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Henry VIII's 'Reject Queen': The Truth About Anne Of Cleves

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  • @TheHistoryExpose
    @TheHistoryExpose Year ago +201

    The Truth About England’s Most Famous Queen:
    ruclips.net/video/ko0D7P1wXoM/video.html

    • @debramoss2267
      @debramoss2267 Year ago +14

      Most famous? Maybe at the time, but Queen Elizabeth ll has definitely been more so.

    • @sandraferguson6360
      @sandraferguson6360 Year ago +8

      Did Henry possibly have diabetes? Or did he just not keep himself clean, resulting in the skin issues and being overweight and likely impotent?

    • @LidaH-n5j
      @LidaH-n5j Year ago

      ​@sandraferguson6360 He almost certainly had Type II diabetes for much of his adult life, yes.

    • @belenalee5986
      @belenalee5986 Year ago +1

      I’d love to know where the video clips came from besides the show the tudors

    • @mingle95
      @mingle95 11 months ago

      😊ĝ

  • @geekazhoid
    @geekazhoid Year ago +3787

    Anne was lucky to have been declared ugly by Henry. It saved her life.

    • @laffintig
      @laffintig Year ago +202

      Her title and family connections saved her life. Henry did not execute his royal wives.

    • @vickbond008
      @vickbond008 Year ago +59

      ​@laffintigGood point. I hadn't noticed that.

    • @pauldonnelly910
      @pauldonnelly910 Year ago +50

      Anybody wonder if she arranged the stink on purpose?
      She'd met HIM, too.

    • @davidfinch7407
      @davidfinch7407 Year ago +18

      Henry had a reputation for killing wives, but it's a "little bit" undeserved. After all, four of his six wives avoided execution one way or the other. It's therefore a little unfair to say categorically that Henry's rejection saved her life, as she could have been divorced, died of natural causes, or outlived Henry. It's also possible they might have had a happy marriage...

    • @TRamone01
      @TRamone01 Year ago

      I think foreign wives got to keep their heads.

  • @SugarPlumFairy9
    @SugarPlumFairy9 Year ago +14929

    Pretty bold of him to call her ugly while he looked like a stuffed turkey...

    • @ImNotaRussianBot
      @ImNotaRussianBot Year ago +1077

      Don't insult turkeys. They're beautiful, majestic creatures. Henry was trailer trash in a position of absolute authority, power, and vast wealth.
      He was basically Donald Trump. You can put makeup on a pig, but you can't change its character. (Sorry pigs. You're delicious, smart animals.)

    • @LadyGenerationX
      @LadyGenerationX Year ago +179

      Elite Arrogance

    • @frankytrevor7
      @frankytrevor7 Year ago +1

      Henry the most disgusting king that start Protestantism, proclaiming himself the "pope" or whatever. He was Catholic like most England by then but his pride & arrogance and the fact that he want it to divorce is first wife The Great Catherine of Aragon (The daughter of The Most amazing Queen ever live: Isabel de Castilla SPAIN) but the Pope didn't conceded so Henry decide to star his own "church" (SECT). That shows the false "religion"=protestantism

    • @tngrrl73
      @tngrrl73 Year ago +292

      Jabba the Hutt!!!

    • @amyjacquelineg.715
      @amyjacquelineg.715 Year ago +142

      Being a big fat men showed wealth as they could afford to eat well.

  • @IdreamIsoar
    @IdreamIsoar Year ago +5381

    Getting rejected early on might have saved her life. An amazing woman for surviving him.

    • @lynnm6413
      @lynnm6413 Year ago

      It‘s amazing to me to imagine the hubris of a king wedding for political reasons and looking like an obese American with a foul, pusfilled not healing wound in his leg…
      To expect a 24 year old virgin not only to fall in love on first sight but actually let him grope her…
      Me too, anyone?

    • @samf.s.7731
      @samf.s.7731 Year ago +77

      She's a legend for that reason. Catherine Parr survived him simply because he died first. 😅

    • @MaximGhost
      @MaximGhost Year ago +24

      How so? Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was removed as wife and queen after eleven years of marriage ... but still kept her head. The ones that didn't either did salacious things or were accused to have done such things. No such accusations were made against Anne Of Cleves while married to the king.

    • @lynnm6413
      @lynnm6413 Year ago

      @MaximGhost you seem to not realize that the women you feel free to sl_t shame here like Catherine Howard had been groomed and SA‘d by older men from the age of 12, then forcibly married to a king who wouldn‘t hear No for an answer…
      Shame on you for being manipulated this easily by the male narrative

    • @libertyboudreaux389
      @libertyboudreaux389 Year ago +67

      ⁠@MaximGhostI think the only reason Catherine of Aragon lived was because he hadn’t yet developed an appetite for spousal murder.

  • @Sassie1
    @Sassie1 Year ago +1459

    What truly saved Anne of Cleves life was the fact she was royal to begin with. Had he executed her he would have started a war. It was the same reason why he did not execute his 1st wife, Catherine of Aragon - the Spanish royal family would not have looked kindly on this type of treatment.

    • @ctgctg1
      @ctgctg1 Year ago +116

      True, but he literally hounded Catherine to death and didn’t allow her to see her only living child. Such a horrible h7man being. I would say Anne of Cleaves got off easy.

    • @InterestingMC
      @InterestingMC Year ago +4

      Yeah

    • @williewonka6694
      @williewonka6694 Year ago +36

      @Sassie1 exactly, non-royal wives were easily disposed of by Henry. War is Messy, especially with a desirable ally.

    • @marianmilner5074
      @marianmilner5074 Year ago +3

      Wow good point ! I never thought of that .

    • @salfinesse1510
      @salfinesse1510 Year ago +13

      And she was the sister of King Phillip of Spain who was also the current pope. At the time he was championing an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon & doubly didn't want to upset Phillip..

  • @sheenaghmcmahon9665
    @sheenaghmcmahon9665 Year ago +2733

    I bet 24 year old Anne was disgusted when she saw obese, dissolute, middle-aged Henry but no one ever talks about that.

    • @Whoknows688
      @Whoknows688 Year ago +241

      And his rotting, stinking leg! He was no catch.

    • @kellyanni5092
      @kellyanni5092 Year ago +15

      I’m going to now😮

    • @FromRussiawithvideo
      @FromRussiawithvideo Year ago

      Well he was King. Nobody in our society has that level of power but even your average obese middle agent Hollywood agent isn't seen as disgusting because of the power they have. .

    • @LOVEBABY138
      @LOVEBABY138 Year ago

      Leg? Probably his teeth too.. Poor women and their noses ​@Whoknows688

    • @alpalism
      @alpalism Year ago +3

      He was a baller why wouldn't she love him.

  • @techgirl1337
    @techgirl1337 Year ago +3142

    If Henry Tudor asks you for a divorce, you give him a divorce. And you smile about it and say thank you hahahaha

    • @BlueTressym
      @BlueTressym Year ago +94

      And you likely mean it too, given most of the alternatives.

    • @akiramado9198
      @akiramado9198 Year ago +58

      He took pretty good care of her afterwards. At a point she was considered one of the most powerful women in England.

    • @sarahnelson8836
      @sarahnelson8836 Year ago +42

      And RUN for the damn hills

    • @Yuri.mihaila
      @Yuri.mihaila Year ago +8

      Henry Tudor was Henry 7

    • @ShieldWife
      @ShieldWife Year ago +31

      If Henry asks you for a divorce, say yes and be glad you dodged a bullet.

  • @Splucked
    @Splucked Year ago +2933

    Anne of Cleves made out better than all of his other wives. Got rid of him in her 20s, retained prestige at court, had property, income and a rich social life of her own. Not bad.

    • @gahk25
      @gahk25 Year ago +20

      But she died young at 42

    • @rogerphelps9939
      @rogerphelps9939 Year ago +58

      @gahk25 A lot of them did.

    • @sandradavies7804
      @sandradavies7804 Year ago +108

      @gahk25 42 Wasn't considered 'young' in those days.

    • @Splucked
      @Splucked Year ago +68

      @gahk25
      Sadly, that's true. However, it's important to consider that the average life expectancy for women in the Tudor period was roughly 33-42 years. Probably slightly higher for royals but Anne was in the ballpark.
      Following her divorce from Henry, Anne lived a comfortable and, by most accounts, happy life for 17 years. Catherine of Aragon & Catherine Parr had much sadder fates.

    • @CanMoose
      @CanMoose Year ago +26

      ​@gahk25imagine a time when there were no antibiotics

  • @invisibleplanets
    @invisibleplanets 3 months ago +65

    Anne was cute as hell. Hans portrayed people insanely accurately. Anne is and was absolutely beautiful

    • @Phyllida-r7n
      @Phyllida-r7n Month ago +3

      You cannot know that…..

    • @Phyllida-r7n
      @Phyllida-r7n Month ago

      Do you really believe Anne looked like that actress in an inaccurate and ignorant portrayal of history.

