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00:00:00Anne Boleyn, the wife of Henry VIII, awoke in the royal apartments at the Tower of London.
00:00:24Her ladies-in-waiting made their final preparations.
00:00:27Anne left her chambers at a little before 8 o'clock to face her destiny.
00:00:34Awaiting her at the end of this short journey was an expert executioner, famed for his skills with a razor-sharp blade.
00:00:44He'd just arrived from France, summoned by the king as a last-minute act of mercy for a wife for whom he'd risked everything,
00:00:54but whom he ultimately believed had betrayed him.
00:00:58The turbulent marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was brief, but its impact was seismic.
00:01:06Henceforth, my heart shall be dedicated to you alone.
00:01:10It divided England from Europe, brought us a new type of religion, and triggered centuries of conflict.
00:01:17I am entirely innocent of all these accusations.
00:01:21Harvey retracing the footsteps of this extraordinary couple, piecing together the fragments of evidence that have survived
00:01:31to discover what brought Henry and Anne together, and what ultimately tore them apart.
00:01:37We all know how this tragedy plays out, but how well do we know its leading characters?
00:01:45This is the story of Henry and Anne.
00:01:48My journey begins in the Kent countryside, in search of Anne Boleyn.
00:02:03This is the story of Henry and Anne Boleyn.
00:02:20Her symbol was a falcon, used to extol her purity, her chastity, and her grace.
00:02:27There's a popular myth that Anne was from lowly origins, that she was a bit of an upstart.
00:02:34But that's far from the truth.
00:02:43This is Hever Castle, the seat of the Boleyns.
00:02:46Anne Boleyn's childhood home, where she spent many formative years.
00:02:50Here, her parents, Thomas and Elizabeth, brought up the three children who made it to adulthood.
00:02:55The eldest was Mary, who fleetingly later would be a mistress to Henry VIII.
00:03:00Probably the youngest was George, who was a great companion to Anne,
00:03:04a bright young girl who would one day be queen.
00:03:12Her father, Thomas Boleyn, was a member of the King's Council,
00:03:15and Henry VIII's ambassador to France.
00:03:18Anne was well-educated, and from a wealthy, privileged family.
00:03:31The story goes that she was a free spirit.
00:03:34Someone who was sparky, intelligent, and fun-loving.
00:03:37But this is based as much on rumour and speculation as any hard evidence.
00:03:49It's so hard to get a sense of the real Anne Boleyn.
00:03:52We have a few letters, but we don't have any diaries.
00:03:55We don't really have any of the sort of things that we need to get a grasp on what she was really like.
00:04:00And yet, when you come to a place like this, where she actually lived,
00:04:05one has this incredible sense that the veil between past and present has grown thin,
00:04:12and only time, and not space, separates us from Anne.
00:04:16Fortunately, a few telling pieces of evidence have survived,
00:04:21which give us a rare glimpse into her character.
00:04:27This is one of the few surviving possessions of Anne at Hever.
00:04:31It's a book of ours.
00:04:32It's a beautifully illustrated and illuminated manuscript book of prayers and devotions,
00:04:38and these things were immensely popular in Europe at the time.
00:04:41And what's really exciting about it is that Anne held it.
00:04:47There's something of a real thrill to be touching it.
00:04:49It was probably one of her most treasured possessions.
00:04:53What this reminds us is an importance of faith at this time.
00:04:56It literally determined people's hours.
00:04:59Religion marked out their days.
00:05:04We often have an idea of Anne in our heads that's of her being ambitious and worldly
00:05:10and perhaps something of a vixen.
00:05:12And yet, this is one of her few belongings that we know and can identify.
00:05:18It reminds us that Anne is pious and religious.
00:05:23But what's even more thrilling about it is that Anne herself wrote in it.
00:05:30It's an inscription in French and it says,
00:05:33Le temps viendra, je Anne Boleyn.
00:05:37The time will come, I Anne Boleyn.
00:05:41The time will come, I Anne Boleyn.
00:05:47Now, we don't know when she wrote this.
00:05:49We don't know exactly what she meant by it, but it seems immensely prophetic and powerful.
00:05:53It's on a page where there's a picture of Christ being raised above the earth.
00:05:59And then there are these little heads at the bottom that look like people coming up out of the grave.
00:06:03So perhaps this refers to the day of judgment.
00:06:07Many people in the 16th century thought that they were living in the end times,
00:06:11the last days before the second coming of Christ.
00:06:14But perhaps there's a more earthly explanation.
00:06:17I wonder if Anne thought that she was destined for greatness.
00:06:27Even if she was ambitious, Anne could never have imagined that her destiny would lie with the most powerful man in the land.
00:06:35A married man.
00:06:37The King.
00:06:38We all think we know Henry VIII.
00:06:45But actually what we conjure up is Henry in the last decade of his life when he's obese and savage and ruthless and cruel.
00:06:54But he wasn't always like that.
00:06:57In fact, when he first came to the throne for the first 20 or so years of his reign,
00:07:02he was noted first of all for being really good looking.
00:07:09He had auburn hair.
00:07:12He was very tall.
00:07:13He was six foot two when the average height was five foot seven and a half.
00:07:17And he was so good at sport that everyone commented on it.
00:07:21He surpassed all the archers of his guard.
00:07:32He was a fine jouster, a capital horseman.
00:07:37To see him play tennis, one Venetian ambassador commented, was the prettiest thing in the world.
00:07:43That Venetian ambassador also said, perhaps he had a crush, that he had a round face so very beautiful that it would become a pretty woman.
00:07:58But the thing that was most surprising to me, coming across this young Henry, was that he was also well-loved.
00:08:08He was considered to be kind.
00:08:11The ambassador said that he was affable and gracious, a man who harmed no one.
00:08:16Erasmus said that he was a man of gentle friendship and gentle in debate.
00:08:21He acts more like a companion than a king.
00:08:24Henry was evidently very charismatic.
00:08:27When he spoke to you, it was like the sun was shining.
00:08:32As a king and a man, he seemed to have few flaws.
00:08:35But Henry would become tormented by his failure to perform the most basic, yet most important task of any monarch.
00:08:44It would put him on a collision course with Anne.
00:08:48And together, they would change England.
00:08:51Forever.
00:08:52Henry VIII wasn't born to be king.
00:09:10Henry VIII wasn't born to be king.
00:09:21He'd come to the throne after the death of his father, Henry VII,
00:09:25and only because his older brother, Arthur,
00:09:28had died suddenly at the age of just 15.
00:09:33Within months of becoming king,
00:09:35Henry married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon.
00:09:38They were crowned together.
00:09:42But with marriage came a huge pressure.
00:09:45Now he needed to produce an heir to secure the dynasty
00:09:48for the next generation, and not just one.
00:09:51He needed an heir and a spare, as his brother's death had indicated.
00:09:57Henry would be married to Catherine for over 20 years,
00:10:00and for much of that time they were happy together.
00:10:03But they were beset by a devastating series of miscarriages
00:10:07and stillbirths.
00:10:10When a son, Henry, was born, he died 52 days later.
00:10:16Mary would be the only child to survive.
00:10:22Most people at the time saw little value in a female heir,
00:10:25as she would likely end up marrying a European prince,
00:10:29allowing England to be dominated by a foreign power.
00:10:31And France and Spain were a constant threat throughout Henry's reign.
00:10:39So siring a legitimate heir became Henry's overriding obsession.
00:10:46It was an obsession that would manifest itself
00:10:49in Henry's relationship with God,
00:10:52by whom he believed he had been anointed king.
00:10:55This lack of a surviving legitimate male heir
00:11:02suggested to Henry VIII that he was being punished by God.
00:11:07And he suspected the reason was
00:11:09that he had married his brother's widow.
00:11:12And scriptures backed him up in this.
00:11:14In Leviticus it says, in chapter 18, verse 16,
00:11:17You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife.
00:11:22It is your brother's nakedness.
00:11:25And chapter 20, verse 21 says,
00:11:28If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity.
00:11:31He has uncovered his brother's nakedness.
00:11:34They shall be childless.
00:11:39Henry's theological experts assured him
00:11:41that childless, in this instance,
00:11:44actually meant no sons.
00:11:47While England waited for an heir to the throne,
00:11:57the teenage Anne had crossed the channel
00:11:59and was embracing all that Europe had to offer.
00:12:03After some time in the Netherlands,
00:12:05her father found her role in the French court,
00:12:09which would become a defining influence in her life.
00:12:12Little is known of Anne's nine years on the continent,
00:12:15and yet much is always made of it.
00:12:18It certainly was a formative period of her life.
00:12:21It was the period when she was educated.
00:12:23And people in the 16th century, Anne today,
00:12:26have speculated in a kind of prurient,
00:12:28nudge-nudge, wink-wink kind of way,
00:12:30that at the French court particularly,
00:12:32she learned the art of love.
00:12:33I want to see for myself how Anne's time in France
00:12:39shaped her character.
00:12:41I'm travelling to the Chateau de Blois,
00:12:44one of the palaces where the French king,
00:12:46Francis I, held his court.
00:12:49I can only imagine what the young Anne must have felt
00:12:53when she first arrived here.
00:12:55I've never been here before,
00:12:58and it's really exciting.
00:13:01Anne would be a lady-in-waiting
00:13:03to the cultured and pious French queen, Claude.
00:13:09They didn't do things like halves, did they?
00:13:10Look at this place.
00:13:12My word.
00:13:14It was the most fashionable court in Europe,
00:13:17reflected in its spectacular architecture.
00:13:19This is an extraordinary sort of Renaissance style.
00:13:25You've got the little classical statues up the top here
00:13:28and all these columns,
00:13:30and this amazing spiral staircase.
00:13:40It's so incredibly beautiful, this staircase.
00:13:46It would have been such an extraordinary time for Anne
00:13:48when she was here,
00:13:49because she was here with Claude de France,
00:13:52who herself was a real patron of the arts.
00:13:55Francis I, her husband,
00:13:57was so much of a fan of the Renaissance
00:13:58that he invited Leonardo da Vinci to France,
00:14:01and he was installed just down the road.
00:14:03There was every chance that Anne might have met him.
00:14:05So basically, Anne would have been surrounded
00:14:07by this world of intellectual endeavour
00:14:10and artistic endeavour.
00:14:12It must have been such an exciting place to be.
00:14:15I'm out of breath now.
00:14:16Anne came of age in France.
00:14:20One observer later wrote
00:14:22that no one would ever have taken her
00:14:24to be English by her manners,
00:14:26but a native-born French woman.
00:14:28Wow.
00:14:29What might Anne have learnt at this court?
00:14:36The first thing, of course, is French,
00:14:39because French was a very important language at that time.
00:14:43It was something like the English today
00:14:45in the northern court of Europe.
00:14:47We just know that she must have been
00:14:54at some very important events,
00:14:56such as when the English ambassadors
00:14:59came to France in 1518
00:15:01or at the field of the Clothes of Gold,
00:15:04because she must there have played
00:15:06an important role as an interpreter
00:15:08between the English and the French.
00:15:10She received a European education
00:15:13and she was really different
00:15:17from the young ladies who just stayed in England.
00:15:21Anne also saw firsthand
00:15:24what was required to fulfil
00:15:25the essential role of a queen.
00:15:28Her mistress, Claude,
00:15:29gave birth to seven children in eight years,
00:15:32including three sons,
00:15:34something Henry and Catherine could only dream of.
00:15:37Claude was also extremely pious,
00:15:40so it's unlikely that her court
00:15:42was a hotbed of promiscuity.
00:15:45Cedric, one of the things that's often said
00:15:47about Anne's time in France,
00:15:50with probably little evidence
00:15:52from what you've said so far,
00:15:53is that there's kind of this idea
00:15:55that somehow she's learnt all about sex
00:15:57while she's been at the court.
00:16:00Do you think this is at all plausible?
00:16:02Yeah, my opinion would be that it's not true,
00:16:05but it may be true.
00:16:06We don't know.
00:16:07We have no evidence.
00:16:08I don't think there was a clear difference
00:16:10at that time
00:16:11between the court of Francis I
00:16:12and the court of Henry VIII.
00:16:16Our first surviving letter from Anne
00:16:19was written to her father
00:16:20and shows her aspirations
00:16:22to be accepted in the English court.
00:16:24Sir, I understand by your letter
00:16:29that you wish that I shall be
00:16:30of all virtuous repute
00:16:31when I come to court,
00:16:33and you inform me
00:16:34that the Queen will take the trouble
00:16:35to converse with me,
00:16:37which rejoices me greatly.
00:16:40To think of talking with a person
00:16:41so wise and virtuous.
00:16:45Written at five o'clock
00:16:47by your very humble
00:16:48and obedient daughter,
00:16:50Anna de Boulogne.
00:16:57We tend to think about Anne Boleyn
00:16:59in black and white terms.
00:17:00So she's either a sexual predator
00:17:02or she's sexually chaste.
00:17:03She's either pious
00:17:05or she's worldly.
00:17:06She's either innocent
00:17:07or sophisticated.
00:17:09And yet, actually,
00:17:10what I've learnt here
00:17:11is that her French education,
00:17:13her time at the French court,
00:17:15was such that it prepared her
00:17:17to be a much more complex character
00:17:19than that.
00:17:21Her nine years on the continent
00:17:23transformed her
00:17:24from a teenage girl
00:17:25into an extremely desirable woman.
00:17:29The Anne that emerges
00:17:30back in England
00:17:31is one who's been shaped
00:17:33by many different influences,
00:17:35who is both pious
00:17:37and worldly,
00:17:39who's both sophisticated
00:17:40and something of an innocent.
00:17:43She's one who can play
00:17:44musical instruments,
00:17:46who can sing,
00:17:47who can dance,
00:17:48who can speak French,
00:17:50who is sophisticated
00:17:51and witty,
00:17:53who's been exposed
00:17:53to a world
00:17:54of cosmopolitan glamour.
00:17:58And she's such
00:17:59an attractive prospect
00:18:00because, precisely because,
00:18:02she is so complex.
00:18:05The time will come.
00:18:07I, Anne Boleyn.
00:18:10In her early 20s,
00:18:16Anne arrived back in London.
00:18:18Henry held court
00:18:19in palaces all over the capital,
00:18:22and I've come to one of the few
00:18:23that has survived,
00:18:25Hampton Court.
00:18:26I love this place.
00:18:41I love this place.
00:18:43I'm always amazed
00:18:56when I come here.
00:18:57I imagine what it must have been like for Anne
00:19:04when she came to court.
00:19:06She was joining Catherine of Aragon's Court.
00:19:08She was a lady-in-waiting,
00:19:09and Catherine would have had
00:19:11a number of women serving her.
00:19:13And, of course,
00:19:14this meant really being a companion
00:19:15to Catherine,
00:19:16reading with her,
00:19:17sewing with her,
00:19:18being by her side
00:19:19as well as looking after her needs.
00:19:22There would have been,
00:19:23perhaps, 1,200 people
00:19:24at the court at its most,
00:19:26about 200 of whom were women,
00:19:28Catherine of Aragon's women.
00:19:29And, of course,
00:19:30Catherine's court
00:19:31was part of the wider court,
00:19:33Henry's court,
00:19:33which was probably,
00:19:34at most,
00:19:351,000 men.
00:19:36A Tudor court
00:19:39was a heady mix
00:19:40of politics and theatre.
00:19:47A court ought to be formal,
00:19:49it ought to be serious,
00:19:49it ought to be religious,
00:19:51but it also ought to be,
00:19:52as well as all that,
00:19:53it ought to be a place
00:19:53where people are having fun,
00:19:55parties are going on,
00:19:56where people are enjoying themselves.
00:19:57You don't want a court
00:19:58which is too serious.
00:20:01Henry's court
00:20:01is awash with desire
00:20:03and love and sex.
00:20:06It's full of young people
00:20:07with lots of time
00:20:08on their hands
00:20:09and not much to do.
00:20:15In Henry's court,
00:20:16when people talk about love,
00:20:18they're often actually
00:20:19talking about promotion.
00:20:21They're often actually
00:20:22talking about politics.
00:20:25Courtly love is a game.
00:20:28Henry has lots of roles,
00:20:30but one of them is
00:20:30the leading courtly lover.
00:20:32Now, in order for him
00:20:33to play that role,
00:20:34he has to have
00:20:35the leading courtly woman
00:20:36as his object of desire,
00:20:38as the person he performs to.
00:20:42Competition for this role
00:20:43was intense,
00:20:44and maybe Anne aspired
00:20:46to be one of the leading players.
00:20:54Henry did have mistresses,
00:20:56not nearly as many
00:20:57as the French king,
00:20:58but it was considered
00:20:59to be a normal part
00:21:00of court life,
00:21:01especially when Catherine
00:21:02was pregnant,
00:21:03because it was considered
00:21:04unlucky in Tudor times
00:21:06to have sex during pregnancy.
00:21:08So in 1519, for example,
00:21:10one of the most beautiful women
00:21:11at the court,
00:21:12Elizabeth Blount,
00:21:13had given birth
00:21:14to an illegitimate son,
00:21:16Henry Fitzroy.
00:21:17His surname means
00:21:18son of the king.
00:21:21And of course,
00:21:22this indicated to Henry
00:21:23that if Catherine
00:21:24wasn't bearing him sons,
00:21:26it wasn't his fault.
