All language subtitles for Six Wives with Lucy Worsley 1x01 - Episode 1 (English)

Divorced,

beheaded,

died.

Divorced,

beheaded,

survived.

The story of Henry VIII and his six wives

is one of the best-known in history.

There's Catherine of Aragon, the
bitter, abandoned first wife.

Anne Boleyn, the original "other woman".

Jane Seymour -- bit of a doormat.

Then we've got Anne of
Cleves, she was the ugly one.

Catherine Howard, the
one who slept around.

And Catherine Parr, the saintly nurse.

But I'm going to tell you
a very different story.

I'm going to take you back in time,

and into the private lives
of Henry's six wives.

I'm going to see the story

from THEIR point of view,

and I'll watch as events unfold.

'.. and not defy the Church in this way!'

The fate of my soul is
no longer your concern!

It will ALWAYS be my concern.

These events all really happened,

and were recorded in historical documents,

or reported by eyewitnesses.

I asked for his head.

Not his coat.

They reveal six complex women
who lived in a dangerous age

as they struggled to survive
being married to Henry VIII.

You are still prepared to question me?

Six wives, whose names were tarnished

by Henry's propaganda machine.

Six queens, whose stories
I want to re-examine.

Is she here?

I'll observe their life at court.

I'll watch them romanced

by a charismatic king...

- Tell me you're the same.
- Always.

.. who craves the company of women.

The King is a very... sociable man.

I'll show you how they fall from favour.

I am your loyal wife, my lord!

Leave, or I shall have
you dragged from here.

I have here a warrant for the
arrest of Queen Catherine.

I'll see how their
reputations are destroyed...

I beg of you to tell the King that
my heart is filled with sorrow.

And assure him of my repentance.

.. and lives cut short at the
hands of a ruthless, brutal man.

Six children born!

Five of them dead!

This is the ultimate true story

of love, loss and betrayal.

Remember what happened
to my last wife and queen?

It's the 18th of January, 1510.

Catherine of Aragon has been married
to Henry VIII for seven months.

? Da-da! ?

Excellently played, Maria.

Luck, my lady, nothing more.

Maud.

Who is it?

Nobody.

My darling lady.

- We frightened you?
- Half to death!

I'm sorry.

Mmm...

We thought you ladies far
too clever to be fooled.

What does the King think of my new robe?

Beautiful. Every inch of you.

- What does the Queen think of the
King's costume? - Quite the rogue!

Friends,

such a pity you have to leave us.

Henry VIII is a loving husband

to his Spanish queen, Catherine of Aragon.

Those two truly believe that
theirs is a match made in Heaven.

A few hours and I miss
you with all my heart.

I feel delirious.

What's wrong with me?

Perhaps you're coming down with a fever.

- Tell me you're the same.
- Always.

Henry has been King of
England for nine months

and Catherine is already pregnant.

We don't think of Henry
VIII and Catherine of Aragon

ever being in love.

Catherine was his first wife,

and as the rhyme tells us,

the one he divorced.

The bitter ending of her marriage

has come to define her as an angry
woman, obsessed with religion,

but I'm going to show you
a different Catherine.

In reality, she was a
steadfast and popular queen.

And for most of the 24
years of her marriage,

she really was rather good at handling

an increasingly difficult man.

In an age of arranged marriages,

that between Henry VIII and
Catherine of Aragon was unusual

because it was a love match.

He could have had his pick of
all the ladies of the Court,

and he later said, that of
all the ladies in the world,

he would, again, have chosen her.

She was a bit older than him.

When they married she was 23,

and he was about to turn 18.

But they did have quite a lot in common.

They were both the children of dynasties

that had recently come
to power through conflict,

and they were both ambitious.

They wanted to create a
bigger role for themselves,

and for England on the European stage.

Ambition was something Catherine
had had instilled in her

from a very early age.

This is the extraordinary
Alhambra Palace in Grenada.

This is the closest thing
that Catherine had to a home.

It was just one of many
palaces of her parents,

Queen Isabel of Castile

and King Ferdinand of Aragon.

