Henry VIII

Henry VIII ~ Did He Love Any Of His Six wives

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Henry VIII, was in love with being in love.... and he did it often.

He was a great romantic, and enjoyed the thrill of the chase.

But once he caught his lady, he quickly moved on to the next.

Henry is remembered as an obese, tyrannical figure, instead of the handsome prince with a flare for a grand romantic gesture, that he was for the vast majority of his life.

Did Henry love any of his wives?

All evidence points to King Henry VIII and Katharine of Aragon's early marriage as being a happy one.

Henry had been an impressionable boy of 10 when his elder brother Arthur, age 15, had married the 16 year old beautiful and exotic princess frm Spain, on 14 November 1501.

Most scholars believe that Henry was, in fact, in love with Katharine and probably had been since her marriage to his brother.

The first rift occurred when Katharine discovered, during her first pregnancy, that Henry was having an affair with another woman.

Henry was reportedly mystified by her angry tears, his affair had nothing to do with his marriage, he still loved Katharine.

Although Henry VIII was comparatively discreet about his affairs and had relatively few of them, Katharine was heartbroken, and while she ceased to complain after the first outburst, the relationship between them was never the same again.

In 1525, after ending an affair with Mary Boleyn, Henry would begin his most notorious relationship, that with Lady Anne Boleyn, Mary's sister.

Its likely Henry first noticed Anne as early as 1522, which marked her first appearance at court when she partook in a masque and danced for the entertainment of the King.

By 1525, he had declared his love for the beguiling Anne Boleyn.

Anne had what would later be termed “sEx appeal”.

One description of her reads~

"Her skin was olive and her hair shiny black, to match black flashing eyes~ which she knew how to use to her advantage.

She was not tall, nor was she particularly shapely"

But Anne was an expert at the art of flirtation, and most men who knew her were entranced by her.

Henry was head over heels in love, and Anne's refusal to become his mistress, only whetted his appetite for her.

During Anne's first pregnancy, Henry had strayed again, but Anne had not taken this affront as graciously as had Katharine.

She was furious and let her husband know it.

Anne became more and more demanding to the point that many courtiers began trying to avoid her.

This change in behavior, eroded Henry's love for Anne.

Anne Boleyn ended up on Tower Hill, on trumped up charges of infidelity.

The great love that Henry had held for her had evaporated.

In this and most of Henry's other relationships, we find that he tended towards infatuation with women, a state that cooled all too soon once the conquest was made.

Historians say that Jane Seymour was the only one of his six wives that Henry truly loved with his whole heart.

Jane was everything that Anne had not been.

She was not flashy or boisterous in any way, but demure and rather plain in appearance.

She was soft spoken and compliant to her husbands wishes.

And Henry loved her.

Jane had been a lady in waiting to both Katharine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, and within the month of Anne's demise, he had married her.

Henry spoke of her with genuine affection as well as respect.

He often asked her opinion on matters of state, and enjoyed dining and dancing with her.

Jane rewarded Henry for his attentions, by giving him the long yearned-for son in October of 1537.

The King was overjoyed and the child was christened with great fanfare and ceremony.

Henry's happiness was cut tragically short, however, when Jane died just two weeks after little Edward was born.

Henry was truly devastated by her loss, and grieved for her profusely.

He had lost the woman whom he'd referred to as his first “true wife” and he was utterly bereft.

Two years after Jane's death, a bride was arranged for him by Thomas Cromwell.

Her name was Anna of Cleves.

Unlike his relationship with his other wives, his feelings for Anna of Cleves are indelibly documented and indisputable.

He loathed her.

When Henry first laid eyes on her, he was shocked to find that she looked nothing like the flattering portrait that had been done, by Hans Holbein.

Henry claimed that she had “evil smells about her” and he was apparently unable to consummate the marriage on the wedding night, or at any time thereafter.

Henry did, however, treat her with courtesy, and found that he enjoyed her company at dinner and card playing.

Six months after their marriage, the union was dissolved.

Anna was granted a handsome stipend and several comfortable homes, much to her great relief.

She lived out her life in comfort in England, never returning to her homeland in Germany, and she remained friendly with the King who called her “sister”.

Catherine Howard was another example of the King's tendency toward infatuation.

At this point, Henry was an obese and aging man of 49 and Catherine was about 17 years of age.

Henry fell in love with the young Catherine, and he married her only weeks after his marriage to Anna was dissolved.

Henry was entranced by the pretty, young, vivacious Catherine.

Catherine played her part well, and flattered Henry.

At the time, Henry was in almost constant pain with a badly ulcerated leg, making it difficult for him to walk and impossible to ride or dance as he had loved to do in his youth.

Catherine made him feel young and alive again.

In the meantime, Catherine fell very deeply in love with a young courtier by the name of Thomas Culpepper, and the two rashly began to meet in secret.

But secrets cannot be kept for long in the context of a royal court, and they were soon found out.

When news of her infidelity reached Henry, it is said that he was crushed and astonished that Catherine could do that to him.

A trial was held, and Catherine and her lover were found guilty of treason against the King.

Catherine followed her cousin Anne Boleyn to the scaffold on 13th February 1542.

Truly depressed, Henry remained almost in seclusion for some time after Catherine's death.

He felt bereft, betrayed and despondent, he was rapidly sickening and aging at this point in time.

His final marriage was to Katherine Parr, a wealthy widow that Henry had known at court.

At the time that Henry began his pursuit of her, Katherine was about 31 years old, and Henry was an elderly fifty-two years of age and quite sickly.

Katherine married the King in July of 1543.

Katherine was reportedly kind and gentle to the ailing King, and she was also bright and extremely well educated which allowed her to verbally spar with Henry, something that he enjoyed.

She also took a great interest in Henry's three surviving children, and was instrumental in bringing them together at the court.

Henry had no wild infatuation for Katherine, as he had with Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, and no deep love as he had known with Jane Seymour.

Instead it seems to have been a warm and comfortable relationship, with mutual respect and genuine caring.

Katherine nursed the King herself in his last days, and was truly saddened at his death in January of 1547.

So, did King Henry VIII love his wives?

His feelings in each relationship were different, complex, changeable and difficult to define at times.

Certainly he was a man of great romantic passions, an ability to genuinely love, and a vulnerability that belied his cruel treatment of several of the women he presumably cared for.

Of all his wives, the most famous, Anne Boleyn, represented an infatuation so strong, that it changed the course of English history.

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