00:21:31When Anne came to court
00:21:32in 1522,
00:21:34Henry had another mistress,
00:21:36someone Anne knew
00:21:37rather well.
00:21:43Henry went out
00:21:44to joust one day,
00:21:45bearing the motto,
00:21:46She has wounded my heart,
00:21:49which spoke of this mistress.
00:21:51And the she in question
00:21:52was Mary,
00:21:54Anne's elder sister.
00:21:59We don't know
00:22:00that much about Mary.
00:22:01We know that she was
00:22:02beautiful, giddy,
00:22:04high-spirited.
00:22:05She enjoyed the trappings
00:22:06of court life,
00:22:07as Anne would later do.
00:22:09And we know even less
00:22:10about her relationship
00:22:11with Henry,
00:22:11except that it was short-lived.
00:22:14The risk of fleeting
00:22:15royal affection
00:22:16surely served
00:22:18as a warning to Anne
00:22:19over the coming years.
00:22:41It's one of the most
00:22:42famous love stories
00:22:43in history.
00:22:44And yet we know
00:22:45very little about
00:22:46how Henry VIII
00:22:47and Anne Boleyn's
00:22:47romance began.
00:22:50It's likely
00:22:51that Henry first
00:22:52noticed Anne
00:22:52during courtly entertainments.
00:23:03What is more certain
00:23:04is that their stories
00:23:06came together
00:23:06in early 1526,
00:23:09four years after
00:23:10Anne's arrival at court.
00:23:12We know this
00:23:14We know this
00:23:15because Henry
00:23:15was soon writing
00:23:16love letters
00:23:17and giving her
00:23:18romantic gifts.
00:23:22One of these
00:23:23supposed presents
00:23:24is housed in the
00:23:25Victoria and Albert
00:23:26Museum in London.
00:23:32One of the first gifts
00:23:34that Henry's said
00:23:35to have given Anne
00:23:36is this beautiful
00:23:37is this beautiful
00:23:38miniature gold
00:23:40whistle pendant.
00:23:42It's covered with foliage
00:23:43and it's really rather tiny.
00:23:48And as well as being a whistle
00:23:50it also has within it
00:23:51a scoop for one's earwax
00:23:54and a pick for one's teeth.
00:23:56So it's all about personal hygiene.
00:23:58It is the sort of thing
00:23:59that Henry VIII
00:24:00might have worn on his clothing
00:24:01in a sort of court mask
00:24:03or festivity
00:24:04that would then be given away
00:24:05as a present.
00:24:08But above all
00:24:09it tells us a message
00:24:11and the message is clear.
00:24:14Henry is saying
00:24:14if you whistle
00:24:16I will come.
00:24:22It might have been
00:24:23just another gift
00:24:24from a king
00:24:25to a courtly loved mistress
00:24:26but it soon became clear
00:24:29from Henry's own hand
00:24:30that this was something
00:24:31far deeper.
00:24:38I and my heart
00:24:40put ourselves in your hands
00:24:41begging you to recommend us
00:24:43to your good grace
00:24:44and not let absence
00:24:46lessen your affection.
00:24:50When historians study
00:24:51Henry and Anne
00:24:52much is made
00:24:53of the dark political forces
00:24:55manoeuvring behind the scenes
00:24:56to unite or to separate
00:24:58this couple.
00:24:59and what is lost
00:25:01amongst these affairs
00:25:02of state
00:25:02is the fact
00:25:03that this was a very real
00:25:04and very passionate
00:25:05love affair
00:25:06between two individuals.
00:25:11These are copies
00:25:12of Henry VIII's letters
00:25:14to Anne.
00:25:15The originals
00:25:16the manuscripts
00:25:17are in the Vatican Library.
00:25:19They probably ended up there
00:25:20as part of the evidence
00:25:21against Henry's divorce
00:25:23from Catherine of Aragon.
00:25:25And these are quite extraordinary
00:25:26because they show to us
00:25:28these intimate moments
00:25:29these private thoughts.
00:25:32This letter for example
00:25:33starts
00:25:33My own sweetheart
00:25:35this shall be to advertise
00:25:37to you of the great loneliness
00:25:39that I find
00:25:39since your departing.
00:25:42For I assure you
00:25:43I think for time longer
00:25:44since your departing
00:25:44now last
00:25:45than I was wont
00:25:46to do a whole fortnight
00:25:47I think your kindness
00:25:49and my fervency
00:25:50of love
00:25:51caused it
00:25:51for otherwise
00:25:53I would not have thought
00:25:54it possible
00:25:55that for so little a while
00:25:56it should have
00:25:57affected him so much.
00:26:00And he concludes
00:26:01Darling
00:26:02wishing myself
00:26:05especially
00:26:05of an evening
00:26:06in my sweetheart's arms
00:26:08whose pretty duckies
00:26:10I trust
00:26:10shortly
00:26:11to kids
00:26:11Ducks
00:26:13is the Tudor slang
00:26:14for breasts
00:26:14and he says
00:26:16Written by the hand
00:26:17of he who was
00:26:17is
00:26:18and shall be
00:26:19yours
00:26:20by his will
00:26:21Henry Rex
00:26:23And these sentiments
00:26:26are reiterated elsewhere
00:26:27so here
00:26:27it says
00:26:28for example
00:26:28I would
00:26:30that you were
00:26:31in mine arms
00:26:31or I in yours
00:26:32for I think it long
00:26:34since I kissed you.
00:26:35And to cause you
00:26:40yet oftener
00:26:40to remember me
00:26:41I send you
00:26:43by the bearer
00:26:43of this
00:26:44a buck
00:26:45killed late last night
00:26:46by my own hand
00:26:47hoping that when you
00:26:50eat of it
00:26:51you will think
00:26:51of the hunter.
00:26:54But perhaps
00:26:55the sweetest one
00:26:56of all
00:26:57is this one
00:26:58which is written
00:26:58in French
00:26:59and he promises
00:27:00Anne
00:27:01that in the future
00:27:02his heart
00:27:03would belong
00:27:04to her alone
00:27:05would be dedicated
00:27:05to her alone
00:27:06and that he desired
00:27:07that his body
00:27:08could be also
00:27:09and signs off again
00:27:11in the sweetest
00:27:12possible way
00:27:12H and R
00:27:14his initials
00:27:16Autre necherche
00:27:17is not looking
00:27:17for any other
00:27:18and then draws
00:27:19a love heart
00:27:20and puts
00:27:21AB
00:27:21in the middle
00:27:22So he's like
00:27:25a schoolboy
00:27:26doodling on his
00:27:27exercise book
00:27:28Henry loves Anne
00:27:30I beg also
00:27:37if at any time
00:27:38before this
00:27:38I have in any way
00:27:39offended you
00:27:40that you would give me
00:27:41the same absolution
00:27:42that you ask
00:27:43assuring you
00:27:46that henceforth
00:27:47my heart
00:27:48shall be dedicated
00:27:48to you alone
00:27:49I wish my person
00:27:51was so too
00:27:52God can do it
00:27:55if he pleases
00:27:56to whom I pray
00:27:58every day
00:27:58to that end
00:27:59hoping that at length
00:28:02my prayers
00:28:02will be heard
00:28:03We don't know
00:28:10exactly when
00:28:11these letters
00:28:11were written
00:28:11and sadly
00:28:13we don't have
00:28:14Anne's responses
00:28:14but it's clear
00:28:17that Henry's
00:28:17love for her
00:28:18was becoming
00:28:19ever stronger
00:28:20We know
00:28:23that Anne
00:28:23received many
00:28:24of these letters
00:28:25at Hever Castle
00:28:26She was there
00:28:27in the late 1520s
00:28:28when she was
00:28:29suffering from
00:28:29sweating sickness
00:28:30and separated
00:28:31from Henry
00:28:32We just don't know
00:28:34what she wrote back
00:28:35Although you are
00:28:43my mistress
00:28:44it has not pleased you
00:28:45to keep the promise
00:28:46you made
00:28:46when I was last
00:28:47with you
00:28:48that is to say
00:28:50to hear good news
00:28:50of you
00:28:51and to have an answer
00:28:52to my last letter
00:28:53Sweating sickness
00:28:57was a potentially
00:28:58lethal disease
00:28:59which had spread
00:29:01through Tudor England
00:29:02forcing Anne
00:29:03to stay away
00:29:04from the king
00:29:04I think because
00:29:12we don't have
00:29:12her responses
00:29:13a lot has been
00:29:14written to fill
00:29:15in that gap
00:29:16and there's been
00:29:17an assumption
00:29:17that somehow
00:29:18she was playing
00:29:19hard to get
00:29:20and manipulating him
00:29:21that he loved her
00:29:23and she was just
00:29:23playing a game
00:29:24But in practice
00:29:26I think ultimately
00:29:28both of them
00:29:28wanted to do
00:29:29what was right
00:29:30and above all
00:29:30Henry of course
00:29:31wanted to have
00:29:32that legitimate air
00:29:33He could only do that
00:29:34if Anne became
00:29:35his wife
00:29:35There was no point
00:29:36to her becoming
00:29:37pregnant beforehand
00:29:38In fact it would
00:29:39have been detrimental
00:29:40to his cause
00:29:41I think both of them
00:29:44decided to hold out
00:29:46and to wait
00:29:46I don't think we should
00:29:48read into the absence
00:29:49of letters from Anne
00:29:50some sense
00:29:51that she was the one
00:29:52holding all the cards
00:29:53and Henry was just
00:29:54desperate to have her
00:29:55I think the two of them
00:29:57were passionately in love
00:29:59but wanted to do this
00:30:00correctly wanted to be right
00:30:03but the stakes were high
