Hans Holbein the Younger's portrait of Anne of Cleves, now in the Louvre in Paris
Three years after the birth of his only living legitimate son — and three years after the death of his third wife and queen — Henry VIII was on the marriage market in Europe again. He had ensured the succession of the throne by siring a male heir, the future Edward VI, with his wife, Jane Seymour, who had died only twelve days after the baby’s birth. Now Henry was looking for a fourth wife to help to secure the Tudor line once and for all, and his attentions were directed toward the Continent and a German noblewoman, Anne of Cleves.
Anne, who was nearly twenty-five years younger than Henry, was the sister of the Duke of Cleves. Her brother was an enemy of the Holy Roman Emperor — just like Henry — and an alliance between his sister and the English king was seen as a favorable political match.
But Henry was never satisfied merely to marry for political gain — he had to find his wives attractive as well. To that end, Henry sent painter Hans Holbein the Younger to Cleves to paint a portrait of Anne. In one of history’s great moments, Holbein painted a lovely miniature of Anne — perhaps quite a bit lovelier than the real subject — and on the basis of the picture, Henry immediately approved of her as a bride.
When Anne landed in England, however, he found her not at all like Holbein’s portrait. He thought she was unattractive and too heavy to be a virgin, apparently assuming that all unmarried women were slender. (As if he had room to talk, really.) Feeling that he had been misled and betrayed, Henry famously said, “She is nothing so fair as she hath been reported.”
Even so, Henry went through with the marriage, for fear that backing out could have political ramifications. On January 6, 1540, on the Feast of the Epiphany, Henry and Anne were married in Greenwich by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. However, the marriage was not consummated, and within months, Henry had begun an affair with one of Anne’s ladies-in-waiting, Katharine Howard.
Henry asked Anne for an annulment only seven months after they were married, and Anne eventually accepted. Though she would no longer be Queen of England, Anne probably ended up with one of the best deals of any of Henry’s six wives. She received financial compensation, lands, and the title of The King’s Beloved Sister. She was the last of Henry’s wives to die, and was buried in Westminster Abbey in 1557.
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