The Alhambra was Catherine's favourite,

and, by far, the grandest
palace in the whole of Spain

with its beautiful gardens.

But it was also a fortress
that witnessed battles,

sieges and slaughter.

Catherine's parents were fearsome rulers.

They'd forged alliances,
and united kingdoms.

Her mother, Isabel, was
known as the "Warrior Queen".

And Isabel had big ambitions for
Catherine. At the age of three,

she was promised in marriage to the
heir of the throne of England --

we're not talking about Henry here,
but his older brother, Arthur.

To Catherine's parents, this
was a great opportunity --

a new dynastic alliance.

But to Catherine herself,

it meant that she'd have to go and
live in a very different country,

almost a different world.

And once she'd left Spain,

she'd never see her parents again.

Aged just 15, Catherine landed
on the shores of England,

there to marry Prince Arthur.

He was the same age.

But their marriage would
be tragically short-lived.

After just a few months,
Arthur sickened and died.

It must have been
devastating for Catherine,

who was now a teenage widow.

Her father then tried to marry her off

to the new heir to the English throne,

Arthur's younger brother, Henry.

The Spanish and English
kings spent seven years

trying to agree on the marriage contract.

Eventually, Henry's father
called the marriage off.

But behind the King's back,

the young prince had grown rather
fond of his Spanish princess.

And when the old king died,

the first thing the new
king, Henry VIII, did

was to marry Catherine of Aragon.

So, Catherine and Henry were the
ultimate thrusting power couple.

But top of the agenda for their marriage

was the continuation of the dynasty.

It was now her job to have children

and she did manage to get
pregnant pretty easily.

It was only a few months later
that the problems began.

Catherine's nearly five months pregnant

but it looks like she's had a miscarriage.

Has the King been told?

Not yet, my lady.

Then he must know.

Somebody fetch him.

Wait!

What is it?

Please, speak.

I'm confident, Your Highness,

- the situation is not as
we had feared. - How so?

You are still with child.

- It's impossible.
- I have taken the utmost care,

a thorough examination has been
made, and the evidence is there.

My womb is empty.

I've seen the evidence myself.

- How do you dismiss that?
- I do not, Your Highness.

My explanation is thus.

A twin pregnancy.

One child lost,

the other child continuing to grow.

Your belly is still full.

You're certain?

Quite.

Then I must take your word.

The Queen will require meticulous
care during her confinement.

Of course.

Thank you.

This is a miracle from Christ, is it not?

The weight of expectation
that Catherine is under

to produce an heir to the
throne is absolutely crushing.

Oh, quickly.

Can you feel it?

I think so.

A miracle.

On the physician's word,

relief and excitement flood
through the royal household...

.. and preparations for Catherine's
confinement can proceed.

She will spend the last month
before the birth locked away

with her personal servants,
including her ladies-in-waiting.

The Tudors believe that disease
travels through the air,

so the floors, doors and windows
of her chambers are sealed

to prevent her or the
baby from getting ill.

The groaning chair is prepared.

The mother sits in this to
groan her way through labour,

and to give birth with the aid of gravity.

And, finally, the bed is blessed.

The day has come. My queen must go.

- Only as far as my bedchamber.
- Which might as well be in Spain...

Gentlemen, I trust you'll look
after the King in my absence.

I'll be in good hands.

But none as fair or kind as these.

- My heart aches at the thought
of weeks without you. - Mine too.

But what prize at the end?

Indeed.

Pray for me.

I'll pray for you both.

Catherine enters
confinement in spring 1510.

Ahead now lies the ordeal of childbirth.

It's terrifying, because
of the distinct possibility

that you might die.

Husbands often have portraits
painted of their wives

while they're pregnant, so
that a baby will have something

to remember its mother
by if she doesn't make it.

I would prefer to undress alone.

But there's something Catherine
fears more than death.

And that's failing in her royal duty.

With just weeks to go before the birth,

should she trust her doctor

who believes there's a surviving
twin still inside her?

Or should she trust her instincts?