00:30:06Thomas More said
00:30:12politics be king's games
00:30:14and for the most part
00:30:16played on scaffolds
00:30:17and love at the Tudor court
00:30:19was a political affair
00:30:21Anne was risking everything
00:30:24And it was tough
00:30:27for Henry too
00:30:28He now had to think
00:30:30the unthinkable
00:30:32to divorce Catherine
00:30:34and marry Anne
00:30:35The time will come
00:30:49I, Anne Boleyn
00:30:51No king had ever
00:31:02divorced a queen
00:31:03The issue would become
00:31:06known as
00:31:06The King's Great Matter
00:31:08A play later performed
00:31:14at court
00:31:14no doubt with Henry's approval
00:31:16made his feelings
00:31:17about Catherine and Anne
00:31:18clear
00:31:19It was called
00:31:27The Play of the Weather
00:31:28and was packed
00:31:29with political rhetoric
00:31:31talking of Jupiter
00:31:32needing a new
00:31:33tighter moon
00:31:34to replace his old
00:31:35leaky moon
00:31:36But for this new moon
00:31:38I durst lay my gown
00:31:40except a few drops
00:31:41that have going down
00:31:42You get no rain
00:31:44Mocking and embarrassing
00:31:45Catherine
00:31:45the play was a cruel statement
00:31:47of Henry's intent
00:31:49to discard a loyal wife
00:31:51whose only crime
00:31:52had been her failure
00:31:53to provide a male heir
00:31:55softly on the ground
00:31:56though they fell on a sponge
00:31:57they would give no sound
00:31:59This new moon
00:32:00shall make a thing
00:32:01spring
00:32:02more in this while
00:32:03than our old moon shall
00:32:04while a mile go a mile
00:32:07But Henry would dramatically
00:32:12underestimate
00:32:13how difficult it would be
00:32:15to end this 20-year marriage
00:32:17legally
00:32:17England was a Roman Catholic country
00:32:26and on religious matters
00:32:28even the king came under the authority of the Pope
00:32:31and he wasn't going to play ball
00:32:34I've come to see a document
00:32:38that testifies to the lengths
00:32:40that Henry would go
00:32:41to get Rome's permission
00:32:43This document
00:32:47dates from 1529
00:32:48and it was produced
00:32:49at a court
00:32:50that had been convened
00:32:52in order to examine
00:32:53Henry VIII's marriage
00:32:54to Catherine of Aragon
00:32:55and the possibility
00:32:57of an annulment
00:32:58This document
00:33:02has lots to tell us
00:33:03First of all
00:33:04saying that Henry's
00:33:04you know
00:33:05king of France
00:33:06and Ireland
00:33:06and all the other things
00:33:07that he claims to be
00:33:08and what's
00:33:09really interesting about it
00:33:11is that Henry
00:33:11has gathered
00:33:12all the officials
00:33:13of the church
00:33:14so it mentions
00:33:15Cardinal Thomas Worsey
00:33:16we've got the
00:33:17Archbishop of Canterbury
00:33:18we've got the
00:33:18bishops of Ely
00:33:19and London
00:33:20and Bath
00:33:20and Exeter
00:33:21It says that
00:33:23Henry feels
00:33:25that this matter
00:33:26of his marriage
00:33:27to Catherine
00:33:28has caused him
00:33:29a real rupture
00:33:31in his tranquility
00:33:32of his mind
00:33:33and his body
00:33:34In other words
00:33:34being married
00:33:35to his brother's widow
00:33:36in this sham marriage
00:33:38as he's claiming it to be
00:33:39has caused such a burden
00:33:41on his soul
00:33:42that his conscience
00:33:43is severely troubled
00:33:44So this is the first time
00:33:46we really have
00:33:47this recognition
00:33:47that something
00:33:48has to change
00:33:49And this document
00:33:53also demonstrates to us
00:33:54the lengths to which
00:33:56he will go
00:33:56to get what he wants
00:33:58Among these beautiful seals
00:34:02on the third
00:34:03from the left
00:34:04we have one
00:34:05that has this signature
00:34:06up here
00:34:07of John Fisher
00:34:08Bishop of Rochester
00:34:09But not everything
00:34:13is quite as it seems
00:34:14Rochester was a really
00:34:16important figure
00:34:17in Henry VIII's life
00:34:19And yet
00:34:20his signature here
00:34:22is not genuine
00:34:24He later claimed
00:34:24that it was a forgery
00:34:25that he'd never
00:34:26signed this document
00:34:27and that he was
00:34:28entirely opposed
00:34:29to this matter
00:34:30of the divorce
00:34:30In the end
00:34:33Fisher would pay
00:34:34the ultimate price
00:34:36for his hostility
00:34:36to Henry and Anne
00:34:37and for the lengths
00:34:39to which Henry would go
00:34:40in order to be with her
00:34:41Fisher ended up
00:34:43as so many others
00:34:44in Henry VIII's reign
00:34:45on the scaffold
00:34:47Now Henry and Anne's
00:34:50future together
00:34:51seem to rest
00:34:52on the judgment
00:34:53of the Pope
00:34:54Henry VIII was used
00:35:08to getting his own way
00:35:09Blocked by the Pope
00:35:11from ending his marriage
00:35:12to Catherine
00:35:13so that he could marry Anne
00:35:14he needed to find
00:35:15another solution
00:35:16And help came
00:35:18from a source
00:35:19close to the king
00:35:20Anne herself
00:35:21I want to show you
00:35:27another book
00:35:28This is William Tyndale's
00:35:29The Obedience
00:35:30of a Christian Man
00:35:31from 1528
00:35:32In fact it's a rather
00:35:34battered edition
00:35:35but what it has to say
00:35:36is really important
00:35:38Tyndale was a Protestant
00:35:41and he argues
00:35:43in this book
00:35:43that the supreme authority
00:35:45is scripture
00:35:46over and above
00:35:47the false authority
00:35:48of the Pope
00:35:49He also adds
00:35:50that it's shameful
00:35:51for princes
00:35:52to be under
00:35:53the authority
00:35:54of the Pope
00:35:55In other words
00:35:56that kings
00:35:57are the highest authority
00:35:58in the land
00:36:00It says
00:36:01the king is judge
00:36:02over all
00:36:03and over him
00:36:04there is no judge
00:36:06What's really interesting
00:36:09is that Anne
00:36:10almost certainly
00:36:10gave a copy
00:36:11of this book
00:36:12to Henry
00:36:13and Henry
00:36:14on reading it
00:36:15said
00:36:15this is the book
00:36:16for me
00:36:16and all kings
00:36:18to read
00:36:18He evidently
00:36:20rather liked it
00:36:22And it gave Henry
00:36:26a solution
00:36:27to his dilemma
00:36:28If he were
00:36:29the supreme religious authority
00:36:31there was no need
00:36:32to get permission
00:36:33from the Pope
00:36:33for his divorce
00:36:35And this idea
00:36:39that actually
00:36:40he was first
00:36:40under God
00:36:41played to his egotism
00:36:43It was something
00:36:44he'd secretly
00:36:45suspected
00:36:46all along
00:36:47And this is another
00:36:48example
00:36:49of the way
00:36:49in which
00:36:50this love affair
00:36:51was having
00:36:52a profound impact
00:36:53This love affair
00:36:54was so important
00:36:55that it would end up
00:36:56changing the very faith
00:36:58of England
00:36:59Henry broke ties
00:37:03with Rome
00:37:04removing the Catholic
00:37:06Church's influence
00:37:07over the country
00:37:08and he set about
00:37:09creating a new
00:37:10Church of England
00:37:12over which he
00:37:13would be
00:37:13the supreme head
00:37:15It was an incredibly
00:37:17brave move
00:37:18that risked
00:37:19taking England
00:37:19to war
00:37:20with its Roman
00:37:21Catholic neighbours
00:37:22in Europe
00:37:22Sir Henry
00:37:24desperately needed
00:37:25a powerful ally
00:37:26In December
00:37:281532
00:37:29he crossed
00:37:30the channel
00:37:31with Anne
00:37:31to seek approval
00:37:32for their marriage
00:37:33from the French king
00:37:35and they got it
00:37:37They had waited
00:37:47for each other
00:37:48for seven long
00:37:49and difficult years
00:37:50Now they had cleared
00:37:52a pathway
00:37:53to marriage
00:37:54and all the evidence
00:37:55suggests that by the time
00:37:57they left Calais
00:37:58and returned to Dover
00:37:59Henry and Anne
00:38:01were lovers
00:38:02piano plays
00:38:10toers
00:38:13piano plays
00:38:17In every time
00:38:19he was
00:38:19in every instant
00:38:19such as
00:38:19the playing
00:38:20and the darkness
00:38:20is
00:38:20but the season
00:38:21was
00:38:22and the time
00:38:22he loved her
00:38:22and he was
00:38:23again
00:38:24to the sea
00:38:25and the time
00:38:25of the sea
00:38:26and the sea
00:38:27and the rain
00:38:27and the sea
00:38:28and the wind
00:38:29and the sea
00:38:29and the sea
00:38:30and the sea
00:38:30and the sea
00:38:30and the sea
00:38:31THE END
00:39:01Henry and Anne were passionately in love
00:39:03And if anyone should doubt their feelings for each other
00:39:07There's a remarkable 500-year-old book
00:39:10I don't suppose it was ever meant to be seen by anyone
00:39:15Except Henry and Anne
00:39:16I'm really excited about this
00:39:19In all my years of studying this couple
00:39:22This is the first time I've had a chance to see the real thing
00:39:26Will you go ahead?