    • @ptolemyglenn79
      @ptolemyglenn79 28 days ago

      They always probably believe Anne Boleyn was black because a black actress portrayed her in woke gone mad

    • @edwardfletcher7790
      @edwardfletcher7790 6 days ago

      EVERY picture has portrayed her as plain as a 1970's Librarian....

  • @pollyparrot8759
    @pollyparrot8759 Year ago +1407

    Clever Anne, she neatly avoided being stuck with a monster.

    • @ronaldmessina4229
      @ronaldmessina4229 Year ago +1

      @pollyparrot759 Madame I most certainly do agree with u , & Anne was correct because henry the asshole was indeed a very bad monster 👺, who murdered at least 2 of his poor wives, & Ana Boleyna was murdered w/o reason, in order for henry to marry his 3rd wife Anne von Cleves 🎉😢😢😢😮😮

    • @ronaldmessina4229
      @ronaldmessina4229 Year ago +16

      Also thomas cromwell was a very stinking idiot advisor, & who advised henry on matters of state, but his advice was not worth a farthing, but henry often listened to the advice of cromwell 🎉🎉🎉🎉😮😮

    • @OdeInWessex
      @OdeInWessex Year ago +22

      Henry was vile, lucky escape.

    • @Mahaveez
      @Mahaveez Year ago +6

      Or stuck by a monster, as it were.

    • @pollyparrot8759
      @pollyparrot8759 Year ago

      @Mahaveez 😄

  • @patwilson2546
    @patwilson2546 Year ago +6192

    Anne was smart. She got her divorce, stayed in Henry's good graces, and lived pretty well until her untimely death due to (probably) cancer. Better deal than Henry's other wives. I do not believe for a second that Anne wanted to remarry Henry.

    • @masada2828
      @masada2828 Year ago +43

      @Petipulpul- but a better prospect than the life she left.

    • @masada2828
      @masada2828 Year ago +86

      More an annulment.

    • @patwilson2546
      @patwilson2546 Year ago +68

      @masada2828 True. I failed to differentiate but it would have made a huge difference in her time.

    • @markbriten6999
      @markbriten6999 Year ago +138

      In fact she outlived all his other wives

    • @pugwoman-nk6ok
      @pugwoman-nk6ok Year ago +305

      Whatever the reason for his rejection, Henry would not have dared had her executed, as it would have started a war with the Germanic states and death to his anti-Papal alliance. The queens that were beheaded (Ann Boleyn and Catherine Howard) were English and from families that may have been nobility, but still in deference to the King. It’s all about power and politics.

  • @cocoaswann2095
    @cocoaswann2095 Year ago +796

    comparing his and her portraits, methinks he was projecting.

    • @Italianpenicillin
      @Italianpenicillin Year ago +20

      Methinks. Haha!

    • @makeitsonumberone1358
      @makeitsonumberone1358 Year ago +11

      🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

    • @FrogsForBreakfast
      @FrogsForBreakfast Year ago +36

      Henry: paint my future wife as accurate as possible
      Painter: *paints good-looking woman*
      Henry: now paint me with a glow up
      Painter: *paints **7:33* I hid all your worst features
      Henry: ok but I still look like a fat jackass. Glow me up some more
      Painter: *paints **5:37* best I can do that still resembles you

    • @Livvie_Heart
      @Livvie_Heart Year ago +2

      we think so too

    • @manfred747
      @manfred747 Year ago

      Methinks? Pass the axe.

  • @cbasallie
    @cbasallie Year ago +509

    That a public figure or leader would call his wife “ugly” says more about HIM than about her

    • @kaybeetoyz1968
      @kaybeetoyz1968 Year ago +2

      if Henry was portrayed correctly in the Tudors, the wives, especially C. Howard, would make more sense. EW. I'd just be like, take me to the block now please!

    • @charlesw5919
      @charlesw5919 Year ago +7

      @kaybeetoyz1968 Not to mention he had an open and festering wound that medicine of the time could do nothing about, so his smell must've been horrific too.

    • @kaybeetoyz1968
      @kaybeetoyz1968 Year ago

      Yes the pain and the stench. That's what made him so crazy I think. How come nobody offered him opium. I'd rather be a bit giddy and not in pain feeling better would have made him a more just ruler. In my opinion of course​@charlesw5919

    • @kaybeetoyz1968
      @kaybeetoyz1968 Year ago

      It's very difficult for me to say anything because RUclips has been so far up you know where I don't know what to say. I'm trying to say if he was given something for the pain at least it would have made him a more just ruler. As far as the stench, I don't know what the heck they could have done​@charlesw5919

    • @borisotawa604
      @borisotawa604 4 months ago +2

      Hnry VIII Tudor dd aLot wors than that during in his aduLt Life, and Like Cathrn Howard said momnt bfor she was xcuted, that she died a Queen and but she wouLd'v rathr Livd to die tha wife of Thomas CuLpeper

  • @andrescebu6295
    @andrescebu6295 Year ago +5990

    Anne of Cleves aka Anne the Clever - She’s my favourite of all henry viii six wives. She played her card well, she received wealth and favour from the king after the divorce. She was almost immune from his outburst. And most of all she had the kindest heart. She treated her servants well and left some money to all of them in her will. I hope they’ll make a film about her

    • @TRUMP.FiLes.666
      @TRUMP.FiLes.666 Year ago

      *Our EngLish Ancestors wereScuum & were EquaL to TrumpVoters!!!!*
      *I BeLieve in JeHoVahGOD & I am GLad, that I Never had Sex!!!!*
      *Ann CLeves, Died at age 42 !!! Wut short UgLy Lives, in the 1500's!!!*
      *OnLy when CromweLL, Became "Head of State" was Day-1 of CiviLized Society,*
      *in EngLand!!!! EveryThing before that, was a GarBageLand!!!!*

    • @motherofbeagles8532
      @motherofbeagles8532 Year ago +274

      So clever and at such a young age. She kept her cool and responded carefully to his request for divorce.

    • @Teresia12
      @Teresia12 Year ago +154

      And they better not make her ugly!!

    • @TruthTea77636
      @TruthTea77636 Year ago +110

      Smart women will always rise to the top

    • @frankytrevor7
      @frankytrevor7 Year ago

      Henry the most disgusting king that start Protestantism, proclaiming himself the "pope" or whatever. He was Catholic like most England by then but his pride & arrogance and the fact that he want it to divorce is first wife The Great Catherine of Aragon (The daughter of The Most amazing Queen ever live: Isabel de Castilla SPAIN) but the Pope didn't conceded so Henry decide to star his own "church" (SECT). That shows the false "religion"=protestantism

  • @gilmichaud5852
    @gilmichaud5852 Year ago +2977

    Henry would not have tried to kiss her when he first saw her while he was in disguise if he had found her unattractive. It was only after her rejection that he called her ugly. He had been shamed, simple as that.

    • @LeksiW
      @LeksiW Year ago +360

      If he wasn't the king he would be considered completely vile. Like most men in power, he used it to harm women for his own pleasure.

    • @erikmurray3661
      @erikmurray3661 Year ago +66

      Sounds about right

    • @LadyGabriellaShimone
      @LadyGabriellaShimone Year ago +259

      She was principled, far more so than Henry. She was intelligent, well-educated, and well-mannered. He took to ridicule in an effort to demoralise her and, when that failed, resorted to pedantic rumourmongering. He freed himself from the marriage but, because of her personal bearing, could not do her completely ill.
      I think the premarital encounter demonstrated her principled nature and grace, things he'd not previously encountered in a woman. Simply put, she was out of his league and he didn't know how to deal with that.

    • @lilymarinovic1644
      @lilymarinovic1644 Year ago +71

      But you have to wonder why, if it really happened like that, no-one simply gave her a timely heads-up that Henry was fond of surprise cos play and that the Royal guards would certainly never let just any fat ugly old random in to see, let alone kiss or take any other liberties with, their Queen.

    • @CoraMendi
      @CoraMendi Year ago +47

      @LadyGabriellaShimone He'd encountered principles and grace before. And divorced Catholicism to be able to divorce her.

  • @tonyr669
    @tonyr669 5 months ago +29

    Pretty sure she was more than happy to accept an annulment. Probably even relieved.

  • @sorscha1308
    @sorscha1308 Year ago +493

    She couldn't have planned that better if she tried. Henry's own vanity allowed her to get out of being married to an absolute psycho without losing her head or any monetary advantage. What a QUEEN!

  • @deboracopeland4795
    @deboracopeland4795 Year ago +576

    Rejection is protection

    • @mcaruso7897
      @mcaruso7897 Year ago +9

      What's that mean? That by being rejected Anne was protected from Henry?

    • @TRUMP.FiLes.666
      @TRUMP.FiLes.666 Year ago

      *Our EngLish Ancestors wereScuum & were EquaL to TrumpVoters!!!!*
      *I BeLieve in JeHoVahGOD & I am GLad, that I Never had Sex!!!!*
      *Ann CLeves, Died at age 42 !!! Wut short UgLy Lives, in the 1500's!!!*
      *OnLy when CromweLL, Became "Head of State" was Day-1 of CiviLized Society,*
      *in EngLand!!!! EveryThing before that, was a GarBageLand!!!!*

    • @lexa2310
      @lexa2310 Year ago +3

      ​@mcaruso7897 Yes.

