HENR Y VII I

AN D HI S SI X WIVE S

King  Henry  the  Eighth  of  England  was  famous  for many things, but he was also famous because he had six wives.  He  was  not  a  kind  husband.  People  say  that when he was looking for a new wife,  careful  fathers took  their daughters  away from  the palace.  They  did not want  the King to choose  their daughter  to  be the next Queen, because some of his Queens had very short and  unhappy  lives.

Why did King Henry divorce two wives,  and kill two others? What were his queens really like?

Catherine Parr, the sixth wife, lived on after the King's death. One day she goes back to the palace of Whitehall and finds a box of old letters written to the King — one from each of the first five wives. She sits down to read them to her young maid,  Margaret.  The  first  letter is from the daughter  of the King of Spain,  Katherine  of Aragon, who was Henry's wife for twenty-four years. She died alone and sad and friendless . . .

OXFOR D  BOOKWORM S  LIBRAR Y

True Stories

Henry VIII and his Six Wives

Stage 2 (700 headwords)

Series Editor: Jennifer Bassett

Founder Editor: Tricia Hedge

Activities Editors: Jennifer Bassett and Alison Baxter

JANE T  HARDY-GOUL D

Henry VIII

and his Six Wives

OXFOR D   UNIVERSIT Y   PRES S

OXFORD

UNIVERSIT Y  PRESS

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0x2 6DP

OXFOR D and OXFOR D ENGLIS H are registered  trade marks of

Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries

This edition © Oxford University Press 2008

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

Database  right Oxford University Press (maker) First published in Oxford  Bookworms 1996

ISB N 978  0  19 479062  8

A complete recording of this Bookworms edition of

Henry VIII and his Six Wives is available on audio CD ISB N 978  0194789851

Printed in Hong  Kong

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT S

Original illustrations by: Richard Alien

The publishers would like to thank

the following for their permission to reproduce illustrations:

The Bridgeman Art Library p 19, 24; His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury p 36; The Hulton Deutsch Collection Limited p 34; National Portrait Gallery p 3, 7, 12; The Royal Collection © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II p 29

CONTENT S

STORY  INTRODUCTIO N                                       i

1  King Henry is dead                                             1

2   Katherine of Aragon                                            6

3  Anne Boleyn                                                       11

4  Jane Seymour                                                       18

5  Anne of Cleves                                                   23

6   Katherine Howard                                                  2^8

7  Catherine Parr                                                     33

GLOSSAR Y                                                           4^1

ACTIVITIES : Before Reading                            4^4

ACTIVITIES: WhileReading                            46

ACTIVITIES : After Reading                          49

ABOU T  THE  AUTHO R                                        5^2

Word count (main text): 6310 words

For more information on the Oxford Bookworms Library,

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1

King Henry is dead

y name  is Catherine Parr.  A month  ago I was the

Queen  of England,  the  wife  of King  Henry  the Eighth.  Henry died and we buried him last week in St George's  Church,  Windsor.  Two  days  ago,  on  16th February  1547,  I went back  to the palace  of Whitehall, which was once my home. I wanted to take my letters and books and bring them back to my house.

Margaret,  my new maid, came to the palace with me. She's very young and doesn't know a lot about the world. She has only just come up to London  from her home in Somerset. Perhaps I was like her when I was twelve. I, too,

was  alway s  askin g  questions  and  wantin g  answers

immediately.

When we arrived at the palace, it was cold and dark. We walked into Henry's room. I sat down in one of Henry's large chairs in front of his wooden writing desk and looked at the pictures around the room. Next to me there was a big picture  of Henry,  when  he was  young.  He was  very

handsome  then,  not  lik e the  fat old  man  he was  later.  I though t his  blue  eyes  were  watching  me.  I  turne d to Margaret and said:

'You see that picture of the King ? That's what he was like when he was young - tall and strong and handsome. People say that he never got tired. He could go out riding all day, changing his horses nine or ten times, and then he could dance all night. He was clever, too; he could speak five languages. Will people remember him like that, or will they only remember him because he had six wives?'

'Did he really have so many wives?' said Margaret.

'Yes, of course.  I thought that everyone  knew that.' Margaret  looked  away  and  said,  'We didn't  get much

news  from  London  at home,  and my  family's  house  is a

long way from the nearest village.'

'It doesn't matter,' I said, smiling . 'One day, I'll tell you

the story of my husband Henry's life.'

On the desk in front of me there was a wooden box

with a large gold H on the top. I opened it slowly and took

out some  old letters.  Each letter was in different  writing

and some of them were old and yellow. One letter had a picture of a large bird on it. It was from Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn.

