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In July 1540 Anne of Cleves – the
fourth wife of Henry VIII – went from being queen of England back
to Anne, the Daughter of Cleves, with alarming speed. Life as an
ex-queen of England was very nearly uncharted territory, but, for
Anne, who was only twenty-five, her life stretched ahead of
her.
When Anne wrote to her brother, to inform him of the end of her
marriage, she finished by saying that ‘I purpose to lead my life in
this Realm’. In reality, as she was aware, she did not have a
choice. Henry VIII was not prepared to risk her repudiating the
annulment once she was safely out of his reach and her generous
divorce settlement, which included two palaces, only applied while
she remained in his kingdom.
Anne had been strictly brought up in Cleves and may not, in any
event, have relished a return home to her mother, particularly
given her anomalous position as a divorcee. Instead, she decided to
enjoy herself in England. She remained at Richmond, which was
granted to her for life, until the end of the year, wearing ‘new
dresses every day’ and appearing ‘as joyous as ever’, something
which confounded her contemporaries. The French ambassador, for
one, considered that Anne’s conduct ‘argues either prudent
dissimulation or stupid forgetfulness of what should so closely
touch her heart’. Perhaps she simply tried to make the best of the
situation and, as a wealthy and independent woman, her situation
was hardly tragic.
If Anne had any concerns about how she would be viewed following
her divorce, these were soon abated. Internationally, sympathy lay
with her. Her brother-in-law, John Frederick of Saxony, on hearing
of the divorce, broke the Schmalkaldic League’s alliance with
England. He always rebuffed attempts to re-establish friendship
with Henry, whom he referred to as that ‘crazy man’. Francis I of
France, on being informed that Henry had doubts about the validity
of his marriage, asked incredulously ‘what, with the matrimony made
with the queen that now is?’ On being informed that this was the
case, he simply sighed and became quiet. It seemed that Henry VIII
could never settle with a wife.
Henry had, in fact, already lined up a fifth wife before he ended
his marriage to Anne. His choice fell on one of Anne’s maids, ‘that
young girl Catherine’. On 28 July 1540 Henry married the teenaged
Catherine Howard at Oatlands Palace, at least showing Anne the
decency of coming in person to Richmond Palace to inform her
himself. Anne and Catherine actually got on rather well. When Anne
visited court for New Year 1541 – as an honoured guest – the pair
gave each other gifts and danced together.
While Anne was treated well by Henry, she was very far from free.
Members of her household were spying on her, something of which she
was aware. She particularly resented young Wymond Carew, her
English interpreter, who complained that the ex-queen was ‘bent to
do me displeasure’. This was hardly surprising, given the fact that
he had reported to the king that she was not passing on letters
from her brother for censorship. When Catherine Howard was arrested
for adultery towards the end of 1541, Anne also found herself
uncomfortably in the spotlight. Rumours that she had borne a child
reached the king and she was subjected to an investigation by the
council.
Anne and Henry also found that they got along better after their
divorce. Anne, who, at the time of the annulment had privately
declared herself to be Henry’s true wife, hoped for a
reconciliation. When Catherine Howard was beheaded in February
1542, William of Cleves petitioned the king to take back his
sister, to no avail. Anne was personally highly offended when Henry
married his sixth wife, Catherine Parr, a woman that she considered
inferior to herself in beauty. Nonetheless, Henry and Anne rubbed
along well together for the last years of his life, with the king
personally paying many of her expenses as inflation lowered her
income.
When Henry VIII died in January 1547, Anne’s political significance
came to an end. Edward VI’s council had no reason to pay her debts
or increase her pension, since it no longer affected anyone if she
claimed to have been validly married to Henry. Instead, Edward VI’s
council looked greedily at her property, confiscating first
Bletchingley Palace and then Richmond and exchanging them for less
favourable residences. Anne had evidently not kept Richmond in as
good a state of repair as she might have done, but, as she
complained, ‘everything is so costly here’. Inflation effectively
wiped out the value of her pension, forcing her to battle the
council for money to live on.
Matters improved for Anne in 1553 when her former stepdaughter,
Mary, came to the throne. Anne and Mary were the same age and
friends, with the former queen well treated at court. She attended
Mary’s coronation that autumn, riding in the first carriage after
the queen, which she shared with Princess Elizabeth.
She had always been fond of Henry VIII’s younger daughter, spending
time with her after her divorce. This association caused Anne to
lose favour with Mary as rapidly as she had achieved it, with the
queen holding both Elizabeth and Anne under suspicion following
Wyatt’s Rebellion in February 1554. There is no evidence that Anne
was involved, but she no longer found herself quite so welcome at
court. This proved to be the final straw for the former queen and
she took steps to try to annul her divorce legally, something which
would have allowed her a widow’s dower and the freedom to return to
Cleves. She was, however, unsuccessful, remaining in England for
the remainder of her life.
Anne of Cleves spent her last years in retirement. She was staying
at the royal manor of Chelsea in 1557 when she made her Will,
leaving bequests to Henry VIII’s daughters and her servants and
friends. She died on 15 July 1557 – aged only forty-one. The last
survivor of Henry VIII’s six wives was given a royal funeral in
Westminster Abbey.
Anne of Cleves – fourth wife of Henry VIII – was queen of England
for only six brief months, but she was the luckiest of all Henry
VIII’s wives. You can read more about her in my book, Anne of
Cleves: Henry VII’s Discarded Bride (Amberley, 2009)
Photo credit: Anne of Cleves (author’s own collection)]]>
