Page Threads

Reading today Alison Weir's Henry VIII bio, I came across something interesting. I know that there has been another thread about this subject, but I just felt like having another one.

Excerpts from Alison Weir: Henry VIII-
"In fact, contrary to the opinion of nearly every modern historian, Henry had every reason to be pleased with Anne, for the evidence strongly suggests that she was pregnant again. Just as she had conceived rapidly after the birth of Elizabeth, so her reconciliation with the King after the miscarriage in January had quickly borne fruit. Henry made what was probably an oblique reference to her pregnancy that April, when he rounded on Chapuys for suggesting that God had not thought fit to send him male issue because He had ordained that England should have a female succession. "Am I not a man like other men? Am I not? Am I not?" shouted Henry. "You do not know all my secrets." On 25 April, in a letter sent to his Ambassador in Rome, Henry announced, "the likelihood and appearance that God will send us heirs male," implying that his "most dear and entirely beloved wife the Queen" was once more expecting a child. Had Anne conceived towards the end of February, it would have been possible for the King to state this with some certainty, and clearly he was eager to do so. In the past, royal conceptions had not normally been the subject of official announcements, but the urgent resolution of the succession problem was a matter of vital national importance meriting widespread publicity. On a personal level, too, the King was anxious to show the world that he was capable of fathering an heir, and also to justify his marriage to Anne. It is unthinkable therefore that he, a normally discreet man in such matters, would have made such a statement, knowing that his ambassadors would make it public, if there had been no certain hope of a child."
Continuing...

1  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?    

Show Last Reply

There has been much speculation that the queen was indeed with child at the time of her execution, is such information true?

 out of  found this valuable. Do you find this valuable?    

Show Last Reply