'Margaret!' I said. 'I've found some letters from Henry's

other wives. There's also a beautiful gold necklace and a

small piece of hair.' I looked at another letter. 'Here's one

old letter from his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. She was married to him for a very long time.'

'She only had one child, didn't she?' said Margaret.

'Yes, only Princess Mary is still alive. There were five other children, but they were all born too early and died.' Again I looked at the letter with the picture of the bird

on it. 'Have you heard of Anne Boleyn, Margaret?'

'Yes, my mother talked  about her. She said she was a very bad woman.'

'Well, that's what some people say. Anne was the mother of Henry's second daughter, Princess Elizabeth. Look,' I said.  'This one is from Katherine Howard,  Henry's fifth wife.  Both Anne and Katherine were beheaded in that terrible prison, the Tower of London.'

'Why  did the  King  send  them  to their  deaths?'  asked

Margaret. She looked afraid.

'They had many enemies, who told the King that they had lovers. Perhaps the stories were true, I don't know. But the King believed them.'

I looked at another letter.  'This one is from Jane Seymour. She was the third wife and the mother of Henry's only living son. He is now our King, Edward the Sixth.'

'Was Jane Seymour beheaded too?' asked Margaret.

'No,  poor  Queen  Jane  died  soon  after  Edward  was born.' I looked  at the last,  short letter.  'Look,  a letter from

Anne of Cleves, Henry's fourth wife.'

'Did she have any children?' asked Margaret.

'No,' I laughed. 'Henry thought that Anne was very ugly

and he didn't want her to be the mother of his children.'

Margaret was silent. Then she said, 'King Henry sounds like a terrible husband.'

'He wasn't all bad, Margaret. There were good times,

too.  He was clever at so many things - horse-riding  and tennis, writing and playing music. He wrote many beautiful songs, and he had a wonderful singing voice. But it's true that he wasn't very kind to his wives.'

Margaret looked at the box. 'So why did he keep these

letters from them?' she asked.

'Oh,  you  ask  so many  questions,  Margaret!  I don't

know. Perhaps each letter says something important.'

I looked up and saw that it was nearly dark. It was time to go home

to  Chelsea  Manor.  I pu t  the  letters  back inside  the box.

'Come,  Margaret,

we must go now.'

'But can't we read

the letters?' she asked.

'We'll  take  them

There were some letters from

Henry's wives in the box.

with us and read them

tomorrow.'

2

Katherine  of Aragon

e got up early the next morning and went to my favourite room. It has a wonderful view of the large

gardens and the River Thames at the bottom.

'Did you sleep well, Margaret?' I asked.

'No. I dreamed that King Henry came back to life and sent me to the Tower of London.'

'Why did he do that?'

'Because in my dream I read the letters and he was angry with me. Perhaps it will be bad luck if we read them,' said Margaret, worried .

'Don't worry,' I said. 'It was only a dream. He can't do

anything now. He's dead.'

I went over to the wooden box and opened it. 'We'll read the letter from Katherine of Aragon first,' I said.

'She was Spanish, wasn't she?' said Margaret.

'Yes, she first came over to England to marry Henry's brother Arthur, but he died. She then married Henry and was his wife and queen for twenty-four years.'

'What a long time! What happened to her? Did she go to the Tower of London too?'

'No, Henry divorced Katherine because he wanted a son, and she only gave him a daughter, Princess Mary. Years before, Katherine did have a son - Henry, Prince of Wales,

but he died when  he was  only  seven  weeks  old.  The King wanted a son very much. He was in love with Anne Boleyn,

but he also wanted a new wife - a younger woman to give him sons.'

'Poor Katherine! Divorced after twenty-four years for a

younger woman!' Margaret looked at the letter in my hand.

'Can we read the letter now, my lady?'

'Yes, let's sit down by the window and read it together.'

'But I can't read,' said Margaret, looking at the floor.

'That's all right, I'll read it for you.'

We sat down and I began to read it slowly .. .

Dear Henry

Windsor

28th July 1531

When you left Windsor last week, you didn't say goodbye. I feel lonely and unhappy without you. When will  I see you  again? Please come back  soon.

You  know  that  I am  your  true  wife.  We  have  been

married for more than twenty  years  in the eyes  of God. I have given you a daughter. Princess Mary. God took from us our other children.  I wanted so much to give

you a son, but God's plan for us was different, and we

cannot change that.

I pray for you every day and ask for you to come back to me. I have never been untrue to you, Henry, and have always  been  a good  wife,  and  a good  mother  to our daughter.

I am still your Queen.  There  is only one Queen  of England, and that is me. I know that you are with Anne Boleyn,  but you will never be happy with her. I am the daughter of a King, and she is not. You must not divorceme. The Pope and the Catholic Church will never agree

to this. I am sending  you a necklace with a gold cross. Henry, when  you look at it, remember me and remember the Catholic  Church.

Your Queen

Katherine  of Aragon

'So what happened to Katherine?'  asked Margaret. 'Did she ever see the King again?'

'No, never. He divorced her. She lived a lonely life with

only a few friends, and died a broken and unhappy woman about ten years  ago.'

'What about the Catholic  Church?  Did the Pope agree

to the divorce?'

'No, he didn't.  So Henry  broke with the Pope and the Catholic  Church,  and that's how the Church  of England began. The King became Head of the Church, and the Pope and the Catholics were very angry. It made a lot of trouble both in England and Europe.'

'And all because of Anne Boleyn?'  said Margaret.

'Not only  that.  You  see,  it was very  important  for the

King to have a son, to be King after him. There has only ever been one Queen in England, and that was a terrible time, with a lot of fighting and killing. Henry didn't want that to happen again after his death. So he knew that he must have a son, not just daughters. And that's really why he divorced Katherine and married again.'

'And was he sad when  Katherine died?'

'Sad? Oh no! He dressed  in yellow  and danced  all night with his new Queen.'

Margaret looked   inside  the  box  and  found  the  gold necklace.  She held it to her neck. 'Poor Katherine,' she said softly.  'King Henry was a terrible husband to her.'

3

Anne Boleyn

Margaret carefully put the necklace back into the box, then  looked  at me.

'So then the King married Anne Boleyn,'  she said. 'Was

Anne very special? Was she really very beautiful?'

'Some people say that she was, and others say that she wasn't. But she had beautiful  long black hair, and the most wonderful black eyes. When men looked into her eyes, they fell in love with her.'

'Tell me more about her,' said Margaret.

'Well, Henry was in love with her for about seven years before they married.'

'Seven  years!'

'Yes, it took a long time to divorce Katherine, and Anne wanted  to marry  the  King  and  be his  Queen.  She  didn't want to be just his mistress,  like the other girls.'

'Did the King have a lot of mistresses?'  asked Margaret. Her eyes were round with interest.

'Oh yes,' I said, smiling.  'Kings can do what they like,

you know. But people  say that Anne was very clever.  She said  no  to  the  King,  again  and  again,  and  so  he  had  to marry  her to get what he wanted.'

'And how long were they married?'

'Less than three and a half years.'

'Is that all?' said Margaret.  'King Henry broke with the Pope to marry Anne, and they were only married for three and a half years!'

'Yes, Henry soon became tired of her. He wanted a son,

but  she  only  gave  him  a daughter, Princess Elizabeth. She nearly  had  another baby,  but  she  had  a  miscarriage after

only a few months. They could see that it was a boy. Henry was very, very angry,  and three months later Anne was in the Tower of London. Henry was already interested in Jane Seymour,  you see.'

'So  poor  Anne  went  to the  Tower  because she  didn't

give the King a son?'

'Well, there were other things.  Anne was a strong and sometimes  difficult woman.  She talked a lot. She liked to tell Henry  what to do. In the end Henry  became bored  of this.  Remember, he was  the King  of England.'

'Did she really have lovers?'

'Well, some people say—'

Just then there was a noise  outside. I looked  out of the window  and saw a man on a horse. He had grey hair and was  wearing  fine  clothes.  It  was  my  Uncle  William .  A minute later he came  into the room.

'Hello,'  I said, kissing him. 'I'm so pleased to see you.'

'Dear Catherine,'  he said. 'It's wonderful  to see you, too. And who is this?' he said, turning to Margaret.

'I'm Margaret, my lady's new maid.'

'I'm very pleased to meet you,' he said, smiling.  'So,' he went on, 'what's  the news?'

'Oh, we were jus t talking about Anne Boleyn,' I said.

'That black-eyed witch!' said Uncle William.

'Was she really a witch?' asked Margaret.

'Well, she was a strange woman,' said Uncle William.

'She had  six  fingers  on one hand.  I  saw  them myself.

Witches always have six fingers. Anne Boleyn was a wild and dangerous woman - but men liked her.'

'So she did have lovers, then?' said Margaret.

'Of course  she did!'  said Uncle William.  'There were five of them - all wild young men. They were all beheaded before the witch, and a good thing too!'

'Oh, Uncle,' I said, 'how can we be sure that they were

all her lovers? One of them was her brother!'

'Well, perhaps he wasn't her lover,' said Uncle William.

'But I remember all those wild parties in the Queen's rooms. There was dancing and laughing all night sometimes. She was a bad woman, I'm sure of it.'

