All language subtitles for The.Private.Lives.of.the.Tudors.S01E01.WEBRip.x264-ION10-NH

- The tudors are the most famous

royal family in English history.

The five tudor monarchs
ruled in England

for nearly 120 years,

and they made the
country one of the most

powerful sovereign states of the age.

Each of the tudor kings and queens

have their own individual
public personas,

the ones they wanted
their subjects to see.

But what went on behind
these closed doors?

We'll show you how they
lived, loved, and died.

We'll take a peek into
the corridors of power,

the grand courts, the
royal bed chambers,

and even the kitchens to see how

they ate, had sex, dressed,

and, yes, even how they
used the royal toilet.

Welcome to "the private
lives of the tudors".

Hampton court is a palace steeped

in the history of England's
kings and queens.

But almost 50 years
before this magnificent

building became a royal residence,

the foundations of the tudor dynasty

were being laid at the
battle of bosworth field.

The battle of bosworth was the last

significant battle of
the wars of the roses,

the civil war between the
houses of Lancaster and York

that raged across England

in the latter half of the 15th century.

Fought on the 22nd of August 1485,

the battle was won by the lancastrians.

Their leader Henry
tudor, Earl of Richmond,

by his victory became the first
tudor monarch of England.

- Henry vii was something
of a rank outsider.

He'd been in exile for
14 years in France

during the conclusion of
the wars of the roses

in the reign of Edward iv.

No one really expected
him to become king,

and at the battle of bosworth

he surprisingly became the Victor,

under those circumstances,
almost against the odds.

- Well, Henry vii, or Duke
of Richmond as he then was,

won the battle of bosworth
against Richard III,

the last of the yorkist kings,

and he then was elected
effectively king of England

because he really wasn't the true king

according to bloodline.

- The dynasty is born at bosworth field

insofar as they bring the crown

from the corpse of Richard III

and hand it to the king.

That is taken as token
of his coronation.

He's won crown as it
were by feat of arms,

which was one of the medieval
ways of recognizing kingship.

- One of Henry vii's
firsts acts as king

was to Mary Elizabeth of York,

the niece of his dead
enemy Richard III.

It was a political marriage designed

to unite the houses
of Lancaster and York

and to put a stop to the civil wars

that had plagued the
country for so many years.

But to guarantee peace and stability,

Henry needed to father a male heir,

a boy of both yorkist
and lancastrian blood.

Even though Henry vii has been seen

as a dour and conservative king,

it's probable that he got his wife

pregnant before the marriage,

maybe he wanted to see
if she was fertile.

But it's also possible that he believed

that if he bedded Elizabeth early,

she was more likely to conceive

than on the wedding day itself.

The catholic church also
played a major role

in people's bedroom habits.

Sex was to be strictly
confined to marriage

and for the sole purpose
of reproduction.

Among their many rules,

the church strictly forbade sex

during lent, advent,
feast days, fast days,

Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

But despite the many restrictions

placed upon married couples,

it was also considered imperative

that the woman found the
experience an enjoyable one.

- There were a good number
of early medieval texts

that survive containing recipes

and information about
conception and childbirth.

But there was a major
one that was introduced

during tudor times and
translated into English.

This contains diagrams
of fetuses in the womb

and also information about pregnancy,

including the idea
that the seed mingled

in the womb from the man and the woman,

and that there were difficult methods

of conceiving boys and girls,

such as lying on the
left-hand side for a boy

and on the right-hand side for a girl.

- And, the thing about sex
in tudor England was that

you were supposed to enjoy it

if you wanted to get
the woman pregnant,

so that's good news for women.

The bad news was that
when you got married,

you had to promise to be
bonny and buxom in bed,

which basically meant you
were supposed up for it

every time your husband fancied it.

- If there was an issue that the woman

was uncomfortable or
unhappy during sex,

then they did believe
that it was less likely

that she was able to conceive.

Female enjoy seemed to be

the seat of conception to them,

and so it does strike us as

as being a fairly modern concept

that female pleasure was important.

