Katherine HowardThis is a featured page

Katherine Howard, Queen Consort as played by Tamzin Merchant
Motto: "No other Will but His"

Born c. 1521/24 - married the King July 28, 1540
- executed February 13, 1542 by order of King Henry VIII

Character's backstory: 4th of ten children in her family & from the age of 9 or 10, Katherine was brought up in the household of her step grandmother, Agnes Tilney, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Her mother had died young and her father, though a nobleman, was constantly in debt.

She came to King Henry VIII's court as a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves. Like her predecessors, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, Katherine caught the king's eye while she served the current queen when it is thought she was merely 16 years old and Henry was 49. After Henry quickly dispatched Anne of Cleves, he married Katherine sixteen days later. Henry was greatly taken with his lively new queen, who amused him as his weight and the wound he received from a joust in his earlier days bothered him more and more.

* For more on the history of Katherine Howard click here

Gentility: granddaughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, cousin to Queen Anne Boleyn

Position: Queen Consort of England, lady in waiting to Anne of Cleves

Personality type: The youngest of Henry's wives, she was not known for her maturity. The young queen delighted in amusements, and was altogether described as a flirtatious and lively queen. Unfortunately for her, her vivacious spirit landed her in trouble with other men, and as a result, landed her on the block.

Signature look: Petite & pretty, she enjoyed beautiful clothes, dancing and music. According to French ambassador Charles de Marillac, she was "a young lady of extraordinary beauty" and of "superlative grace."

Nickname: "Rose without a thorn"

Endearing trait(s): Sweet & kind natured. She brought Princess Elizabeth forward, befriending her and calling her "kinswoman", though there was danger in angering the King with the reminder of Anne Boleyn. When she learned of Margaret Pole, the Countess of Salisbury, once Princess Mary's governess, who had been imprisoned in the Tower for years after Katherine of Aragon's banishment from Court, she risked Henry's anger once again by sending warm clothing and bonnets to the old woman, though she did not even know her. Later, at Princess Mary's request, she pled with Henry for the Countess of Salisbury's life, to no avail, earning herself nothing but a vicious reprimand. She successfully pleaded for the pardon of Thomas Wyatt who was in the Tower. He was subsequently released.

Annoying trait(s):Some say she was empty headed and frivolous, and in intellect and experience, she certainly was no match for the people and intrigues surrounding her. She was VERY young and impulsive and was used remorselessly by the very people who should have protected and guided her -- her family.


*Click here for an Historical Timeline of Katherine's Life


Katherine Howard As Portrayed By Tamzin Merchant
Katherine Howard's signature
Howard badge

"She was too much a child to deny herself any sweet thing she wanted."
Anne of Cleves was said to have remarked,
when hearing of Katherine's adultery.



During her girlhood at the home of her step grandmother, Agnes Tilney, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, Katherine had been caught in a compromising position with Henry Manox, her music teacher, when she was 13. The Duchess had immediately fired Manox, and beat Katherine severely for her transgressions. But the flirtation with Manox had been little more than that.

The elderly Duchess carefully locked the dormitory of the single women of her household each night, but she slept far from it, and was nearly deaf as well. What should have been a chaste and safe stronghold was far from it.The windows were opened as soon as the door was locked, and men from the area had free access to the room, and the women within it.

Katherine formed a liaison with Francis Dereham during this time, and he was a frequent visitor to the dormitory. In fact, they had sworn before witnesses to marry each other as soon as she was older, and called each other "husband" and "wife". When he went on a journey to Ireland, he left his money in her possession, and made presents to her of clothing and jewelry. Katherine, in turn, bestowed sexual favors on him, going so far as to have intercourse with him in full view of the other people in the dormitory. When Dereham was questioned (under the influence of torture), he revealed enough particulars about Katherine's anatomy, including a birthmark or scar on her upper thigh, to let Henry know that his testimony could not be trumped up.