'I think  that Henry  believed  the  stories  about Anne because  he wanted  another wife,'  I said.  'A wife to give him a son.'

Little Margaret was  listening to us with  great  interest.

'So nobody was sorry when Anne died?' she said.

'No,  many  people  were  pleased,'  said  Uncle  William.

'She had a lot of enemies.'  Then he looked at both of us.

'But why are you talking about Anne Boleyn? That's very

old news.'

'I found this old box of Henry's at Whitehall Palace,' I said. 'Inside there were letters from each of Henry's wives, and Margaret wanted to know all about them.'

'Where's  the  one  fro m  Ann e  Boleyn?'  said  Uncle William. He opened the box on the table. 'I want to read what she wrote to her dear husband. Ah, here it is. 18th May 1536 - that's the day before she was beheaded.'

He began to read the letter aloud .. .

Dear  Henry

Tower of London

18th May 1536

This  is  my  last  letter to  you.  Tomorrow I am  going to

die. When you open this letter and read it, I will be dead

and buried.

16               Henry VIII and his Six Wives

During the last few weeks my life has been very hard.

I have been very afraid and very lonely.  I have walked around  my room, thinking of you. I wanted you to take me away from this terrible prison. But now I know that

I am going to die, I feel calm.

They tell me that you have spoken angry words about me. You say I have  had a hundred  lovers,  not just the five poor men who have died because of me.

But I did  not have lovers,  Henry.  Not one, and you

know it. I was a true wife to you, but you listened to my enemies, and that is why  I am  here.

I ask one last thing. Please be kind to our daughter

Elizabeth. Do not be angry with her, because of me. She is so very young, not yet three years old. I am sending a gold necklace to give to her. It will help her to remember me.

I have only a little neck,  so it will not be difficult  for

the French sword  to cut through it tomorrow.

Tonight I will  pray  for God  to forgive you.

Your wife

Anne Boleyn

'And was Anne beheaded the next day?' asked Margaret.

'Yes,'  I said.  'With  a sword.  That's  how they do it in

France.'

'How terrible!' said Margaret, holding her neck.

'Well, I know that Henry did the right thing,' said Uncle

Anne Boleyn                                                                              17

William.  'Anne Boleyn  was no good.  She wasn't  a real Queen. Not like Katherine of Aragon.' He stood  up. 'I must go,' he said.  'This  is all very  interesting, but I came  here to

talk  to  your  brother.  I'll  go  and  find  him.   Goodbye for now,  ladies.'  He smiled  and left the room.

'Where's  the necklace?' asked Margaret.

'I can't find it,' I said, looking in the box. 'Perhaps  Henry gave  it  to  Princess   Elizabeth.  Perhaps   she  looks  at  it sometimes and thinks  of her mother.'

4

]ane Seymour

eople say that Princess Elizabeth is very clever,' said

Margaret. 'Is that true, my lady?'

'Yes, it is. She's only thirteen years old, but she can read

and write in four languages already.'

Margaret's face was sad. 'I only know one language,'

she said. 'And I can't read or write it.'

'But you have a mother and father who are alive,' I said quickly. 'You don't have enemies who watch you all the time, or who want to send you far away to marry a stranger

- perhaps an old man who drinks too much, and keeps a

mistress!'

'Will that happen to Princess Elizabeth? ' Margaret

asked, her eyes round.

'Perhaps. Who knows? A princess doesn't always have an easy life, you know.' I laughed. 'But Elizabeth is clever. I  think  she'll  get  what  she  wants  in  life.  Now,  let's  go

outside, while the sun is shining. We'll take the next letter

with us.' We walked down through the garden to the river. There

we sat on a seat and watched the boats.

'So Jane Seymour was the third wife,' said Margaret.

'When did the King marry her?'

'Just ten days after Anne's death.'

'That was very

quick!'

'Yes,     Henry alway s                       knew what he wanted. An d  he  usuall y wante d                things immediately.'

'And was Jane

the same as Anne

Boleyn?'

'No, Jane was very            different . She was quiet and careful . Before she  marrie d  the King,           she   was never  alone  with him.  Her brother Edwar d                         was always  wit h  her

when   the   King

came to visit. And Henry was pleased to see that. He didn't

want another wild and dangerous wife like Anne.'

'How do you know so much about the King and his other wives?' asked Margaret.

'I have lived for many years in palaces, Margaret,' I said,

smiling. 'And palaces are full of people, coming and going, talking in corners, telling secrets. If you listen, it's not difficult to learn things.'

'So was Jane a nicer person than Anne?'

