During his 36-year reign, King Henry VIII of England presided over the beginnings of the English Renaissance and Protestant Reformation. However, the monarch’s turbulent love life—rather than his political views—has kept him in the public eye. Henry VIII is primarily known for his six marriages, yet he also had a number of side girlfriends. The monarch annulled two marriages and ordered the execution of two wives in an effort to achieve political cohesion and produce a healthy male successor. His erratic love life had an impact on his succession, and his foreign policy, and even drove him to split from the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1973, the English keyboardist Rick Wakeman released an album whose idea is based on his interpretations of the musical traits of Henry VIII’s wives. Each song in the album is named after one of Henry VIII’s wives.
Recently on TikTok, the song “Ex-Wives” was trending due to its sarcastic description of each wife of Henry the 8th. The song is part of the musical “Six”, a comedy inspired by the story of Henry the 8th and his six wives.
“My name’s Catherine of Aragon
Was married 24 years
I’m a paragon of royalty, my loyalty is to the Vatican
So if you try to dump me
You won’t try that again
I’m that Boleyn girl and I’m up next
See I broke England from the church
Yeah, I’m that sexy
Why did I lose my head?
Well, my sleeves may be green but my lipstick’s red
Jane Seymour the only one he truly loved
(Rude)
When my son was newly born, I died
But I’m not what I seem or am I?
Stick around and you’ll suddenly see more
Ich bin Anne of Cleves
Ja!
When he saw my portrait, he was like
Ja!
But I didn’t look as good as I did in my pic
Funny how we all discuss that but never Henry’s little-
Prick up your ears, I’m the Katherine who lost her head
(Beheaded)
For my promiscuity outside of wed
Lock up your husbands
Lock up your sons
K. Howard is here and the fun’s begun
Five down, I’m the final wife
I saw him to the end of his life
I’m the survivor Catherine Parr
I bet you wanna know how I got this far
I said I bet you wanna know how we got this far
Do you wanna know how we got this far then?”
–https://genius.com/Six-cast-ex-wives-lyrics
Here is a little look at each and every official wife of the most womanizer monarch of history:
- Catherine of Aragon:
At age 17, Henry ascended to the kingdom in 1509. The widow of his older brother, Arthur, and the daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, Catherine of Aragon, was the bridegroom’s bride six weeks later. Adolescent Henry was preoccupied with carrying on the Tudor dynasty from the moment he got married. Mary, the daughter of Henry and Catherine, who was born in February 1516, was the only child to live after several pregnancies and deliveries.
By 1525, Henry VIII had developed an attraction to Anne Boleyn and was unhappy that his marriage to Catherine had failed to result in any living males, leaving his daughter Mary as the presumed heir, despite the lack of historical precedence for a woman to hold the throne at the time. He attempted to have their union declared null and void, which started a series of events that caused the Catholic Church to split from England. Henry challenged Pope Clement VII by claiming control over religious matters after he refused to declare the marriage null and void
- Anne Bolyn:
Anne Bolyn was born around the beginning of the 16th century and was raised in the French court. Due to her childhood in France, Anne had a series of abilities that made her stand out in the English court. After she returned to England, Henry became interested in her after being angered by his marriage with Catherine of Aragon as it had not produced a male heir. Nevertheless, during the Tutor period in England, divorce was not an option due to the ruling of the Catholic church. As a result, in 1531, Henry disobeyed the norms of the Catholic church and annulled his marriage with Catherine, breaking English from the Roman Catholic Church. Hence, Henry married Anne Bolyn, who seemed to be knowledgeable in political and social sciences. However, Anne’s great abilities and knowledge might have been the reason for her marriage’s downfall.
According to Historic Royal Palaces, because Charles V, the Holy Roman Empire’s Emperor, refused to recognize Henry and Anne’s marriage, a promising new international alliance with that power collapsed. In 1536, there were accusations against Anne claiming she was committing adultery and planning to assassinate the king. According to Historic Royal Palaces, After being found guilty in a mock trial attended by Anne’s adversaries, she was imprisoned at the Tower of London in the same royal room where she had been waiting for her coronation just three years before. Later on, Anne Bolyn was beheaded even though the queen protested against her punishment arguing that she was innocent.
- Jane Seymour
Nearly 11 days after Anne Boleyn’s execution, Henry the 8th married his mistress Jane Seymour, who had been a lady in waiting to both of his previous wives. According to Britannica, Jane was able to win back the king’s favor for Mary, Henry’s daughter with Catherine of Aragon, during the remaining 17 months of her life. Jane’s intercession has been understood by some academics to indicate that Mary, a Roman Catholic, had little sympathy for the English Reformation. On October 12, 1537, the future Edward VI was born, but Jane passed away 12 days later, much to Henry’s sincere sadness.
- Anne of Cleves
According to Historical Royal Palaces, Anne of Cleves was the fourth wife that Henry VIII chose out of her portrait. The actual woman let him down, but there is more to his change of heart than meets the eye. However, Henry could not annul the marriage, nor sentence her to death, due to his alliance with the House of Cleves. According to Historical Royal Palaces, a gang of masked guys suddenly appeared in front of Anne as she was traveling to London, and one of them—a tall, muscular middle-aged man—tried to kiss her. Unaccustomed to such behavior, Anne pulled him away in shock. She had embarrassed herself by rejecting Henry, who did not find her lack of sophistication impressive. The chivalric custom of meeting your fiancée in disguise was intended to symbolize pure love because the bride would be able to recognize her beloved once she saw through the disguise.
On their wedding night, the marriage was not consummated. According to Henry, Anne was not attractive to him. Nevertheless, historians have deduced that, due to his age and health problems, Henry had become impotent. Therefore, the marriage was soon annulled. However, Anne continued to live a prestigious lifestyle and was referred to as Henry’s sister, which may sound weird, but it is definitely better than being beheaded.
- Katherine Howard
Katherine was the cousin of Anne Boleyn and coincidentally enough, had the same tragic ending as her. According to the Tutors Society, tradition has it that Katherine was purposefully sent to court to woo the ailing king, whose displeasure with Anne of Cleves fueled the conservatives’ desire to go back to Rome. In July 1540, Henry married Katherine Howard shortly after he divorced Anna of Cleves. During the latter weeks of the king’s marriage to Anne Boleyn and the discussions over the annulment of his union with Anne of Cleves, allegations of the king’s sporadic impotence had circulated.
According to Historic Royal Palaces, in stark contrast to his own moral standards, Henry expected his wives to have high moral standards, and Catherine was rumored to have a complicated sexual history. The king wouldn’t learn about this until it was tragically too late. Later on, rumors were spread in regard to the young queen’s virginity, morals, and fidelity. Eventually, the stories about Katherine Howard reached the King, who charged and condemned Katherine for being unfaithful and immoral, similar to her cousin. In February of 1542, Katherine was beheaded after being arrested at the Tower of London. According to Historic Royal Palaces, the legend persists today that her well-known ghost can still be seen moving along the palace’s “Haunted Gallery.” Some visitors claim to experience a chill or other “strange sensations” while walking through the hallway.
- Catherine Parr
Last but not least, 30-year-old Catherine Parr married King Henry the 8th in mid-1543. According to Historic Royal Palaces, Catherine was the first English monarch to write and release her own books. Henry and Catherine were married for five years before Henry passed away, and Katherine stayed dedicated to him throughout.
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