All she can do is wait and pray

that God will deliver
the Tudor dynasty a son.

You've loaded them, surely?

Your Grace.

- What is it?
- The Queen, my lord.

What's the matter with her?

The matter is not with
the Queen herself...

.. but with the baby.

It's been born?

I'm afraid she has suffered
a loss of the child.

The physician has just
left the Queen's chamber,

he confirms as much.

Please leave us.

Get out!

The child?

What was it,

male or female?

I do not know.

You do not know?

How can that be so?

I came in haste.

'The Queen asks if you will
pay a visit to her chamber.'

She is bereft, my lord.

Maud, a stillbirth?

No birth.

There was no child.

Catherine's bump has simply disappeared.

It looks like the doctor's
got it spectacularly wrong.

Not a second baby,

but an infection.

The infection must have made
Catherine's belly swell up.

And I believe she was so
desperate to have a child

that she convinced herself
that she was still pregnant.

It was humiliating.

All of that time spent in confinement,

all of that ceremony, and
absolutely nothing to show for it.

Rumours started to circulate

that Catherine was unable to conceive.

And people at Court began
to think that she was,

maybe, unsuitable as a queen.

And what about Henry?

He must have been disappointed too.

After all, he had the future
of the dynasty to consider.

We sometimes forget,

but he was only the second Tudor
king after his father, Henry VII.

The dynasty was young,
it was still insecure.

And then, there was the security,
the peace of the country.

If Henry were to die
without an agreed heir,

there could be civil war --

exactly what his father
had managed to stop.

So, it's difficult to
underestimate the pressure

that Catherine must have
felt, literally, to deliver.

Fortunately for her,

her luck was about to change.

A few months later, she
did conceive again,

and, this time, it was a real pregnancy.

It was also a smooth pregnancy.

On New Year's Day, 1511,

Catherine gave birth.

It was a boy,

and he was christened Henry.

It looked like God was happy
at last with Henry VIII,

with the Tudor dynasty,

with the whole kingdom of England.

London went wild with celebrations,

there were bonfires and fireworks,

and, here at Westminster,
there was a joust.

The grandest jousting
tournament of Henry VIII's reign

was now held in honour of
Catherine delivering him a son.

The event was recorded on a
spectacular 60-foot-long manuscript.

For the last 500 years,

it's been looked after by the
College of Arms in London.

Its custodian is the York
Herald, Peter O'Donoghue.

So, Peter, this is the
actual moment of jousting.

What's going on here?
It looks very exciting.

This is Henry on his horse,

and he has struck his opponent
on the head, and broken his lance.

It's the most prestigious
blow in jousting --

to break your lance on
your opponent's head.

You can't really tell that
he's the King, can you?

- Because he's in disguise.
- Yeah, that's right.

There is this disguising,
this playful element to it.

He's fighting under an assumed name.

You can make out what that
name is with the heart,

that's a "Coeur Loyal".

- He's called "Sir Loyal Heart"?
- That's it, exactly.

So, tell me a bit about the ladies.

The most important lady here,
of course, is the Queen.

So, here's Catherine of Aragon, watching.

And here we have this
motif of Ks everywhere.

'By calling himself Sir Loyal Heart,

'Henry was declaring
his love for Catherine.

'She'd done everything
right. She'd given him a son.

'This really was the high
point of their marriage.'

And this is the King on the
way home again afterwards?

That's right. "Desarmey" --
"disarmed", on the way home.

He's out of his armour,

in his golden robe which
is very spectacular.

And what I really like is the way
you can see his piercing blue gaze

and he's training it straight
on the beautiful queen.

He is looking right at the woman he loves.

Oh! Look at this, all the
other ladies are looking at her

and they're going, "Oh,
isn't your husband gorgeous?"

You know, you see him here

painted in this, sort of,
wonderful work of art.

He's just had his son, so
the dynasty is established.

The whole kingdom waited with bated breath

to see what the outcome of
that pregnancy would be.

If you've got a son and
heir, everyone can relax.

And he is the hero of the day.