'I think she was. She was very kind to Henry's daughters, Princess  Mary  and Princess Elizabeth.  She was like a mother  to both of them. Jane was  clever  too,  and  she quickly learnt to listen to Henry. She didn't try to tell him what to do. And with her brown hair and white face, she also looked very different to Anne Boleyn.'

'And what about the  King at this time? Was he still

handsome?'

'Oh no, he was beginning to get fat and his face was just

like a big potato! Not like the picture in Whitehall Palace.'

'But was he happy?' asked Margaret.

'Yes, I think he really loved Jane. And of course, she also gave him a baby boy, who is now our King Edward.'

'A son at last for the King! But what happened to Jane?

Did he get tired of her too, or was she the one who died?'

'Yes, she died soon after Edward was born.'

'How sad! She gave the King a son and then she died.'

'Let's read the letter now.' I opened it and a piece of brown hair fell out. I showed it to Margaret.

'What soft hair,' she said, touching it. 'Is it Jane's?'

'Yes, I think so.' I began to read .. .

Dear Henry

Hampton Court Palace

22nd October  1537

The doctors and my women tell me that I shall feel better tomorrow,  but I can see in their faces that it is not true.

I cannot sleep or eat, and a fire burns in my body day

and night. I know that I shall soon be dead.

But I have given you a son, Henry, and I can die happy, knowing that Edward will be King after you. I will never see the day when he becomes  King, but I pray that God will give him a long and happy life.

Please look after dear Edward and tell him all about

me. Here is a piece of my hair - a small present from a dying mother to her baby son.

I am too ill to write more and must say goodbye.

Your loving wife and queen

Jane

I put the letter away, and looked at Margaret. 'She had

a very difficult time when the baby was born, you see. It took three days and two nights  before the baby arrived. Poor Jane was very tired and ill. She died twelve days later, very soon after this letter.'

'How terrible,' said Margaret. She touched the piece of

Jane's hair again. 'And was the King sad?'

'Oh yes. He was very unhappy. He shut himself away in the palace for weeks. All England was sad, and every church in the country said prayers for poor Queen Jane. She was buried at Windsor, and Henry is now buried next toher.'

Just then Uncle William came up behind us.

'Ah, Uncle,' I said. 'Let's go in and have some lunch.'

5

Anne of Cleves

fter  lunch  we  sat  and  talked  for  a  while.  Uncle

William was very interested in the letters.

'So which letter are you going to read next?' he asked.

'The one from Anne of Cleves,' I replied.

'Oh yes,  Henry's  ugly  wife.  When  I  first  saw  her,  I thought she looked just like a horse! And the King thought that  too!'

'A horse?'  said Margaret.  'So how did she become  the

King's  wife?'

'It's a long story.  Do you want to hear it?'

'Yes, please,' said Margaret, smiling.

'Well, after poor Queen Jane died, Henry was very sad and lonely. He wanted a new wife, and he wanted a second son.  Children  can die at any time,  and Edward  wasn't strong. So everybody looked for a beautiful young woman to be the new Queen. Then someone told Henry about Anne of Cleves, a German Princess. They said that she was beautiful, young, and clever. And at that time the King wanted to please the Germans, because he was angry with the French. That all changed later, of course.

'Henry couldn't go and see Anne for himself, so he sent his artist Holbein to paint a picture of her. Holbein painted a fine picture of Anne and sent it back to Henry. Henry

immediately fell in love with the beautiful woman in the pictur e  and  decided   to  marr y  her .  So  Ann e  sailed   to England,  and on her way to London  she stopped  for the night at a small town called Rochester. Henry couldn't wait for Anne to arrive in London so he travelled  secretly to

Rochester  to meet her. She knew nothing about this.

'When Henry arrived at her house, he wasn't wearing his fine clothes and he didn't look like a king. He knocked on the door and went into her room. Oh dear! Poor Henry was  very  surprised. This  wasn't  the  beautiful woman   in the   picture.   She  had  a sad  face  and  a long  nose,  and  she wasn't  very  interested in this  strange  man.  He  didn't  tell her his name,  and she didn't  understand that this  was  her new  husband. What  a terrible mistake!

'Poor  Henry  went  away  to put  on  his  fine  clothes, and came back looking like a real king. Anne now saw that this strange man was her new husband. Henry  kissed  Anne and  said  his  name .  Poor  Anne  smiled   at  him,  but  she couldn't  speak  any English  so she stayed silent.  After a few minutes Henry left. He was reall y unhappy. His new wife wasn't beautiful, and she couldn't say a word to him!'

'Oh dear,' said Margaret. She was enjoying this story

very much. 'What happened next?'

