Had the Queen Lived:

by Raven A. Nuckols

  King Henry IX‘s coronation took place noon of May 6th, 1551, at Westminster Abbey. With the change in regime the new King changed ministers. As the family had grown quite close to William Buxton, he was created “Master of the Rolls” and made a member of the Privy Chamber. The King also paid for his formal legal education and trusted him as his closest friend and confidant. Now fully vested in his title, the new King set about understanding all elements of his kingdom. His reign would be hailed as a true period of learning and prosperity. He immediately reinstated the Privy Council and hand selected those members of the peerage he felt were worthy of the honor, along with two of his former tutors of military studies and history.

  The King’s death had been difficult on Anne. The next six years she continued to suffer from occasional bouts of intense abdominal pain and bleeding. She confined herself to her chamber at Whitehall taking only two maids with her, Lady Marla Benidici and Lady Audrey de Vere. These women were her companions and saw her through the darkest days. Her King, husband, friend, lover, companion, and father to her children, was now dead. The last thirty years seemed to go by like a blur. By him she gave birth to two children, miscarried several others, and secured the Tudor line. Menopause had come and gone and she was now in the third and final stage of her life.

  Her children continued to visit her when permitted, Elizabeth reading to her almost daily in Latin. These visits brought the only comfort she entertained. She enjoyed the visits with her daughter very much and they often talked about marriage proposals for the Princess. Her son visited as often as he could, but with a country to run, it was difficult for him to find the time. There were also rumors that the King found it difficult to see his mother because it raised in him painful memories of the loss of his father.

  When her son took the throne, Anne nearly removed herself completely from many of the political activities she had once engaged in with such passion. Partly due to her failing health and partly because of Henry’s death, she no longer held the interest she once did to cling to power. She had seen her son become the next ruler and that now in her condition had to be enough. She continued to sew for hours despite her arthritis, and invested in charitable causes including sponsoring several orphanages and artists. She took up painting, continued playing cards, and spent hours in prayer. She also monitored how the education classes she had helped design were progressing, and received regular reports on their progress from Archbishop Cranmer. She and Elizabeth continued their very close bond and she came to rely on her daughter most heavily.

  Anne began staying in her chambers more after Henry’s death. In 1552 she had suffered massive vaginal bleeding; physicians attended her for any sign of serious damage. Her body carried signs of severe hemorrhaging. The physicians thought her uterine line might have ruptured. With the bleeding came heavy cramps and her screams could often be heard ringing down the hall. The pains peaked in the evening and she had difficulty sitting for long periods of time, even in bed. Her breathing was slow and difficult. Fatigue and frequent urination had been taking place for the last several weeks. Doctors were puzzled at her condition and had only the most elementary understanding of cancer and how it might develop. They attributed most mysterious illnesses to being curses from God for one’s sins. Anne certainly had a long list of those to atone for.

  Her illness, in modern terms, was likely ovarian cancer, known as “the silent killer” for so many women whose symptoms commonly masquerade as other problems. She had all but stopped eating and lost nearly fifteen pounds within a month. Doctors ordered her to rest in her chamber, eat soft foods, not too many heavy meats, not a lot of salt, and to avoid walking for lengthy periods. Stubborn and willful to the last, it was nearly impossible for her to abide by these restrictions. After a long and exhausting life, Anne was at her end.

  Anne Boleyn, the Queen Mother, instigator of the Reformation in England, and co-founder of the first public education program in England, died shortly after 2 P.M, on August 7th, 1553. Cranmer and Elizabeth were by her side and she was attended by her ladies, these servants recording her last will and testament. Her funeral was held 3 days later; she was buried beside Henry VIII in their tomb at Windsor. Despite her unpopular reputation, thousands turned out for her burial. Contemporary accounts remark that Anne had twice as many mourners at her procession than had been at Henry VIII’s. Perhaps the onlookers were more curious than grieving, but whatever their motivation, she was finally receiving the recognition due a Queen. Her tomb was made of marble with gold casing and her motto etched on the side: ‘The Most Happy.’ She remains at rest there today.

