The King of England (nick. The Blue Beard)
Early life (part 1)
Born at the Palace of Placentia at Greenwich, Henry VIII was the third child of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. His maternal grandparents were King Edward IV of England and Queen Elizabeth Woodville. Only three of Henry VIII's six siblings: Arthur (the Prince of Wales), Margaret and Mary, survived infancy. His Lancastrian father acquired the throne by right of conquest, his army defeating and killing the last Plantagenet King Richard III, but further solidified his hold by marrying Elizabeth, the daughter of the Yorkist King Edward IV. In 1493, the young Henry was appointed Constable of Dover Castle.
The future Henry VIII was born at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich in 1491
In 1501 he attended the wedding of his elder brother Arthur and Catherine of Aragon, who were at the time only about fifteen and sixteen years old, respectively. The two were sent to spend time in Wales, as was customary for the heir-apparent and his wife, but Arthur caught an infection and died. Consequently, at the age of eleven, Henry, Duke of York, found himself heir-apparent to the Throne. Soon thereafter, he was created Prince of Wales.
Henry VII wanted a marital alliance between England and Spain through a marriage between Henry, Prince of Wales, and Catherine. Since the Prince of Wales sought to marry his brother's widow, he first had to obtain a dispensation from the Pope from the impediment of affinity. Catherine maintained that her first marriage was never consummated; if she were correct, no papal dispensation would have been necessary, but merely a dissolution of ratified marriage. Nonetheless, both the English and Spanish parties agreed on the necessity of a papal dispensation for the removal of all doubts regarding the legitimacy of the marriage. Due to the impatience of Catherine's mother, Queen Isabella, the Pope hastily granted his dispensation in a Papal Bull. Thus, fourteen months after her husband's death, Catherine found herself betrothed to his brother, the Prince of Wales. By 1505, however, Henry VII lost interest in an alliance with Spain, and the young Prince of Wales was forced to declare that his betrothal had been arranged without his assent.
To be continued...
Anne Boleyn
Henry and Anne's relationship is arguably the most complex of the six, full of both passionate romance and intense resentment and even hatred on Henry's part. Anne initially had no interest in the king; but was being used as a political pawn by her ambitious father. The King, on encountering her during a masquerade, developed an interest in her as a potential next mistress, spurring Boleyn to send Anne to court as Catherine's lady-in-waiting. While deliberately "putting herself in his path" as she was told, Anne pointedly refused to succomb to Henry's advances, unwilling to be used for sex and then thrown aside as her sister Mary had been.
Rather than losing interest, Henry became more intrigued, appreciating Anne's boldness and intelligence as much as her exotic appearance. When, in episode 1.05, she outright refused to be his official mistress, saying she would only give in to her husband, Henry became upset; Anne, realizing the strength of Henry's passion for her, began to fall in love with him in turn. Anne's promise to bear him a son if he would hold off sex until they could marry made the option of divorcing Catherine very attractive to Henry. Throughout the rest of Season One, his affections for Anne are passionate and unwavering despite the two arguing occasionally; he does not pursue any other women once Anne promises she will be his. In contrast to his indifference towards Catherine's illness in Season Two, Henry becomes genuinely afraid for Anne when she nearly dies of the sweating sickness in episode 1.07. He also showers favor on her father, uncle and brother, and allows her considerable influence in political affairs, despite her not having a position of any kind in his government. Both become frustrated, however,by delays to Henry's attempts for the annulment of his marriage, and twice before the "Great Matter" can be decided by the Papacy, Anne and Henry succomb to their sexual desire for each other. Anne eventually reveals her secret support of Protestantism; when she indicates the advantages it will afford Henry in gaining control over the Church and nullifying his marriage, this combined with his desire to make Anne Queen compells the once-Catholic Henry to initiate the Reformation in Season Two- one of the most vital themes of the Series. Henry becomes somewhat irritated by Anne's insistance that he remove Catherine and his daughter Mary from court, but he gives in to her.