    • @ArielFae2
      @ArielFae2 Year ago +4

      This is true in this case, and is one of the more important lessons I've learned in life...

  • @SingPandaProductions
    @SingPandaProductions Year ago +2036

    He was just upset she thought he was ugly. It's the same as a woman rejecting a man and him saying oh well you were ugly anyways 😅

    • @lajohnson1967
      @lajohnson1967 Year ago

      Men are so fragile. They still don’t get it to this day. No woman is ever “ugly”. All men are though…..

    • @Alex-cb2gf
      @Alex-cb2gf Year ago +100

      That sounds like something Trump would and has said as a retort.

    • @hannahcallow6374
      @hannahcallow6374 Year ago +61

      ​@Alex-cb2gfinnit, and they say people don't reincarnate 😂

    • @SingPandaProductions
      @SingPandaProductions Year ago +49

      @Alex-cb2gf it is exactly something trump would say. Tyrants all seem the same huh?

    • @hannahcallow6374
      @hannahcallow6374 Year ago +28

      @SingPandaProductions *impotent tyrants

  • @patlitton3506
    @patlitton3506 Year ago +676

    Putrid smell coming off of Henry VIII by that point - he was 48 years old and had a bad smell due to leg ulcers and infections that caused him to rot. The stench was so strong that it could be detected from three rooms away.

    • @10secondsrule
      @10secondsrule Year ago +21

      Must have been pretty strong as everyone and everything else smelled naturally of roses.

    • @luckyspiderboots2530
      @luckyspiderboots2530 Year ago +11

      Were you there or something??

    • @randeebecker2455
      @randeebecker2455 Year ago

      @patlitton3506 OMG - you could smell him coming!

    • @johnthomson7696
      @johnthomson7696 Year ago +56

      @luckyspiderboots2530 That information comes from Royal Court documents of the time. FIFY

    • @linda0506
      @linda0506 Year ago +10

      And they were big rooms.

  • @BintyMcFrazzles
    @BintyMcFrazzles Year ago +189

    Anne was the luckiest of Henry's wives. She was also smart enough to be compliant with Henry's wishes for an annulment and thus was rewarded with high ranking, vast estates and money. She actually enjoyed court life and her life in England, once free of the tyrant.

    • @JuliaA-h7w
      @JuliaA-h7w 4 months ago +1

      Not vast estates- several houses.

    • @Rebecca_English
      @Rebecca_English 4 months ago +8

      Luck had nothing to do with it. Henry couldn't kill her without starting a war because she was a royal. So Henry annulled the marriage. Anne of Cleves was brilliant enough to accept the terms.

    • @borisotawa604
      @borisotawa604 4 months ago +1

      @Rebecca_English actualLy, An ofrom CLvs wasnt a RoyaL pr1nces, she was DucaL pr1nces ofrom a Grman DucaL-Pr1ncipaLity of counts-Dukes from Brg-CLvs-JuLich-LaMark-Ravnsbrg, and but she was protctd by a strong aLiance of Grman protstant reaLms, not Least of whch was tha sevraL powrfuL Pr1nce Dukes Lctors of Saxony, who sided aLong Hnry VIII Tudor against mperor CharLs V Habpsbrg-Trastamara pLus wth Francis I Capet-AngouLm-VaLois o'France

    • @KimberlyWhitaker-p2w
      @KimberlyWhitaker-p2w 4 months ago +1

      Anne actually fought the divorce/annulment. She proclaimed herself the true wife and queen of Henry VIII until she died.

  • @QueenHuntress
    @QueenHuntress Year ago +1284

    Anne is my favorite! She won the Queen Game. She got money and estates and she didn’t even have to sleep with a scabby old king to get it. She could even hang out in court and play with the kids. That’s the life! Winner!

    • @mrhelzbygrad7485
      @mrhelzbygrad7485 Year ago +40

      Given the nature of her match, it's interesting she had a good friendship with Queen Mary.

    • @TRUMP.FiLes.666
      @TRUMP.FiLes.666 Year ago

      *Our EngLish Ancestors wereScuum & were EquaL to TrumpVoters!!!!*
      *I BeLieve in JeHoVahGOD & I am GLad, that I Never had Sex!!!!*
      *Ann CLeves, Died at age 42 !!! Wut short UgLy Lives, in the 1500's!!!*
      *OnLy when CromweLL, Became "Head of State" was Day-1 of CiviLized Society,*
      *in EngLand!!!! EveryThing before that, was a GarBageLand!!!!*

    • @hunnyflash
      @hunnyflash Year ago +67

      Yes! She got to stay in England in a beautiful home and didn't have her brother watching over her, or some other husband. She was on good terms with Henry's children and remained a respectful figure at court.

    • @tripwire8457
      @tripwire8457 Year ago +61

      Plus she got buried in Westminster Abbey, and got the title Queen of England placed on her grave. Incredible achievement.

    • @TJ14142
      @TJ14142 Year ago +11

      It appears to me to be an example of living in a gilded cage.

  • @ljmsevern
    @ljmsevern Year ago +4968

    Worth pointing out that in the early years of their marriage, Henry had often done this with Catherine of Aragon, arriving at her chambers in disguise with his gentlemen as Robin Hood or some other figure out of folklore or mythology. Of course, Catherine always knew it was her husband, but she played along and pretended she didn't until Henry unmasked, while still being a gracious and welcoming hostess. Nobody dared to point out that a) unlike Catherine, Anna had never met Henry before, so she would have no way of recognising him and b) Henry was no longer the strapping, handsome youth he'd been in the early 1510s but a grossly overweight middle-aged tyrant, old before his time, who stank because of the open wound on his leg. He accused Anna of being 'flabby' and 'stinky' when we all know that he was far worse in both those categories. A classic case of projection!

    • @sbeaber
      @sbeaber Year ago +57

      That was actually the style in the time.

    • @frankytrevor7
      @frankytrevor7 Year ago

      Henry the most disgusting king that start Protestantism, proclaiming himself the "pope" or whatever. He was Catholic like most England by then but his pride & arrogance and the fact that he want it to divorce is first wife The Great Catherine of Aragon (The daughter of The Most amazing Queen ever live: Isabel de Castilla SPAIN) but the Pope didn't conceded so Henry decide to star his own "church" (SECT). That shows the false "religion"=protestantism

    • @kathleensomma7587
      @kathleensomma7587 Year ago +3

      Ppl​@sbeaber

    • @georgenorris2657
      @georgenorris2657 Year ago +460

      It's quite possible that Anne of Cleves was so revolted by him that she was unable to hide this when they met.

    • @darlenesutton7248
      @darlenesutton7248 Year ago +77

      Yesss projection

  • @kambrose1549
    @kambrose1549 Year ago +3600

    Henry was a narcissistic serial killer . Centuries later it still feels good that she escaped his evil machinations

    • @joltjolt5060
      @joltjolt5060 Year ago +64

      She knew how to play it.

    • @HiddenRiversLTD
      @HiddenRiversLTD Year ago +129

      Henry VIII was a legendary failure as king. He failed so hard it utterly transformed England in multiple ways.

    • @Yummicookie1979
      @Yummicookie1979 Year ago +34

      Most accurate description ever.

    • @98cents
      @98cents Year ago +57

      Henry was just your typical nepobaby that would never accept accountability or responsibility for his actions. If he was mentally unstable like you say, he would have been doing these things personally, not out of sight/out of mind like he actually was.

    • @O.O.O.K999
      @O.O.O.K999 Year ago +77

      I always feel good that, though no fault of his own because he died, his precious son came to nothing while his unwanted daughter was England's greatest ever monarch!

  • @dreamtripp
    @dreamtripp Year ago +180

    Anne Of Cleves is literally an example of “rejection is protection” however, that she was intelligent enough to understand it and put aside her ego makes her exceptional.

  • @markhughes2556
    @markhughes2556 Year ago +2527

    I believe Dickens called Henry 'a smear of blood and grease upon the pages of England's history'. I'm no great admirer of Dickens, but he nailed that one.

    • @dwhitman3092
      @dwhitman3092 Year ago +30

      Exactly!

    • @TeddyBear-ii4yc
      @TeddyBear-ii4yc Year ago

      I wouldn't call a king that killed numerous wives, fractured relations with the pope and the catholic world, wrecked the abbeys & monasteries and starting a new religion that is now the Church Of England, our official religion.
      Hardly a grease-spot!

    • @beyourself2444
      @beyourself2444 Year ago +31

      I thought I was the only person who's not too keen on Dickens

    • @TeddyBear-ii4yc
      @TeddyBear-ii4yc Year ago +24

      @markhughes2556 The guy had offed several wives, had stood up to the Pope and all the catholic countries of Europe, had wrecked and plundered the abbeys and monasteries and started the current protestant state religion that impacts on most of our lives... hardly a 'greasy smear' on the history of England!
      I'd say he was a notable monarch!