But actually at the time,

tudor men understood
that if they wanted

to make a woman pregnant,

then they did need to
attend to her needs,

and a few books referenced this,

suggesting the way in which a
man should arouse a woman,

touching her in certain ways
so that she was receptive

and would enjoy the process.

- Here at hever castle in
the English county of Kent,

is a very special and
unique piece of furniture.

This beautifully ornate four poster bed

was recently discovered during
the renovation of a hotel

in the historic English
city of Chester.

Research and DNA analysis
appears to confirm

that this long lost treasure
was once Henry vii's bed.

The carvings depict Henry
and his wife Elizabeth

as Adam and Eve along with
medieval fertile symbols,

such as acorns and grapes.

Henry had this bed especially
made and at great expense

that's because it wasn't
just he and his wife

who would see it but the entire court.

It was customary in tudor
times for a royal couple

to go through what was known
as a bedding ceremony.

All of their courtiers would
accompany them to the bedroom

and put them to bed.

They wanted to make sure

that the marriage would be consummated.

- Almighty god,

bless the union of this royal couple

Henry vii of England
and Elizabeth of York.

Bring them forth issue

that will keep this
nation safe from now

until the ending of the earth.

Praise be to god.

- Marriage to be considered valid

had to be the exchange of oaths

and the consummation of the marriage,

and so it was vital
that everyone realize

that the consummation of the
marriage had taken place.

And one way of doing that was through

the ritual of the bedding ceremony.

After the banquets,

which had taken place
after the ceremony,

the couple would be
accompanied by witnesses,

in the case of the king by courtiers

and there would be a
procession of singing,

sometimes trumpet playing,
that would accompany

the young couple to the bed chamber.

When they were in the bed chamber,

the bed and themselves would
be blessed by a priest,

and the curtains would be drawn

and then the witnesses
would wait outside

hoping to hear sounds that meant

that the consummation of the
marriage had taken place.

- But just in case this
still wasn't proof enough,

they had an even more
public and graphic way

to show that the deal had been sealed.

- The phrase we have
"airing the dirty linen,"

actually came from this idea of showing

the bed sheets the morning
after the wedding,

and they might have been stained
by the blood of the bride,

who had lost her virginity
on the night of the wedding

and made public so that people knew

that this act of consummation
had taken place,

and, therefore, the
marriage was a valid one.

- Elizabeth of York went
on to have seven children,

which is a lot by modern standards

but average in tudor times.

But childbirth for any woman
was fraught with dangers,

and it's sobering to think
that life expectancy

for a woman at the time
was just 35 years.

Giving birth in tudor times

was an event fraught with danger.

As many as one in three woman
would die in the process.

But how would a woman even know

that she was pregnant at all?

Well, as today the key
indicator was her urine,

and doctors would take a sample

of an expectant mother's urine.

And they would examine it closely

because what they were looking out for

was a change in its normal color.

If it was paler than normal,

then that was a possible
indication of pregnancy.

But there was a rather more
bizarre test for pregnancy.

This involved taking a needle,

and this needle would be cast
into the sample of urine

and left overnight.

Then the following morning the doctor

would examine the state of the needle,

and to quote from the
contemporary manual,

"if it be colored with red
spots, she hath conceived,

"but if it be black or
rusty, then she hath not."

Well, unsurprisingly, with
tests as unreliable as these,

most woman found it very difficult

to tell if they were really pregnant,

and they had to wait for the

physical manifestations of pregnancy,

such as putting on weight
or feeling the child move,

which was known as quickening.

But there was no way for them then

to monitor the health
of their unborn child,

so they had to rely on the knowledge

of all together more experienced women.

Midwives were often there to supervisor

during a woman's labor.

They were usually vastly knowledgeable

and hugely experienced in
helping mothers give birth

and in dealing with the
complications that sometimes arose.

But even they, on
occasions, got it wrong.

- One of the things a midwife would do

would be to try and
manually dilate a woman.

That, I suppose, looked
like a good idea.

In theory, you were speeding things up.

But really the early stages

of childbirth need to be left alone,

and so you could damage
a woman doing that.

