How It's Used

"'Henry VIII' does not tell the familiar story of the king's six wives (two of whom he had beheaded). Rather, it chronicles his first divorce (from Catherine) and his remarriage, to Anne Boleyn, and it ends with the birth of Anne's daughter Elizabeth, who grew up to become Shakespeare's patron."

—Gioia Diliberto, "An Uphill Push to Close Out the Marathon," The New York Times, June 22, 1997.

"Madison: A young but iconoclastic, eccentric and eclectic magazine from New York that will define cool and whose slogan is 'The Usual Rules Don't Apply.' The December-January issue includes a picture of Kenneth Branagh barefoot, a story about the last days of writer Harold Brodkey, a photo portfolio showing a week in the rice fields of Bali, a women's fashion spread based on the six wives of Henry VIII, and a short, illustrated history of the 'Hollywood' sign in the hills of Los Angeles."

—Michael Kesterton, "Social Studies, a Daily Miscellany of Information," The Globe and Mail (Canada), December 14, 1998.

"Only a quarter of young people (compared with 36% of adults) knew that Richard III was a 15th century king. Only 19% (and 38% of adults) knew Victoria reigned for 64 years.

"Only 26% (63% of adults) recognised D-Day as the date of the Normandy landings in 1944. Some 57% (65%) knew that Henry VIII had six wives. Only 33% (65%) named John Logie Baird as the inventor of TV. And 31% (43%) knew that St George's Day is celebrated on April 23."

—John Ezard, "History 'a closed book' for British youth," The Guardian (UK), November 10, 2001.

"Five of his six wives lived there [Hampton Court Palace]: Anne Boleyn spent her honeymoon (her initials can be seen in the great hall). Jane Seymour died there and Catherine Howard is said to haunt it."

—Helen Rumbelow and Will Pavia, "Ghost of Henry VIII casts shadow over summit," The Times (UK), October 26, 2005.

"Hampton Court still feels like Henry's paean to his own greatness. Walking around it I picture the portly monarch roaring at his servants and chasing after his six wives. Entering the echoing Great Hall I also imagine an extravagant banquet and, below stairs, in the kitchens, an army of cooks plucking and roasting, desperate to please His Majesty."

—Daniel Scott, "Summer at a gentle clip," The Sydney Morning Herald, May 23, 2009.

Links

Beyond eAlmanac
Wikipedia article on the Six Wives of Henry VIII

Product Links
"The Six Wives of Henry VIII" by Alison Weir