Six Wives of Henry VIII

Henry VIII is famous for having married six times, and the lives of the women he chose have been a source of endless fascination. Henry had a taste for self-confident women with intelligence and education. Three of his wives, Katharine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Parr definitely fit into that mould, whilst there are hints that Jane Seymour, too, would have made her mark had she lived longer. Anne of Cleves was hampered by the King’s lack of physical response to her, and perhaps her limited education, but when he knew her better, he liked her. Poor Katheryn Howard had little time to develop her personality.

Numerous books have been written about the women, and they have appeared in films and TV series – depicted as saints or demons, depending on the religious viewpoint of the writer and the prevailing ideas about how women should behave. 

The latest interpretation from the BBC, ‘Six Wives with Lucy Worsley’,  (titled 'Secrets of the Six Wives' in the US) reinterprets these six diverse women for our own time.