Discussion: Anne Boleyn - do you think she now sympathised with Katherine?

"As Anne starts to realise Henry's love for her is disappearing and he now wants someone else, do you think she starts to feel how Katherine of Aragon felt? Do you think she felt sorry for her, now she knows how it feels? Does anyone know of any references to her thoughts on this?"

"I don't think Anne had much sympathy for anyone: she was, I think, the kind of woman who believed that that she was unique (she certainly was unusual), that she deserved her high position and that she won and KoA lost. Same with Mary (at least till the very end). I agree that she Never thought she would be executed; no one did. That was the flip side of her unparalleled change in status. Anne told Henry he could do anything and he ran with that. "

"I've read the same thing several times. It kind of follows that she started thinking about Katherine, too, although she didn't necessarily verbalize anything. She was also genuinely concerned about the innocent men who were being executed along side her."

"I would guess she saw the parallels in the two relationships. Whether she had any genuine sympathy for Catherine is questionable; she was too sorry and woeful over her own predicament. She felt isolated and after losing the King's love and support she had few (if any ) friends and many enemies. Catherine held the love and loyalty of many til her death, so I doubt if Anne felt sorry for Catherine."

"The only thing I've ever read as to Anne's thoughts on K of A was that when he fled to her seeking comfort after an argument with Katharine, Anne told him testily that she had told him not to argue with the Queen, she always won got the upper hand. Fraser pg 169 I think One writer says that her apology to Mary before her death was made in the hope that Mary would have some sympathy for and watch over the little Ellizabeth when she no longer had a mother. Anne apparently did not have any close female friends that she could appeal to or trust; so she appealed to the tie of blood that she hoped Mary would have for Elizabeth. It was all she could do in the hope of protecting her child. And, maybe by then, knowing for a fact what she had put Mary's mother through because she had now endured the same unfaithfulness in Henry, she made on the edge of the grave, a sincere apology. "

"I can see her as being sorry about Mary, but I also have that feeling that she was thinking of her own daughter, too, which made her even sorrier for her actions towards Mary. If Henry were cruel enough to cast her aside, I'm sure she was wondering what would happen to her daughter, who now was in the same boat as her sister. Maybe she hoped Mary would provide love where she was afraid Henry would not, since seems certain that Mary had an affinity for children (she was godmother of so many). I guess what I'm saying is, maybe Anne didn't want Elizabeth paying for the sins of her mother, although I do think this led to a genuine remorse for how she treated Katherine's daughter."

"I don't think Anne was sympathetic, but I think she may have had empathy for her. Henry had mistresses all of the time, but his love for Anne seemed sincere. It appears it was more likely a game of cat and mouse.

As I've stated before, Anne had to be in a state of denial and disbelief when Henry began to shut her out. No wonder she reacted so violently towards Jane Seymour. She not only ripped the locket off her neck, she would often slap Jane when Jane wore or displayed gifts Anne knew were from Henry.

Lust, love, power and jealousy can all make people behave in a dispicable manner. I suppose they're sins for a reason. Even still, she in no way deserved what she got. I love how it was said that Henry did a final act of kindness for her by having her beheaded with a sword instead of an axe and the executioner hid the sword behind some straw so she wouldn't see it when she was on the scaffold.

Big whoop! She died with dignity and she changed history and I will always love and honor her."

"Neither do I! She tries to play all smiles and innocence, but she was not the "sweet" person she's being portrayed as. Seriously, who could ignore everything going on around her as though she thought she was immune? Had she lived, she wouldn't have been around long either in one way or another."

"Jane Seymour was a bit docile, look at her motto she took, "bound to obey and serve." The perfect little Tudor woman. No wonder Henry liked her. But I know she was regarded as "plain" but he must have "fancied" her to give her a son, unlike Anne of Cleves, who he couldn't even sleep with."