She had spent some of her girlhood at the louche French court, and when she appeared at the English court in 1521, she brought with her polished sophisticationĪnd new fashions. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, a courtier and diplomat,Īnd her uncle was the powerful magnate Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. Janet Maslin’s Review of ‘The Lady in the Tower’ (December 17, 2010) Alison Weir’s Web SiteĪnne is one of the most striking female presences in English history, but we can’t even be sure of her date of birth, let alone her bedroom secrets. Up Front: Hilary Mantel (January 24, 2010) Related Excerpt: ‘The Lady in the Tower’ (January 24, 2010) In January 1536, when the king’s first wife died and Anne miscarried a child? Or was she brought down over a few days, in an atmosphere of fulminating panic that infected the entire court? Supporters of the Princess Mary, Henry’s child by his first marriage? Were all these parties, for different reasons, acting together? And at what point was Anne’s doom sealed? Did her fortunes begin to falter Multiple acts of adultery, involving five men? Was it Henry himself, crediting some slander and lashing out in blind rage? Or his minister Thomas Cromwell, fighting for his own career? What part was played by the papist

How did he become so alienated from her that he wanted her dead? Had she really slept with her brother George? Who was the prime mover in alleging against her Henry had fought for years to extricate himself from his first marriage and create a world where he and Anne could be husbandĪnd wife to achieve it, he had split Christian Europe apart. Historians are still puzzling over Anne’s downfall. The story of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, ended in May 1536, when the master executioner of Calais - sent for specially, and said to be an adept in his art - separated her clever head from her seductiveīody with one clean stroke of his sword.

Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir