Episode Transcript
Good day, goblins. I hope you all enjoyed a splendid and spooky holiday last month. I do love October… and now we have several chilly months ahead to look forward to. For those in the Phoenix area, I’m sure the cold will be here soon. For everyone else in those less temperate zones, I hope you have a cozy spot to call your own while you take a moment to ponder all that lurks in the shadows. For today’s episode, I’m honoring a special birthday request for more ghost stories.
I mean, who doesn’t love a good ghost story? And I have several to share today. But rather than just running through an assortment of haunted places, I thought it would be fun to focus on the ghosts that surround one historical figure: King Henry VIII of England.
Now, I know someone who shares his name with this king, but I’m pretty sure that’s where the shared attributes end.
Henry VIII was born on June 28, 1491 and became King of England on April 22, 1509, at the age of seventeen. He ruled until his death on January 28, 1547, at the age of 55. His 38 years ruling England were certainly lively ones. Henry introduced a number of reformations that had tremendous impact across the religious and political spectrum of England and beyond during his life and in the generations that followed.
But it was Henry the VIII’s romantic life, and his six wives, that has held our fascination for centuries.
Six wives at the turn of the 16th Century was frowned upon in England. I mean, this king has been married more times than Nicolas Cage. Although, to be fair, Nic Cage is only 57 so he might have a couple more walks down the aisle - no offense to his current union.
Anyway… The six wives of Henry VIII have been a much discussed subject from the Tudor Court straight through to today.
Think about it. Six wives at the beginning of the 16th Century? Seriously, you couldn’t just get a $29 divorce back then. Divorce wasn’t even allowed. One needed special dispensation from the Pope to get an annulment, but there really weren’t other options when Henry VIII sat on the throne. And his mercurial nature in the arena of love led to a lot of distraught women, a couple beheadings, and maybe a cloaked murder or two.
And, what do we know about ghosts, kids? They often emerge from grisly moments in human history, large or small. If we hold to this as a solid theory, which I’m not necessarily suggesting we do, King Henry VIII likely left a trail of ghosts in the wake of his life.
And that, dear listeners, is what I want to talk about today. The ghosts of Henry VIII.
So….. how to attack this topic. Chronologically seems the most practical choice, at first, but then you have to consider… chronologically by date of death? By order of marriage or association? Maybe by the popularity of the ghost?
I guess I’m going to start with the wives. In Order of marriage. It seems like the best organizing option at the moment.
So, Catherine of Aragon was the first bride of Henry VIII. The two were married on June 11, 1509 and remained as such until their annulment on May 23, 1533. Catherine was briefly married to Henry’s older brother, Arthur, who died roughly five months after they were wed. Rather than returning her hefty dowry, King Henry VII decided it was better to marry off his second son to this princess of Spain despite the fact that the future king was still a teenager and five years younger than Catherine.
Fast forward from Catherine’s marriage to Henry at the age of 23 until the marriage was annulled when she was 47. That’s a long time to be married before declaring the marriage invalid. Too long, if you asked the pope at the time. In fact, Pope Clement VII refused to grant Henry an annulment, no matter how vehemently he pursued it.
And King Henry was adamant about getting that annulment. It was the only way he was going to get what he wanted - a brand new bride and the hope of a male heir.
True story. During his 24 year marriage to Catherine of Aragon, she carried six pregnancies to term but only had one child survive infancy. Mary, later known as Queen Mary I of England, was born in 1516. She was not, however, a son and the king wanted a son to secure the future of his throne.
Whether driven by this desire for a son and heir or his philandering nature, history might not ever know, but we do know that Henry VIII sought to marry Anne Boelyn as early as 1525. And, to do that, he needed to be free of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The English king insisted that his marriage to Catherine should never have happened. That it went against God’s will because she had previously been wed to his brother and maybe she was lying about that bit about not-consummating the union with Arthur. Being married to his brother’s widow was not just inconvenient, but incestuous, according to the King, and proof of God’s displeasure could be seen in the lack of children their marriage yielded. Obviously.
But, no, the pope opposed the annulment, as did many other important people of the day, including Queen Catherine herself. But the king didn’t care.
He split from the Catholic Church and, in doing so, separated England from the rest of the nations within the Holy Roman Empire. The Church of England was consequently established and Henry VIII named himself the head of that institution. It was a pretty tumultuous move, but Henry maintained a staunch belief in the divine right of kings so, you know, for him, no big deal. Kings get to do whatever they deem fit. God said so by making them king.
Catherine disagreed. That didn’t matter. A special court was called and her marriage to Henry was determined to be unlawful. She was named Dowager Princess of Wales, as King Arthur’s widow, and sent off to live at various castles away from both Henry's court and her daughter, Mary.
She died at Kimbolton Castle in 1536, just a few short years after her banishment, which brings us to our first ghost.
Supposedly, the ghost of Catherine of Aragon still wanders the halls of Kimbolton Castle. Funny considering she spent most of her time in Kimbolton Castle within the confines of her room. Catherine had a reputation for being a pretty hardcore Catholic and her subsequent divorce from the king under the newly formed Church of England only strengthened her commitment to her faith. She only left her room to attend Mass. And it was said that she wore a hair shirt and frequently fasted.
But residents and visitors at Kimbolton Castle claim to have seen Queen Catherine moving across the floors… sort of. On one floor of the castle, you can see her head and shoulders, but you’ll have to go down a level to see her legs. That’s because the building has been subject to a number of remodeling efforts, one of which repositioned the floor where Catherine once walked. Hence, you can only see half of her depending on which floor you happen to be on.
