Wolf Hall: the embarrassing true story of how Henry VIII met Anne of Cleves

Wolf Corridor season two episode 5 noticed Thomas Cromwell’s son Gregory return from Henry’s new spouse, Anne of Cleves, with an excruciating story of how the King met his fourth bride for the primary time – however how a lot of it’s actually true? Discover out right here… 

Within the present, Henry is proven a portrait of his new bride and is delighted together with her, deciding to journey to fulfill her within the last phases of her journey to London with a purpose to shock her, regardless of Cromwell’s robust suggestion that she wouldn’t be ready for this and the King would shock her – particularly if he arrived in disguise when she had no concept who he was or what he regarded like. 

In actuality, this seems to be very a lot the case. Henry did like Anne’s portrait, and certainly determined to trip out to Rochester to shock Girl Anne, regardless of it being in opposition to customized. 

Henry was famously a romantic and attentive lover and believed that he would shock and delight his new bride with the romantic custom of dressing in disguise to fulfill her. Nonetheless, Anne was from Germany, and will have been unaware of the favored French customized. 

Even when she did know, their assembly didn’t go nicely. There are numerous accounts about what occurred, with some claiming – like Gregory tells his father within the present – that Anne merely ignores the King as she has no concept who he’s. 

Others say that he tried to method her and he or she pushed him away – presumably as she believed that he was a stranger when she was the King’s meant. 

Historic Royal Palace’s head of analysis Professor Anthony Musson informed HELLO!’s Proper Royal Podcast: “She’s come over from Cleves, a very lengthy journey, a number of months price… she’s there on New Yr’s Day and the King thinks will probably be a little bit of a wheeze to go there in disguise… He both expects her to recognise him or to be gracious… but it surely should have shocked her. 

“She was because of meet him in a few days’ time, so she was in all probability pondering she’d get organised for that so was off-guard, off-duty, and positively not anticipating the King. He wasn’t what she anticipated. She may need considered a youthful man, much less chubby. There are two parts there. She was maybe plainer than what he was used to, and he makes an enormous deal out of it.”

Nonetheless, both approach there is no such thing as a doubt that the assembly profoundly wounded the King’s satisfaction, a lot so that he’s believed to have famously shouted “I like her not!” at his councillors in protest to the wedding. 

© BBC / Playground Leisure / Nick Briggs

It was additionally clear that Henry didn’t need to marry Anne, and like within the present, tried to assert that her earlier engagement to the Duke of Lorraine ought to stop her marrying once more. Nonetheless, it was merely not the case – and there was political strain for Henry to make an alliance with Cleves following a peace settlement between France and the Holy Roman Empire. 

In actuality, as within the present, Henry was unable to consummate the wedding, and complained about his new spouse, claiming that she smelled and telling Cromwell: “I favored her earlier than not nicely, however now I like her a lot worse.” 

© Nick Briggs

The wedding was annulled simply six months later, with Cromwell stating: “Many instances, his majesty has declared unto him that his nature has abhorred her ever since, to this point that if his grace would… go about to have a do together with her, his highness verily thinks that his nature wouldn’t consent to take action.” Henry went on to marry his fifth spouse, Katherine Howard.

Anthony spoke about Anne’s life after Henry, saying: “She in all probability did the most effective out of all of them. She bought a very good settlement together with her divorce, she was often known as the King’s beloved sister. She was given a priority after the King and Queen’s kids. She was the foremost girl within the realm after. She even realized English… she outlived Henry.”