00:39:29Wow, look at that
00:39:30So it's a stunning, exquisite turn of the 15th century, 16th century
00:39:37Probably Flemish illuminated book of ours
00:39:41But really evocative and very special
00:39:44Because it provides us with a really intimate glimpse
00:39:49Into Henry and Anne's relationship
00:39:51It contains two remarkable written entries
00:39:56In the hand of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
00:39:59That's amazing
00:40:00And this is Henry's here
00:40:02Written in his own hand
00:40:03Beneath, very importantly, an illumination of the flayed Christ
00:40:08Henry sometimes referred to as man of sorrows or eke homo
00:40:12I think Henry is trying to portray himself by association
00:40:16As the lovesick king suffering, you know, in his heart
00:40:21If you remember me in your prayers as strongly as I adore you
00:40:27I shall hardly be forgotten
00:40:29For I am yours forever
00:40:31If you remember my love in your prayers as strongly as I adore you
00:40:39Then I shall scarcely be forgotten
00:40:42Your Henry wrecks forever
00:40:44Well...
00:40:45Would you like to see what Anne wrote?
00:40:47God, yes, yes
00:40:48I think she chose the page very carefully
00:40:53We can see here an image of the Annunciation
00:40:56So Virgin Mary has been told by the angel that she's going to have a son
00:41:01And I think that this is what Anne is telling Henry
00:41:04Yes
00:41:05That she is the woman to provide him with the son and heir that he so desperately wanted
00:41:09And then at the foot of the page we can see
00:41:13She writes to Henry a couplet
00:41:16By daily proof you shall me find
00:41:20To be to you both loving and kind
00:41:24By daily proof you shall me find
00:41:33To be unto you both loving and kind
00:41:35Wow
00:41:37These words that Henry and Anne wrote to each other
00:41:42Remind me of wedding vows
00:41:44Henry declaring that he would be hers forever
00:41:47And Anne promising to give the king the son and heir he desperately wanted
00:41:52Now they set about making their union official
00:41:58Henry brought Anne to one of his favourite palaces
00:42:03The palace at Whitehall
00:42:05At the time it was the largest palace in Europe
00:42:09Bigger even than the Vatican
00:42:11And this map from 1680 shows something of its large extent
00:42:16It shows that it had a tilt yard, tennis courts, gardens, a great hall
00:42:20And many, many apartments
00:42:22It would have been a glorious place for Henry and Anne to celebrate being together
00:42:28Whitehall Palace was burnt to the ground in 1689
00:42:35Virtually all Henry's Tudor buildings were destroyed
00:42:39And what little is still left
00:42:41Is now only seen by politicians and civil servants
00:42:45Working in the cabinet office
00:42:47And this is it
00:42:53Almost all that remains
00:42:55Of that once mighty palace
00:42:57It's a crying shame
00:43:01Because so much of this story
00:43:03Would have been played out here at Whitehall
00:43:05Including the pinnacle of Henry and Anne's romance
00:43:08Their marriage
00:43:10Somewhere near here
00:43:17In January 1533
00:43:19Henry and Anne were officially married
00:43:21It was a pretty private affair
00:43:24There weren't many people there
00:43:25And so we have few witness accounts
00:43:27Of exactly what took place
00:43:28But what we do know
00:43:30Is that the couple would have been overjoyed
00:43:33Because Anne was pregnant
00:43:36And surely this time
00:43:39It would be a boy
00:43:40They had defied a pope
00:43:49And redefined a kingdom
00:43:51It seemed that love had conquered all
00:43:55Anne had held out the promise
00:44:16That she would give Henry the son
00:44:17An heir that he needed
00:44:18To secure the Tudor dynasty
00:44:20But Anne failed to fulfil that promise
00:44:37She gave birth to a girl
00:44:42Elizabeth
00:44:43It was a massive disappointment
00:44:53Catherine of Aragon
00:45:00A loyal wife and queen
00:45:02For over 20 years
00:45:04Had already been unceremoniously discarded
00:45:06For being unable to deliver a son
00:45:09Henry had seen this failure
00:45:12As a stain on his image
00:45:13An image was everything
00:45:15In the world of the Tudors
00:45:16Henry needed to be seen
00:45:24As a king
00:45:25Who could continue his dynasty
00:45:27This is a cartoon
00:45:32That was prepared
00:45:33By Hans Holbein
00:45:34A sketch
00:45:35And it is such an insight
00:45:39Into how Henry wanted to be seen
00:45:41Because for a start
00:45:43He's actually taller than he was in real life
00:45:45We've compared his armour with this picture
00:45:48And we've found that actually
00:45:49He's been stretched
00:45:51But the key message of this picture
00:45:53Is told by the shapes of Henry's body
00:45:56So it forms two triangles
00:45:58We've got the broad shoulders
00:46:00That form a triangle
00:46:01Tapering to the waist
00:46:03And the splayed feet
00:46:04That taper also up
00:46:06To focus the gaze
00:46:07On his bulging codpiece
00:46:10Which his hands frame
00:46:12And which there's several bows above
00:46:14Because this picture
00:46:15Is all about masculinity
00:46:17And virility
00:46:19And fertility
00:46:20And potency
00:46:21It's no wonder
00:46:22That we think of Henry
00:46:23As this man of lusts
00:46:25When in actual fact
00:46:27He had trouble siring an heir
00:46:29Because this picture
00:46:30Tells us what to think
00:46:32That's why there are so many copies
00:46:33Of this picture
00:46:34Because if you were a courtier
00:46:35Who had any nous at all
00:46:37You'd get yourself a copy of this picture
00:46:39To show that you were on message
00:46:40Henry and Anne's marriage
00:46:47Came under intense pressure
00:46:49From the very beginning
00:46:50England's future depended
00:46:53On their ability to reproduce
00:46:54A song composed for Anne's coronation
00:46:58Made the new queen's duties explicit
00:47:01It was called the white falcon
00:47:05The falcon being Anne's heraldic badge
00:47:08And a symbol of grace
00:47:10Purity and fertility
00:47:12This white falcon
00:47:15Rare and precious
00:47:16This bird shineth so bright
00:47:18Of all that are
00:47:20No bird compare
00:47:21May with this falcon white
00:47:23Of body small
00:47:26Of power regal she is
00:47:29And sharp of sight
00:47:30In chastity exceleth she
00:47:33Most like an angel bright
00:47:35That she may bring fruit
00:47:37According for such
00:47:39A falcon white
00:47:40Herself repose upon the rose
00:47:43Now may this falcon white
00:47:46The symbolism is clear
00:48:04As king and queen
00:48:05Henry and Anne
00:48:06Were expected to produce
00:48:08A male heir
00:48:09Under such pressure
00:48:12Anne's increasing desperation
00:48:14Began to show
00:48:15Less than a year
00:48:21After Elizabeth's birth
00:48:22Rumours circulated
00:48:24That the queen
00:48:24Was once again
00:48:25Of a goodly belly
00:48:27But mysteriously
00:48:29There's no record
00:48:30Of either a miscarriage
00:48:31Or indeed
00:48:32A birth
00:48:33Well it suggests to me
00:48:36That maybe it was a case
00:48:37Of pseudosiasis
00:48:38Or phantom pregnancy
00:48:39Which happened
00:48:41Particularly in the
00:48:4116th century
00:48:42Before the age of scans
00:48:44Or pregnancy tests
00:48:45When women who desperately
00:48:47Wanted to be pregnant
00:48:48Would have all the symptoms
00:48:50Of pregnancy
00:48:50But there was no baby
00:48:52Which expresses just how much
00:48:57Anne was desperate
00:48:58To give Henry
00:48:59What he wanted
00:49:00Henry's obsession
00:49:03Wasn't the only burden
00:49:04On their marriage
00:49:05There were still
00:49:07Many Roman Catholics
00:49:08Who refused to accept
00:49:09Anne as their queen
00:49:11This conflict
00:49:13Would lead to bloodshed
00:49:14Him
00:49:18He was
00:49:21He was
00:49:26A
00:49:28He
00:49:29Ten
00:49:29He
00:49:30He
00:49:30He
00:49:33He
00:49:34He
00:49:34He
00:49:35He
00:49:39He
00:49:40He
00:49:41He
00:49:41He
00:49:42He
00:49:43He
00:49:43Henry VIII had paid a heavy price to marry Anne Boleyn.