He's young, he's incredibly rich,

he's incredibly glamorous and handsome...

And a beautiful wife as well.

What could possibly go wrong(?)

Exactly right.

There were endless celebrations
for the royal birth.

But they were all in vain.

At just seven weeks old,
Prince Henry sickened and died.

Three barges draped with black cloth

brought a baby's body down the
river from Richmond to Westminster

where he was buried in the Abbey.

For Henry, he could hardly
bear to talk about it.

One ambassador going in for
a meeting with the King

was advised not to mention it,

lest it "revive his grief".

And we're told that Catherine
made much lamentation.

She was inconsolable.

She'd now lost two babies.

Catherine is struggling
to give the King an heir.

But in pretty much every other respect,

she's still his perfect queen.

It's two years later,

Henry is away fighting the French.

This is an on-off war that'll
go on throughout his reign.

And in his absence, he's
made Catherine regent.

She is running the country.

Now, this is quite uncommon.

For me, it's evidence that not
only does he still love her,

but also, that he respects her judgment.

With Henry away, the
Scottish king, James IV,

has seized an opportunity
to invade England.

But he hasn't calculated on
the Spanish warrior queen,

Catherine of Aragon.

She's deployed an army
of 26,000 Englishmen

and is awaiting news from the battlefield.

Your Highness...

.. the Scot is dead.

And what proof is this?

The Earl of Surrey thought
it more... palatable

to send his clothing.

"More palatable"?

For whom?

He was killed on the battlefield
in Northumbria yesterday,

along with scores of his men.

The Queen can be assured
that this is his blood.

That may be so.

But where is the body?

I asked for his head.

Not his coat.

- The body's in London.
- Then have it brought to me.

As you wish, Your Highness.

Majesty.

Your Majesty.

This shall be sent to King Henry.

A reputed 10,000 Scots lie
dead on the battlefield --

the invasion defeated.

Catherine's popularity as queen soars,

and the dead king's coat is
dispatched to Henry in France.

She'd wanted to send
something even better,

as she wrote to Henry...

"I thought to send himself unto you."

By which she means she'd wanted to send

the actual corpse of the dead king.

"But our Englishmen's
hearts would not suffer it."

By which, she means her
wimpy English servants

had thought that this was a bit too much.

Later on in the letter, she
says something rather intriguing.

That she is off to see
"Our Lady at Walsingham".

Walsingham in Norfolk

is the site of a religious shrine.

Since the Middle Ages,

it's been associated with
fertility and childbirth.

It was a hugely popular
place in Tudor times.

Catherine came here in 1513

to pray and give thanks.

She had lots to give thanks for.

There was that victory over the
Scots, and, even more significantly,

she was, once again, pregnant.

And Catherine believed that she
was in need of God's protection.

This was her third pregnancy
in four years of marriage

and she still had no children.

Catherine of Aragon was now 27 years old,

in Tudor terms, that's middle-aged.

Royal women were giving
birth at 16, even 15.

In fact, Henry VIII's own grandmother

gave birth to his dad
when she was just 13.

So, Catherine was definitely an older mum.

She must have felt like
time was running out.

But Catherine's prayers weren't answered.

For the third time, she'd lose the baby.

Tragically, it had been a boy.

Catherine's success as queen
was now being overshadowed

by her failure to deliver a healthy son.

She was starting to
test the King's patience.

As Catherine struggled
to bring babies to term,

her husband's fancy started to wander.

There was nothing astonishing about this.

Whenever the Queen was expecting,
her health came first -- no sex --

but nobody expected Henry to go without.

He looked through his
wife's ladies-in-waiting,

women of good family

chosen as the Queen's companions.

And he picked out Bessie Blount.

They started a relationship.

Bessie got pregnant, she
even gave birth to a son,

the only downside was
that he was illegitimate.

But Henry was proud of
him, recognised him,

and gave him the name Henry Fitzroy,

meaning "son of the king".

But Bessie Blount's son

can never be the legitimate
heir to the throne of England

and the King respects his queen enough

to send Bessie away from Court.