'Well,  Henry  decided that he really  didn't want to marry Anne.   Where   was  the  beautifu l  young   woma n  in  the picture?  He wanted  her! But he couldn't  change  things.  He had to marry ugly Anne.'

'And did the King learn to love her?' asked Margaret.

'No, he didn't. He wanted to divorce her.'

'And didhe?'

'Yes,   after  six  months.'

'How  did  he  do  that?'

'Well, he learned that in her country Anne was engaged

at one time to marry another man.'

'And so he divorced her?'

'Yes, poor Anne was only Queen for six months.'

'And they didn't have any children, did they?'

'No, Henry didn't sleep with Anne.'

'But what happened to her? Is she still alive?'

'Oh yes. But let's read her letter and see what she says.'

'Perhaps it's a love letter,' said Margaret.

'If it is, I'm sure that she never got a reply!' said Uncle

William, laughing. He opened the letter and began to read.

Palace of Richmond

20th July 1540

Dear  Henry

You are a very good brother to me! Thank you for giving me five  hundred  pounds  a year  and  the  Palace  of Richmond.  I spend  hours walking  round the gardens

here - the trees and flowers are wonderful.

I have decided that I shall not go back to my country. I have thought about it carefully, and I know now that England is my real home. I feel so happy here. How can

I  leave  all  my dear English  friends  and  my  beautiful

garden?

Come and visit me soon, dear brother.

Your loving sister

Anne

'She sounds really happy,' said Margaret, surprised.

'I think she is,' said Uncle William.  'She didn't make trouble for the King about her divorce, so he was pleased with her. And then, of course, he was free to marry his next wife.'

'The fifth one,' said Margaret. 'And who was she?'

'Catherine  will tell you all about her. I must leave you

now, ladies.' He stood up, and came to kiss me goodbye.

'Goodbye, Uncle,' I said. 'Come again soon.'

'Oh, I will. I'd like to read the rest of those letters.' He looked at Margaret. 'Be good, young lady.' He smiled at us both and left the room.

6

Katherine Howard

took the last letter out of the box and held it in my

hand  while  I answered  Margaret's   questions.   She wanted  to know  everything.

'And  who  was  the  King's  fifth  wife?'  she  asked.

'Katherine  Howard.'

'Why did the King want to marry again?'

'He still wanted to have another son, you see. A brother

for Prince Edward.'

'And how did he meet Katherine?' asked Margaret.

'She was one of the ladies at Queen Anne's palace, so Henry knew her already. She was only eighteen. Henry fell in love with her immediately.  He called her  "his beautiful flower" and sent her many expensive presents - gold and jewels and fine dresses.'

'But did she want to marry him?'

I smiled. 'If the King of England wants to marry you, how do you say no? Henry was very much in love and he wanted to marry her immediately. The Howard family is an  old and famous one,  and they were very happy for Katherine to marry the King.'

'Was he happy with his new Queen?'

'Yes,' I said. 'At first. She was young, beautiful, and

exciting. Very different from Anne of Cleves.'

'And did she learn to love the King?'

'Who can say? But I don't think so. Henry was forty- nine, thirty years older than her. He was very, very fat and heavy. His face was more like a potato than ever, and his eyes were always half-closed. He had a very bad leg and often couldn't walk - and he was always  angry when his leg hurt.'

Margaret looked at the letter in my hand. 'I don't think that I would like to marry  a fat old man with a bad leg who couldn't walk!' she said.

I laughed.  'But the King's wife, remember, was also the

Queen of England, the first lady in the country.'

'Yes, that's true,' said Margaret. 'And did they have a

son?'

'No, they didn't.  They weren't  married  for very long. Before  Katherine  married  Henry,  she had lovers.  Henry didn't know this. He thought that he was Katherine's first lover.  And  about six months  after Katherine  married Henry,  she began to see another man called Thomas Culpeper. He was tall and handsome. Katherine wrote love letters to him, and they met secretly at night.'

'What a dangerous thing to do!' said Margaret.

'Katherine wasn't very clever, I'm afraid.'

'And people  saw her and began to talk about it, and

somebody told the King . . .'

'One of his friends wrote it all down in a letter, and put the letter into Henry's hand when he was in church.'

'Oh dear,' said Margaret. 'So then ...' Already she knew

what happened next.

'Yes,' I said. 'Henry was wildly angry. He talked, people say, about taking a sword and cutting off her head himself. But he sent Thomas Culpeper to prison, and soon after he sent Katherine to the Tower.'

'Like Anne Boleyn, years before,' said Margaret.

'Let's see what her letter says,' I said, opening it. 'The

writing is very untidy - I think she wrote this in a hurry.'

Tower of London

11th February 1541

Dear Henry

Please forgive  me! I didn't want to make you unhappy

and angry. Believe me!