Another thing a midwife
might do would be actually

pressing down on a woman's abdomen

to try and help push the baby out.

Again, that can do a lot
more harm than good.

If things really get bad

and you realize you're
not going to be able

to get the baby out just
with the woman pushing,

they didn't have forceps at this time.

They haven't been developed yet.

So the only option was to put hooks

into the baby and just pull.

That, obviously, killed the baby,

and often tore the
woman inside as well.

Even if that in itself
didn't kill the woman,

you were very, very likely to
get infections as a result.

So, you would almost
certainly die then.

- Despite the many risks,

there was still huge pressure

on women to keep bearing children.

- It was a responsibility
of aristocratic

and royal women to bear as
many children as possible,

and so we end up with
families from anything

between eight up to 13 or 14 children.

However, this did mean that

women were out of action for a while,

so amongst aristocratic circles,

babies were given out to wet nurses.

And they were fed by
these nurses, suckled,

in order for the woman

to get her fertility back more quickly.

She'd, therefore, be able to
conceive again more quickly

and also able to resume her duties.

- Henry and Elizabeth
did produce a male heir

in the form of their eldest son

the often forgotten prince Arthur.

In 1501 at the tender age of 15,

Arthur was married to
Catherine of aragon,

daughter of the mighty
Spanish monarchs,

ferdinand and Isabella,

and it would be the controversy

of what happened on their wedding night

that would tear England apart

during the reign of Arthur's
brother Henry viii.

But in 1502, with the royal
nursery filled with heirs

and Henry at last beginning to feel

more secure on his
throne, disaster struck.

Prince Arthur suddenly died

just months after marrying
Catherine of aragon.

Some said that the exertions
of the marriage bed

had taken their toll on
the sickly young man.

But it's more likely
that he had fallen prey

to the sweating sickness.

- The sweats, or the sweating sickness,

used to be thought of as the
16th century form of influenza.

But historians are now
beginning to think

that there were two possible pathogens

that were rather different.

The first is that it
could have been Anthrax,

and the second, which I
think is more interesting

and more likely, is that it
was part of the hantavirus,

which was transmitted
through the inhalation

of the excrement of rats.

- It very likely was a
virulent form of flu,

and it did go for people who
were young and healthy.

The symptoms of the sweating sickness

are very similar to flu,

so a high temperature, sweaty,

sore threat all that kind of thing.

It did kill very quickly.

They said you could
be merry at breakfast

and dead at supper.

- This mysterious and deadly illness

struck fear into the
hearts of tudor society.

Mere rumor that a case of the
sweats had been discovered

was enough to panic people

into fleeing their homes for safety.

But for prince Arthur
there was no escape.

- The loss of prince Arthur

was a terribly blow
to the royal family.

He was given so much attention

as the royal prince who
would succeed his father.

I don't think Henry vii
thought a great deal

of his second son viii to be,

and once Arthur died,

all the hopes of the tudor
succession was on this one child.

So it was a dreadful thing
for the royal family

both in personal terms
and in political terms.

- The scale of the public mourning,

the scale of the funeral,

are indicative that this
has been a serious trauma,

but equally they still have a male heir

and on that alone the
dynasty can feel secure.

- After Arthur's untimely death,

his younger brother Henry became
first in line to the crown,

and when his father died in 1509,

he duly succeeded to
the throne of England.

He was handsome,
charismatic, and athletic.

When Henry viii burst onto the scene,

he presented a dramatic

and very welcome contrast
to his dour father.

Henry was instantly
loved by the people.

He was the king they had always wanted.

- Majesty, I am your humble servant.

- Henry viii as Duke of York,

was the spare tire as it were,

so, of course, he had a
very fine education,

a princely education, but
there was no expectation,

until the death of Arthur,
that he would be the king.

- Your grace we've already closed.

- Once his brother had died,

he knew that he would
one day become king,

and that's when the series
business really started,

the question of his marriage,

and also looking to his
education expanding that

so that he'd be prepared
as a future king.

- Henry is the epitome of
the renaissance prince.