Kimbolton Castle became a school in 1950 and remains so today. Can you imagine heading off to boarding school with a long gone Queen of England wandering the halls? Like the uniforms aren’t scary enough.
Now, Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, has captivated historians and fans of historical romance novels, alike. The details are so tawdry it’s hard to imagine anything juicier in fiction.
First of all, King Henry had an affair with Mary Boleyn and then pivoted to pursue her sister, Anne. Her sister! He actually married Anne before his marriage to Catherine was declared void and then he announced that he’d already remarried on the very same day the annulment was awarded him. All of this took place in the early part of 1533. Elizabeth, daughter to Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, was born in September of that year. Whether premature, as contended by the crown, or conceived before the ink was on the marriage contract, we’ll never know.
Not that it mattered to Henry VIII in the least. He beheaded Anne Boleyn and declared Elizabeth illegitimate, just as he had done with his first daughter, Mary. True story. Before long, Henry grew tired of Anne and angry that she dared to have a daughter instead of a son. And then, a miscarriage in 1536 began the end of their marriage.
King Henry was ready to shake free of another wife and this one wasn't the daughter of Spanish monarchs. Nope, she wasn’t protected by national alliances or the Vatican… Anne was charged with adultery, witchcraft, incest, and treason. Five men, including her brother George, were accused of carrying on affairs with the Queen. They were all found guilty and executed. The men, Anne, everyone. Anne was executed on Tower Green on May 19, 1536.
Claims of hauntings by the ghost of Anne Boleyn have occurred everywhere from her childhood home of Hever Castle to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court, where she spent time as Henry's queen. Yep, the ghost of Anne Boleyn gets around when it comes to sightings, with or without her head. Some people even claim to have photos of her otherworldly form which the Daily Mail or Daily Star will print on occasion.
Okay, so Rochford Hall in Essex is where the king first courted Anne and he then gifted it to her. A tunnel system is rumored to exist beneath the manor house so the King could discretely come and go as he pleased. These days, a headless woman has been sighted by visitors here.
At the same time, guards at the Tower of London have reported a ghostly form in white bearing a striking resemblance to the late queen.
And, one story claims the ghost of Anne Boleyn rides in a coach driven by a headless horseman to Blickling Hall while the queen sits with her own head on her lap every year on the 19th of May, the anniversary of her execution.
Maybe Anne Boleyn’s phantom form relives the days of her life and changes locations as she moves through memories. Who really knows.
King Henry’s next wife, Jane Seymour, was formerly a lady-in-waiting to the previous queen, just as Anne Boleyn had once served Catherine of Aragon. Jane Seymour and the King wed the day after Anne was executed. Less than a year after the wedding, Jane gave birth to a son. Prince Edward, as he was named, would become King of England after his father, but his reign would prove short-lived.
Jane would not live to see her son crowned king. She died 12 days after his birth.
And now Jane Seymour is believed to be the "White Wraith'' that haunts Hampton Court. Her phantom apparition has been seen in the Queen's apartments, around the Clock Court, and on the Silverstick stairs. Her ghost is dressed in white and carries a candle to light her way, but she remains ever silent.
Now, Henry’s fourth wife was a power pick. Yes, Anne of Cleves was the sister of an important ally of the King. In the year of 1540, Henry VIII married and then left Anne of Cleves after receiving his second annulment from the Church of England. This time he claimed the marriage wasn’t consummated. Anne didn’t argue and the marriage was dissolved.
Henry gave her the title of “King’s Sister” and a couple of fancy estates. Probably for not objecting to the annulment. It was the smart move. Less likely to be murdered by the king that way. And maybe that’s why Anne of Cleves is the one wife who escaped a ghostly eternity haunting the living.
And, next up, we have one of the more tragic unions of the lot… and only 19 days after the king dissolved his marriage to Anne of Cleves!
Catherine Howard was 17 when she married the 49 year old Henry. She was cousin to Anne Boleyn and had previously served as her lady-in-waiting. Love’s bloom faded fast here. She would be stripped of her crown less than a year later.
Not to be confused with King Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, Catherine Howard was accused of adultery. She claimed one of her supposed lovers had forced her into adultery. He then responded by exposing another lover. Everyone was killed in 1542. The purported lovers first, and then Catherine was beheaded on February 13th of that year. She was only 19.
According to the story, Catherine Howard escaped the guards and ran through the halls of Hampton Court screaming for mercy from the king after the accusation of adultery. Her pleas went unanswered and the young queen was dragged back to her chambers.
Her screams can still be heard in that same hallway. The ghost of Catherine Howard is the most commonly reported supernatural sight at Hampton Court. In fact, the hallway where her screams have been heard is commonly known as the Haunted Gallery.
With the King's final marriage, to Catherine Parr, in 1543, he found himself reconciled with his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth and the Third Succession Act put them in line for the throne once again. After their younger brother Edward, obviously.
Henry VIII died on January 28, 1547 after suffering from poor health for years. Despite his many wives and an even greater number of mistresses, Henry’s lineage would end with the few children he had that survived into adulthood.
Look at that! We are out of time! I didn’t even get to talk about extraneous ghosts from King Henry, like Cardinal Wolsey or Sir Thomas Moore. Or the ghosts of his children. There’s even a cursed town in Connecticut that traces back to King Henry VIII. And the list goes on. Ugh, we might need to revisit this.
Well, we’re off to a good start, I’d say. Maybe one day I’ll go visit the ghostly wives of King Henry VIII in person. Maybe bring them some flowers and a thimble full of brandy.
Until next time, let’s celebrate shorter days, longer nights, and the time of year when we chase off the chill of darkness with merriment. So go forth, make merry, and find your light in the darkness.
Thanks for tuning in.