This must have been awful for Catherine,

her husband's mistress giving
him a boy, where she'd failed.

But then, after five pregnancies,

four stillbirths, one infant death,

and six years of marriage,

God smiled on Catherine.

She gave birth to a
healthy baby who lived.

The only problem was,

it was a girl.

Mary?

The Princess Mary is now six years old.

Mary?

Mother?

Since her daughter was born,

Catherine has tried and
tried to give Henry the son

that he desperately craves.

But now, her age is against her.

She's 37 years old.

It looks increasingly likely

that Mary will be her
only surviving child.

Henry is putting on a pageant.

Catherine's ladies-in-waiting
are playing Virtues.

Such as Perseverance,

Beauty, Kindness.

And they await rescue by knights.

Mary?

But the Queen is a spectator.

She hasn't been invited to take part.

Mary?

A more apt description I couldn't imagine.

Although... Beauty would
be equally fitting.

Beauty belongs to the
King's sister, my lord.

Hm.

And mine?

"Ardent Desire".

Quite.

Henry's new love interest
is one of two sisters

who've recently arrived at Court
as ladies-in-waiting to Catherine.

They're the daughters of a landowner
and diplomat, Thomas Boleyn.

This is the beginning
of a series of events

that will ultimately
destroy the royal marriage.

But this isn't Anne Boleyn.

Catherine's husband is kissing
Anne's older sister, Mary.

Mary Boleyn grew up here,
at Hever Castle in Kent,

along with her brother,
George, and her sister, Anne.

Mary and Anne were close in age,

but they were very different girls.

Of the two sisters, everybody thought

that Mary was the more attractive.

She had fair hair, and
she was super vivacious.

Anne had dark hair and
olive-coloured skin.

It's definitely fair to say that
Tudor gentlemen preferred blondes.

Mary was married

to one of Henry's best friends.

But this didn't stop
him from pursuing her.

After all, he was the king,

he could have whoever he wanted.

We don't know an awful lot
about Henry VIII's affair

with Mary Boleyn, but there is a clue.

A series of mysterious payments

from the Crown to her
husband, William Carey.

The theory is that that was hush money.

Henry's affair with Mary was
explosive, but it was short-lived.

He got bored.

And in any case, his eye had moved on

to Mary's sister, Anne.

It was probably in 1525

that Henry first really
noticed Anne Boleyn.

At this point, she was actually betrothed

to somebody else -- Henry Percy
-- and they were probably in love.

But when Henry got to hear about it,

he had his advisers break the couple up.

Anne was probably pretty
annoyed about this,

but she had to go along with it.

Now that the King's eye
had fallen upon her,

I think that Anne looked at the way
Henry had treated Bessie Blount

and her own sister, Mary,

and decided that she wasn't going to be

just another mistress like them.

And, in fact, Anne wasn't
like anybody else at all.

Compared to her fellow
ladies-in-waiting, she was exotic.

She'd been schooled in the
refined world of the French court.

This is Chateau Amboise in
the heart of the Loire Valley.

Unusually for an English
courtier, the teenage Anne

had spent seven years in the
royal household of Queen Claude,

the young wife of King Francis I.

Court life in France was different
from court life in England.

It was more... sophisticated.

It was sexier,

and some of this rubbed off on Anne.

At the French court,

Anne learnt how to sing, how to dance.

Obviously, how to speak French perfectly.

And she learnt about fashion
that was much more seductive

and revealing than the English equivalent.

But, most importantly, she
learnt a new way of behaving,

flirtatiously and confidently with men.

She picked up this trick

of using her eyes.

It was said that she could...
"send them forth as messengers

"to carry the secret
witness of the heart".

Anne became indistinguishable,
people thought,

from a native-born French lady.

And Anne's European sophistication

enchanted the cultured English king.

What really put the seal on Anne's
attractiveness was her intelligence.

She was sharp and curious,

and interested in matters of the mind.

So, Anne didn't just flirt with Henry,

she also argued with him

on everything from politics to religion

and he loved it.

