Anne of Cleves Documentary Narration
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Young Adult (18-35)Accents
British (General)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
Anne of Cleves has gone down in history as the ugly wife, Henry the eighth was so revolted when he first clapped eyes on her that he immediately instructed his lawyers to get him out of the marriage. Thereafter, his poor spurned fourth queen retreated quietly into obscurity to hide her face from the world. While Henry joyfully married, the infinitely more desirable Catherine Howard Anne, who was born 500 years ago was Henry's wife for just six months making her the shortest reigning of all his queens. And so she has been dismissed as little more than a blip in the history of England's most married monarch. The true story of Henry the eighth's fourth wife is entirely different to this humiliating fiction. Anne may not have been to the king's liking but how she responded proves that she was far from being the hapless victim of legend. In fact, she can justifiably claim to have been the most successful of all Henry's wives, Anne, daughter of the late Duke Julius Cleves Johann, the third and sister of his successor, Wilhelm had first been mooted as a potential wife for the English king in the closing weeks of 15, 37 soon after the death of his beloved third wife, Jane Seymour Anne was then 22 years of age and had already been used as a pawn in the international marriage market. When she had been betrothed to Francois, heir to the Duchy of Lorraine in 15 27 this had come to nothing leaving her free to marry elsewhere.