*See also :HIstorical Controversies about Katherine Howard

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS


Family members:
Father Lord Edmund Howard, third son of the 2nd Duke of Norfolk
Mother : Joyce Culpepper
Brother: Sir Charles Howard
Brother: Henry Howard
Brother: Sir George Howard
Sister: Lady Mary Howard
Sister: Lady Margaret Leigh Howard
Half siblings: Isabel, Margaret, Joyce, John, and Ralph Leigh from her mother's first marriage to Sir Ralph Leigh Esq
First cousin: Anne Boleyn on Howard side of family
First cousin: Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
First cousin: Mary Fitzroy, Duchess of Richmond ( sister of Henry Howard and wife of Henry's illegimate son Henry Fitzroy)
Uncle: Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk
Aunt: Lady Margaret Bryan
Aunt: Elizabeth Howard (mother of Anne Boleyn)


 Romance(s):
-Francis Dereham, a secretary in her grandmother's (and later her own) household. He was beheaded for treason for his relationship with Katherine.

-Thomas Culpepper, a distant cousin and favourite courtier of the king.. Jane Boleyn, George Boleyn's wife and Anne Boleyn's sister-in-law, arranged their secret meetings. He was also beheaded for treason for his relationship with Katherine.

-Henry Manox, a music teacher to Katherine employed by her grandmother Agnes Tilney. During Katherine's trial, both Katherine and Manox confessed to having a sexual relationship that did not include intercourse.

Friends:
Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford (formerly Jane Parker, widow of George Boleyn)


Enemies:
Thomas Cranmer & the Protestant Faction

UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTER QUOTES






DEFINING EPISODES | MEMORABLE SCENES


Links:

to add pictures go to the album named Tamzin Merchant as Kathryn Howard


PHOTOS:
Tamzin Merchant as Katherine Howard
Tamzin as Katherine Howard in Season 3.

Katherine Howard
Henry and Katherine Howard

Henry and Katherine Howard on horseback
Katherine Howard
This portrait was recently unveiled as being Katherine Howard at Hever castle by David Starkey [source Times Newspaper]



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English-Rose Katherine Howard (page: 1 2) 23 Oct 3 2009, 4:52 PM EDT by KatherynHoward
Thread started: Sep 24 2009, 1:02 PM EDT  Watch
Katherine Howard has to be my favourite wife of Henry VIII, her story is so fascinating and I think she had such a colourful, lively character. Her tragic end is truly heartbreaking, and she was only a typical, innocent teenage girl doing what her heart desired. I can totally understand how trapped she must have felt in her marriage, for she had an obese, bad tempered old monster for a husband, whilst there were attractive, virile young men all around her which she had to resist. Poor Katherine, I have so much respect and admiration for this incredible young woman who faced her horrific end with so much dignity and courage. Go Kitty! :)
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Imponthenet How Many Episodes Should Kitty Howard Have? (page: 1 2) 36 Aug 27 2009, 8:06 PM EDT by Nofretete
Thread started: May 31 2009, 4:01 PM EDT  Watch
My guess would be no more than three.--The first one being the Season 3 finale, and the first two of Season 4. Any thoughts on this?
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CasaNova73099 Catherine Howard & Anne Boleyn: Those that do not learn from history.. 9 Jul 31 2009, 12:46 PM EDT by lettice
Thread started: Jul 21 2009, 4:56 PM EDT  Watch
It is well known that Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's 5th wife was first cousins with Anne Boleyn, wife # 2. After Anne's drastic downfall from trumped up charges and her very unhappy ending , why didn't Catherine take a few mental notes on what happens to those that displease the king and make it a point to act a bit more modestly and cautiously? I mean, deliberately flirting with and (allegedly) sleeping with Culpepper, a man in Henry's court? Apparently it really is true that those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it...
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Keyword tags: Anne Boleyn beheaded Catherine Howard cousins Kitty
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