It's New Year's Eve, 1527, and
the King is receiving gifts.

He's been pursuing Anne
Boleyn for well over a year,

but, so far, she's resisted
all of his advances.

From Queen Catherine.

Your Majesty.

- And where might the Queen be?
- She's in her chamber,

resting before the celebrations
later this evening.

Sent from Anne Boleyn, with her
kindest regards, Your Majesty.

Is she here?

This is exquisite.

Thank you.

Tell me of it.

The diamond is the North Star,

the ship's protector, guiding her home.

And the maiden?

Well, despite the rough seas,

she trusts in God that all will be well.

The lady is right to have faith.

The storm shall pass.

If she has patience enough.

Or the will to see it through.

I will treasure it.

Please offer my sincere thanks
to the bearers of these gifts.

Their generosity is greatly appreciated.

Now!

I feel some air is called for
before the celebrations commence.

A walk in the grounds, perhaps?

Anne, would you care to join me?

With pleasure, Your Grace.

- I trust it is your will to walk with me?
- Indeed, it's my pleasure.

I'm far happier on the safety of dry land.

It is such an important moment.

For the first time, Anne's shown
that she IS interested in Henry,

and she's done it in public too.

Now, Catherine has seen
mistresses come and mistresses go.

But this time it's different.

Anne is a real threat.

The best insight that we can get
into Henry's growing feelings

for Anne Boleyn comes in
the form of 17 love letters,

from him to her.

It's extraordinary that
they still survive.

They're here in Rome,

in the Vatican Library.

And, amazingly, I'm the first person
who's been allowed in to film them.

It's brilliant!

The letters were almost certainly
stolen from Anne Boleyn,

perhaps by a supporter of Queen Catherine.

The Vatican paid a handsome sum of money

to get hold of them in the 17th century.

My guide to the Vatican
Archives is Emalia Delascio.

She's the only one allowed
to touch the letters.

Emalia, are these really the letters
of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn?

- Yes, they are.
- Nearly 500 years old.

I open for you.

This one is the first page.

"Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn."

Wow.

This is Henry's own handwriting?

These are all in French,

the language of love, the
language of chivalry.

"I'm sending you, by this messenger,
my picture set into a bracelet."

- It's a gift, a beautiful
gift. - Yes. - Very intimate.

And this is... Oh!

This one's very romantic.

And chivalric.

It's like a knight writing to his lady,

"Henceforth my heart shall
be dedicated to you alone.

"And hoping that my body will follow."

This is getting steamy.

He must have really been in love,

because we know that Henry
hated to write letters.

- Yes.
- He found it difficult.

He was slow.

But here he is, gushing away.

And here is...

This is wonderful. This is
like a little Valentine.

- He chooses no other than Anne
Boleyn. AB in the heart. - AB.

And then HR. They're embracing.

AB for Anne Boleyn.

It's beautiful.

Oh, and now, it's changed to English.

"Wishing myself,
especially of an evening..."

".. in my sweetheart's arms.

"Written in the hand of him that was, is,

"and shall be yours by his will.

"HR."

In his desire for Anne,

Henry was promising himself to her.

This last letter was nothing
short of a marriage proposal.

What's extraordinary about these letters

is that Henry is making a promise
he couldn't possibly keep.

He was already married.

They also reveal that Henry
and Anne hadn't had sex yet.

Anne was doing what
nobody had done before.

She was refusing the King.

Historians have sometimes interpreted this

as tricksy, girlie
behaviour on Anne's part.

But I prefer to think that
she had a bold strategy, here.

Anne is impressive to us

because she often acts
like a modern person,

like somebody with ambitions
who knew where she was going.

And I prefer to think
that Anne made Henry wait

because she wanted to be Queen of England.

But there already was
a hugely popular queen

who was alive and well, and
believed it was God's will

that SHE remained Queen of England.

This is St George's
Chapel at Windsor Castle,

one of the royal residences.

Catherine worshipped here with Henry.

God was at the heart of their marriage

and Catherine had strived
to make a success of it,

and God had given her a daughter, Mary.