He idealizes maximilian I,
the holy Roman emperor,

who's a bit older than him,
but is an accomplished rider,

statesman, warrior, and that's
what Henry wants to be.

He wants to be seen to
be a man of action.

He's also phenomenally wealthy.

He's by all accounts
very, very handsome.

So he's the true renaissance prince,

and he really throws
himself into the role.

- He seems to have bridled
against some of the restrictions

that Henry the vii placed upon him,

and we see some of that exuberance

coming out following his father's death

when he finally did become
king at the age of 17.

- Henry vii's frugal reign

meant that English coffers
were overflowing,

but to the young Henry
viii there was no point

in having money unless you spent it.

One of his many extravagances
was the royal wardrobe.

He spent lavishly on clothes

made from the finest material

from all around the world.

But naturally as king,

Henry never dressed himself.

There were others to do that for him.

Mark Griffin is a historical consultant

and specialist interpreter
of tudor period dress.

- Well, the king, of course,
had a lot of servants,

but his most trusted were
the grooms of the body,

the grooms of his wardrobe,

those are the people
that are dressing him.

If you are helping Henry
dress, then you have his ear.

You can influence your
family's advancement.

You can talk about policy,

so it's actually an incredibly
coveted position to be in.

- The grooms or esquires of the body

were often the sons
of prominent noblemen

and the gentry personally
selected by the king himself.

The role was highly sought after

because those who held it

often rose to prominent and
influential positions.

Put simply, it was their job
to make sure king Henry

looked his very best every day.

- The king was known for changing

his clothes very regularly.

One ambassador calls him, "a
king of a thousand slippers."

He's always showing off.

Of course, king is wearing

the most expensive clothing in Europe.

He's wanting to show people
that he can afford the best.

He can afford lots of the best.

So take this jacket here.

This is silk velvet that's
come all the way from China.

It's gold thread.

There's taffitor on here,

which has actually got metallic

gold thread woven into it as well.

He's got loads and loads
of different clothes

of different colors, all sorts of

different materials for
different occasions,

and he's got to be seen to
look as fantastic as possible.

- Men were also expected to
portray their masculinity

through their physical appearance,

and this would mean
that they wore beards.

Beards were seen as being very
manly in the 16th century.

Had broad shoulders.

So if they didn't naturally
have broad shoulders,

they would pad them out.

And also they would
have enlarge codpieces

that expressed their
virility with a marker

that they were fertile and
productive and manly.

- Each change of clothing
is gonna take the king

20 to 30 minutes at least,

depending on what he's
doing where he is.

So, servants would
constantly be on hand

to make sure he was looking
as good as possible.

The tudors realized how
important propaganda was,

and creating this image,

this fantastic look that we see

in all the tudor portraits
did take some time.

Not only is it all the cloth
and the fine embroidery,

this jacket, in fact, has got

jewels hanging off of it as well,

and that all adds to the
time, that eventually,

the prestige and the
look of the monarch.

- The rise in the number
of wealthy merchants

and an increasingly
affluent middle class

made it more and more difficult

for Henry to tell them and
the aristocracy apart.

To remedy this, he decided
to introduce laws

whereby class and privilege
dictated what people could wear.

These were known as statutes
of apparel or sumptuary laws.

One of the main reasons
for the sumptuary laws

was to reinforce the strict
pecking order in tudor society.

It simply wouldn't do for a
member of the lower orders

to be dressed better
than their superiores.

So Henry passed an act

against the wearing of costly apparel.

Now this act set out a
number of different rules

according to your class.

If you're a member of the royal family,

then you could wear purple.

Dukes were allowed to
have cloth of gold

woven into their coats.

You had to be an Earl
to where sable fur,

and if you were a knight or a lord,

you could wear imported wool.

But the punishment for dressing

above your social rank could be severe.

On the one hand you could be fined

or have your property confiscated,

but on the other you
might even face death.

It's surprising perhaps
that few items of clothing

belonging to Henry survived today.

Luxury cloth and imported
fabric were so expensive

that they were often reused
and recycled over the years

to keep up with changing fashions.

