woman King Henry VIII had no desire for, was the sole queen left standing

8 min readDec 27, 2020

photos of King Henry VIII’s wives created by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now

The daughter of two teachers, Becca Saladin has always loved history. Her love of history, paired with her talent as a graphic artist is breathing new interest into centuries-old stories.

It all started with Anne Boleyn

The first book her father read her was a fictionalized version of the Anne Boleyn story. Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second wife, was a feisty and intelligent woman who quickly became Saladin’s favorite historical figure.

One day, she wondered what Boleyn would look like today. So, she opened Photoshop to see if she could bring her into the future. Pasting together eyes, nose, and mouth, she manipulated them to match Boleyn’s portrait, digitally painting eyelashes and skin color.

When she was done, Boleyn felt like a real person to her. Looking at the photo makes Boleyn’s story feel more horrific and somehow more profound. She could relate to her.

“It’s hard for us to relate to historical figures”, she says, “when all we have to go by is flat portraits wearing outdated period era garments. We don’t connect with them. But they were real people, with real feelings.”

“History isn’t just a series of stories, it was real people with real feelings. I think the work brings people a step closer to that.” — Becca Saladin

public domain photos of King Henry VIII’s wives from Wikipedia, composite created by author

Once Boleyn was completed, she started photoshopping the portraits of King Henry VIII and the other wives and launched an Instagram account for her Royalty Now project. It’s taken off and has over 270 thousand followers.

The accidental king…

photos of King Henry VIII created by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now

A second-born son, Henry was the spare, not the heir. While his elder brother Arthur was being groomed for the throne, Henry studied religion and the arts and wrote music and poetry.

His brother Arthur, heir to the throne, had been betrothed since childhood to Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella.

Six months after Arthur and Catherine were married, he died of a sudden illness and Henry VIII became heir to the throne. Henry VIII was only 17 years old when he ascended to the throne. He immediately married his brother’s 23-year-old widow.

1. Catherine of Aragon: perfect in every way but one

photo of Catherine of Aragon by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now

Promised to Arthur since childhood, Catherine was raised to be queen. Many historians believe she’s the only woman Henry truly loved. Tiny, delicate, and ladylike, he believed she was perfect in every way — except one.

In their years of marriage, Catherine bore him six children. Three boys, three girls. One after another, each infant died. All but one. The only child that survived infancy was a daughter, who would become Mary I.

As one son died, then a second and third, Henry became obsessed with a male heir. It was her one failing, he said. The inability to give him a son. When his mistress bore him a son that could never be king, that was the final straw.

“Henry viewed her as a model wife in every respect but one… her failure to give him a son” — Tracy Borman, Tudor historian

Henry petitioned the pope for a divorce, but his request was refused. So he broke ties with the Roman Catholic Church, formed the Church of England, and got his divorce.

Catherine was demoted to princess, disallowed to see her daughter, and banished to a distant residence. Henry was free to marry again.

2. Anne Boleyn: “Lord have mercy on me”

photo of Anne Boleyn by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now

With Catherine out of the way, Henry married Anne Boleyn. As feisty and intelligent as she was tiny and feminine, Henry was smitten. Their first child, Elizabeth, was born barely nine months after the wedding.

She was expecting their second child when Henry was injured in a jousting tournament. When news of the accident reached Anne, she collapsed and miscarried, delivering a tiny stillborn son.

Miles away, Catherine of Aragon died the day Boleyn miscarried.

Henry lost interest in Anne after the stillbirth and developed an attraction for her lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour. Anne was enraged. Not just as his infidelity and indiscretion, but his choice.

Boleyn’s and Seymour’s mothers were cousins and the girls had been raised together for a time. The two women came to blows over Henry and Anne plotted with her sister-in-law to remove Jane from the court.

Desperate to end the marriage, Henry accused Anne of treason and adultery with multiple men including her brother, a charge historians believe was fabricated. She was forced to listen to her brother’s execution the day before her own. The king did not even attend her beheading.

“Oh Lord, have mercy on me. To God I commend my soul!”
— the final words of Anne Boleyn

3. Jane Seymour: a story short and tragic

photo of Jane Seymour by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now

On the day Anne Boleyn was beheaded, Henry announced his engagement to Jane Seymour. They married a few days later.

Seymour’s story is short and tragic. A few months after the wedding, she delivered the male heir King Henry so desperately wanted. Less than two weeks after delivering Edward VI, she died from postpartum complications.

As the only woman to produce the male heir he was so desperate for, she was buried (next to Henry) at Windsor Castle.

4. Anne of Cleves: thanks, but no thanks

photo of Anne of Cleves by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now

Two years after Jane Seymour’s death, the king’s chief minister suggested that a European alliance would be beneficial and suggested that Henry marry one of the sisters of Germany’s Duke of Cleves.

The king dispatched an artist to paint portraits of the women. Upon receiving the portraits, he selected Anne and the marriage was arranged.

When Anne arrived, Henry protested that the portrait did not accurately represent her and tried to halt the wedding. Alas, it was too late. They were married six days later. It was his shortest marriage.

Less than six months later, Henry offered Anne a generous financial settlement in return for agreeing to annul the marriage given that it remained unconsummated. She accepted and lived out her life in peace and financial comfort as the “King’s Sister.”

5. Catherine Howard: A double tragedy

She was 15, perhaps 16, and a lady-in-waiting to the undesired Anne of Cleves. He was 49. He proposed. She accepted. Delighted with his young bride, Henry showered her with gifts and called her his “rose without a thorn.”

Catherine Howard gave Henry the youth and vitality he thought he’d lost. After a long honeymoon, they settled into marriage and she became step-mother to Henry’s three children, one of them slightly older than her.

Less than a year later, the rumors of infidelity started. Catherine was sneaking out to meet someone. After an investigation by the archbishop, two of Catherine’s childhood teachers claimed they’d had consensual sexual relationships with the girl, one starting when she was only 12.

Today, we would not call a sexual relationship with a 12 year old consensual. Historian Josephine Wilkinson said, “Catherine was sexually exploited by two men of the household.”

One of the “relationships” continued after her marriage, under fear of exposure. Catherine was afraid he would reveal knowledge of private markings if she didn’t comply. Today, we might call that blackmail.

Henry was furious that she was not a virgin at marriage. She was denied a trial and executed for adultery and treason. She was not yet 18.

Catherine Parr: a full and creepy circle

Henry’s last wife was a childhood friend of his first child, and named after his first wife, bringing Henry’s relationships to a full and creepy circle.

Parr’s mother had been a lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon and named her baby in honor of her queen. Henry’s daughter, Mary Tudor, was only four years younger than Parr and the two were childhood friends.

At age 30, she was thrice married and widowed and in love with Thomas Seymour, brother of Jane Seymour when the King took interest in her. One does not reject the king carelessly. She accepted his proposal. He was 52.

Henry’s last wife was a spirited and educated woman who won some firsts in women’s literary history. Her book, Prayers or Meditations, is the first book to be authored by an English woman under her own name and the first book to be published by a woman in the English language.

During their short marriage, she persuaded Henry to restore his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, to the order of succession to the throne.

Death of a king

Henry VIII died of natural causes, age 55, with Catherine Parr at his side. After his death, she quietly married her true love, Thomas Seymour. Less than a year later she was dead from childbirth complications.

Anne of Cleves, the one woman King Henry VIII had no desire for, was the sole queen left standing. She would become the only queen to be buried with the full pomp and ceremony of a royal funeral at Westminster Abbey, by royal order of his daughter Mary who had ascended to the throne.