Anne of Cleves

We asked members of Historic Royal Palaces staff which of Henry VIII's wives as the best. Here, Curator Brett Dolman brands the 'Flanders Mare' Anne of Cleves' reputation as "the wife that not even Henry VIII - the consumer of women - could stomach" to be "rubbish", arguing that she was beautiful, intelligent, loyal and in fact the only wife that Henry considered marrying twice!

Next year Hampton Court Palace will be home to rarely seen 16th-century portraits of each of the women in Henry VIII's life mother, sisters daughters and wives - and will be joined by evocative objects intimately connected to their fate.

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[chinagrrl]

Oh my goodness! I am very impressed by this young man and his POV on Anne of Cleves! Really made me view Anne of Cleves in a different way! Thank you!

[Diana O]

ok i resent the fact that he pulled katherine of aragon in here but anne of cleves is my 2nd fav and i do believe that she wasnt ugly and that henry just wanted to get out of the marriage for catherine howard. she did survive unlike the others and was even friends with Queen Mary I

[whiteonyx4]

Exactly! If the painting was an attempt to trap the king...he would have killed his ass for it. And if he truelly didn't like her he wouldn't have asked her back and called her his sister. Anne like the other Ann was just smart. Good for her!

[samsmith92samsmith]

I have to say I agree. I think this guy makes a fantastic point, very effectively. But to suggest that quickly agreeing to the divorce showed intelligence, when compared to Katherine of Aragon is extremely unfair.

Katherine had been married for 20 years to Henry (more than the 5 other wives put together), and it ended by Henry attempting to force her to admit her marriage was a lie, and to agree that her daughter was illegitimate.

[Alondra Prado]

but still pore anne of cleves.

[Alondra Prado]

wow shes uuuuuugggggggllllllyyyyyyyyyy!­!!!!!!! henry the 8 two. 

[AnneARcTiCa]

Poor Anne of Cleves. I love this info, thank you for sharing your knowledge of this beautiful misunderstood German woman!!

[cardwitch91]

I see Henry and Anne as being very different to Henry and Catherine. They had only been married for less than a year while Catherine had been Henry's wife for over 20 years. Anne didn't like Henry whereas Catherine always loved him. Catherine was offered a chance to free Henry from their marriage and retain Mary's legimtimacy by taking the veil, but she refused. I respect Catherine and next to Anne Boleyn she is my favourite but I don't think Anne of Cleves was submissive either.

[markwelly]

the classiest of the wives,good work .

[Londoner1958]

infectious enthusiasm. Lovely.

[Sweetlittlemystery]

Dear man who did the presentation:

Marry me xx

[LadyGraceofHearts]

 I agree! Anne of Cleves was always my favorite too; there was a REASON she survived and prospered from her marriage to H VIII! Excellent video!