It's true that when  I was a young girl, I was friendly with different young men. I was so young and stupid. I also spent a lot of time with Thomas  Culpeper  when I was your wife. But believe me, Henry, I didn't know what

I was doing. Remember, I am only twenty years old now.

You  are so much  older than  me, and you  understand much  more about the world.

Please, Henry, please, please help me! Don't send me to my death!  I am so afraid here in the Tower - I pray day and night that you will come and take me away. How can you  kill your  beautiful  flower?  They tell  me that in two days' time they will cut off my head ... Henry,

I don't want to die! Please  let me live a little longer ... please!  Just  a  few  weeks  .. .  a  few  days  .. .  Please, Henry, please ...

Your unhappy  wife

Katherine Howard

When I finished reading the letter, Margaret was silent. Perhaps  she could hear Katherine  Howard's  cries and see her  white  face.

I put the letter away,  and Margaret  looked  at me.

'There aren't any more letters, are there?' she said.

'No,'I  said.  'That was the last letter.'

7

Catherine Parr

e sat silently for a while. Outside it was beginning
to get dark. Margaret looked at the floor, then at her hands, then at the floor again. I waited. I knew what she was thinking. Then suddenly she looked at me, and the questions came all at once.

'How could you do it, my lady? How could you marry

that terrible man? Weren't you afraid? Why didn't you hide

.. .  or .. .  or run away?'

I smiled at her. 'Listen to the full story, and then perhaps you'll understand. I was very different to Henry's other wives. I was thirty-one years old and Henry was my third husband.  My first two husbands were old men too. They both died and I didn't have any children with them. But Henry didn't really want a wife, Margaret. He wanted a friend, and a nurse, and a mother for his three children.'

'Oh, I see,' said Margaret slowly. 'He wanted someone

to look after him. So how did it all happen, then?'

'It  began  at  a  part y  at  Hampton  Court  Palace.  I remember it very well. While I was dancing with my friend Thomas Seymour, I turned round and saw Henry. His blue eyes were watching me. He was too ill to dance, but later that evening he asked to talk with me. I was a little afraid. I knew so many different stories about him. He was one of

the most famous kings in Europe, and he was also famous for killing  people  who  made  him  angry - Anne  Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and many, many others. And of course, he was also very fat and ugly!

'After that evening he began to send me presents,  and

he asked me to visit him at Hampton Court Palace.

'At this time I was friendly with Thomas Seymour. He

was a fine young man and I was in love with him. We talked about getting married. Then I got a letter from King Henry. He wanted to marry me. What could I do? I loved Thomas,

but  my  family  wanted  me  to  be  the  Queen  of England.

And in the end, I had to marry Henry.'

'But were you happy?'  asked Margaret.

'Well,  sometimes  I was.  I loved  being  Queen.  I had beautiful  clothes  and expensive  jewels.  But it was also very difficult  at times.  Henry was often ill with his bad leg, and when  his leg hurt,  he became  angry  and  shouted  at me.

Once he nearly sent me to the Tower. I said something

about the Church of England, and he didn't agree with me and got very, very angry. He didn't say anything then, but a few days later his soldiers came to take me away.'

'Oh no!' said Margaret. 'What did you do?'

'I cried and cried. I told him that I agreed with his every word, and that he was my teacher and I was only a stupid woman.  And then I cried some more,  and said I didn't understand  anything about the church.  I only talked to help him forget his bad leg.'

'And was that true?'  asked Margaret.

'Of course not! But I had to say something, and after

that we were friends again.'

'So you didn't love him.'

'No, I didn't, but I learned to like him some of the time. He was a clever and interesting man - and he was the King of England!'

'And what about his three children?'

'I felt sorry for them. They had a difficult and lonely life. I tried to be a good mother to them all. I was friendly

with Princess  Mary, played games with Elizabeth  and

young Edward,  and helped them with their studies  i n

different languages.  Of course, Henry and I didn't have any children together.'

Suddenly  there was a knock at the door. 'Come in!' I

called. A young man walked into the room. He was holding

some  beautiful  red and gold flowers.

'These are for Catherine Parr,' he said.

'For me?' I said. 'Who are they from?'

'There's a note here.' He gave me a piece of paper,

smiled, and left the room.

I read the note quickly.

Dear  Catherine,  you  are  my  true  love.  You  are  my

flower.  I think of you every hour. 1 wait for you.  Tom.

'What  does  it say?'  asked  Margaret.

'I can't  tell  you,'  I laughed.

'But who are the flowers from?'

'Thomas Seymour.'

'Oh, the young man who wanted to marr y you before.