    • @gianniskarlssohn5633
      @gianniskarlssohn5633 Year ago +35

      @TeddyBear-ii4yc Like Genghis Khan.

  • @frankojudoka
    @frankojudoka Year ago +465

    She’s not ugly at all judging by her portrait. She is smart for not getting her head chopped of the others.

    • @interestedbystander196
      @interestedbystander196 Year ago +5

      Only two of Henry's wives were executed... People make out like this was the fate of all of them.

    • @pines-by-the-lagoon
      @pines-by-the-lagoon Year ago +30

      @interestedbystander196 lol, which king had ever executed his queen before? Not to mention divorced two others and had one die in childbirth? No, Ann knew by then that Henry gets his way or else others get their heads rolling, not just his queens.

    • @interestedbystander196
      @interestedbystander196 Year ago +3

      @julijakeit Two got divorced, sure, one of whom was Anne of Cleves. Also, one died in chilbirth, which was really not unusual for the time - in fact, death in childbirth was really a high risk for women right up until the early 20th century. Are you saying that was Henry's fault and somehow evidence that he's a rampaging bloodthirsty monster?

    • @OdeInWessex
      @OdeInWessex Year ago +26

      ​@interestedbystander196There's plenty of other evidence that he was a bloodthirsty rampaging monster besides this.

    • @keithwarrington2430
      @keithwarrington2430 Year ago +1

      only two had heads chopped and both were almost certainly unfaithfull

  • @onenote6619
    @onenote6619 Year ago +724

    At this point in his life, Henry was old, crippled, obese, covered in boils, smelled of rotting wounds and was somewhat irrational (because, given all the former, who wouldn't be?). Anne of Cleves accepted all of that - and the likelihood that he was impotent - because she knew what happened to wives of Henry that were not compliant. Henry got his annulment and Anne got to live in comfort. On the whole, she was a very sensible person.

    • @MrWombatty
      @MrWombatty Year ago +39

      It's well documented that Henry VIII received a severe head-injury when he fell from his horse while hunting, after which his temperament changed dramatically, and the most notable was that he became more impatient & ill-tempered!

    • @samiamtheman7379
      @samiamtheman7379 Year ago +22

      @MrWombatty Really? I heard it was from a jousting match. Either way, it is believed that the head injury (and possibly leg wound that never healed) were what made him really start going crazy.

    • @dbanks1277
      @dbanks1277 Year ago

      Read articles that​ said H8 died of siphilus @samiamtheman7379

    • @Woodman-Spare-that-tree
      @Woodman-Spare-that-tree Year ago +8

      And he had a bit of brain damage from being knocked off his horse while jousting.

    • @causewaykayak
      @causewaykayak Year ago +1

      @onenote6619 Clearly, you knew him intimately!!!

  • @Rhanyra
    @Rhanyra Year ago +20

    She rejected him first, unknowingly. So to save face he told everyone that SHE was ugly.

  • @Mathrox-uu1qh
    @Mathrox-uu1qh Year ago +275

    I can't see why he would publicly proclaim her as his sister and the third highest ranking woman in the country if he didn't hold her in some esteem.

    • @allanfifield8256
      @allanfifield8256 Year ago +58

      Keeping the German Protestants happy.

    • @tealkerberus748
      @tealkerberus748 Year ago

      It was better than going to war with her family and all their allies. Especially when he'd already alienated the entirety of Catholic Europe - Henry was starting to look a bit short-on for friends.

    • @sheaforest9309
      @sheaforest9309 Year ago +79

      I think he actually liked her as a person or he would not have spent his free time playing checkers with her.

    • @avryllsixtus3429
      @avryllsixtus3429 Year ago +45

      ​@sheaforest9309yes he used to visit her often at Richmond House playing cards...he confided in her rather than his counsellors....she was shrewd and graciously accepted the divorce and enjoyed her life..the red haired baby belonged to someone else and he saw the baby in a crib and it put him in a spin ...but the baby boy was not Anne's...

    • @churchill_cigar
      @churchill_cigar Year ago

      To keep her quiet

  • @SkepticalChris
    @SkepticalChris Year ago +738

    I love the quote from historian Suzannah Lipscomb, that in the marriage bed, there indeed was someone smelly, fat, and clearly not a virgin, but it wasn't Anne of Cleves.
    Side note, I always felt that it was unbelievably ironic that for the show the Tudors, they cast the beautiful Joss Stone as the "ugly" Anne of Cleves
    And Anne of Cleves, was the ultimate survivor. She was realistic, practical, smart and cunning. She knew from the moment she stepped foot on English soil, Henry was the boss, and she did everything to accommodate him, even when he asked for a divorce, she gave it to him without resistance, she made his life so much easier, and you can tell Henry was thankful for her willingness by rewarding her richly.

    • @lorrainem8234
      @lorrainem8234 Year ago +9

      Well said!

    • @azvascos7542
      @azvascos7542 Year ago +21

      Joss Stone was great as Anne!

    • @sabymoon
      @sabymoon Year ago

      sounds like the kind of malignant narcissist that projects his faults onto others. Like Trump

    • @evepemberton8662
      @evepemberton8662 Year ago +56

      Thing is though I think they played it right by casting an actress who bore resemblance to the portrait, but was clearly very pretty. It was essentially clear then that Henry's opinion was his hateful and projected opinion alone, cos Joss Stone quite clearly isn't ugly

    • @Superion74
      @Superion74 Year ago +32

      Joss Stone is perfect as the Anne of Cleves because we all believe that she was actually quite beautiful, and Henry called her ugly out of spite.

  • @naomistarlight6178
    @naomistarlight6178 Year ago +296

    I think what really happened was: she didn't instantly fall all over him praising him, which made him feel insecure so he wanted to reject her and talk shit about her looks so her rejection of him wouldn't humiliate him.
    The ultimate "you're not rejecting me I'm rejecting you"

    • @elss8717
      @elss8717 Year ago +34

      The textbook narcissist: ‘Now look what you make me do’

    • @YoCelKreSunt
      @YoCelKreSunt Year ago +1

      Basically an incel.

    • @10secondsrule
      @10secondsrule Year ago +3

      Guess good as any and worth just as much.

    • @InsaneLaughter01
      @InsaneLaughter01 Year ago

      It’s beilivable because that EXACT situation happens DAILY.
      *Gets catcalled at work or at a stoplight. Doesn’t get a smile back* “You’re ugly any way, bitch”

    • @phalynwilliams4119
      @phalynwilliams4119 Year ago +10

      The king 👑 had 3 dead 💀 wives and was twice her age. Why would Anne be excited about that old dog 🐕?

  • @nerfatari4289
    @nerfatari4289 Year ago +34

    That was just his opinion. She was the shrewdest of his wives obtaining a divorce, property, she made friends with Mary and Elizabeth and kept a favourable place at court as the kings sister. Well done her.

  • @MrFartenheit
    @MrFartenheit Year ago +111

    Henry had everything. Kingdom, wealth, power. What he needed was some humility and a mirror the dude look like a bloated toad.

    • @nettewilson5926
      @nettewilson5926 Year ago +5

      To be fair the had brain damage that possibly caused an eating disorder and diabetes

    • @keithwarrington2430
      @keithwarrington2430 Year ago +8

      What he needed was a male heir and that's what all this was about.

    • @PrincessGold1
      @PrincessGold1 Year ago

      He went through all that wealth and left a bankrupt.

    • @doriswashington9708
      @doriswashington9708 9 days ago

      Bloated toad lmao!!! Love the comment.😂🤣😂

  • @janemariemcbride
    @janemariemcbride Year ago +722

    It's funny to me that there was a rumor that Anne was ugly, but they always get beautiful actresses to play her. She's my favorite wife! She won in the end.

    • @riverraven7359
      @riverraven7359 Year ago +32

      Beat me to it, anytime I see her characterised it's always a pretty actress.

    • @TheOneandOnlyBrink
      @TheOneandOnlyBrink Year ago +161

      Every time a woman rejects a man and he gets mad about it, the first thing he says is 'you're ugly' 😂 apparently this habit is older than people usually think

    • @manbearpig7359
      @manbearpig7359 Year ago +16

      Yeah it's hard to argue that she won the Game of Henry with how things worked out for her and how smart, practical and clear thinking she must have been.
      My favourite is still Katherine Parr

    • @sherlockholmes6990
      @sherlockholmes6990 Year ago +42

      I think she looks very good in the portraits of her. It certainly doesn't seem as if she were ugly at all.

    • @lilymarinovic1644
      @lilymarinovic1644 Year ago +14

      Well, portraits don't tell us everything. By all accounts he liked petite women, which she wasn't. And he mentioned her 'slack' breasts and belly, so maybe she was on the chubby side? Which again doesn't seem to have fit his usual tastes.
      Or maybe he just found her really really boring and uncultured?
      I mean they could hardly talk to each other and don't seem to have had any shared interests at all.