Henry wanted a son, though.

And after 18 years of
marriage to Catherine,

he now wanted to marry Anne Boleyn.

This meant getting rid of Catherine.

You might wonder why he
didn't just get a divorce.

But it wasn't that simple,

because England was
still a Catholic country.

Marriage was the vital glue
that stuck society together.

Only the Church could sanctify marriage,

and ending marriage was
also the Church's preserve.

It was possible to get divorced
as a 16th-century person,

but it was difficult, and the problem was

that you could not then
marry anybody else,

because marriage was for life.

What Henry needed was an annulment
of his marriage to Catherine,

as if it had never existed.

But an annulment was granted only
in the rarest of circumstances,

and only by the head of the
Catholic Church, the Pope.

In the summer of 1527,

Henry ordered a group of
his most trusted advisers

to look into the possibility
of getting him an annulment.

They'd have to put together the
best possible case to the Pope.

The whole business became known
as "the King's great matter".

To try to get the Vatican's agreement,

Henry started to build his case.

There was no mention of Anne Boleyn.

Instead, he would use his
wife's previous marriage

to his dead brother, Arthur, against her.

Henry discovered this
passage in the Bible --

it's Leviticus 20:21.

"If a man shall take his brother's
wife, it is an unclean thing.

"He has uncovered his
brother's nakedness."

And this is the key bit.
"They shall be childless."

Henry used this to argue that
his marriage had been invalid.

It was a kind of incest.

And this was the reason he
probably still didn't have a son.

But Catherine had got
wind of the "great matter"

and was steeling herself
to take on the King.

Because, despite their difficulties,

and his dalliances,

Catherine is determined to oppose Henry --

to stay married and to
remain Queen of England.

My lord.

- What is it?
- My conscience troubles me greatly.

- I need to speak with you.
- You need to absolve yourself of something?

I wish to find a way forward.

Be still, please.

Speak to me.

For some time now, there's been
a vast distance between us.

And what do you believe the cause to be?

"Causes".

A number.

As far as I understand
it, there is only one.

It's a complicated matter.

We cannot continue to ignore it.

I agree.

Following much consideration,
the conclusion is this.

I wish for us to live apart.

No longer as king and queen.

A separation.

We cannot be separated.

We knelt before Christ and took
vows. That can't be undone.

It's possible. I've taken
advice on the matter.

My lord...

.. look me in the eyes
and tell me our marriage

- has not been a happy one.
- We must be honest with ourselves.

It's been cursed from the start.

In the eyes of the
Church, you are my sister!

Then the Church is blind!

My marriage to Arthur was never binding,

because we did not lie together.

You are my one, true husband!

Grant me the respect I deserve,
and please don't dismiss me.

- I would never dismiss you.
- No, but you're prepared to cast me aside

in order to marry another woman.

You wish to talk about honesty?

I'm not a fool.

Speak the plain truth,

and do not use our
Church for your own gains.

Catherine, why do you choose to
make this harder than it need be?

You think this should be easy?

Six children born!

Five of them dead!

A life lived in loyal and unswerving
devotion. All for nothing?

Did you really imagine I
might bid you farewell

with a smile on my face?
What did you expect from me?

Respect!

For your king's wishes.

What about respect for
your queen and daughter?!

You'll want for nothing.

I promise.

How can you say that?

I want you.

Catherine, I beg...

keep your dignity.

Christ forgive you.

Catherine believed her marriage to Henry

was a union preordained by God.

Yet, she also knew that
Henry got what Henry wanted.

But even with his cunning plan,

his cherry-picked biblical arguments,

it will be harder to end his marriage

than Henry could ever have imagined.

The Pope may have been head of the Church,

but he wasn't the most
powerful man in Europe.

That man was the leader
of the Holy Roman Empire,

Charles V, who was busy conquering Europe.

In 1527, Charles invaded Rome.

The Pope was holed up here
in the Castel Sant'Angelo.

Now, obviously, this was highly
inconvenient for the Pope,

but it was a diplomatic
nightmare for Henry.