But here at Hampton court palace

I've come to meet collections
curator, eleri Lynn

who's agreed to show me a very rare

and special item that's
held in their stores.

- So these stores contain 10,000 items.

- Ten-thousand items I had
no idea it was that many.

- Absolutely, well, they
vary from accessories

all the way up to whole
ensembles and gowns,

but each of them tells
the story of palaces

and the people who lived in them.

- I can't wait to see it.

I have a feeling it's gonna
be something quite special.

- It's one of historic
royal palaces treasures.

But we're gonna need gloves.

- Absolutely.

Now I'm getting very
excited for the big reveal

because, of course, we're
talking about the tudors.

Now tudor items of clothing
are exceptionally rare.

- They are.

- So do you have
something tudor for me?

- I do, and not only
is it a tudor object,

but it may very well have been
worn by Henry viii himself.

- That makes it incredible
rare, doesn't it?

- Only one or two objects in the world

that has got an association
with Henry viii himself.

- That is astonishing.

What a thing of beauty.

- It is a beautiful hat,

and the survival is incredible.

We have had it scientifically dated,

and it dates correctly to that period.

So the wool stuffs and the dye stuffs

are all dated to the
sort of late medieval

and early modern period,
which is fantastic.

- And can I hold it?

- Yeah, of course.
- Quite, obviously,

very carefully.

So I am holding in my hands
what may well have been worn

by our most famous king Henry viii,

and what a survivor because
am I right in thinking

we don't actually have
many of Henry's clothes?

He had thousands of clothes.

- He did.
- And, yet,

this is one of the only examples

to survive. - Absolutely.

- It sort of exploded a myth for me

because the typical portraits of Henry

he's wearing a black
beret it looks like.

It's a big doughty.

This is something else, isn't it?

It's bright, kind of pink colored,

lovely green ostrich feather.

You'd have seen him coming in this.

- It's really unexpected
because the portraiture

is full of these sort
of black velvet berets.

As embellishes as they are,
they all look fairly similar.

But we know from written records

that they were wearing many more colors

than these just the black velvet.

They were wearing Scarlet
and green and yellow,

and they were all highly
embellished with gold

and jewels and feathers
of all different colors.

So this is a typical sort
of survival of that period.

- So would this have had
jewels on it, as well.

- It would, absolutely, so
you can see on the ostrich

feather there's a sort of small
silver braid button here,

which would have really
shone and sparkled.

But also around the edge here
are evenly positioned holes

which have been punch through,

which were probably for attaching gems

and jewels and hat badges and
pins and that sort of thing

so it would have looked even
more colorful and extravagant.

- Well, what a treasure and
actually what a privilege

to literally be getting my hands
on Henry viii in this way.

But for Henry there was
a more pressing need

than simply looking good.

He had to produce a
legitimate male heir,

but to do that he first
needed to take a wife.

It was decided that he was marry

his brother's widow,
Catherine of aragon.

Henry was very fond of Catherine,

and he wrote to his
future father-in-law

assuring him that he
thought so highly of her.

That even if he was still free,

he would choose her above all others.

- They were suited on so many levels,

intellectually, culturally.

They were both raised
to be king and queen.

They were very affectionate
towards each other,

and they lived in this
world of chivalry

in which Henry was so loyal heart

and would joust in carrying
her, her favors in the lists.

- The early marriage seems to
have been a great success.

She was crowned along side them.

They obviously slept regularly together

because she became pregnant.

He treated her with great respect.

He treated in chivalric terms

as the lady who inspired
him at tournaments

and in court spectacles.

So there is no evidence at all

that they had a strained relationship.

- Over the next 10 to 15 years

their marriage seemed
to be a happy one.

But a tragic series of
miscarriages and stillbirths

had left Henry without a male heir.

- He is used to having what he wants,

and the fact that everybody
gives him what he wants

and he can't have this thing,

he, therefore, looks around

like a child does, an angry
child, to blame somebody

because it can't be
anything to do with him.

It couldn't possibly to be
anything to do with him.