  Henry IX and Princess Elizabeth gave a touching eulogy to the crowd of mourners that day. Among the many accomplishments they listed for their mother was being a key player in the Reformation, securing the Tudor dynasty, instilling the English language in Bibles, and freeing England from domination from abroad. This latter claim was never fully explained, but no one dared to question the statement. On the day of her death, a dozen red roses appear at the foot of her tomb; the figure who delivered them has never been identified. Given her lifelong dedication to theological, medical and educational reform her burial crest bares only the special scalpel she had been given by Dr. Butts for instituting medical licensing. At the time mourners passed her gravesite but today, she is a popular tourist attraction and every year receives a dozen roses anonymously on the date of her death. While at the time her legacy may not have been appreciated, in the nearly 500 years since then it has been exploited and certainly not forgotten. Her legacy reminds us of how a strong will of mind can truly change the world.

  What Henry and Anne started changed the entire British landscape. Henry IX would rule England for fifty-seven remarkable years that would come to be called England’s “Golden Age,” with the country seeing unparallel improvements in education, economic reform, and territorial acquisition. Princess Elizabeth and her brother remained close and she would help her brother to build heavily on the education programs and patronage for the arts and sciences that his mother had instituted. He would come to be known as “Henry the Enlightened.” He also took up his father’s cause of reclaiming French territories and made England a competitive player on the field of global exploration. He and Margaret would produce five living heirs who would go onto to spread their lineage around the world, partly responsible for expanding the British Empire. Their children were Princess Anne of England, Prince Charles of England, Anthony Duke of York, Michael Earl of Ormonde, and Isabelle Duchess of Burgandy; all would all go on to forge successful European alliances.

  Elizabeth took up her mother’s passion for reform and thrived on debates of theology with members of the court. The Princess had truly blossomed into a ravishing young lady filled with intellect, passion, and maturity rare for a woman of her age. She also continued to keep in touch with the St. Mary’s Orphanage. When Ms. Astley could no longer run the establishment she left her daughter in charge so a second generation could continue the work.

  Due to Anne’s enormous generosity during her lifetime, the orphanage was able to take in twice as many children and adequately house them. It was hailed as the best model orphanage in the country. As a condition of entry all orphans had to enroll in the education program; all would learn how to read and write. It truly was a remarkable turn of course. Several of the children that Elizabeth played with as a child had gone on to accomplish great things. A few served in the English army, one woman went on to design fashions for the English court, and others became teachers.

  The Grand Duke of Tuscany, Francesco de’Medici I, in 1553 offered Henry a pre-contract of marriage for the hand of the Princess Elizabeth; she immediately agreed. She had met him at a state dinner back in 1548 and remarked that he was quite handsome. The Duke would be turning 17 in August, leaving only a three year age difference between the pair, with Elizabeth the elder. After persuading her brother to agree, Henry called for the Tuscan Ambassador and
sent word back of his consent. The Princess was eager for a successful marriage alliance. She was deemed one of the finest prizes in the European marriage market, but her staunch Protestant views were a concern. In light of such conditions, Henry offered twice the originally agreed to dowry and in December 1554 Elizabeth and Francesco married.

  Arrangements were made that Francesco would marry her in England, surrounded by her family and friends to solidify the official alliance. Elizabeth chose to marry at Hampton Court, it was her favorite of all the palaces, and the gardens were the most beautiful. She personally designed a dress with a six foot train of lace. The bodice had diamonds and pearls sewn into the fabric. She wore a seven carat diamond necklace given to her by Anne, with modest pearl earrings. Her tiara was made of sparkling pear and Princess cut diamonds, holding her veil in place. There were over 2,000 attendants present to witness the nuptials, with Henry IX giving away the bride. The aging Archbishop Cranmer presided over the ceremony. After a lavish feast later that evening Elizabeth boarded the ship waiting to take her and her retinue of over three hundred persons to her new home. For her wedding gift, Henry had Anne’s Book of Hours reset with new binding, leaving the original pages intact, with a handwritten letter wishing her well on her new journey in life. He bade her farewell, calling her “my own special angel.”

