I’ve
read ‘My Lady of Cleves’ last year and I enjoyed this book a lot. Maybe
it’s because the book shows a lot more of who Anne of Cleves was
instead of the widely known ‘Flanders Mare’ and the ugly, stinky, badly
dressed German woman that Henry VIII disliked.
Anne
of Cleves was dependent on her brother William and their mother. She
would help her brother William during state affairs and she had a very
caring nature by helping the less fortunate. Even their mother thought
it would be better for the youngest daughter, Amelia, to go to England
since she couldn’t spare Anne. Despite Anne having pockmarks, Hans
painted a beautiful miniature of Anne (the artist in him seeing a
person’s soul). There are references of her not
speaking good English and that she is simple minded, which is a common
theme in other historical fiction novels that I’ve read.
In
this book, you also see a different side of Henry VIII. In the
beginning, he wasn’t too keen on getting married a fourth time,
especially with a foreigner. He’s pretty content to just be a widower.
He’s a doting, concerned dad when it comes to Prince Edward. Then
there’s the romantic side of Henry VIII when he looks at Anne’s
miniature. He also missed his younger sister, Mary Tudor, which would
lead him wanting a sister-like figure. Throughout the book, Charles Brandon tells Anne of Cleves that there is a different side of Henry VIII that is rarely seen.
The
theme that remains between Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves was that
meeting in Rochester. If only she was told beforehand that Henry VIII
loved to dress in costumes, maybe that meeting wouldn’t have been so
disastrous. In Margaret Campbell Barnes’s
retelling of that disastrous meeting, Anne of Cleves was in disarray
thanks to the works of the Duchess of Norfolk (Katherine Howard’s
grandmother) and Lady Rochfort (George Boleyn’s wife). I guess it makes
the scene set that the Howard clan wanted to get rid of the woman that
Cromwell wanted in order to get another Howard girl on the throne.
Anne
of Cleves tried to go through every little detail in her head after
that disastrous meeting in Rochester. It must have been a surprise when
Archbishop Cranmer visited her at Hampton to convince her to keep the
king’s interest. You couldn’t really blame the poor woman. She was
unable to come up with clever responses because either of lack of
English words or the English words is lost at the tip of her tongue. She
truly tried her hardest in a whole new country. Then the humiliating
scene with King Henry VIII coming to Hampton with Katherine Howard in
tow, just makes things worse for Anne.
There
were some good points in the marriage. When Anne of Cleves finally
meets little prince Edward, she was able to calm his temper so that he
was able to tell what was wrong and be able to play with his father and
siblings. Anne has that gentle, motherly nature, which she shows Henry
VIII and maybe in that brief moment, they acted like a married couple.
Still, Henry VIII still wanted Katherine Howard and eventually the
divorce proceedings will happen.
Despite
the humiliating fact that Henry VIII wanted to divorce her and even had
a statement during a meeting with his council, Anne of Cleves found it
would be better for her to be the much beloved sister of Henry VIII.
Anything is better than having your head cut off. Technically, Anne of
Cleves isn’t totally free because she is unable to go home or to
remarry. Still, she would be given properties, allowance and have the
children (Mary, Elizabeth and Edward) to visit her.
During
her time as sister to the King, she is beloved by many people. On one
side, there are the people in the Protestant party would still believe
her to be their rightful queen. On the other, there are Henry VIII’s
friends who are now more appreciated of Anne. It was an interesting sight
to see Henry VIII come to her house at Richmond and finally see what an
extraordinary person that Anne was. He might have wondered why he never
saw this before when they were married. Henry VIII would eventually
open up to Anne as if she was really his natural sister.
It’s
also funny how she would get back at him for being such a bad person to
humiliate her. For example, when she was ill and stayed in her bed,
there were rumors spreading that she had born the king a son. She
thought that it would be fun to just stay in bed to make Henry VIII
guessing.
Towards
the end, Anne has a better understanding of Henry VIII and would know
how to handle him. During Queen Katherine Howard’s downfall, there was a
possibility of Anne becoming queen once again. It was tempting and they
had a better relationship now but watching little Katherine Howard
making her way to the Tower, Anne knew that it wasn’t worth becoming
queen again. I believe that she was right to think that way. Even so,
she didn’t much care for Katherine Parr to be queen either, mainly
because she can do the household things like Anne can do but also,
Katherine Parr will have Henry VIII’s children.
In
Margaret Campbell Barnes’s story, Hans Holbien would love Anne and vice
versa but of course that can go nowhere. There are times in Anne’s
story that she wished she could have been a wanton woman before marrying
Henry VIII. Also, her dreams of having children would never be
fulfilled. Now that she had her own estates, allowances as sister of the
king, the children of the orphanages, she is a well off
lady and the children of the orphanages are her babies. The transformation in Anne of Cleves is remarkable.
She
would watch friends come and go. She would love her life out in the
country and that is probably the best place for Anne of Cleves. At the
very end of her story, she would help the great King Henry VIII come to
terms with his pending death. I love the ending where she thought that
he was making up for having called her a Flanders Mare.
I
thoroughly enjoyed reading this book for the second time. Anne of
Cleves would have been someone I would get along with and open up to,
knowing that she would keep any secret that I tell her. If Anne of
Cleves was truly the way that Margaret Campbell Barnes made her in this
story, then I would agree with Cromwell when he said that it was
England’s lost to lose such a wonderful woman.