00:49:48In removing the Pope's authority over England,
00:49:51he had made Catholic enemies at home and abroad.
00:49:56To protect his own position,
00:49:58the king needed the loyalty of his subjects
00:50:01and he was prepared to create new laws
00:50:04and use force to get it.
00:50:07In 1534, Henry's government passed the Act of Supremacy,
00:50:10which said that Henry was and always had been
00:50:13supreme head of the Church of England,
00:50:15they just hadn't noticed it recently.
00:50:17And following on the heels of that was the Act of Succession.
00:50:20This said that Anne was his lawful queen
00:50:22and any children they had would be the true heirs to the throne.
00:50:25And all English subjects were required to swear that this was the case.
00:50:30And some people found this very hard to swallow.
00:50:34Those that refused to swear the oath were treated as traitors.
00:50:43This is Charterhouse in central London.
00:50:46In the 16th century, it was a flourishing monastery
00:50:50and at its head was prior John Houghton.
00:50:54He would pay the ultimate price for defying Henry.
00:50:59Houghton and many of his monks refused to swear that oath of succession.
00:51:09And so in April 1535, ten of them were taken to Newgate Prison.
00:51:14And within fewer than three weeks,
00:51:16they were tried, convicted and executed for treason.
00:51:20And we have an astonishing account of their execution.
00:51:24A foreign report on the gruesome event was graphic.
00:51:28What it said was this.
00:51:29They were dragged to the place of execution in their habits,
00:51:32to the great grief of the people.
00:51:34They were hanged, cut down before they were dead,
00:51:37opened and their bow and hearts burned.
00:51:40Their heads were then cut off and their bodies quartered.
00:51:43And another report adds the shocking detail
00:51:46that the executioner caused them to be ripped up in each other's presence.
00:51:51Their arms torn off, their hearts cut out,
00:51:54and rubbed upon their mouths and faces.
00:51:57And the barbarity of this act was blamed directly
00:52:00on the King of England himself.
00:52:07Far from easing the pressure on Henry and Anne's marriage,
00:52:10the deaths of these dissenters only amplified it.
00:52:14They needed a son more than ever to justify their actions.
00:52:21But even though their relationship was under great strain,
00:52:24they certainly weren't showing it.
00:52:30I've come to a castle in Gloucestershire.
00:52:33It's a place that reminds us that for more than two years,
00:52:37they were happily married and still in love.
00:52:45The royal couple came here for ten days in the summer of 1535,
00:52:49just a few months after the bloodshed at Charterhouse.
00:52:54Today, it's an upmarket hotel.
00:52:56Hello.
00:52:58Hello.
00:52:59Welcome to the film break.
00:53:01My name's Lipscomb.
00:53:04I've got the keys to a unique hotel room.
00:53:07Now, it's pretty unusual to stay in any room
00:53:20that a king and queen have slept in.
00:53:23But one that Henry and Anne have stayed in
00:53:25is a rare and thrilling experience.
00:53:27Of course, it's hard enough to know what goes on
00:53:36behind closed doors in modern relationships,
00:53:40let alone at a distance of almost 500 years.
00:53:44But what we do know is what other people said
00:53:46about Henry and Anne.
00:53:49And what they said is that Henry and Anne were married together.
00:53:53In fact, Henry and Anne were described as being married together
00:53:56more than Henry and his other wives,
00:53:58including throughout the summer and autumn of 1535,
00:54:01when they were staying here.
00:54:04But the other thing we know about their relationship
00:54:06is that it was a relationship of sunshine and storms.
00:54:11They quarreled and they made up.
00:54:14They had fights and then they had ardent reunions.
00:54:17Henry and Anne were now two and a half years into their marriage.
00:54:27And as 1535 drew to a close, all seemed well in their world.
00:54:321536 should have been a great year for Henry and Anne.
00:54:50The king was now supreme head of the Church of England
00:54:53and any son that they had would be the legitimate heir to the throne.
00:54:57And things were looking optimistic on that front
00:55:00because Anne was pregnant again.
00:55:09The couple's good fortune continued with the first major event of that year.
00:55:14On the 7th of January, 1536, Catherine of Aragon, Henry's first wife,
00:55:21had died after a short illness.
00:55:31In the eyes of Roman Catholic Europe,
00:55:33Catherine was still the legitimate Queen of England.
00:55:37Her nephew was the Spanish king, Charles V,
00:55:40a serious threat to Henry's reign.
00:55:43On the day his ex-wife died,
00:55:45Henry was busy parting at court.
00:55:48No one could now dispute his marriage to Anne.
00:55:55If there's ever a true victim in this story,
00:55:57it's Catherine of Aragon.
00:56:00She gave more than 20 years of her life to this man
00:56:03who would ultimately discard and humiliate her.
00:56:05Her only crime was her failure to give Henry a healthy son.
00:56:15For that, she was exiled from court
00:56:17and her daughter Mary declared a bastard.
00:56:21As a final humiliation,
00:56:22Catherine was denied a state funeral at St Paul's or Westminster Abbey.
00:56:28Instead, she was buried here at Peterborough Cathedral.
00:56:31I find it quite moving and sad to be here by Catherine's grave.
00:56:47Catholics viewed Catherine as a martyr,
00:56:50and her story is so tragic that people still want to mark her life.
00:56:55Look at all this.
00:56:58People have brought flowers and posies.
00:57:00And the pomegranate, her symbol, to remember her by.
00:57:05So Catherine remains an inspiration.
00:57:08Henry and Anne treated her with utter contempt.
00:57:13So self-absorbed were they.
00:57:15Ultimately, she would be just another victim of their destructive love affair.
00:57:20Henry had weathered a political and religious storm over his divorce from Catherine.
00:57:31Now Anne was expecting a child that would surely be a son.
00:57:36Henry appeared to have come through the other side with pride and honour intact.
00:57:41But I believe it was Henry's overwhelming desire to maintain honour that would ultimately destroy the marriage for which he'd fought so hard.
00:57:51Just 17 days after Catherine's death, Henry and Anne's relationship suffered a major blow.
00:58:05Like everyone else in the 16th century, Henry VIII was obsessed with honour.
00:58:15And honour was associated with masculinity, with upholding patriarchy, with controlling one's household and maintaining one's good name.
00:58:24Masculinity was an essential part of kingship.
00:58:28It was vital that Henry excelled over all.
00:58:33He was a champion on the tilt-yard, an expert jouster.
00:58:38But his youth and athleticism were fading.
00:58:42And his love for dangerous sports would now prove life-threatening.
00:58:48Henry fell from his horse whilst jousting.
00:58:52He suffered a major blow to the head.
00:58:56He suffered a major blow to the head.
00:58:58The king was reported to be unconscious for over two hours.
00:59:22Such a severe head injury could be partly responsible for the marked change in Henry's personality.
00:59:31He became an increasingly brutal and cruel king.
00:59:36We understand that the young Henry was very different from Henry in the later years of his life.
00:59:43And there were a couple of ideas about why that could be and how his brain might have been involved.
00:59:47If he underwent damage to the frontal lobe of the brain, it's this part here, just behind the forehead.
00:59:54And if he hit the ground very hard, then the front part of the brain could bash against the skull and cause damage to this area.
01:00:02And the reason why that's important is that the frontal lobe here, the biggest lobe of our brain, is the area responsible for our personalities and our behaviour.
01:00:10It processes our experiences and makes us the people that we are.
01:00:15And we know that people who have damage to the frontal lobe, it may just exacerbate character traits that they already have.
01:00:22So if they're slightly grumpy, they may, after their injury, be very grumpy.