  • @naly202
    @naly202 Year ago +861

    Henry: I couldn't quite do it, could i?
    Anne: Your Majesty, your secret's safe with me
    H: I'll tell them it was your fault
    A: Okaaayy....
    H: I'll tell them you're too ugly
    A: If you wish...
    H: I'll divorce you... any questions?
    A: Can i still keep my head?
    H: Yup.
    A: Ok, then!
    H: What? You agree? Giving up just like that? No passionate arguments, no weeping, no hysterics?
    A: How could I disagree with such a wonderful, wise and handsome king? (Besides, I have a tremendous passion for staying alive)
    H: Well said, well said.... you know what? I quite like you, you're a good girl.
    A: Awww, thank you... But wait! You're still divorcing me, right?
    H: Yes, yes.
    A: Thank goodness.
    H: What was that?
    A: Nothing, nothing. ...
    H: Good girl.
    A (to herself): Smile and wave, girl, smile and wave! 😁

    • @iangallager4091
      @iangallager4091 Year ago +71

      H. And will it be agreeable for me to come and play cards with you at some later date? oh yes and you will win every time!!

    • @Cynthia-qo9wu
      @Cynthia-qo9wu Year ago +4

      @iangallager4091😂🤣😂

    • @Cynthia-qo9wu
      @Cynthia-qo9wu Year ago +5

      🤣😭🤣

    • @interbright
      @interbright Year ago +4

      Yes !!!

    • @readthebookk
      @readthebookk Year ago +18

      That would have been an awesome episode of Drunk History 😂😅

  • @TimeturnerJ
    @TimeturnerJ Year ago +136

    Bold of him to complain about her appearance when he looked like THAT.

    • @AliensAnonymous
      @AliensAnonymous Year ago +1

      He was strapping and handsome in his youth. We just remember those ridiculous threads .

    • @borisotawa604
      @borisotawa604 4 months ago +1

      jst about anyone and evryone was handsom and straping bak during whn in youth, Hnry VIII Tudor by tha time he was 40 Lookd and reekd Like FaLstaf and actd Like a U$ prsidnt oaf whos name we shaL not mntion to protct guiLty

  • @lukeskywalker2116
    @lukeskywalker2116 Year ago +45

    She’s not bad looking. Even by modern standards, she is still reasonably pretty.

  • @helenamcginty4920
    @helenamcginty4920 Year ago +225

    Way back in the late 1960s or early 1970s there was a series about Henry Vlll on BBC. The father of one of my fellow students was one of the historians on the show. He told her that it was Anne of Cleves who was disgusted by the middle aged, overweight man with a stinking ulcerated leg, legacy of his jousting accident.

    • @dorothywillis1
      @dorothywillis1 Year ago +16

      Was that the "Six Wives of Henry VIII"? We enjoyed that very much!

    • @judithstrachan9399
      @judithstrachan9399 Year ago +13

      If it was, Keith Michell was magnificent as Henry.

    • @Charleyjaxx
      @Charleyjaxx Year ago +4

      I heard and read that too.

    • @TRUMP.FiLes.666
      @TRUMP.FiLes.666 Year ago

      *Our EngLish Ancestors wereScuum & were EquaL to TrumpVoters!!!!*
      *I BeLieve in JeHoVahGOD & I am GLad, that I Never had Sex!!!!*
      *Ann CLeves, Died at age 42 !!! Wut short UgLy Lives, in the 1500's!!!*
      *OnLy when CromweLL, Became "Head of State" was Day-1 of CiviLized Society,*
      *in EngLand!!!! EveryThing before that, was a GarBageLand!!!!*

    • @cruisepaige
      @cruisepaige Year ago +4

      I loved that series.

  • @PeterSt1954
    @PeterSt1954 Year ago +206

    Something I've never understood is why would Holbein produce an unrealistic portrait of Anne of Cleves when any such deception would be quickly discovered and Holbein and his fellow conspirators would be severely punished? I think the portrait must be reasonably accurate. At least accurate enough for those involved in producing it not to end up on the block.

    • @namedrop721
      @namedrop721 Year ago +30

      Holbein is famous for his accuracy. Read harder between the lines.

    • @tonkabeancat1117
      @tonkabeancat1117 Year ago +6

      Holbein’s portraits seem to come alive in fact

    • @irtnyc
      @irtnyc Year ago +12

      There is a theory that Thomas Cromwell and other Protestant activists had an agenda to manipulate the wedding for political and religious reasons. A lot depends on whether you believe Cromwell was capable of taking such an enormous risk. For which, he soon was executed. This seems unlike Cromwell who was a very effective man. On the other hand, he died over this. So who knows.

    • @mikev4621
      @mikev4621 Year ago +5

      She was quite pretty from front on, but what did she look like in profile?

    • @tandyjen
      @tandyjen Year ago +21

      ​@mikev4621Maybe you'd be happier spending time in a car dealership.

  • @michaeldowd8422
    @michaeldowd8422 Year ago +20

    If Anne was ugly, they cast the wrong actress in that show.

    • @borisotawa604
      @borisotawa604 4 months ago +2

      sure sure , and Hnry VIII Tudor Lookd Like Jonathan Rhys Meyers

  • @marydewitt9623
    @marydewitt9623 Year ago +183

    I think the best possible scenario is for Henry the Eighth to think you’re too ugly. You live a heck of a lot longer.

  • @rickjensen2717
    @rickjensen2717 Year ago +266

    Ann was a royal princess - he could never have had her killed without a war breaking out.

    • @causewaykayak
      @causewaykayak Year ago +6

      @rickjensen2717 Had earlier been same with Spain. At least Henry did the break with Rome so points for that. Also made axes popular. 🪓😂

    • @bruno-bnvm
      @bruno-bnvm Year ago +7

      ​@causewaykayakWhy would he get points for breaking with Rome. The Pope was right look what giving in to his adulterer tendency did to him and the womans he engaged with.

    • @christinedomingue1319
      @christinedomingue1319 Year ago +1

      right?!

    • @tammystiletto
      @tammystiletto Year ago +18

      This! It makes so much more sense than “she was smart!” I’m sure she was but I’m sure it was because he didn’t want to break the alliance 😳

    • @causewaykayak
      @causewaykayak Year ago +5

      @bruno-bnvm He gets points because we give them to him. He was the one who made it so all sovereignty in England lay with the state and not some foreign priest. Other tyrants including the papacy killed far more people and far more cruelly than Good King Hal.

  • @angelabarry3789
    @angelabarry3789 Year ago +25

    I doubt Anne of Cleves wanted to remarry him. She knew she was lucky when he wanted an annulment and she got to escape his grossness

  • @invisibleman4827
    @invisibleman4827 Year ago +144

    "Henry VIII. He was a shit."
    Alan Partridge

    • @gaiaiulia
      @gaiaiulia Year ago +19

      Alan Partridge was being kind, imo

    • @borisotawa604
      @borisotawa604 4 months ago

      b cooL to see RoBrydon and Stfphvn Coogan do a carry-on Hnry parody

  • @manfredgrieshaber8693
    @manfredgrieshaber8693 Year ago +361

    Anne grew up about 20 miles east of Düsseldorf, the capital of the combined states of Jülich-Kleve-Berg. The castle's name where she lived is "Schloss Burg" in the city of Solingen. There she learned from her mother how to run large land holdings. This skills helped her during her later live in England to stay independend from the king's court.

    • @Westminster6cats-wr4ik
      @Westminster6cats-wr4ik Year ago +3

      Great information! Thank you for sharing

    • @sophiecarter1576
      @sophiecarter1576 Year ago +2

      Interesting!

    • @jasperhorace7147
      @jasperhorace7147 Year ago +7

      She was undoubtedly a stolid German, lacking in the courtly skills Henry had so prized in his first two wives. Quite a cultural difference.

    • @rainbowcrystaluk
      @rainbowcrystaluk Year ago

      Thank you! I would love to know more about the German culture back then. What women wore, how they lived. We don't hear enough about that.

    • @estebancorral5151
      @estebancorral5151 Year ago +3

      @Westminster6cats-wr4ikSoligen was known for steel production particularly blades. It was the Sheffield of Germany.

  • @nikiharris2848
    @nikiharris2848 Year ago +539

    I did think from the thumbnail that this would be one of those AI voiced videos, but was pleasantly surprised to hear a real person with a lovely accent! Great video, very informative with great perspective and easy to watch!

    • @rinistephenson5550
      @rinistephenson5550 Year ago +1

      Was that Billy Boyd?

    • @Traumasamanen
      @Traumasamanen Year ago +5

      Wasn't this AI? Henry was Henry VIII (not 8) in few places.

    • @sidm3300
      @sidm3300 Year ago +1

      I'm sure that was Neil Oliver narrating.

