Henry VIII

This year marks the 500th anninversay of King Henry VIII's ascension to the throne of England, so I thought my blogspot today could be dedicated to him. I had to include a shot of Jonathan Rhys Myers as Henry from the fabouloys 'The Tudors' series that has graced our screens of late, and I eagerly anticipate the new series.

I guess Henry VIII has his admirers and his critics, seemingly he started his reign well but it ended with him as a spoilt, grosteque, huge man whose every whim and mood was felt across his kingdom, some even whisper madness towards the end of his reign and his life, but love him or hate him he was a most charismatic monarch and one, 500 years later, is still firmly in my minds and one, who I doubt will ever be forgotten. As his daugther, Elizabeth I, said "I am my father's daughter..."

He was born in 1491, the second son of Henry VII and younger brother to Prince Arthur. He married his brother's widow, Katherine of Aragon and bore him Mary, later to become Mary I or 'Bloody Mary'. He had six wives in total they being as follows... Katherine of Aragon: the one who refused to divorce him, Anne Boleyn: The one accused of witchcraft, Jane Seymour: the one who bore him a son, Anne of Cleves: the one he hardly knew, Catherine Howard: the one haunted by her past, and finally, Kateryn Parr (Katherine): the one who loved another man and who, incidentally outlived him! He separated England from Roman, he created the Church of England and he appointed himself Defender of the Faith - a title which our present Queen (Elizabeth II) still holds today. He was a great warrior, untouchable at the joust, passionate, vibrant and in his youth a very attractive Prince. I don't want to bore you on my blog with historical and political debate about whether he was a good monarch, a successful monarch etc., this site isn't about that, I just wanted to mark the occasion of his 500th anniversary of the ascension to the English Throne... King Henry VIII - Long live the King!!!