Discussion: Anne is probably the only person to ever say "no" to the King.

"A 3 part TV series on Henry VIII's wives hosted by David Starkey brought out an interesting point: The King could command most things except one's consent to have an affair with him; he always asked. Who knows how many may have said "no"."

"That sentence was in the "Interesting Facts" on this page about Anne Boleyn which started some comments so I thought I would start a thread so more opinions can be added. Here were the comments:

- WRONG: Katharine of Aragon did it (as in 'no' to the divorce, 'no' to being deposed as queen, 'no' to sending Princess Mary's christening robes for Ann's daughter to wear) for years, and in the end, she kept her head, but then, she was the aunt of the Emperor Charles V, whom Henry feared, as well as royal in her own right and a Spanish national.

- Katherine may have 'said' no but Henry did divorce her, did depose her as queen and had his way regardless of her protests. Whereas Anne said she would not be his mistress.

- Anne stopped saying 'no' and became Henry's mistress before her secret marriage and sometime after being created Marquess of Pembroke. Anne came to her marrriage on January 25th 1533 pregnant. Erickson, "Mistress Anne. pg 186, Fraser, "The Wives of Henry VIII pg 187, Weir, pp 240-41, Williams, "Henry VIII and His Court" , pg 123. Fraser quotes Ives who is thought to be more sympathetic to Anne, Apparently even he wrote about Anne's pre-marital pregnancy, so they all must have had a contemporary source.
Katharine never stopped saying 'no' and kept her head in spite of that. Anne said 'no' to Henry's subsequent affairs and did not give him a son besides. He deposed her, divorced her, and beheaded her.


- Jane Seymour also said 'no' to Henry - When he was courting her during his marriage to Anne, he sent her a purse of money and a letter. Jane returned both gifts without even opening the letter, refusing to be his mistress, and often reminded Henry of the fact that he was still married."

"OH! Let's not forget Pope Clement VII, who said "no" to Henry's request for a divorce!"

"I believe Jane Seymour said no as well, when she was offered a gift of gold crowns. She made it clear the role of mistress was not for her as well. "no can be said in many ways."

"I just came across something reading David Starkey's "Elizabeth" the other day:
"[Anne] made plain that although she would give Henry her heart she would not give him her body until they were married. It was the first time SINCE THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER that anybody dared say 'no' to Henry."
I think that statement might be legit."

"Yes, that was permitted to betrothed persons, but another reason for the secrecy of the marriage was that Henry was waiting for the bulls (decrees) from Rome appointing his man Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury. That gave Cranmer the authority to grant the divorce/annulment. Henry did not want to antagonize Clement VII because then the appointment might not happen. He was in a spot; he needed to marry the pregnant Anne to assure the legitimacy of the child she carried, but he could not let it be generally known that he had. He needed a validly appointed Archbishop to declare his first marriage invalid which Cranmer did on May 23rd 1533. Fraser, "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" pp 187-88, 190,
So at that point even Henry was aware that he was still in the eyes of the world a married man"

"...and there is no record that Anne and Henry were ever formally bethrothed, which they could not have been simply because he was aware that the world considered him a married man who was not free to betroth himself to anyone. I think Anne just yielded because Henry showed her by creating her a Marquess that he was serious and she needed to do something to show that she was not just in the affair for the perks. It was a strategic move. She had already captivated his mind and soul; she finally proceeded to captivate his body. It was the last move in her strategy to bind the king to her. "