    • @2msvalkyrie529
      @2msvalkyrie529 Year ago

      Sounded like Nicola Sturgeon so hit the
      " Off " switch right away...!!

    • @nikiharris2848
      @nikiharris2848 Year ago +8

      @Traumasamanen Maybe it was? I'm not sure, just happy it wasn't the robotic, stilted voice kinda one!

  • @MarenW21
    @MarenW21 Year ago +12

    Anne was a very smart cookie. She played the system in her favour and ended up being happy and financially settled.

  • @lauramcnutt9995
    @lauramcnutt9995 Year ago +26

    Calling Anne of Cleves ugly is like calling King Henry VIII a good husband 🎭🩰🎨

  • @barbaral743
    @barbaral743 Year ago +30

    I think Henry disliked Anne because she rejected his kiss when he came in disguise on their first meeting and he was insulted. He retained Holbein as court painter, which suggests the portait was accurate.

  • @AnnetteMurphyger
    @AnnetteMurphyger Year ago +180

    Henry VIII was no oil painting himself nor did he even smell nice.

    • @MultiCappie
      @MultiCappie Year ago +11

      He declined a lot after falling from his horse.

    • @speak_your_truth.
      @speak_your_truth. Year ago

      How do you know?

    • @speak_your_truth.
      @speak_your_truth. Year ago +3

      Do you think many smelled sweet back then?

    • @ktipuss
      @ktipuss Year ago

      @speak_your_truth. No physician at the time would dare say that Henry was smelly, but his reported medical history indicates that he probably was. He had acquired suppurating ulcers on his legs which would not heal, for one thing. He possibly had Scurvy, and likely Diabetes type 2.

    • @Beruthiel45
      @Beruthiel45 Year ago +13

      He had an ulcer on his leg from an accident that never healed, and it gave off a putrid odour. He was in constant pain and it's thought that the accident which caused him to be unconscious for a time, might have had long term effects on his behaviour. It was after that accident that he became such an obnoxious tyrant. Brain damage. Not excusing his behaviour at all, just considering the circumstances..

  • @medusa.gorgon9
    @medusa.gorgon9 Month ago +11

    She dodged a bullet!

  • @ATT-02
    @ATT-02 Year ago +400

    One thing Anne saw very clearly, early on. Give the King whatever he wants, be grateful for whatever he gives you and always remind him, that he’s the greatest King that ever lived. That will keep a smile on his face and the gifts will continue to roll your way! 👏🤗

    • @chiaralistica
      @chiaralistica Year ago +40

      @ATT-02 all that and she never had to do the deed lol.

    • @jessicacollins8049
      @jessicacollins8049 Year ago +5

      Like her life.

    • @Smokeythewelder
      @Smokeythewelder Year ago +5

      Its good to be the king!

    • @OdeInWessex
      @OdeInWessex Year ago

      ​​@SmokeythewelderEspecially as a Narcissistic Sociopath. .

    • @YourFriendinFL
      @YourFriendinFL Year ago +25

      She was the smartest of all. If he wanted a divorce, she said “absolutely, anything that’ll make you happy!” And thus she saved her life, and he even prized her with a small castle.

  • @chronic.beauty
    @chronic.beauty Year ago +141

    He probably really did feel more of a sibling vibe with her. Since he complained she was 'ugly', didn't consummate, accepted her friendship, and made sure she was taken care of later in life. He just didn't know how to express this, since he's an entitled, selfish murderer.

    • @naimasophie
      @naimasophie Year ago

      There isn't such a thing as a sibling vibe with a man if the woman is attractive

    • @Sztrudel
      @Sztrudel Year ago

      ​@naimasophie Surely there is... Probably not if she's a 10 but she could be a 7

    • @naimasophie
      @naimasophie Year ago

      @Sztrudel yes I agree. Anyone 8/9/10 cannot be friendzoned

    • @borisotawa604
      @borisotawa604 4 months ago

      for som strange weird reason this reminds me of somthing Megyn KelLy said , EEEW !

    • @JungleTherapy2023
      @JungleTherapy2023 4 months ago

      I think she was too educated to fall for his chauvinistic flirting game and compliments. The younger women, with less developed prefrontal cortexes, were simply more impressionable & more naive, and were thus a lot more likely to fall for henry's superficial charm. Educated women are harder to dominate entirely. The more vulnerable and naive a girl was, the more 'attractive' he would find them - because rather than ever loving any of his wives or mistresses, he simply had the mind of a narcissistic predator devoid of any real empathy. Even his most loyal right-hand man Thomas Cromwell, he betrayed and had executed.

  • @ThalmorAgent-08
    @ThalmorAgent-08 Year ago +148

    Henry VIII is such a far cry from the man his father was, it's insane. He had one wife, and mourned her death with heavy grief

    • @bethwilliams4903
      @bethwilliams4903 Year ago +31

      His father was nothing virtuous either, the murder of a young man he kept in solitary confinement from the time he was 10 years old until he had him executed at 24 was premeditated and coldblooded and stained his vaunted 'reputation' that when he wanted to gain custody of this same young man's cousin, (yet another cousin to his wife,) this was denied as it was understood Henry VII would immediately kill the young man - so, oaths and 'promises' were made, hand over the young man, I will only imprison him (for life), really. He kept that promise, with instructions to his darling son to kill Edmund as soon as he could once HE became king - something that did indeed come to pass, although Edmund's confinement under Henry VII included torture, deprivation and the usual abuse his 'dynasty' for which they were infamous. The Tower itself, a royal refuge and residence for centuries became known as Bloody Tower because of this ever so refined and enlightened 'dynasty.'

    • @analog9chaos
      @analog9chaos Year ago +3

      @bethwilliams4903 yeah, his father was a piece of shit too. The apple didn’t fall far.

    • @elss8717
      @elss8717 Year ago +2

      He had no mistresses either.

    • @PoshPilgrim1776
      @PoshPilgrim1776 Year ago

      @bethwilliams4903 Was Henry VII a pedo?

    • @banjo-cn5io
      @banjo-cn5io Year ago +4

      @ThalmorAgent-08 I wonder how things would have turned out if Richard the third had won at Bosworth ? And we had a Plantagenet King now 😳

  • @deborahbrett9101
    @deborahbrett9101 Year ago +24

    Why is it not being said that Anne of Cleves was clearly a brilliant, astute and diplomatic woman? She was in a no win situation from the start. She came out of an unsuccessful marriage to a known wife-killer with wealth, status, royal friendship, and a good relationship with all the potential royal heirs.

    • @borisotawa604
      @borisotawa604 4 months ago

      aLota of ppL in ofrom An of CLvs days era times couLd'v shouLd'v Learnd from An's ethicaL moraL bhavior

  • @Mrrossj01
    @Mrrossj01 Year ago +68

    Henry was a monster.

  • @neekerbreeker
    @neekerbreeker Year ago +71

    I like the use of "severance package"! Anne did well for herself to survive Henry and not have to go back home blamed for not pleasing a vain, capricious man.

    • @gpm8570
      @gpm8570 Year ago +6

      It was certainly a better deal than the "severance package" Henry's next wife got!

    • @ramkuse7810
      @ramkuse7810 Month ago

      She was not allowed to go back.

  • @selina5598
    @selina5598 Year ago +69

    She outlived them all, even Catherine Parr. Good for her

  • @slantedglasses7242
    @slantedglasses7242 Year ago +11

    Apparently being a literal king doesn't stop one from being utterly insecure

  • @lulabellegnostic8402
    @lulabellegnostic8402 Year ago +114

    Anne is the only wife of Henry 8 buried in Westminster Abbey. Henry was interred in a small side crypt with Jane under St George’s chapel in Windsor. He had planned a magnificent tomb for himself made by Italian craftsmen, but it was never finished. Labourers working in the crypt in the 19th century knocked down the wall and found not only their coffins, but that of Charles 1 as well. Anne and Catherine Howard were buried under the floor of the Tower chapel, St Peter Ad Vincula. Catherine of Aragon was buried under the floor by the transept of Peterborough Cathedral. Her supporters still leave pomegranites there. Mary Queen of Scots was buried on the other side originally, but moved to Westminster abbey by her son, James 6& 1. Katherine Parr was buried in the chapel of Sudely Castle, but her tomb was destroyed in the English Civil war. Henry 8’s lavish tomb was finished and used for the internment of Admiral Lord Nelson in the Abbey.

  • @rogerwilco2
    @rogerwilco2 Year ago +115

    Henry sounds like an absolute madman from this story.
    And maybe also a narcissist, maybe a sociopath or psychopath.

    • @88Eviltweety
      @88Eviltweety Year ago +10

      I think he may have had a twinge of Orange too...

    • @TheChristianPsychopath
      @TheChristianPsychopath Year ago +4

      It's a bad habit to try to stick psychological labels on moral corruption.

    • @analog9chaos
      @analog9chaos Year ago +9

      It’s easy to become a narcissist when you’re told you have the divining right to absolute power over an entire nation for most of your life. I’m sure the syphilis didn’t help.

