Wolf Hall: everything to know about King Henry VIII’s six wives

Catherine was a Spanish Princess who travelled to England to marry Henry’s elder brother, Arthur (Prince of Wales) before Henry VIII, in 1501. Although he was supposed to become the next King, he tragically died at the age of 15. Seven years later, Catherine married the young Henry when she was 23. They were married for 24 years (while the following five marriages are less than 10 years long combined) and had a daughter, Mary (who would later become Queen Mary I of England and Spain), but their marriage was cancelled so Henry VIII could marry Anne Boleyn. Catherine was also the first female ambassador in Europe, and served as the Spanish ambassador for 10 months, in 1507.

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She was known as a woman very loyal to her Spanish origins, her religion and her principles.

Anne was his second wife. Their marriage was 3 years long and ended by her arrest and subsequent execution. Their daughter, who was almost 3 at the time of her mother’s death, would later become Queen Elizabeth I. She was the first English Queen to be beheaded after being accused of treason and adultery.. Before marrying the king, she served as a lady’s maid to Catherine of Aragon.

In 1526, the King started to try to seduce her, but she refused to become the king’s mistress, like her sister was. Henry VIII wanted to cancel his first marriage to marry her, but the Catholic church refused to allow it, so he began to decrease Rome’s influence in England. After their secret wedding in 1532, they were officially married in 1533.

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When her daughter became Queen, she started to be considered as a martyr and a heroine of the English Reformation, AKA the separation between the church of England and papal authority.

The castle that served as her childhood home, Hever castle, was given to Anne of Cleves after her death.

Before her marriage, Jane was serving Catherine of Aragon as well and became her maid of honour in 1532. The King began seducing her in 1536, three months before Anne’s execution. They were married the same year and she was the mother of his first male child (who didn’t die as a baby and was legitimate), the one who would later be King Edward VI. Unfortunately, Anne died a few days after, due to childbirth complications when she and the King were married for only 18 months. After her death, the King wore black for three months. It is said that she was close to her stepdaughter Mary, and she was even the chief mourner of Jane’s funeral.

When the King died, he was buried next to her, which would indicate that she was his favourite wife.

She was also known as a very conservative, strict and formal woman.

The King married Anne two years after Jane Seymour’s death in 1540. She was German (born in the Holy Roman Empire), and their marriage was the shortest at just six months long. After their divorce, she was known as “the King’s beloved sister”, and outlived him by 10 years, and outlived all his other wives as well. She never remarried, and died in 1557.

When she married him as his fifth wife, Catherine was only 17 years old while the king was about 30 years her senior, she was even younger than his first daughter! They were married in 1540, but their happiness was short-lived as she became his second wife to be beheaded while still just a teenager due to adultery. She was Anne Boleyn’s cousin and was related to Jane Seymour as well. They didn’t have any children during their 15 months of marriage. 

Catherine is the last wife of Henry VIII. She married two men before him and outlived him only by a year and eight months - dying at 36 years old.

She was the first Queen of England to be Queen of Ireland as well.

In 1547, a few months after the king’s death, she married Thomas Seymour (the brother of Jane Seymour), which caused a minor scandal. They had one child, Mary (named after her stepdaughter), who sadly appears to have died around the age of 2. Catherine herself died a few weeks after her birth, likely due to an infection.