Mistresses of Henry VIII

Research

The first book published on this topic was Kelly Hart's The Mistresses of Henry VIII in 2009. After this and the publicity surrounding The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory and the film based on the novel, there were several books published on the topic. The Other Boleyn Girl was a fictionalised account of Henry VIII's relationship with Mary Boleyn. In 2010, Mary Boleyn: The True Story of Henry VIII's Favourite Mistress by Josephine Wilkinson was published, and in 2012, Alison Weir published Mary Boleyn: 'The Great and Infamous Whore. In 2013, this was followed by Bessie Blount: Mistress to Henry VIII by Elizabeth Norton.

Fictional portrayals

On Mary Boleyn:

The Other Boleyn Girl, book by Philippa Gregory, and film based on the book

The Last Boleyn, novel by Karen Harper (2006)

Mistress Boleyn - a Novel about Mary Boleyn by Charlotte St. George (2012)

On Jane Popincourt:

The Pleasure Palace (Secrets of the Tudor Court) by Kate Emerson

On Mary 'Madge' Shelton:

Major character in The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy (2003)

Confirmed mistresses of Henry VIII

Elizabeth or Bessie Blount, mother of his illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, to whom Henry VIII gave the dukedoms of Somerset and Richmond. Fitzroy, which means son of the king was acknowledged by Henry and there was talk in the 1530s that the King, who then had no male heir, would legitimise Fitzroy.

Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn

Mary or Margaret Shelton, first cousin of Anne Boleyn. According to Imperial ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, the King had an affair with 'Mistress Shelton' from February 1535 for around six months.

In addition, Henry VIII was involved in a romantic relationship with three of his future wives before he married them. It is unclear if these relationships became sexual before marriage. He was involved with his second wife, Anne Boleyn, from around 1526, around the time he ended his relationship with her sister, Mary; Anne was also, at the time, maid-of-honour to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Anne was referred to by some as "the king's whore" or a "naughty paike [prostitute]". Henry and Anne's daughter, Elizabeth I, was born (7 September 1533) three months on from their marriage (28 May 1533).

From the beginning of 1536, while still married to Anne Boleyn, he was openly courting his wife's second cousin and maid-of-honour, Jane Seymour. In 1540, he began courting Catherine Howard, the maid-of-honour of his fourth spouse, Anne of Cleves. Catherine was a first cousin of Anne and Mary Boleyn. It appears that his lust for mistresses did not abate as he reached middle age. During his marriage to Catherine Parr, his sixth wife, it was speculated that he would divorce her and look for a seventh wife.

Alleged mistresses

Jane Popincourt, a Frenchwoman, who was a tutor to his sisters

Anne Bassett, stepdaughter of the King's uncle, Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle

Elizabeth Carew, wife of his close friend, Nicholas Carew, and second cousin of Anne Boleyn

Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, née Stafford, sister of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and thus the second cousin of Henry VIII

Elizabeth Amadas, a 'witch and prophetess', arrested for criticising Anne Boleyn's relationship with the King

Other women he was linked to include:

Katherine Willoughby, the closest friend of his sixth wife and the widow of his brother-in-law and close friend Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk

Mary Fitzroy, Henry VIII's daughter-in-law, first cousin of Anne Boleyn

Margaret Skipwith

Those rumoured to have had his children:

Jane Pollard

Agnes Edwardes

Joan Dingley

Mary Berkeley