The Mistresses of Henry VIII by Kelly Hart

Author:Kelly Hart
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3
ISBN: 9780752462516
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2010-10-15T04:30:00+00:00

It is said that the English nobles are ill-disposed towards Anne on account of her pride and the insolence and bad conduct of her brother and relations. For the same reason the King’s affection for her is less than it was. He now shows himself in love with another lady, and many nobles are assisting him in the affair.13

Chapuys did not fully agree. He replied to the emperor:

With regard to the Lady it is quite true that occasionally this king seems to be angry with her, but, as I have already observed in some of my previous dispatches, such outbreaks are merely lovers’ quarrels, of which no great notice need be taken, unless, indeed, the King’s passion for the young lady, about whom I once wrote to Your Majesty, should continue and wax stronger than it is at present … I hear from the Grand Esquire (Guildford) that upon the Lady [Anne] addressing certain remonstrances to the King, and complaining that the young lady in question did not treat her with due respect in words and deeds, the King went away in a great passion, complaining loudly [about Anne] … Rochford’s wife was dismissed from court owing to the above.14

The ‘very handsome’ young lady’s name is unfortunately not recorded in any surviving documents. Chapuys’ portrayal of the lady, both in looks and personality, is very different to his description of Jane Seymour or Bessie Blount. She was certainly one of Anne’s attendants, and to contact the Lady Mary and insult Queen Anne shows confidence; Chapuys also wrote that she had the support of many courtiers. But this level of hostility to Anne’s reign is what Chapuys wished to hear, and what he paid his informants to tell him. Therefore we can be unsure as to whether this mistress’s influence was as great as he reported it to be.

Despite Henry’s commitment to Anne, she could not accept sharing her husband’s affections. Cromwell praised ‘the great modesty and patience she [Katherine] had shown … the King being continually inclined to amours’.15 Anne did not have his first wife’s ability to turn a blind eye. In October 1534 Viscountess Rochford, Anne’s sister-in-law, was dismissed from court for conspiring against Henry’s lover. Although we do not know the details of this plot, Henry was clearly showing Anne who was in charge. At the same time, Anne lost another ally from her household when her sister, Mary, was banished for secretly marrying a commoner. Within only a year of achieving their goal, the Boleyns did not seem to be in a much better position than before.

We hear little about Mary Boleyn during the reign of her sister. We can see from the records that in November 1530 Henry gave his wife twenty pounds to retrieve a jewel from Mary. This may have been gambled during cards or could have been a family gem that Anne particularly wanted. By 1534 Mary had been a widow for six years. Perhaps her family felt that once Anne was established as queen, they would be in a stronger position to arrange a glittering match for Mary.

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