Anne becomes pregnant from their second sexual encounter, and Henry marries her in secret just before his marriage to Catherine is nullified by his new, pro-Lutheran clergy; she is swiftly crowned Queen of England to legitimize their chid as an heir, though the lack of attendees at the coronation attests to her lack of popularity. At first, Anne and Henry's marriage seems just as passionate as before, but Henry's sexual appetite is soon cut off when she becomes too pregnant to make love; when she gives birth to a girl (Elizabeth) instead of a boy (which she promised Henry) in episode 2.03, both she and Henry are upset and dissapointed, though both insist they will still have sons later and both love their daughter. While Anne is still recovering from childbirth, Henry (following a pattern similar to when he was with a pregnant Catherine) takes one of Anne's ladies as his mistress, breaking his promise to her to have eyes for no-one else. Unlike Catherine, who was hurt by Henry's infidelity but tried to ignore it, Anne is unwilling to tolerate this, and she has her brother banish the woman in question. When she becomes pregnant again, she attempts to control Henry by procuring a mistress among her ladies that she can control, but she is still uncomfortable with anyone else having Henry; after her unborn child dies in miscarriage, she sees Henry less frequently and is less able to supervise his sexual activity.
Henry is increasingly put off by Anne's more negative traits after her miscarriage, since (like him) she has a short temper and is extremely jealous, unwilling to endure his mistresses as Catherine always did; he also begins to resent her for her unpopularity and her outspoken nature, since he expected her to play a more submissive, ceremonial role once she was Queen. Scared for her marriage, her family and her daughter's legitimacy, Anne finally begins to back down, though she continues to defame Catherine and Henry's daughter Mary. Henry seems to reconcile with her somewhat during 2.07 (partly because she is pregnant for a third time) but he is also developing an unusual interest in Lady Jane Seymour, to Anne's irritation and the alarm of her family. Following Henry's recovery from an injury that knocked him out for two hours (during which Anne was praying for him the entire time), Anne walks in on him kissing Jane and is full of shock, grief and rage. Not long afterwards, she suffers a miscarriage of a male child, to Henry's fury; each blames the other for their miscarriage. Anne remains Henry's Queen during her recovery, but her relationship with Henry has been destroyed permanently by her failed pregnancy - which, had her son lived, would have saved it permanently. She attempts once to appeal to him through their mutual love for Elizabeth (since Anne still loves him) but Henry refuses to listen to her, his mind consumed with anger over the death of his unborn son; he insists to his minister, Thomas Cromwell, that he was "bewitched"; into marrying Anne and insists he will take a new wife. When Cromwell, knowing Henry wants to marry Jane in Anne's place, hatches a plot to implicate Anne in false accusations of adultery, Henry is quick to believe them and has her sentenced to death; his initial furious reaction at her 'crimes' is so strong that he has the marriage nullified and disowns his and Anne's now-bastardized daughter, Elizabeth.
In spite of this, Anne remained as loyal and loving towards Henry at her death as Catherine had been, and Henry surely realized, at the back of his mind, that she was actually innocent; this explains his brief show of remorse for Anne in episodes 3.05 and 4.10. Although he almost never discusses her again, Henry continues to remember his relationship with Anne with conflicted feelings, which influence his awkward relationship with their daughter Elizabeth.
Then this brings us to the million dollar question; what if she had been the one to have the son? Though it is possible that Henry would have tired of her eventually, she would have had more to plead with and longer to live. Perhaps even to gain lands enough to live on! Anne Boleyn can be noted as one of Henry's favorite wives out of two categories of love: lust and true love.
Jane Seymour
Henry first meets the enchantingly beautiful Jane Seymour when he visits her father, Sir John's estates and meets her, giving the affectionate gesture of playing with her locks of blonde hair. After this first impression, Henry and Jane pursue more romantic encounters, urging her brother, Edward Seymour, to start plotting and convincing their father that Jane could become Queen instead of Anne Boleyn, to which she actually laughs.
Henry suggests to Sir John that Jane should come to court as a lady-in-waiting to queen Anne, to; which Jane fulfills, however, it can be seen that Anne has a deep hate for the Lady Jane from the first meeting, even going so far as to snapping a necklace off Jane's neck, drawing blood and causing pain. Anne eventually catches Jane and Henry kissing in a room, to which Anne says is the reason she loses her baby.
While the execution of Anne Boleyn is in waiting, Henry announces at Sir John's estate that he and Jane shall be betrothed at court and their wedding is viewed in the first episode of Season 3.
Meanwhile, after the wedding, Cromwell highly disapproves of the newly coronated Queen Jane, especially with the rumors that she favors the Catholic religion, thwarting the plots of the Reformation Cromwell is devoted to.