    • @fangletterman-ng2ro
      @fangletterman-ng2ro Year ago +2

      ​@hannahshm. ulsky7119 Divine Right of absolute power.
      "Divining" is a verb, which means to use witchcraft/familiar spirits to tell the future

    • @KORGOTW
      @KORGOTW Year ago +1

      Divination. Ol dungeons and dragons had some truth in it's fantasy didn't it?

  • @stellamaris5405
    @stellamaris5405 Year ago +230

    ✨ Its often said by historians & scholars that Henry & Anne became close friends after the annulment and that he valued her not just as a close confidante but as an astute advisor up until his death. His generous settlement & the fact that he allowed her to keep her head seems to support that. She was a lucky woman.

    • @julianavenning8263
      @julianavenning8263 Year ago +12

      She also lookrd after his daughters.

    • @YamileYemoonyah
      @YamileYemoonyah Year ago +21

      Were they really friends or was she just people pleasing to save herself from an abuser who could still have her killed at any time?

    • @paulnelson5144
      @paulnelson5144 Year ago +9

      @YamileYemoonyah A very 21st century response to a Tudor situation 🙄

    • @stellamaris5405
      @stellamaris5405 Year ago

      @YamileYemoonyah ✨ Well, what do you think? Or more to the point - what would you have done? As *@paulnelson5144* said below - you're thinking like a modern, independent woman of today.Most, even aristocratic women then,didn't have that as an option. She did what she had to do to survive (& to live a comfortable life) so fair due to her. 🕊️ ☘️

  • @fireinthesky3018
    @fireinthesky3018 9 months ago +143

    Henry saying Anne had evil smells about her, ..Henry was probably smelling himself.

    • @pfdrtom
      @pfdrtom 4 months ago +10

      I'm sure most everyone back then, royal or peasant, had an odor about them!

    • @borisotawa604
      @borisotawa604 4 months ago +4

      to b sure, An of CLvs had no accs to Coco ChanL numbr 5 five, and but Hnry VIII Tudor dd reek of putrid uLcerated Leg wound to hi-heavn, gosip rumor has it whn he waLkd out-side London's wite towr, tha crows ravns foLowd him, jst in case a morsL of his fLsh wouLd falL-off his Leg on-to tha ground

    • @TheGoodMan211
      @TheGoodMan211 4 months ago +3

      @pfdrtom Yeah but he had a infection

    • @wmdkitty
      @wmdkitty 4 months ago +1

      @borisotawa604 Try again, in proper English, with proper spelling.

    • @virag1132
      @virag1132 4 months ago

      @pfdrtom she needed to attend a meeting with mayor anita massengill before her wedding night

  • @genevarockeman9721
    @genevarockeman9721 Year ago +67

    "I WANT A DIVORCE!" ~ "Oh thank god." ~ "What’s that?" ~ "...I mean...oh nooo."

    • @happygirl864
      @happygirl864 Year ago +4

      That's a good one. She probably did think that. 😂😅😊

  • @vilbertoferreira4222
    @vilbertoferreira4222 Year ago +334

    Excellent video! I admire very much Anne of Cleves. She was a very inteligent woman, one who agreed with Henry VIII demands and became a good friend to him in such a way that he called her "sister" and always received her at Court. Very clever woman!

    • @cplmpcocptcl6306
      @cplmpcocptcl6306 Year ago +7

      And was quite beautiful.

    • @keturaequalizer
      @keturaequalizer Year ago +18

      She played the game right and came up on top. 🙂🙃

    • @vilbertoferreira4222
      @vilbertoferreira4222 Year ago +9

      @keturaequalizer Exactly! Because she was intelligent and knew that in opposing Henry VIII wishes, she would end up like Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Using her brilliant inteligence skills, she saved her life and was very well rewarded by the King, enjoying a very quiet and good life until her death! I also admire Catherine of Aragon very much, but in opposing Henry VIII wishes, so radically like she did, she caused more problems than solutions. Pope Clement VII tried some type of compromise, but she was undeterred! A very magnificent woman she was, and could have changed all the bad situation by being just as wise and sagacious as Anne of Cleves was.

    • @ennykraft
      @ennykraft Year ago +1

      This video is rubbish. Left out loads of facts and used the stupid footage of The Tudors.

    • @marksaxby607
      @marksaxby607 Year ago +2

      @cplmpcocptcl6306 Are you a time traveller? How can you know what she actually looked like? She was probably an averagely good looking woman, I doubt Henry's dislike of her was solely about her appearance as this video says.

  • @jomercer21113
    @jomercer21113 Year ago +62

    Years ago I read a hypothesis that Anne of Cleaves was a sturdily-built, busty German, but Henry liked his women to be slender waifs with boyish figures. She was so lucky to have survived and thrived.

    • @Laura-op6ix
      @Laura-op6ix Year ago +2

      He had a singular infatuation + chemistry with Anne Boleyn, who was slender - but that was unique. All his other wives were said to be "buxom", as was ideal in the period. And at one point he was quoted as saying, "I'm a big man; I need a big wife".

  • @laurieberry162
    @laurieberry162 Year ago +11

    Anne of Cleves wasn’t ugly. She looked better than Henry the VIII.

  • @natie3322
    @natie3322 Year ago +93

    Heard he burst in on Catherine of Aragon in a similar way before their Marriage and he was happy with her response. Of course she knew him and saw through his disguise. He was trying to recreate his teenage adventure.

    • @mnm2156
      @mnm2156 Year ago +17

      he should have just stayed with Catherine of Aragorn 😑 ugh

    • @1nsytegames42
      @1nsytegames42 Year ago +8

      Recreating an adventure with another woman is selfish and insulting.
      Make a new memory with a new partner in a way that is unique to that relationship…
      But had he had that kind of emotional maturity he wouldn’t have been looking in the first place.
      His petulance came with pestilence.

  • @aimeeinkling
    @aimeeinkling Year ago +46

    Holbein wasn't prone to lying in his portraits. She was as he painted her. Henry obviously started the "ugly" lie because she rejected them when they first met.

  • @frenchfriar
    @frenchfriar Year ago +121

    To be fair, it wouldn't surprise me if his visit "in disguise" was a test she was supposed to fail: if she rejected his advances, she failed because she didnt recognize him, but if she had, she would have been "unfaithful to the King", and likely executed for it.
    I think he arranged the marriage only for political reasons, but wanted nothing to do with her from before meeting her.
    Add the percieved "insult" that she (purposely?) didnt see through his disguise, and its no wonder this famously petulant man wanted nothing to do with her.

    • @stefaniebraun3319
      @stefaniebraun3319 Year ago +16

      Rejecting him, like she did, made concocting an adultery claim so much harder. She even followed it up by demonstrating an astounding lack of knowledge and innocence to everybody, who would listen. She was very intelligent.

    • @kateyare4708
      @kateyare4708 Year ago +10

      My thoughts exactly. Either Henry was off his rocker or he was testing her, and it was a test she could only fail.

  • @Lostfromthelight
    @Lostfromthelight Year ago +5

    She dodged a bullet, got a castle+money, she would be welcomed as a vip at the king's palace and wouldn't need to be forced to get married. She hit the jackpot

  • @kimberly9181
    @kimberly9181 Year ago +218

    She upheld her virtues as a princess of her time by rejecting a random page and was “punished” unjustly for it. She also had enough intelligence and EQ to survive in the court of a different country, much more successfully than the rest of his wives. Honestly, she just sounds like an amazing woman.
    Henry on the other hand, somehow swiped right on the medieval version of tinder and expected the girl to be his new soulmate. WTF?! Then was immature enough to take revenge, but had to prove his manhood by having someone testify in court he had two wet dreams a night 😂 please send help, i’m laughing too hard and can’t breath 😂😂😂

    • @miaschu8175
      @miaschu8175 Year ago +7

      Instead of "punishment", I think she got a get out of jail free card, and collect £200 as you pass Go!

    • @analog9chaos
      @analog9chaos Year ago +5

      @miaschu8175she didn’t quite get out of jail free, she was humiliated by an entire country, but after that whole mess died down she did well for herself. She was slandered and called ugly for behaving like a proper young lady who was betrothed to a king, what kind of psychopath punishes a woman for that? Oh right, Henry VIII. You can never win with a narcissist, ever.

    • @denisef4904
      @denisef4904 11 months ago

      Luckily for her, Henry didn't start an adultery campaign on her so he could behead her. She was demure and gracious and lived a very good life away from all that madness. She must have been frightened out of her mind when the rejection came and the rumors started. You know she thought he's going to kill me.

    • @borisotawa604
      @borisotawa604 4 months ago

      actualLy, it wasnt Hnry VIII Tudor's idea to b get re-married, he had no intrst in mor marriages aftr Jane Seymor, and he wasnt feeLing fisicalLy up-to , it was Thomas CromwL who came-up wth idea to mrry Hnry to a Grman reformation-protstant alLy, and for alL of his Hnry's fauLt's, and he had many pLnty, at Least in tha case of An ofrom CLvs, that wasnt his idea, for whch Thomas CromwL wouLd pay dearLy, Like Thomas Howard th3r Duke of NorfoLk wouLd for pushing his othr niece Cathrn Howard, on Hnry, aftr he had aLready pushd his niece An BoLyn

  • @markuhler2664
    @markuhler2664 Year ago +115

    As intelligent and quick-witted and clever as she was, she would have made an outstanding queen.

