Abby Connolly
The six wives of Henry VIII have always been a fascinating topic in history. They were six women with fascinatingly interesting stories, and as time has passed, we’ve realized just how mistreated most of them were by one of England’s most infamous monarchs.
The fourth wife was Anne of Cleves, and her story is quite interesting because of how petty Henry VIII was in his relationship with her.
Anne was born in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 1515. She was the daughter of a Duke and Duchess and grew up in Burg Castle. When Anne was in her early 20s, Henry VIII was the king of England and had lost his third wife, Jane Seymour.
During the late 1530s, Henry VIII was pressured into marrying someone from the House of Cleves to gain more political allies.
Portraits of Anne and her sister Amalia were sent over to Henry VIII as he was considering marrying one of them. Anne was said to be kind and beautiful, and people spoke highly of her. Henry VIII liked the looks of Anne’s portrait, so he arranged to marry her in 1539, and Anne left for England that November.
When Anne finally arrived in England that December, Henry VIII decided to meet her in disguise. The shallow king was disgusted by Anne’s appearance and claimed she looked nothing like her portrait or how anyone described her. Henry VIII meeting Anne was almost like a Tudor period ‘catfish’ situation.
Despite Henry VIII’s distaste for Anne, they still married on January 6th, 1540. There were issues in consummating their marriage, and Anne was often pressured to act extra pleasant around the king, even though their relationship was basically hopeless. Henry VIII was too stubborn to get to know her and was vocal about how much he despised her.
Anne, however, settled nicely into life as the queen consort and made friends in the royal court. But a few months later, before she could officially be crowned queen, Henry VIII had their marriage annulled, and she was forced to leave the royal court. Her marriage to Henry VIII was annulled formally in July 1540.
Thankfully, Anne was paid handsomely in settlements after the annulment and was able to live on nice properties. She lived a quiet and relaxed life and even was invited back to the royal court a few times for holidays and celebrations towards the end of Henry VIII’s reign.
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