Jane is given the title of "peacemaker" by the Spanish Ambassador, Eustace Chapyus, to which Jane does uphold, linking the Lady Mary Tudor to her father, King Henry, and giving gifts to her and the Lady Elizabeth Tudor. However, over a conversation during mealtime, Henry reveals to Jane he is still disappointed as she is not yet with child, to which Jane takes in hard yet bravely with proper courtesy. Eventually, however, Jane becomes pregnant with Henry's first and only legitimate son, Edward, but contracts childbed fever and died twelve days after the birth.
Henry does make an interesting quote that he knew about childbed fever as his mother had also died from it too. He is seen in deep mourning for Jane as she was known as his favourite wife, for giving him a son and loyally serving him.
Anne of Cleves
Henry's relationship with Anne of Cleves is the only one, among his wives, in which neither Henry nor Anne ever had any degree of romantic attraction for one another. Henry had never favored the prospect of the arranged marriage to begin with, and he only approved it after running out of options and constant prodding from Thomas Cromwell, his first minister who favored association with Protestant Cleves. She was the second of his wives to be born outside England, and to be married for the sake of an alliance.
Anne was frightened of the king; due to his reputation and the fate of her predecessors, and when the two actually met, they were both very ill at ease; Henry for some unknown reason found her unattractive, while Anne was repulsed by his infected, crippled leg. Anne's reign as Queen lasted only six months, and went unconsummated. While neither was unkind to the other, both clearly found the marriage an ordeal; Anne's only benefit from it was her friendship with Henry's children. Henry's eye quickly turned elsewhere when several of his Council members presented Katherine Howard to him, and when he offered Anne terms for an annulment, despite being hurt by this final rejection she hastily accepted them, probably fearing for her life. Fortunately for Anne, she received a generous settlement from Henry; the one who truly suffered from the annulment was Cromwell, who was beheaded shortly afterwards by his enemies in the Council, having lost Henry's favor.
Weirdly enough, Henry later became good friends with Anne; he encouraged her friendships with his daughters, and corresponded with or visited her occasionally. This increase in her favor after the marriage ended could most likely be chalked up to the fact Anne did not resist the dissolving of the marriage, as her predecessors Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn had. In the series, he apparently slept with her on one occasion (apparently finding her more attractive than during their marriage) and praises her many good qualities. However, despite their brief sexual encounter, the two were really nothing more than friends.
Catherine Howard
Henry made Catherine Howard - briefly his mistress - his queen in order to reclaim his lost youth, as she was hardly his equal; he saw in this sex-driven, dimwitted 17-year old something that would be perceived as forbidden to a king of his age and career. The relationship was passionate at first, but there was always an underlying of superficiality to it. Henry overlooked her obviously childish nature and showered her with gifts, which the attention - seeking Catherine saw as a necessity in their relationship; she had no real connection with the king; who after their initial whirlwind of sexual encounters - increasingly became tired and arrested by his crippled leg, leaving Catherine frustrated. Manipulated by her handmaidens Joan Bulmer and Jane Rochford, she began an affair; with the king's sociopathic groom, Thomas Culpepper; which put her in an increasingly uncomfortable position; whenever the king wanted to lie with her again. Unsurprisingly, this quickly unraveled when her former lover, Francis Dereham arrived at court; her past dishonesty; with the king about her sexual history and her adultery were discovered, and she was beheaded along; with Dereham, Rochford and Culpepper.
The love Henry had for his "rose without a thorn" was sexual. Catherine made him feel young again and that; was what he wanted to be - young and have a son. While Henry had accomplished his goal of siring the long - awaited crown prince, he was always focused on as many children as possible. But had Catherine succeeded in bearing children, her attitude as a generally poor wife would have arguably translated into being a lousy mother.
Catherine Parr
Henry's relationship; with his final wife, Catherine Parr, is shown only briefly in the final five episodes (though in real life their marriage was slightly longer than Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn).
The relationship was mostly one-sided, although Catherine feigned love for the king very convincingly; having seen him divorce two wives and execute two more, she rightly feared him by reputation. Henry originally became interested in Catherine while she was married; but her husband was clearly dying and she was infatuated; with another man at the time. But after inviting her; into his court several times Henry began to see her as a good candidate for marriage; since she had many traits he admired/approved- intelligence and intuition, yet deference, kindness and compassion as well. Although Catherine never truly loved Henry; during their marriage, she performed her role as queen consort perfectly, always caring for Henry during his illness and becoming a genuinely loving step-mother to his three children.
Children
Henry's relationships with his children are complex, but he genuinely loves all them and is nearly always concerned with their well-being and futures (though there are notable exceptions with his daughters during Seasons Two and Three).