01:00:26Often people say it's like a completely different person.
01:00:30And so their characteristics change completely.
01:00:33So it's possible that that's what happened to Henry.
01:00:35We also know that the impact of his fall opened up an old ulcer in Henry's left leg, which would never heal.
01:00:45We know that actually Henry's physicians did try to drain his ulcers.
01:00:50And they used hot irons, almost like a hot poker, that they pushed into his ulcer with no anaesthetic.
01:00:55And that can't have done very much for his temper.
01:00:59And worse was to come.
01:01:02Henry's jousting accident would be blamed for the next disaster to strike at the heart of Henry and Anne's marriage.
01:01:09Less than a week after Henry's near fatal fall, Anne miscarried.
01:01:29She blamed her miscarriage on her shock at hearing the news of the King's fall.
01:01:42The foetus was three and a half months old, old enough for them to be able to tell that it would have been a boy.
01:01:48Although they loved each other, the success of Henry and Anne's marriage had always depended on having a son.
01:02:10The Spanish ambassador, Eustace Chapuis, wrote that Anne had miscarried of her saviour.
01:02:22He believed that the Queen had sealed her fate.
01:02:26Well, we know that Henry was distraught.
01:02:30Reports said that he showed great distress and great disappointment and sorrow at the loss of this child.
01:02:37He's reported to have said, I see that God will not give me male children.
01:02:44Henry had seen his failure to sire a son with his previous wife, Catherine, as a sign that God disapproved of his first marriage.
01:02:53Was the miscarriage a sign that Anne didn't have God's backing either?
01:02:57Following Anne Boleyn's miscarriage, rumours circulated in court that Henry VIII had lost interest in his wife.
01:03:16Anne was never a popular queen and without a son she was exposed to those at court who would rejoice at her downfall.
01:03:23And they would have been delighted to hear gossip that Henry was seeing another woman.
01:03:30Our evidence comes from the Spanish ambassador Eustace Chapuis, a wily character and a staunch Roman Catholic who never disguised his hatred for Anne, the woman whom he called the concubine.
01:03:47L'Obaldino writes that he has heard in France that Anne Boleyn had in some way or other incurred the royal displeasure and that she is in disgrace with the king who is paying his court with another lady.
01:04:02And that the people are uttering words of much indignation against them.
01:04:10The other lady that Chapuis refers to is Jane Seymour.
01:04:16Jane was a lady-in-waiting to the queen, just as Anne had once been to Catherine.
01:04:23The Spanish ambassador wrote that Henry had sent a letter to Jane accompanied by a purse full of sovereigns.
01:04:32It was possibly a summons to his bedroom.
01:04:37Jane didn't open the letter and instead sent back the purse and the letter saying that she was the daughter of good and honourable parents and that if the king wanted to make her a present of money, perhaps he'd do so at the time that God decided to give her an advantageous marriage.
01:04:54It does look a little like Jane is playing hard to get, perhaps because she hoped that the advantageous marriage would be with Henry himself.
01:05:07But I don't believe Henry was planning to marry Jane.
01:05:11It was normal practice for kings at this time to have mistresses and there's absolutely no evidence that Henry was thinking of abandoning Anne or indeed that he'd even fallen out of love with her.
01:05:25In fact, Henry was still increasing pressure on the Spanish king, Charles V, to recognise Anne as his queen.
01:05:32But then fate intervened, delivering a blow so powerful that it would tear Henry and Anne's relationship apart.
01:05:45Scandalous rumours began to spread through the court that the queen had been having sexual relations with other men, some close to the king.
01:05:55Why these allegations surfaced and who was behind them is still fiercely debated.
01:06:04Was she guilty of the charges against her? Were the dark forces behind the scenes plotting her downfall?
01:06:12Was Anne the victim of court gossip? Did careless talk cost lives?
01:06:18We know that Anne could be feisty and sometimes even flirtatious.
01:06:26But it's extremely doubtful that Anne would commit adultery.
01:06:31Frustratingly, we don't have the evidence to give us a clear picture of what was going on.
01:06:36But perhaps we can understand Anne's downfall through a more recent royal scandal.
01:06:42Former courtier Patrick Jefferson was Princess Diana's private secretary.
01:06:49I think there are some parallels with Diana there, where some of her critics, some of them quite close to the royal establishment, have tried to paint her as a loose cannon.
01:07:01Whereas the truth was, she was a extremely dutiful princess.
01:07:06Well, Diana was painted as this woman who had many lovers, Anne was, of course, as well.
01:07:11And it's extraordinary to me that 500 years later, the way you can really blacken a woman's name is to suggest that she's some sort of sexual predator.
01:07:21I think they were both very sassy women. And you can't sass around in court and not expect to bear the consequences sooner or later.
01:07:29When your usefulness has been outlived, then you'd better watch out.
01:07:33In other words, they would find anything they could to condemn her in the eyes of the world.
01:07:37It seems to be at the heart of this question about Henry and Anne is the question of scandal.
01:07:42And, of course, you have been in a court that had a certain amount of scandal associated with it.
01:07:48I mean, what can we learn from that?
01:07:49Scandal is one way in which courtiers or those who make their living from the court are able to sort out their own pecking order.
01:07:59And when scandal doesn't exist, then there will always be somebody around to create it.
01:08:04And I think the extraordinary thing about Henry is my conviction is that he does genuinely believe that she's committed adultery.
01:08:11Because there would be nobody who wanted to keep their head on their shoulders who was going to tell him he got it wrong.
01:08:17And this is why today I think it is still the case that to give advice to a royal person, let alone tell a royal person they're getting it wrong, that's quite an art.
01:08:27And I don't know how many people have got that art or want to exercise it.
01:08:30But there is nobody, I think, today, who will tell senior members of the royal family that they're getting it wrong.
01:08:39According to one account, when rumours of Anne's infidelity reached Henry, he was shocked and his colour changed.
01:08:48He immediately ordered an investigation into the allegations.
01:08:51Arguably the most damaging and hurtful of these involved adultery and treason with one of the king's oldest friends, Henry Norris.
01:09:05Norris was a gentleman of Henry VIII's privy chamber and a groom of the stall, a role that traditionally entailed wiping the royal bottom.
01:09:14In reality, it meant that Norris was Henry's closest companion, someone he truly trusted.
01:09:22But in Henry's court, walls had ears.
01:09:27No one was immune from the deadly consequences of rumour and gossip.
01:09:34In an indiscreet conversation, the queen was said to have asked Norris why he hadn't got married yet.
01:09:42And when he replied that he would tarry a time, Anne said,
01:09:46You look for dead men's shoes.
01:09:49For if all came to the king but good, you would look to have me.
01:09:55In other words, you want to marry me when my husband's dead, don't you?
01:09:59Norris's response, that he'd rather his head were off, suggests he knew that they'd committed a serious faux pas.
01:10:06They had imagined the king's death, which under the Treasons Act was illegal.
01:10:14Henry launched an investigation into Norris's conduct, along with many others who were suspected of having had sexual intercourse with the queen, among them her own brother, George.
01:10:24Anne's final downfall was swift and sudden.
01:10:36It began with what should have been a day of celebration for the king and queen at Greenwich Palace.
01:10:41It was May Day. They were at a tournament. They were having a very nice time until some unwelcome news arrived for Henry.
01:10:52It turned out that a musician who'd been interrogated, possibly under torture, had confessed to sexual intercourse with Anne on three occasions.
01:11:01It's my opinion that Henry believed the accusations.
01:11:05And they have the power to destroy his masculine honour, something he valued more than his love for Anne.
01:11:12Henry couldn't be seen as a king who had no control over his wife.
01:11:20He abruptly left Greenwich, taking Norris with him.
01:11:23And whatever was said on that journey back to London was enough to convince Henry that his closest friend was guilty too.
01:11:31Norris would end up on the scaffold.
01:11:35Henry would never see Anne again.
01:11:38She would never have a chance to meet her husband, to talk it through, to give her side of the story, to protest her innocence.
01:11:45That same night, alone at Greenwich Palace, Anne was given all the usual attention of a queen.
01:11:54She was still completely unaware that her life was unravelling.
01:11:59Early in the morning on the 2nd of May, Anne was taken from Greenwich to the tower by barge.
01:12:13She had no idea why.
01:12:29She could never have imagined that she was experiencing her final moments of freedom.
01:12:34She's travelled in through this water gate in St Thomas' Tower, now known as Traitor's Gate.
01:12:45In those days, the Thames came up all the way to these stairs.
01:12:48And, of course, we have this sense, with hindsight, that that was the beginning of the end, that she must have known it was all up.
01:12:56But Anne wouldn't have known that.
01:12:57No-one considered for an instant that the Queen of England might lose her head.
01:13:04Some time after arriving at the royal apartments at the tower, Anne was accused of a long list of sexual crimes and treasonous acts.