    • @lucyvan2010
      @lucyvan2010 Year ago +1

      So true

    • @BalrajTakhar-u7u
      @BalrajTakhar-u7u Year ago +1

      And so was Henry. He had received a top class education in the all the arts & humanities of the time. He was highly regarded for his learning.

    • @JenaEmerald
      @JenaEmerald Year ago +7

      That didn’t matter, Catharine of Aragorn was an outstanding queen. She was banished after 20 years of loyalty and denied access to her daughter because she was too old to produce a son.

  • @billymcnomates7764
    @billymcnomates7764 Year ago +24

    She must have been very clever with her relationships, sounds like she would have been a fine queen and politician.

  • @laxmigreen2274
    @laxmigreen2274 Year ago +13

    He was probably impotent and blamed her being the narcissist he was.

  • @Autumn1988
    @Autumn1988 Year ago +25

    She ended up winning by becoming by choice a rich spinster, known as the Kings Sister and becoming a sort of aunt to his children

  • @christiandavid3794
    @christiandavid3794 Year ago +73

    The woman was clearly far more savvy than her peers. I believe it is far more likely that Anne was able to manipulate the narcissistic king to her will.

  • @Mark3ABE
    @Mark3ABE Year ago +27

    It was, mainly, a political alliance, as Henry needed the support of Anne’s brother, an enthusiastic Protestant, as an ally against hostile Catholic Continental powers. This was, probably, the main reason why Anne was treated so generously following the annulment of the marriage.

  • @dinahkruppa913
    @dinahkruppa913 Year ago +9

    She was a very fortunate to stay friends. Too many wives had unhappy ends.

  • @lisanidog8178
    @lisanidog8178 Year ago +15

    The King isn’t exactly model material himself. But his thinking that she’s ugly or in modern terms being plain, hasn’t changed in centuries where men seem to think they’re judges of beauty when they’re not exactly getting paid millions a day for their looks. Looks fade, good personalities don’t regardless of gender.

  • @keetahbrough
    @keetahbrough Year ago +101

    She was too old.. therefore navigated her way with intelligence through his darkness.. with success. the scene where Cromwell is talking up her beauty while Henry is insulting her is too funny omg. Good thing she didn't take it personally.. and understood her assignment.

    • @cplmpcocptcl6306
      @cplmpcocptcl6306 Year ago +15

      Jane was 28.
      He reacted like a child because he was embarrassed she didn’t fall all over him when he surprised her in costume. When she first arrived.

    • @lindamortimore-bc6zs
      @lindamortimore-bc6zs Year ago +10

      This was the best thing to happen first having to sleep with him that would be disgusting and if he didn't get a son she would have lost her head

    • @dorothywillis1
      @dorothywillis1 Year ago +4

      @cplmpcocptcl6306I agree! I think that was the root of the problem. Someone should have tipped her off about what was happening.

    • @mikeg2924
      @mikeg2924 Year ago +2

      24 was too old? That *can't* be right. Guys don't bail like that unless there is something really weird going on with them.

    • @judithstrachan9399
      @judithstrachan9399 Year ago +2

      @mikeg2924: really weird? Hmmmm….

  • @sebbya8328
    @sebbya8328 Year ago +57

    For someone who had the body and face of King Henry the eighth he was lucky he was king or he wouldn’t had anybody

    • @marchandtpinkney5085
      @marchandtpinkney5085 Year ago

      I agree he was not attractive at all.

    • @powerpointpaladin6911
      @powerpointpaladin6911 Year ago +2

      You're looking at the portraits of him after he got old and fat. My understanding is that as a younger man, Henry was tall, handsome and athletic. Think of Elvis Presley, young and then old. Or maybe DJT.

    • @richardmartinez4145
      @richardmartinez4145 Year ago +1

      ​@powerpointpaladin6911
      DJT? Oh yeah, your president.

    • @annasolovyeva1013
      @annasolovyeva1013 Year ago

      ​@powerpointpaladin6911 typical injured ex-athlete problems, not being able to move anymore, still eating a lot, (and doctors of the Tim advice so for male reproductive health), and hating yourself and everything

    • @sebbya8328
      @sebbya8328 Year ago +1

      @richardmartinez4145 hahaha

  • @JeffBabyShark
    @JeffBabyShark Year ago +5

    Anne of Cleves was the luckiest wife of Henry VIII, his lack of attraction towards Anne saved her life and she got a pretty good deal out of the divorce.

  • @laurametheny1008
    @laurametheny1008 Year ago +56

    Always cracks me up when "pics" of Anne never show her as ugly....and yet besides Henry himself being disgusting by then, most of those other women he married didn't seem nice to look at. Crazy. I have seen MANY shows with depictions and read books. History is my fave. Thank you✌🏼😍

  • @AnnetteMurphyger
    @AnnetteMurphyger Year ago +18

    Henry VIII didn't smell too good himself.

  • @fionaoliver7237
    @fionaoliver7237 Year ago +51

    If you ask me, Henry the VIII was a nasty piece of work.

  • @TracyD2
    @TracyD2 Year ago +14

    13:57 and if she was too welcoming to the `stranger’ he would of accused her of something else. You couldn’t win with him.

    • @Rg-hc6or
      @Rg-hc6or 11 days ago

      Exactly: she was behaving modestly.

  • @kalinaphillips9779
    @kalinaphillips9779 Year ago +37

    Anne of Cleves was given a property in Dartford, Kent in England. The coach house of her house still exists.

  • @jtf2dan
    @jtf2dan Year ago +27

    considering how long he courted and pursued her...kind of hard to believe he would marry her if he thought she was ugly.....

  • @micheleford4282
    @micheleford4282 Year ago +50

    i think it had nothing to do with looks he was used to outgoing women who fawned over him and she was reserved, quiet, and serious in nature she didnt know how to play cards or dance and the style wasnt what he was used to those frivolous past times were frown on in germany at the time. he was full of himself his leg stunk and she didnt like it. im glad she got her freedom.

  • @Sherriincali
    @Sherriincali 4 months ago +6

    The reason was his own impotence. He blamed her, then he blamed Catherine Howard for taking a lover because she was a teenager and he was impotent. Then his final wife never became pregnant because he was impotent and she became pregnant immediately with her husband's child, though parr died in childbirth. He said ann of cleves smelled badly, while his own leg was oozing

  • @63mckenzie
    @63mckenzie Year ago +156

    Henry was probably impotent due to type 2 diabetes. It maybe explains his violent outbursts and why his leg ulcer failed to heal.

    • @gearoiddom
      @gearoiddom Year ago +10

      Type II? Probably an achievement of sorts in the era before processed food😂

    • @63mckenzie
      @63mckenzie Year ago

      @gearoiddom What? You think diseases only existed after they were given a name?

    • @ChristineKelly1000
      @ChristineKelly1000 Year ago +42

      @gearoiddomsugar was available to the rich in England since the 11th century. The link below explains what Henry ate. Also the volume of food would have contributed to his obesity and therefore his diabetes.

    • @vellathewench
      @vellathewench Year ago +28

      @gearoiddom You think type 2 is only from processed food? You know there is such a thing called Google that can actually tell you the truth. Unless you like to remain ignorant I guess.

    • @DrachenGothik666
      @DrachenGothik666 Year ago +20

      @gearoiddom Type II diabetes existed back then. It's related to diet, & Henry's diet was likely heavy on the carbs (which turn to sugar in the body) as well as probably too much meat. Not to mention he simply just ate too much, period. Yeah, Type II shows up if you eat too much processed food, but it can also show up if you're sedentary (which Henry was, due to his leg ulcers), & if you eat too much.

  • @660Oliver
    @660Oliver Year ago +13

    She was more disgusted by him than he was of her.

  • @RKoz98
    @RKoz98 Year ago +82

    I’m thinking she was relieved when he didn’t want her! I would be !

  • @KevinRandolph-g6p
    @KevinRandolph-g6p Year ago +6

    Hard to explain cruelty when kindness is free

  • @AngelaVara-i4l
    @AngelaVara-i4l Year ago +9

    How dare he call her ugly,obviously he never looked in a mirror.

  • @DeniseCummins
    @DeniseCummins Year ago +7

    So Henry was the same as most guys today who meet a woman through a dating site: “Sorry, dude, she doesn't look anything like her picture."

  • @bostonblackie9503
    @bostonblackie9503 Year ago +3

    Anne was treated as the Kings sister. Had two homes, was friendly with his children and was invited to all important court events.

  • @dna9838
    @dna9838 Year ago +17

    1:39 flipping us all off for posterity