Henry the VIII's Wives

Kathryn Howard

Kathryn Howard was born in 1521. She was a first cousin to Anne Boleyn, Henry's second wife, the ill fated Queen. She was bought up in the household of Dowager Duchess of Norfolk's home.

Kathryn came to court as a lady in waiting to Anne Cleves, Henry's fourth wife and Queen. She was 19.Sixteen days after Henry was free of Anne, he married Kathryn on July 28, 1540. The King was 49 and thirty years older then his young bride.

Henry was suffering with an ulcerated leg and Kathryn lifted his spirits. She was his zest for his life and he called her his 'rose without a throne.

Less then a year after their marriage, it was rumored that she had been unfaithful to the King. Things looked worse for her when she appointed one of her admirers as her personal secretary. Her powerful family had many enemies.

By November 1541, the Archbishop informed the King there was evidence against Kathryn that she had been unfaithful. Henry didn't believe it at first but investigations claimed that she was being unfaithful. {Isn't this a pattern for Henry and his Queens?} She was executed on the Tower Green on February 13, 1542 and was laid to rest next to her cousin Anne Bolelyn in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London.
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