Henry VIII

Elizabeth I, shown in a portrait commemorating victory over the Armada. (Photo by Photo 12/UIG via Getty Images)

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A portrait of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife. Henry and Catherine's marriage was a happy one, until their failure to produce a male heir began to cast a long shadow. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s greatest queen

The Spanish Princess, starring Charlotte Hope as Catherine of Aragon, charts the story of the woman who married into the Tudor dynasty. (Image credit: Starz)

The real history behind The Spanish Princess

Anne Boleyn, who was executed by beheading on 19 May 1536 after being found guilty of high treason, was said to have had

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A Tudor rose on a wooden ceiling beam.

Monarchy and faith in Tudor England

Portrait of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, who was born in around 1501 in Norfolk and executed by decapitation at Tower Green on 19 May 1536. (Photo by The Print Collector/Alamy Stock Photo)

11 things you (probably) didn’t know about Anne Boleyn

After her recovery from smallpox, Queen Elizabeth I started using a ceruse foundation on her face, neck and chest. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

5 weird habits of royals through history

Henry, who would would later accede to the throne as Henry VIII, as a baby. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Henry VIII: the boy who would be king

From left: Henry, Arthur and Margaret, the three children of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

11 key dates: Young Henry VIII, Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon

Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII. National Portrait Gallery, London. (Photo by PHAS/UIG via Getty Images)

The lost heirs of Henry VIII: Alison Weir on Katherine of Aragon’s failed pregnancies

Rye House in Hertfordshire, which became the Parr family home in 1517, when Katherine was around five years old. (© James Schutte/Alamy Stock Photo)

8 places associated with Henry VIII’s wives

Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon

Arthur, Catherine and Henry: a story of early Tudor triumph and tragedy

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Henry VIII’s mistresses: who else did the Tudor king sleep with?

The pirate Blackbeard

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A depiction of Henry VIII and his only recognised illegitimate child, Henry Fitzroy. (Illustration by Glen McBeth for BBC History Magazine)

Q&A Did Henry VIII acknowledge any of his illegitimate children?