London: Hampton Court Part 5: More Wives 2

June 13, 2013
The next room was a pretty cool room. It was the Privy Council Chamber.

The room was set up as it would have been for the council. The cool part of it was, that at the back of several chairs, were videos of the "council members" in discussion with each other. You could sit in one of the chairs and take part in the discussion.

Notice the unusual floor.

Anne of Cleves: The Anne of Cleves "mini monument" is found in the council room. It is kind of sad why. See, Henry was pretty upset after the whole mess with the young Catherine Howard. Apparently he was so grumpy, he was getting difficult to live with, so his counselors thought if he would marry again, it might alleviate his frustrations. So they searched for a suitable bride and thought that this nice German girl would work. They brought him a portrait of her, because he wanted to know what she looked like, and according to the painting, she was pretty enough.

So arrangements were made, and agreements forged, and she made the trek from Germany to England, with some ceremony. The problem was, she didn't look much like her portrait. No one knows if it was just that the artist wasn't very good, or if he just painted flattering portraits as a practice, or if it was done and ordered by her family to make an alliance with the King, but regardless, he was NOT happy. Lets just say she was a "sweet spirit". In Henry's words, she had the face of a horse! So mean! Anyway, he had to marry her, but then couldn't handle staying married. Apparently for really no other reason than she wasn't young and pretty. So he found himself again, in the position of needing a legal way out of a marriage. This is where the Privy Council Chamber comes in. His Councillors had to figure out what to do, to make Henry happy, not completely humiliate Anne, and not start a war, by breaking the alliance. As all good politicians, they were successful, and records show that she was a good enough sport to stay "friends" with him, and even came back to court to visit! Now THAT is a good woman!!

Portraiture and the Birth of a Dynasty:

Hence, the Tudor Rose. (remember the floor in the Privy Council Chamber?)

Katheryn Parr: Henry's Final Wife

That would be one rough family reunion.