Eustace Chapuys was a gifted lawyer and diplomat at the imperial court of Holy Roman emperor Charles V. The Spanish king – and Catherine of Aragon’s nephew – appointed Chapuys as imperial ambassador to the Tudor court. Following her divorce from Henry VIII, Chapuys became Catherine’s counsellor. His dispatches depict Catherine as a confident queen who played a role in defeating the Scots at the battle of Flodden in 1513, as well as a vulnerable, desolate wife.

Chapuys recorded his first impressions of Jane Seymour, Henry’s third wife, as a woman “of middle stature and no great beauty, so fair that one would call her rather pale than otherwise. She is over 25 years old… not a woman of great wit, but she may have good understanding.”

A mysterious disease known as the ‘sweating sickness’ plagued Tudor England, and it was infamous for the speed in which it could kill an otherwise young and healthy person. Henry VIII was terrified of the disease. When one of Anne’s ladies fell ill in June 1528, Henry fled 12 miles away and ordered Anne home to Kent. He also sent his second-best doctor to treat her. Anne and her father became ill with the disease, but both survived. Anne died by execution on 19 May 1536.

In 1527, Henry sought special dispensation from the Pope to marry his second wife, Anne Boleyn – although it was not, in the end, used to allow the marriage. We know about Henry’s alleged affair with Anne’s sister, Mary from a number of sources. In 1533, Henry is reported to have told MP George Throckmorton “never with the mother” when questioned about his relations with the Boleyn girls and their mother.   

Jane’s pregnancy was made known in Spring 1537, and Henry proved solicitous to his wife. He resolved to stay by her side and ordered fat quails from Calais to satisfy her pregnancy cravings. After giving birth to the future Edward VI on 12 October, however, Jane soon sickened. Her attendants were blamed for suffering her “to eat things that her fantasy in sickness called for”, but in reality she was likely suffering from puerperal, or childbed, fever. She succumbed to her illness on 24 October.

Anne of Cleves and Henry’s marriage was declared illegal on 9 July, and the annulment was confirmed by parliament three days later. To reward Anne for her compliance, Henry lavished her with gifts. For instance, he bestowed upon her the exalted status of the king’s sister, giving her precedence over all his subjects (excepting his children and any future wife that he might take). She was also given a considerable annual income and properties including Richmond Palace, Bletchingley Manor, and later Hever Castle, which were declared hers for life. She also had the right to keep her royal jewels, plate and goods to furnish her new properties.

Catherine Howard was sentenced to death following charges of adultery. When she was arrested at Hampton Court Palace in November 1541, it is thought that she broke free from her guards and ran, screaming for mercy, down the corridor to the private Chapel Royal, where Henry was believed to be at mass. Legend has it that Catherine’s ghost can be seen – and heard – running and screaming along the corridor, now known as the suitably spooky ‘Haunted Gallery’. Historian Lucy Worsley, Joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, says: “I have never seen the ‘ghost’, but there genuinely is one peculiar spot at the turn in the gallery where, with no obvious explanation, you can feel the temperature drop.”

Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour were half second cousins, and Jane served in both Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn’s households. However, Anne became jealous of Jane, who grew close to Henry in the early months of 1536. Indeed, as the king had done early in his relationship with Anne, he gave Jane his portrait, which she wore around her neck. Anne blamed her miscarriage in late January 1536 on Jane and Henry’s developing relationship. By this time, the queen and her maid had apparently already come to blows.

In 1544 and 1545, Katherine Parr’s first devotional books – prayers and reflections on the Psalms – were published. Then, in 1546, she embarked upon a personal testimony titled The Lamentation of a Sinner, in which she mapped her journey from traditional Catholicism to Lutheranism. This deeply personal book wasn’t published until after Henry’s death in January 1547.