Because Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor,

who now had the Pope in his power,

was Catherine of Aragon's nephew.

This was the perfect opportunity

for Catherine to use
her family connections

and to build a few alliances of her own.

First off, she wrote to her
nephew, Emperor Charles V,

asking for his support.

And she got it.

Then, she challenged Henry's argument

that their marriage had been
invalid under Church law.

That's the whole "don't marry
your dead brother's wife" thing.

Catherine said that when
she'd married Prince Arthur,

they'd never had sex.

The marriage was unconsummated,
therefore, invalid --

therefore, Henry's case was invalid.

And what about the Pope? What did he say?

Well, he just kept stalling.

He didn't say one thing or the other.

It looked like Catherine
had won the battle.

But Henry hadn't given up
hope of winning the war.

For three years, Catherine
had successfully blocked

Henry's attempts to end their marriage.

In May 1528, Henry tries
a different tactic.

Provocatively, Anne's been moved

into her own apartments inside
the Palace of Greenwich.

It's becoming clear that there
are three people in this marriage.

It's getting pretty crowded.

It's as if there are two
queens under one roof.

There's Anne who has
Henry's heart and his hopes,

and Catherine, his faithful wife,

who thinks that she has
the ultimate power,

the power of the Church, on her side.

Henry was still claiming
that, in the eyes of God,

Catherine was technically
his sister, not his wife.

On the 21st June, 1529,

after two years of deadlock,

he launched what he hoped would
be a fatal blow to Catherine.

He convened a special public
court to hear his case

and he invited senior clerics
from England and Rome.

It took place, here,
in Blackfriars, London.

Anne Boleyn had been sent
off to the countryside

to get her out of the way, because
Henry needed to convince everybody

that his reason for wanting
to end his marriage

was nothing to do with her at all.

Catherine knew otherwise,

and the Queen insisted on giving
evidence in person, in open court.

Henry expects the clerics
to grant him his annulment.

But Catherine's about
to take a huge gamble,

and publicly put her case to
the Pope's representative,

and to the King himself.

My lord...

I appeal to your conscience

to show me the compassion
and justice I deserve

as your one, true wife.

To honour the years I have
dedicated to you and you alone.

The loyalty I have shown,

and above all else,

the love I have...

.. which will never die.

For the love of God,

in your heart, you must
know there is no other

in whom you can pledge your
trust with such confidence.

Our long history has
proved that to you, surely?

I have been a true,

humble and obedient wife.

I came to you as a true maid.

Untouched by man.

And whether it is true or not,

I put it to your conscience

that if there is any just cause
by law that you can put against me

of either dishonesty,

or any other impediment,

then I am content to depart
to my shame and dishonour.

But if there is none...

.. then I beg of you,

let me remain in this estate.

I implore you... to
consider your actions today.

But also to know that, regardless
of the decision you make,

I remain your devoted servant.

And you remain

my one, true husband.

To God, I commit my cause.

Catherine, Queen of England,
return to this court!

The Pope's emissary went back to Rome

without granting an
annulment to the marriage.

People sometimes forget what
a setback this was for Henry.

He'd achieved absolutely nothing

apart from being publicly
humiliated by his wife.

And I think that this was
Catherine's defining moment.

She used her passion,

and her intelligence
to defend her marriage.

She'd won the fight to
hold on to her crown.

At least for now.

Am I too late?

Please tell me I am not too late?

Catherine of Aragon will be cruelly
punished for challenging the King,

and sent into exile to die.

Henry will defy the Church
to marry Anne Boleyn.

The entire kingdom
harbours hatred towards me.

But it won't be long before his
eyes, again, begin to wander...

Surely I deserve your respect, my lord?

.. and Anne is not a woman
to turn a blind eye.

I'm going to show you a driven,
highly intelligent queen,

who thought that she could
take on the King of England...

What I mean to say is this,

that if something were to happen
to the King, you'd look to marry me.

.. but who miscalculated
with dreadful consequences.

All this for so little a neck.