115. The Court of Two Queens | Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII’s Royal Love Triangle

Even before Henry VIII succumbed to pressure and wedded Anne of Cleves, his attentions had turned to another lady at his court, Katherine Howard. The romance was supported by her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, who had been trying to win back Henry's good graces ever since another one of his nieces, Anne Boleyn, had been dispatched in a Cromwellian conspiracy a few years earlier. Norfolk was clearly having a run of bad luck though, because it turns out that the teenaged Katherine - Henry was pushing 50 when all this got started - had been poorly used by a music teacher at the boarding home where she had been sent because of her family's deep poverty, and had been intimate with an age-appropriate boyfriend before being sent to Henry's court to serve as a lady-in-waiting. None of which was known to Henry when he finally wed her on July 28, 1540, the same day that he had Thomas Cromwell executed. The honeymoon was not to last, however, as by the following spring, Katherine was sharing the affections of royal counselor Thomas Culpeper, whose secret assignations with the queen were being facilitated by Jane Boleyn, Katherine's lady-in-waiting and the widow of George Boleyn, who had been executed with Anne. Everything went disastrously, of course, and Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn were executed on the Tower Green on February 13, 1542, a few months after Culpeper and her boarding house boyfriend had experienced the same fate at the Guildhall. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to [email protected]. Sources Jane Boleyn: The Infamous Lady Rochford, by Julia Fox (amazon.com) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the death of Jane Seymour in 1537, Henry VIII was once again single and looking to mingle. But he was a man with a bit of reputation by then, and perhaps the daughters of England weren't in a hurry to roll those particular dice. Artist Hans Holbein was dispatched to Europe to paint the portraits of eligible royals and nobles for Henry's consideration. In the Duchy of Cleves (part of modern Germany), Henry found both his next bride and a Protestant ally against increasing pressure from a French-Spanish Catholic alliance. But it's Henry VIII, so you know the relationship didn't go as was expected. Though Anne of Cleves came to England and was wed to the king, she committed a faux pas in their first bizarre meeting, which hurt Henry's feelings. Henry never recovered, the marriage was annulled after six months, but for whatever reason, the famously vengeful king gave his would-be wife an extremely generous settlement. Anne of Cleves, notably among Henry's wives, was able to live her best single life well into the reign of Queen Mary I. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn was executed on the Tower Green at the Tower of London, following months of scheming by Henry VIII's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell. Alicia follows the final, pivotal months of the one-time Queen consort of England, the woman Henry had broken with the Catholic Church to wed, and the mother of the future Elizabeth I, from celebrations of the death of Catherine of Aragon in January to the blade of a hired swordsman from Calais in May. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oh my! Our week of All Things Anne Boleyn continues here at Trashy Royals with Alicia bringing you all the details of the very troubled and sticky love triangle of Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, and Anne Boleyn. There was a time when Catherine and Anne were friends, however Henry was always a monster. This episode covers the period of 1527 to 1531 in this Court of Two Queens, setting up for the conclusion of this arc this weekend, with the story of the murder of Anne Boleyn. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this continuing week of All Things Anne Boleyn we ponder the real birth year of Anne Boleyn. History has declared 1501 is the year of her birth, but there is some very powerful evidence that the year of her birth was 1507. Alicia breaks it down from all sides in this episode from the trashy past, with a little after-life action too from St. Peter Ad Vincula. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is an exciting week here for Alicia, and she wants to share her love, passion and fervor of the Tudor Era with you, and especially her love of Anne Boleyn. Next week marks the 489th anniversary of Anne’s death, and it is her time to shine within our trashy universe this week. In this episode, we explore the 17 surviving love letters that King Henry VIII penned during his courtship and early relationship with Anne Boleyn in the latter half of the 1520s, particularly noting that for quite a long time, it seems like Anne wasn't really that into him. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey friends, Alicia and Stacie here to tell you about a new show that we're really excited about. Our friend Rainbow Valentine has been collecting the stories of the first generation of women to have access to The Pill, Rock n Roll, and LSD. In her podcast Psychedelic Women, Rainbow talks to the women who lived and made the counterculture in 1960s San Francisco and, eventually, the world. It's a fascinating, beautifully crafted show featuring real-life stories that'll blow your mind. Coming up is the trailer for Psychedelic Women, and Episode 1 lands today. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this final installment of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, we follow Mary's flight from Scotland into England, the domain of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, in 1568. Historians believe that Mary thought - or at least hoped - that her cousin would assist in returning her to the throne in Scotland, but instead, Mary and her retinue would spend a strange decade and a half imprisoned - in some of the finest homes in England. In the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess of Hardwick, Mary gradually became a unifying figure for English Catholics chafing under the rule of a Protestant queen. A prolific letter writer throughout her time in the custody of Elizabeth, she became enmeshed in the Babington Plot to assassinate her cousin in 1586. She was convicted at trial and sentenced to death; a situation that Elizabeth struggled with. She feared the precedent it set and certainly the impacts on her conscience and her relations with James VI of Scotland, Mary's son and Elizabeth's eventual successor, but in the end, she signed the death warrant of her cousin. Mary, Queen of Scots, one-time Queen of France, and aspirant to the English throne, was executed by beheading on February 8, 1587. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this second installment of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, Alicia follows Mary back to Scotland after her tenure as teenaged Queen of France. A young widow, she returned to a Scotland that had gone through the Reformation, making her Catholicism a notable feature. In 1565, after about four years back at home, she married her half-cousin, the ambitious Lord Darnley, which produced a son the following year. The marriage was troubled, with Darnley openly seeking to become King and not just the Queen's consort, and to succeed Mary should she - and he certainly was not plotting to make this happen, no no - die. The problem resolved itself in February of 1567, when the home that Darnley was staying in suddenly exploded and his body, and that of one of his servants, was discovered nearby, seemingly untouched. It was speculated that they had been smothered, and suspicion soon fell on James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, a confidant to the Queen and an ambitious climber himself. The whole thing was hugely suspicious, and Mary's reign fully fractured just months later when she married Bothwell. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we begin our Trashy Royals journey into the life and times of Mary, Queen of Scots. She has been a long time coming as a missing link on our ride of the naughty nobles in her time. In this episode, we journey from Mary’s birth in 1542, with her becoming Queen of Scotland at the tender age of 6 days old to Mary, three days before her 18th birthday as a widow of the King of France. Her first husband, Francoise II does pass away just as the couple's reign was beginning, leaving Mary with an uncertain future with not much else to do but come on back to the country that is rightfully hers in 1560. In the middle of Mary's lifepath from 1542 to 1560, there are so many European power plays and plots, trashy uncles on all sides, a girl squad forming, religious strife in all the ways, an evil Mother-in-Law, and a little astrology too. Mary’s story really does contain multitudes. Her story begins here. Get ready for a very trashy ride as this one has everything you adore in a royals romp! Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices