The six wives of King Henry VIII
Ready for a trip back in time? Here at Nat Geo Kids, we’re travelling back to Tudor England in our Henry VIII wives feature. Hold onto your hats – and your heads!
Henry VIII wives…
1. Catherine of Aragon
Henry VIII’s first wife was Catherine of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. Eight years before her marriage to Henry in 1509, Catherine was in fact married to Henry’s older brother, Arthur, who died of sickness at just 15 years old. Together, Henry and Catherine had a daughter, Mary – but it was a son that Henry wanted. Frustrated that Catherine seemed unable to produce a male heir to the throne, Henry had their marriage annulled (cancelled) in 1533. But there’s more to the story, gang – towards the end of their marriage, Henry fell in love with one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting (woman who assisted the queen) – Anne Boleyn…
2. Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn became Henry’s second wife after the pair married secretly in January 1533. By this time, Anne was pregnant with her first child to Henry, and by June 1533 she was crowned Queen of England. Together they had a daughter, Elizabeth – the future Queen Elizabeth I. But, still, it was a son – and future king of England – that Henry wanted. Frustrated, he believed his marriage was cursed and that Anne was to blame. And so, he turned his affections to one of Anne’s ladies-in-waiting, Jane Seymour. And Anne’s fate? Following accusations of numerous crimes, including witchcraft and treason (plotting to kill the king), she was arrested and beheaded. Eek!
3. Jane Seymour
On 30 May 1535, King Henry married Jane Seymour. Unlike his previous wives, however, Jane never had a coronation and so was never crowned Queen of England. Some people believe this was because Henry wanted her to provide an heir to the throne first. And in October 1537, the time had finally come – Henry became the proud father of Prince Edward. But the prince came at a price – Jane took ill and died just two weeks after the birth. She was buried in a tomb at Windsor Castle, and would later become the only one of Henry’s six wives to be buried with him.
4. Anne of Cleves
Henry was single for two years after Jane Seymour’s death. But as time passed, the King and his ministers felt that England needed a foreign ally – and so the hunt for a new bride began! Henry sent a talented painter called Hans Holbein to Germany to paint portraits of the Duke of Cleves’ daughters, Anne and Amelia. Anne’s portrait pleased him, and arrangements were made for the pair to wed. But Anne’s arrival in England proved to be a bit of a disaster to say the least. Seeing her in person, Henry took an instant dislike to Anne and, finding her ugly, referred to her as “The Mare of Flanders”. Poor Anne! Too late to cancel, their wedding took place 6 January 1540, only for the marriage to be annulled a few weeks later.
5. Kathryn Howard
Next in line to marry King Henry VIII was young Kathryn Howard – lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves and first cousin to Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn. By the time they married in July 1540, Henry was 49 years old, overweight and unable to walk, and Kathryn a lively teenager. Delighted with his new wife, Henry is said to have spoilt Kathryn with gifts and called her his “rose without a thorn”. But trouble lay ahead for Kathryn – two years into their marriage, she was accused of being unfaithful to the king. Her fate..? Beheaded!
6. Catherine Parr
The last of Henry VIII wives was Catherine Parr. An educated woman who loved to learn new things, Catherine married Henry on 12 July 1543. She proved to be a kind wife who looked after Henry in his sickness, and a good stepmother to the king’s three children, Mary, Elizabeth and Edward. But yes – you guessed it – she didn’t have it easy with Henry! Her interest in Protestantism (a new religious faith) made her enemies in court – enemies who tried to turn the king against her and have her arrested. Luckily for Catherine, she managed to convince Henry that she was loyal to him and his religion, and was spared execution. Phew! Henry died in 1547, leaving Catherine widowed and free to marry her former love, Thomas Seymour.
Love reading about Henry VIII wives? Leave us a comment letting us know what you think!
Portraits: Getty Images UK
More Like Monarchy

15 fun facts about Queen Elizabeth II

10 fun facts about King Charles III

Queen Victoria’s children

LEAVE A COMMENT
THANK YOU
Your comment will be checked and approved shortly.
WELL DONE,
YOUR COMMENT
HAS BEEN ADDED!
COMMENTS1
Yan
Awesome
kingsly
lily
wow
Margaret
cool!
Franklin
It is interesting
Miss_Copp
LOL! AMAZING
Henry was cool (history)
This is so intresting
AAAAAAAAAAA
happyjoy2009
WOW. Overall fave: Catherine. WHY did she have to die??
bob
this is so cool yay
doglady101
You great info, and I love it! (by the way, I`m subscribed to your mag)
stevegarratt@ntlworld.com
i wish they had this info at school and the internet
Vania
These are some really interesting facts about Henry, he is belived to be a cruel man, who only wanted a son and instead beheaded some of his poor wives
Peyton
These facts are amazing for school and people like history
rogerlance258@gmail.com
I thought Jane Seymour was his kindest and beloved wife according to the Tudours on Stan TV
Buffy
Love everything about Henry's Life
Melissa
this helped me alot with my homework, thx!!
DAVID + COLE
YEA
Teresa[Ye] Kiang
He has so many wives!
Mary am
Really cool amazing fact I always use this website for homework
Chloe
Interesting!
Prekshica
I loved this fact and I know already know what to learn and also I can able to do my homework and revision.
lottie
so interesting
Pip
Fascinating!
Catherine
I like Catherine of Aragon the best
Chrissy2.0
This is cool and very intresting to bad most of those ladies died
Hannah Rahman
Thanks this website is amazing it helped me with my homework
Jeff
I liked Jane Seymour the most it is so sad that she died
Starlight
Why do Henry the VIII need so many wives why can't he just afford one wife rather than 6! I need to investigate more about why he wanted so many wives! What I think was that Henry the VIII was a greedy man that wanted everything he want's.
Sean
He sounds like a weird fella COOL
Awesome girl
I liked Anne Bolyn the best
abbyshanaT
DIVORCED , BEHEADED AND DIED DIVORCED , BEHEADED ,SURVIVED
Catherine Parr is the best.
History
I wonder why King Henry married 6 wives.6!
SEA21
You just taught me something new about king henry.So cool
Ericaamarteifio
King Henry VIII is sooooooooooooo crazzy
Turtle girl
Wow! I never knew this
Amber Chambers
Cool, those facts were amazing!!
Ari12
Amazing! King Henry is so evil though.
WilliamTillman
Very educational and highly interesting
mimi
wow 6 wives
Lovebear5000
Wow I never thought someone can have so many wives!
GIZ12
I ❤️ Henry V111
roseabell
cool
Rawr
Wow.. I gotta tell my friends this!!
History_Lover
Oh my goodness! What amazing new facts to add to my one hundreth book of knowledge on history! Ekkkk can't wait! My teacher would be soooooo proud of me
SquishyDonuts
We liked reading about Henry VIII beheading his wives.
mikail
this is a cool Story!!!
Emma Kate
I LOVE reading about history. this was super cool to read
Charlotte
I was looking at a book about history yesterday and saw somethings about 5 of his wives and could name them but didn't know about the others!!!!:)
Zoe
Amazing, and gruesome
ella scott
great website helped me with my class work
Kate Stanley
I love it!!! Henry was mean
finn-b14
DIVORCED, BEHEADED AND DIED! DIVORCED, BEHEADED, SURVIVED!
Unicorn lover 20
We are learning about Henry and his wives in history thanks for the tips
Mahmoud
Thanks for helping i had an exam about the Tudors and you gave me a lot of information.
Caramel
This really helped me on my Tudor project thx
Shakthi
kind of scary to get beheaded dont you think although it is interesting
KEROLLOS
thank you so much nat geo your the best
misspuppy123
great!
tstrange
Wow very interesting I done my topic about it is awsome
PopularMMOs
Thinking about the wing tomorrows video about Henrys wives maybe for epic proportions!!!
Ellie007
Thank you so much!! This helped me revise for my history exam this afternoon! Nervous!
LIONSAREBAE
Nice facts! My sis loved them!
hfhgh
lol
shadow
thx, helped me with my Homework!!!!!!!!!!
ch3b
Theres a rhyme - divorced ,beheaded,died, divorced ,beheaded,survived!
ted
awesome
ted
cool!!!!!!!!!!
factalicious
amazing
tilly5ooooooo
wow
Toby
EtageAfgdsgrerysrgdyrdgezrgnjlgougio
bob88888
cool
Dolphin1
Wow! I love the facts!
Jasmine4786
I can not believe henry had so many wives!
DSH
This is a very interesting topic. I really enjoyed it!!!!!
Hannahlew
this really helped! thanks :)
madison4569871230
awesome
jeffjones123
not true at all henry had 9 wifes
kurtfgfbjhjhghhg
wow
kitty12
IT IS COOL THANKS IT HAS SO MANY FACTS THAT I NEED XD
zdfgb
cghmdghjmndt
sunhigymnastics555
love tudors lol
Kara cooper
Do yo hav eny fink about Henry v111
fib
what a terrible man me out
Tudors1
Yay!
QTpie
OMG ,cool!
QTpie
I needed to do a presentation . thisll reeally help.thanks!
QTpie
wow
LiZzY20
wow!
Jallen2810
were
Jallen2810
great!!!!
Elephants_are_cool
Thank you so much for this !such a big help!
MOOOOOO
divorced beheaded died divorced beheaded survived
zollow
very good! we r doing tudors 2!
Lucinda
Soooo coool!
CoolMonkey6
Great facts. Thanks a lot
Freddie_Rackstraw6
AWESOME!
Achan
AMAZING
wierdmonkey
we are doing the tudors and this will REALLY help me THANKS!!!!!!
wierdmonkey
cool
Composer
I love tudors awesome website
Dude elephant
This website is amazing
akalabobo
awesome!
Bop
This is a really good wbsite
Cherrybakewell
Thank you soooooo much! I now love history!!! You made history class a breeze! You deserve a big THANK YOU!!!!!
ashton0911
we are doing tudors at school and this has helped me get in front of the class
Marina19942003
Awsome... its full of information i didnt know about Henry the 8th.
Rainbow Tiger24
I love the tudors
Anne_Boleyn_Fan
Amaze! Love it!!!!!
Aishah
That helped me a lot I was so bad at History but now I am so good at it my brothers and sisters are so interested in it and love it when I read it to them they beg my to tell them thank you so much
Blueda
Why do he need to marry again when he already have a son
kiwi
Henry didnt have six wives , apparently three of his weddings were declared nul and droid
Factastic
Amaze . THese facts are hilarious fun and interesting. I love the tudors and I think Anne Boelyn and Anne of Cleeves are pretty in their paintings
anonymouss
poor wives
giraffegir
why did King Henry have to marry so many women
seasand
Wow he had loads of wives!!!
Safiyah
These 10 facts about King Henry Vlll are really good they helped me allot.I would recommend them! King Henry Vlll wives. :)
sinali
thank you
Ariana-Grande
Ive just got to say a massive THANK YOU! You helped me with all my work and last year I used to be rubbish at History and now Im really good at it! lol x
MrDolphinDucks
good facts
Animal_awesome101
Loved learning about this! An easy way to remember the wives is All Boys Should Come Home Please. It has the first letter of their last names
Epicbackflip
That is my very favourate part of history! Anne Boleyn was very beautiful!
james
looked like anne and catherine were popular names
hemlock17
Looks like at that time Catherine was a very common name
keelin
He has a lot of wives!!!! 6 of them!!!!!
marie
add more facts
dude
cool dude
CUSTOMIZE YOUR AVATAR