Does he still love you ? Are you going to marry him?'

'I don't know, Margaret. Henry only died three weeks ago.' I was silent for a minute, and then I said, 'It's true, I still like Thomas.  I often think about him. Some people say he's only interested in two things: women and money. But I don't believe  them.  He has enemies, you see, because

he comes from a famous family. Jane Seymour was his

sister, so Thomas is one of King Edward's uncles.'

'Will  Edward  be a good king,  do you think?'  asked

Margaret.

'Yes, I think so. He's a very clever child. He often writes me letters in different languages,  and he's only nine years old.  But  I'm  worried  about  him  because  he's  often  ill. England  needs a strong king. Henry was a bad husband, but he was a strong king of England.  If Edward  dies, who knows  what will happen?'

It was dark outside now. I looked at Margaret  and said,

'So, now you have heard  all about King Henry  and his six wives,  and one day you can tell the story  to your children and your  grandchildren.'

'I think that people will always remember  King Henry because of his six wives,'  said Margaret.  She opened the box and took out the letters.  She looked  at them,  putting them  back  one by one into  the box.

'Divorced -  beheaded -  died  -  divorced -  beheaded.' She closed  the box and looked  at me.  'And  still alive!'

We both laughed.

'What  are you going  to do with the letters,  my lady?'

'Nothing, Margaret. It will be our secret.'

Catherine Parr married Thomas Seymour in May 1547, a few  months  after  Henry's  death.  They  were  married  for fifteen months. Catherine had a baby girl called Mary, but

six days  after the  baby  was  born,  Catherine  died.  After her death, Thomas Seymour tried to become Princess Elizabeth's  lover. He was beheaded because of this.

King Edward was often ill, and he died just before his sixteenth   birthday.   Then  Mary,  Katherine   of Aragon's daughter,  became  Queen.  She  was  Queen  for five  years. She married Philip  of Spain,  but did not have any children. Mary was a strong Catholic and she killed many people

who were not Catholics.

Next,  Elizabeth,  Anne  Boleyn's  daughter,  became Queen. She was Queen of England for forty-five years. This was  the  time  of Shakespeare  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. Elizabeth was a very great Queen, but she never married, and had no children. Henry married six times because he wanted a son - and he wanted his son and his son's sons to

be Kings of England after him. But when Queen Elizabeth

died, King Henry's family came to an end, and a Scottish

King became King of England.

GLOSSAR Y

artist   a person who can paint and draw pictures

beheaded   when a person's head is cut off believe    to think  that something is right  or true bury    to put a dead  person  in the ground

calm    quiet,  not worried  or excited

Catholic Church   the centre of the Catholic Church is in the

Vatican in Rome, Italy

cousin   the child of your uncle or aunt (brother or sister of one

of your parents)

divorce    to finish a marriage

dream (v)   to have a picture in your mind when you are asleep

engaged   have promised to marry someone

forgive   to say or show that you are not angry with someone

any more

God   the 'person'  who made the world

great    special,  important

handsome   good-looking  (for men)

jewels   beautiful and expensive stones (e.g. diamonds)

king   the most important man in the country

kiss (v)   to touch somebody with your lips to show love

lady   a woman

look after   to take care of somebody

maid   a woman or girl who is paid to work in another person's

house

miscarriage   when  a woman  loses  a baby  before  it is born mistress            the  girlfriend  of a married  man;  she  is not his wife necklace    a piece of jewellery  that you wear around the neck paint (v)   to make  a picture  with colours

palace   a very large and beautiful house, usually for a king or

queen

Pope  the head of the Catholic Church, who lives in the Vatican

in Rome

pray   to talk to God

prayer   words that you say when you talk to God

prince   the son of a king or queen

princess   the daughter  of a king or queen

queen    the most important woman  in the country

sad   unhappy

sword   a very long knife for fighting

ugly   the opposite of beautiful

uncle   the brother of your father or mother

view    what you can see from a window

witch    a woman  who  (people  believe)  can use magic  to do bad

things

worried    unhappy because you think something bad will happen

ABOU T  THE  AUTHO R

Janet   Hardy-Gould  is  an  experienced  teacher   and   teacher trainer.  She  lives  in Brighton, on  the  south  coast  of England, with   her  husband   Geoff   and   two   children,   Gabriella   and Joseph.   She  is  interested  in  European  history   and  chose  to write  about  Henry  VIII  because  he was  an important king  in England's history.  Many people remember Henry  VIII because of his six wives,  but he also  brought  a great  many  changes  to English  life  and  religion.

All  the  characters and  events  in this  story  are  true,  except

for  Margaret, the  maid,   and  the  letters  from  Henry's first  five wives.