Six Wives (Abridged‪)‬

What makes a man marry six times? Was Henry VIII a voracious philanderer? On the contrary, says Dr David Starkey, the King was seeking happiness – as well as hoping for a son.

The first of his wives was Catherine of Aragon, the pious Catholic princess who suffered years of miscarriages and still births and yet failed to produce a male heir.

As Henry VIII's interest shifted from her powerful Hapsburg relations and drifted towards France, so began his obsession with the pretty Lutheran Anne Boleyn.

Jane Seymour's submissiveness was in contrast to Anne's vampish style – and Henry married her on the day of Anne's execution. Jane died soon after giving birth to the longed-for son.

There followed a farcical 'beauty contest' which ended in the short marriage of the now grossly overweight Henry to 'the mare of Flanders', Anne of Cleves.

The final part of Six Wives contrasts the two Catherines – Catherine Howard, the flirty child whose adulteries made a fool of the ageing King, and Catherine Parr, the shrewd, religiously radical bluestocking.

Reviews

Praise for Elizabeth

‘The best account in English of the early years of Elizabeth… must be one of the most zestful pieces of history written in the last few years… The result is a racy read and first rate history.’ Evening Standard

‘Both thrills and convinces… Indeed this is very much Elizabeth for our times’ Independent

‘Fresh and lively… vividly told… He sets before us not only the woman behind the throne but the girl behind the woman’ Sunday Times