Mary Tudor
Henry's oldest legitimate child, born before the Series by his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Mary is the only one of his surviving children who grew up with both of her parents; as a result, she has both her mother's devout Catholicism and her father's iron will. While a small child, Henry does seem to have genuine love for her. As a young woman she is banished from Court and made to be a nursemaid to her half-sister Elizabeth. Through a chance meeting of checking on his daughter Elizabeth, Henry sees Mary at looking at him from a veranda and bows to her, of which kings are often the ones to return bows to others, not give them. This shows that either Henry has some gentlemanly qualities, showing deference to women regardless of their age or rank, or more likely, that he respects Mary as a father to his daughter. In the third season, Mary's situation becomes precarious, as she has lost an ally in her cousin, the King of Spain (who is valuing relations with England over Catholicism), and her closest friend, Eustace Chapuys, warns of what happened to fellow Catholics John Fisher and Thomas More. Henry, expecting a scathing letter from Mary, is shocked to see it actually contains the Supremacy Oath with her signature on it, to his great pleasure. Henry's relations with Mary warm significantly after this, with him reinstating her at Court.
Henry FitzRoy
A bastard son born to Henry in episode 1.02 by one of his mistresses, Elizabeth Blount. Henry is delighted by his son's birth despite him being illegitmate. It proves he is capable of siring male children (he viewed the alternative as a slight on his manhood) and allows him to conveniently blame Catherine of Aragon
for his lack of male issue. Henry orders massive celebrations in London after visiting his newborn son; he bestows FitzRoy with a very wealthy Dukedom in episode 1.05, to the anger of Queen Catherine. But at the end of the episode, Henry is devastated to learn that FitzRoy (by now a little boy) died of the sweating sickness. He sobs quietly in Whitehall, looking down at the miniature crown and dirk he gave to FitzRoy while ennobling him.
Elizabeth Tudor
Henry's daughter born in episode 2.03 to his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Initially usurping her older half-sister Mary as heir to the throne, Elizabeth is showered with as much love, affection and gifts by her parents as Mary originally was- until Anne is accused of adultery and executed, with the nullification of her marriage to Henry making Elizabeth illegitimate. Despite her being an innocent child barely three years old, Elizabeth is put in real danger; her governess Lady Bryan removes her from her estate to protect her from her father's anger, which continues to flare up even after Anne's beheading. Henry refuses to recognize Elizabeth as his daughter for some time and will not provide for her needs, claiming she is the child of one of Anne's 'lovers' despite the fact that Elizabeth resembled him more than all his other children and Anne was actually innocent. However, when Henry actually sees the young Elizabeth's face-to-face in 3.03 (thanks to her stepmother and sister, who took pity on her and brought her to court) he becomes startled. He almost immediately relents and affectionately reunites with her; like Mary, he does not restore her to the line of Succession, but he does resume treating her as his daughter and providing for her. Ultimately, Elizabeth is eventually restored to the Succession (after her brother and older sister) in 4.06.
Nonetheless, after her brother Edward is born Elizabeth is somewhat sidelined by her brother the Crown Prince and her older, more experienced sister; she spends more time with her later stepmothers, Anne of Cleves and Catherine Parr. Henry seems glad that she has relationships with them since, despite having nothing but favor for Elizabeth, he avoids her the most of his three children. He encourages her intellectual pursuits and dancing lessons, shows her affection and always praises her triumphs, but he always seems to regard her somewhat uneasily; when talking with a vision of Elizabeth's mother Anne in the finale, Henry explains that he keeps Elizabeth at a distance because she reminds him a great deal of Anne, especially in personality. However, Henry admits to Anne's ghost that he has always been very proud of Elizabeth and that he wishes he could love her more. Unknown to Henry, Elizabeth would prove a more ideal ruler than the son he constantly sought for, and in fact a much better ruler than Henry himself - she was the true success story of the Tudor dynasty, even if she was also the end of it.
Edward Tudor
Henry's long-sought and only legitimate son, born in Season Three to his third wife Jane Seymour. Unlike Edward's older half-sisters, his father's love for him never wavers. Henry dotes on his son and obsessively protects his health, becoming frantic in episode 4.04 when Edward becomes ill. The little boy seems uncertain of what to make of his father, but plays happily with him and loves his sisters and stepmother. Henry apparently sees much of Edward's mother Jane (Henry's most-beloved Queen) in his appearance, further increasing his affection for his son and heir.