  Elizabeth settled into her new home with remarkable ease. The fresh country air and the beautiful countryside fit her disposition perfectly. She became the first lady of the Tuscan court and, like her mother, became famous for trend setting. Elizabeth loved the vineyards and used her own inheritance to buy a vineyard of 132 acres that remained in her family lineage until 1784. She bore the Duke three sons, Giovanni, Maxwell, and Marcus, all of whom entered either the military or government service. She kept in close touch with her brother and family, returning to England every other summer. Thanks to Anne, the Tudor dynasty would survive another two centuries.

  Epilogue

  Anne Boleyn was a captivating, powerful, and one of the most polarizing women in English history. Her story is known very well to us today but as having played out very differently from how it transpired in this book. Most who know Anne’s story either love her or hate her and both sides have excellent reasons for their cause.

  Her real death, on May 19th, 1536, resulted from false charges crafted by Thomas Cromwell that led to Anne’s conviction for treason. An increasingly erratic Henry, suffering from wounds that in this book were instead sustained by his friend Charles Brandon, had been persuaded that Anne had been disloyal, and had committed incest with her brother George. Having miscarried a potential male heir to the throne—partly due to shock at Henry’s having sustained such serious injuries—Anne was in little position to defend herself against Cromwell’s charges. His plot was hatched and carried out in under a month and remains one of the swiftest eliminations of a political opponent in British history.

  Ironically, had history gone a different way, perhaps she would not have had the lasting cultural impact that led to her story being sensationalized into television, stage plays, films, and other cultural media over for nearly five hundred years. In preparing the research for this book I got to know an incredibly complex woman, far ahead of her time, whose life ended far too quickly. It was an incredible journey for me, as an author, to connect with Anne Boleyn, and imagine what she might have accomplished had she remained Queen.

  As my version of events leaves off, the son she never actually bore succeeded his father to be crowned King Henry IX, instead of her daughter becoming Elizabeth I. How England might have developed differently were these changes to have occurred is a subject of continuing interest to myself, I hope to you, and will be explored in my next book.

  In any such story, with such complicated, influential figures, the options are simply limitless.

  References

  Real people and events—especially in the Prologue and early sections of this book—have been used, and then modified as little as possible, in constructing this alternative history. For those interested in the full, real history of the period, below are the sources I consulted heavily. The work of these historians made this book possible.

  https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.html

  Huddleston, G. (1910). St. John Fisher. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved May 19, 2011 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08462b.htm

  Tyndale, William (1528) The Obedience of the Christian Man. Reprinted by Penguin Books, 2000 Edition. London: England.

  Turner, Sharon (1828) The History of England from the Earliest Period to the Death of Elizabeth. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green

  Cressy, David (1997) Birth, Marriage and Death: Ritual, Religion, and the Life-Cycle in Tudor and Stuart England. Oxford University Press, New York.

  Denny, Joanna (2005) Katherine Howard: A Tudor Conspiracy. Piatkus Books, London.

  Hutchinson, Robert (2007) Thomas Cromwell: The Rise and Fall of Henry VIII’s Most Notorious Minister. St. Martins Press, New York.

  Ives, Eric (2005) The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn. Blackwell Publishing United Kingdom.

  Lipscomb, Suzannah. (2009) The Year that Changed Henry VIII: 1536. Lion Hudson Plc, Oxford England.

  Norton, Elizabeth. (2009). Jane Seymour Henry VIII’s True Love. Amberley Publishing, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom.

  Marius, Richard (1999) Thomas More A Biography. Harvard University Press, United States.

  Weir, Allison (2001) Henry VIII. Ballatine Books, New York.

  Weir, Allison. (1998) The Life of Elizabeth I. Random House Ballatine Publishing, New York.

  Weir, Allison (2009) The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn. Random House Publishing, New York.

  Wilson, Derek (2009) A Brief History of Henry VIII. Constable and Robbin Ltd, United Kingdom.

  About the Author

  Raven A. Nuckols is a first time author living in the Washington, DC metro area. She holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Economics from Strayer University and actively engages in philanthropy and humanitarian causes. She lives with her boyfriend and two cats in the Washington, DC metropolitan ea. An avid fan of the Tudor period, she became particularly attached to Anne’s story several years ago. The Queen’s tragic story led her to question how different English history may have been if such a politically ambitious wife had stayed at Henry VIII’s side. This book was an enormous honor to have written and she is eager to engage with the Tudor community.