I believe Retha Warwicke, in her 'Rise and fall of Anne Boleyn,' argues a very good case that Anne Boleyn was no more than seven on her arrival at Margaret's court. Not only does she cite the example of Anne Brandon, six-years-old in the same time period as Anne Boleyn, placed also in Margaret's care but in addition she cites a letter from the Regent to Thomas Boleyn. This letter comments how Anne was "so well spoken and so pleasant for her young years." (3) These words imply strongly that Anne was younger than twelve or thirteen, because it is extremely unlikely that the Regent would have commented on her 'young years' if Anne had neared or reached her teenage years. In this period, though admittedly not a common occurrence, girls of twelve were unlikely to be regarded in their 'young years', as they could be legally wed, as well as have their marriages consummated.
There is even a letter that Anne herself wrote to her father, in obviously immature handwriting, during her stay with the Regent, in which Anne blames her mistakes and poor penmanship on the fact that this letter was the first she had written by herself. (4) Surely by twelve or thirteen this would not likely be the case.
We also have evidence pointing to what happened to Anne after her arrival in France. That Anne made acquaintance of Renèe of France (5) , the French Queen's child sister who was still in the Royal nursery, shows us that Anne was not made part of the licentious court of François of France. Rather, because of her extreme youth, Anne spent her first years in France in the nursery of the Royal children, at the court of Claude, the Queen and consort of Francios. Where François' court had a reputation for 'free-living,' if not depravity, his wife's court was deemed almost as good as a good convent. A court very suitable for a young, gently-bred girl, especially if she is to be returned to her family not as 'spoiled goods, ' but with all her prospects of achieving a good marriage still in place; that is, her 'good name, ' and 'virginity' still intact.
Another confusion concerning Anne Boleyn is whether she was in fact the elder sister, rather than her evidently more flighty sister, Mary Boleyn. Before Anne's involvement with the King, Mary briefly became mistress to King Henry VIII - some people from the period believed her son, Henry Carey, to be also the son of the King- perhaps after her marriage to William Carey. (The confusion continues even over the timing of Mary's relationship with the King. Warnicke believes it occurred after her marriage with the King (6) while Antonia Fraser states it happened before.(7)
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