The date is June 1533. Anne has just been crowned after marrying King Henry VIII.

She meets with a political adviser to decide which campaigns she will get behind as the new Queen of England.

It's a fact that she did lend her copy of Tyndale's book to her lady and she managed to talk to Henry before Wolsey tried to get her into trouble. It's also worth considering that even if she did 'withhold' sex from Henry, he could have got it elsewhere, so that wouldn't have been enough to make him want to marry her. She was really in love with Henry Percy and it's no wonder that she blamed Wolsey for the fact he was married off to someone else.

She did want to make a difference to the world and as a woman, one of the only ways to do that would be to marry well and Henry did make her Marquess of Pembroke so that he wasn't marrying a commoner. They did marry in secret and the Pope did excommunicate Henry so it was the other way around, Henry didn't break with Rome.

All the causes and particuarly education, Anne believed passionately in. She really did want to start her own grammar school and wanted it to be free so it would be open to everyone. She also wanted to set up scholarships. It's true that to study the bible in English and to discuss it was unheard of. She really did want to give catholic priests a piece of her mind. She did believe that small religious houses should be used for education and she understood the importance of monasteries in supporting the poor. She did get Thomas Cranmer his position as Archbishop of Canterbury.

She did believe that rich people should give more to the poor and lead by example. She did make smocks out of canvas and distributed petticoats. SHe believed that women should be given their own livelihoods to survive, particularly widows. She did ask for lists of people that lived near her residences that were most in need and did carry a purse with her to give money to others. She did say she wanted her income given to the poor. She did want WIlliam Marshall to draft a poor law to give those that were unemployed, paid work to do and to give the sick, free medical care. She really was an incredible woman and had she been Queen for longer, we may have seen some of these plans come to fruition.

If you want to find out more about Anne, check out the sources and places below:

Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies - Hayley Nolan

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn: The Most Happy - Eric Ives

The Anne Boleyn Papers - Elizabeth Norton

Anne Boleyn: Henry VIII's Obsession - Elizabeth Norton

Hever Castle (image 4)