01:13:18We don't know how the news was broken to her or how she reacted.
01:13:23Henry, meanwhile, simply disappeared from public life, no doubt wanting to escape the hurt and embarrassment that his wife's trial would bring.
01:13:34I'm walking where the royal apartments used to be, where kings and queens stayed the night before their coronation, because to hold the tower was to hold London and was to indicate that you really held England.
01:13:49And, of course, it was where Anne stayed on the night before her coronation and, again, on the night before her execution.
01:13:54It was also the site of the Great Hall, which held 2,000 people, and where Anne's trial was held.
01:14:01Anne's trial took place in front of 2,000 people, and she was judged by a jury of peers led by her own uncle, the Duke of Norfolk.
01:14:18Surviving documents from the trial reveal some of the more salacious accusations levelled at Anne.
01:14:25Oh, I'm looking forward to seeing these.
01:14:30This document is an extraordinary one because it is a record of that trial.
01:14:42This is the indictment. This is the charges laid out against Anne.
01:14:46It says, for example, that Anne has diabolically seduced these men because of her frail and carnal appetites, because of her lust.
01:14:59It doesn't stop here. It goes on and on.
01:15:02Over here, it describes Anne's relationships with these various men.
01:15:09So it mentions here, for example, Henry Norris, and says that he has violated and carnally known the Queen.
01:15:22And then it mentions George Boleyn, Anne's brother.
01:15:25And this bit's particularly lurid.
01:15:27It says that she has alerted the said George into putting his tongue in her mouth, and she has put her tongue in his mouth.
01:15:37This is a picture of Anne as sexual predator.
01:15:42And that's exactly how Henry wanted her to appear.
01:15:45No man could possibly keep control of a wife with such a depraved sexual appetite.
01:15:51Not even the king.
01:15:54Henry was conspicuous by his absence from the trial.
01:15:57It was a tactic that completely rebounded on him.
01:16:01Henry stayed away because it was really humiliating for him to have his wife accused of adultery.
01:16:08It suggested at this time his lack of sexual dominance, his lack of sexual prowess.
01:16:13And indeed, that's precisely what came out of the trial.
01:16:16George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, Anne's brother, was given a piece of paper that he was told not to read out loud.
01:16:26But he did.
01:16:27And on it was the charge that he and Anne had laughed at the king's manner of dressing.
01:16:32Had laughed at his terrible poetry.
01:16:34And above all, that Anne had said that the king was not skilful in copulating with a woman.
01:16:40And had neither vigour nor potency.
01:16:44Remember, that's in front of that crowd of 2,000.
01:16:48Henry was right to stay away.
01:16:51Anne was convicted on all counts.
01:16:55She now had just three days to live.
01:17:08The outcome of Anne Boleyn's trial was never in doubt.
01:17:12By a jury loyal to the king, she was unanimously found guilty of adultery, incest and high treason.
01:17:19Sentenced to death and with nothing to lose, it was now Anne's chance to tell her side of the story.
01:17:26I am entirely innocent of all these accusations, so I cannot ask pardon of God for them.
01:17:32I have been always a faithful and loyal wife to the king.
01:17:38I have not perhaps at all times shown him that humility and reverence that his goodness to me and the honour to which he raised me did deserve.
01:17:55In some ways, Anne's trial speech is entirely straightforward.
01:17:59She says that she is innocent, that she has always been a loyal wife to the king.
01:18:04But then there's that curious line about not having shown him the humility and reverence that his goodness to her
01:18:11and the position to which he raised her justified.
01:18:14In other words, she's admitting that actually she's been a bit feisty,
01:18:18that perhaps she's spoken back, she's been out of line from time to time.
01:18:23She hasn't always been the wife that Henry wanted her to be.
01:18:27I confess.
01:18:30I have had fancies and suspicions of him.
01:18:39Which I had not strength nor discretion to resist.
01:18:44But God knows.
01:18:46And as my witness, I have never failed otherwise towards him.
01:18:50And I shall never confess any otherwise.
01:18:54Anne claimed, both before and after taking the communion, that she was innocent, on peril of her soul's damnation.
01:19:06And I think she was.
01:19:07I also don't think there's any evidence to sustain the idea that Henry wanted to get rid of her.
01:19:12In fact, I think what happened to Anne was a terrible mishap.
01:19:17That actually, Anne managed to look guilty when she wasn't.
01:19:21Her sophisticated conversational wit, her excellence at the courtly game, was where she came unstuck.
01:19:27Exactly what had beguiled Henry in the first place, made her look guilty as sin.
01:19:36So like a Shakespearean tragedy, the king, feeling betrayed and hurt, sentenced the queen that he loved to death for crimes she didn't commit.
01:19:46I think that the concubine's little bastard, Elizabeth, will be excluded from the succession.
01:20:01And that the king will get himself requested by parliament to marry.
01:20:05The joy shown by the people every day, not only at the ruin of the concubine, but at the hope of Princess Mary's restoration, is inconceivable.
01:20:20While Anne awaited her execution in her chambers at the tower, she may well have heard the commotion outside,
01:20:35as the five men she was accused of sleeping with, including her brother, were beheaded.
01:20:41I can't begin to imagine how she must have felt.
01:20:50We can't be certain, but it is believed that this is the prayer book that Anne had with her in the tower.
01:21:03I spent a lot of time thinking about Anne's weeks in the tower, how she racked her brains,
01:21:09how she tried to figure out what had got her into that mess.
01:21:12The hysteria, the trauma, the terrible time she must have had.
01:21:15And the idea that she had this with her at the time, and that I'm now holding it in my hands,
01:21:23is something I can't quite express.
01:21:28This is the wonder of history, this tangible sense of reaching out to touch the past.
01:21:33What's even more extraordinary about it is that Anne has written in it.
01:21:50Now, she probably wrote this some time before her execution,
01:21:53but what she wrote has a haunting resonance.
01:21:57It says,
01:22:00Remember me when you do pray,
01:22:03That hope doth lead from day to day.
01:22:08Remember me when you do pray,
01:22:11That hope doth lead from day to day.
01:22:18And she signed it, Anne Boleyn.
01:22:23Anne left her chambers at the tower a little before eight o'clock in the morning.
01:22:36Awaiting her at the end of this short journey was an expert French swordsman,
01:22:42summoned by Henry as an act of mercy.
01:22:45For a dignified execution befitting a queen,
01:22:48a scaffold had been erected inside the walls of the tower,
01:22:52away from the public.
01:22:54An eyewitness reported Anne's final words.
01:23:01Good Christian people.
01:23:05I am come hither to die.
01:23:08For according to the law,
01:23:10and by the law I am judged to die.
01:23:13Therefore, I shall speak nothing against it.
01:23:17I am come hither to accuse no man,
01:23:20or to speak anything of that,
01:23:23whereof I am accused,
01:23:26and condemned,
01:23:28to die.
01:23:30But,
01:23:32I pray,
01:23:34God save the king,
01:23:37and send him long to reign over you all.
01:23:42For a gentler,
01:23:44nor a more merciful prince was there never.
01:23:48And to me,
01:23:50he was ever a good,
01:23:54a gentle,
01:23:56sovereign lord.
01:23:59And if any person will meddle of my cause,
01:24:03I require them to judge the best.
01:24:07And thus,
01:24:09I take my leave of this world,
01:24:12and of you all.
01:24:14And I heartily desire you all to pray for me.
01:24:18O Lord God, have mercy on my soul.
01:24:22To Christ, I commend thee.
01:24:24Jesus, receive my soul.
01:24:26O Lord God, have mercy on my soul.
01:24:29To Christ, I commend thee.
01:24:31Jesus, receive my soul.
01:24:33O Lord God, have mercy on my soul.
01:24:34O Lord God, have mercy on my soul.
01:24:39The Queen of England was beheaded,
01:24:41with a single, clean strike,
01:24:43of the French blade.
01:24:44The Queen of England was made.
01:25:01This is the chapel royal of St Peter at Vincula,
01:25:05a parish church within the walls of the Tower of London.
01:25:07of London. After Anne was executed, she was brought here to be buried, or at least most
01:25:17of her was. If they did what they did with other traitors, they would have taken her
01:25:21head, boiled it, tarred it, and put it on a spike on London Bridge before throwing it
01:25:26into the swirling Thames. But the rest of her is here, somewhere beneath my feet, and
01:25:32this is where she should be remembered.
01:25:37Alex Langlands and Rakhshadev join military veterans in the
01:26:07Yorkshire, digging up Britain's past for a War Horse special. That's brand new at 7,
01:26:12so stay where you are. And at 9, Matthew McConaughey and Britain's Mr. Cool, Idris Elba,
01:26:17starring the network premiere of Stephen King's action fantasy, The Dark Tower.