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The Rise, Reign and Fall of Anne Boleyn, Part One

© Ellen McDaniel-Weissler

In the late 1520s, if you wished to be ANYONE at the court of Henry VIII, you had to seek the favor of his mistress (although by all accounts he was not sleeping with her), Anne Boleyn. The actual queen, Catherine of Aragon, was persona non grata at court, although she retained the love and respect of the common people. Her influence with the king had waned to near nonexistence, and the cozy family trio of Henry, Catherine and the Princess Mary was a thing of the past. There was a new queen bee in the hive, around whom all courtiers - and the king - frantically buzzed: the bewitching, bewildering, enigmatic, witty and vivacious Anne Boleyn. Henry, faithful husband of over 20 years, was besotted by this magical lady, completely oblivious to the gossip, scandal and international outrage he was creating.

It was an odd threesome which now spearheaded court doings. Henry and Catherine still appeared together at official court functions, still spent holidays in apparent familial intimacy - but Henry had long since ceased to visit his wife's bed, or even to spend much time with her outside of necessity. His romantic outlet was now confined to courtship of Mistress Anne, who occupied her own set of chambers in every palace, reveled in the attention of all who wished for advancement and received a king's ransom in gifts from Henry (who eventually probably would have gladly given the same price to ransom himself from the international and ecclesiastical mess he created through his single-minded pursuit). Anne still nominally functioned as the queen's lady-in-waiting, but it would have been an odd wife who could contemplate with equanimity the presence in her chambers of one who was ostensibly her servant but who was, in reality, the glowing and none-too-retiring object of her husband's affections. As Henry made no secret of his preference at this point in time, Katherine must have felt humiliated and hurt in the extreme.

An anecdote comes down to us from this period which demonstrates palpably the tension which must have reigned in the halls of Henry's palaces. We find Anne playing chess, of all things, with her mistress, the Queen. Catherine watches her opponent's clever moves for a time, and then remarks quite pointedly, "Most would do well to stop at a pawn, Mistress Anne, but you will not stop but at a king. You must needs have all." Needless to say, there are no other stories of interaction between Catherine and Anne.