He is constantly being told

and believes that he
is the perfect king.

So, I think, not having the
son is a disappointment.

- If anyone was seen as responsible,

it would have been the mother,

but then all sorts of
things were thought

to affect things like
miscarriages or birth defects.

So, for example, the sight
of something frightening

could be seen as bringing about

a birth defect in your child.

- If we had a stillbirth,

then the woman must have
done something wrong,

eaten something wrong.

There were lots of superstitions,

whereby, miscarriages
could be attributed,

such as a woman tip toeing
through the may dew,

or looking up at the moon,

or eating the wrong kind of food.

- When it came to the royal family

when a child was stillborn

we know in the case of Henry
viii that he blamed god.

God was responsible, and the
reason why he was responsible

was because Henry and
Catherine had carried out

this terrible sin of going
against scriptures in marrying

when Catherine had previously
been married to prince Arthur.

- From a total of six
pregnancies only one of

Henry and Catherine's children
survived, the princess Mary.

Although she was not the
son he had hoped for,

Henry doted on his daughter,

and invested a great deal in
her education and upbringing.

By the standards of the
day, he was a good father.

But as a husband, Henry
was less than faithful.

- Henry did resort to other woman,

particularly when Catherine
of aragon was pregnant.

It was a common belief at the time

that men did need to have regular sex

in order to purge the
build up of fluids

to keep them healthy.

So while Catherine was out of action,

literal in confinement all
during her pregnancy,

it was not thought a good idea for her

to indulge in sex with her husband

because this could damage the fetus.

Therefore, it was a logical deduction

of the tudor mind that a man could seek

some sort of comfort elsewhere.

- One affair we certainly do know about

was with a woman named
Elizabeth blount.

Known as bessie, she was one
of the queen's maids of honor,

personally selected
by Catherine herself,

which must have made it
all the more painful

when Catherine discovered that bessie

was pregnant with Henry's child,

a boy who would be named fitzroy.

- Blount is not disgraced.

She's not pushed out of
the queen's household.

She sort of retires gracefully,

but she's received by the queen

and continues to be
received by the queen.

The suggestions that do
pop up from time to time

that maybe Henry fitzroy will be

married to the princess Mary,

and, therefore, create a
sort of tudor descent

isn't completely ludicrous.

- Far from denying

the existence of his
illegitimate child,

Henry gave him the name fitzroy,

which literally means son of the king.

He ensured the boy was well cared for,

given the best education,

and groomed for a life of privilege.

It's even thought that Henry considered

passing the crown of fitzroy

in the event of him not
producing a legitimate son.

- If we look at royal marriages,

everyone knew that the
kings had mistresses,

so there was an acceptance of that.

On the other hand,

there was a deponese about
extra-martial affairs.

First of all, it was a sign

that a king did not have self-control.

Another problem about
it was that bastards

had no rights in law.

There could always be problems

associated with bastard children,

whether they were royal
children or any other children.

- Overtime the royal
marriage began to crumble

as it became increasingly
apparent to Henry that

Catherine couldn't give him
the son he so longed for.

But there were other reasons

that the marriage was in trouble.

Catherine was some
six-years-older than Henry,

and by the time she
reached the age of 40,

it was beginning to show.

Henry wanted someone younger,

more vivacious, and less pious.

But above all, he wanted a wife

who would give him a son.

- Henry probably met Anne boleyn

a few years after his affair
with her sister Mary.

She'd been away from
court and returned,

and she was very fashionable.

She was the epitome of
French style and culture,

and this drew his attention,

particularly in contrast with
the very Spanish Catherine.

- The relationship with Anne boleyn

began around the time of 1526.

We do know that their
relationship was tempestuous.

We do know that they
were deeply in love,

judging by his love letters to Anne

at the beginning of the relationship,

and he found her
exciting and fascinating

of that, I think, there is no doubt.

- We know that he sent her presents,

and she sent him some in return.

One in particular was a silver image

of a damsel in a ship
tossed upon stormy seas.

This might be a metaphor
for her confusion,

whether shes going to
accept his advances or not.

