she would never provide him with a living son. His interests then turned to Jane Seymour, a submissive, quiet lady in-waiting to Anne.

Soon enough Anne found her self charged with treason, adultery incest and witchcraft. Her marriage to Henry was declared invalid and her daughter declared a bastard. She was sent to the Tower of London to await trail, where she was later found guilty of all charges….even though her marriage had been declared invalid she was still committed on charges of adultery…which shows the bias nature of her trial. No evidence has ever been produced to suggest that Anne was guilty of the charges put against her, perhaps the only thing she was guilty of was not providing the king with an heir. Anne was executed on the 19th May 1536 on the Tower Green, before a small private audience. The King and others were terrified of what she might say, but Anne kept her dignity and said nothing against the King or the false accusations put against her. She left behind her 3 year old daughter, Elizabeth who was later to become the best Monarch England has ever seen.

Written by Admiring Natalie Dormer, do not copy!.