- Henry lavished a whole host of

expensive gifts on his new mistress,

including in 1532 some three
dozen pieces of jewelry

at a cost of a 100 pounds,

which was worth a small
fortune in today's money.

The artist, hans holbein,

also designed some pieces
for the king's new love,

and Henry himself was forever raiding

the royal jewel house for the
best items to present to her.

He even went so far as
to demand that his wife,

Catherine of aragon, hand
over her own jewels to Anne.

Well, sadly none of Anne's
jewels has survived today,

not even her most famous piece
the necklace made from pearls

with her initials set in gold.

It said that she passed this
to her daughter Elizabeth

and that the pearls have
even survived to this day

and are set in the crown
of our present queen.

The sheer number of letters
and gifts showered on Anne

by Henry clearly show
how infatuated he was

with the seductive and
Cosmopolitan young beauty.

He pursued her vigorously,

but despite his passion and
the fact that he was king,

Anne refused to allow him to
fully have his way with her.

- Traditionally, it's been
believed that Anne did refuse

to have sex with Henry
until they were married.

We're looking at a
period of seven years.

Do we really believe that Henry

would have waited that long?

It's likely that Anne gave him
some sort of encouragement.

I really don't believe that she
held him off all that time.

Obviously, she didn't fall pregnant,

so they were practicing
some sort of contraception

or that they were being intimate,

but stopping short of the full act

to prevent a pregnancy
outside marriage.

But I think they must
have been intimate.

There must have been something
going on to keep his interest

to keep him sustained for seven years.

- Henry may have been

head over heels in love with Anne

but not everybody
shared his enthusiasm.

- In many quarters Anne's relationship

with Henry was deeply unpopular.

Catherine had a lot of supporters,

and one of the arguments
against the marriage

was that Henry had already
had a relationship

not just with Mary boleyn

but with Anne's mother Elizabeth.

And over time this
accusation continued.

And it was produced in print

that Henry was this terrible lecher

who had slept with mother
and two daughters.

- Over the years there were many rumors

concerning who Henry had
been intimate with,

but there was one person
at court above all others

who would consistently share
the kings most private

and personal moments.

The groom of the stool was
the most important member

of Henry viii's privy chamber.

His job was to attend to the king

when he visited the
closed stool or toilet.

He would have to stand by until

the king had finished,
waiting patiently,

and then ensure that his royal
master was clean afterwards.

But it wasn't always straightforward.

Thomas heneage, one groom of the stool,

reported that on one
occasion his royal master

had to have an enema, which
was made from a pig's bladder

filled with salt water that
was inserted with a metal rod

and left there for two hours.

After which, heneage reported,

the king had enjoyed a fair siege.

It might not sound very appealing

being groom of the stool,

but it was actually one of the most

prestigious jobs at court.

That's because they got
to spend more hours

alone with the king than anyone else.

They, therefore, became
like informal advisers

or confidantes to Henry,

and it's for that reason
that the groom of the stool

was the most sought after
position at Henry's court.

- The first gentlemen
of the privy chamber

is an officer called the
groom of the stool,

which is basically the
keeper of the king's toilet.

It doesn't sound a very high function.

But, of course, he's the one person

who can go with the king
absolutely everywhere,

and wherever the king goes
he needs a closed stool,

and he needs his groom.

And that gentlemen then becomes

the first gentlemen
of the privy chamber,

and so he's dignified with a
title that hides the function.

The function is then delegated.

But the important thing is
that officer is the one

who withdraws with the king
when he sits on the toilet,

and a lot of business
could be transacted

in that private world.

- To his majority many happy years.

- Henry's formative years

had shaped him into the
person that he'd become.

As a young man, he was bold,
outgoing, and energetic.

He could also be charming,
generous, and kind.

But all of that was about to change.

In the next episode of

"the private lives of the tudors",

we'll look at how a near fatal accident

seemed to change the king forever

from a loveable rogue into a
cruel and paranoid tyrant

who's kingdom was at the
mercy of his failing health

and turbulent love life.