I Like her Not !

It was on this day in 1539 that Henry VIII first set eyes on Anne of Cleves. It was at the Bishops Palace in Rochester Kent and Henry was impatient to see his intended bride. He was in disguise which fooled no one but they all played the part anyway. He came away from the meeting crestfallen and said "I like Her not." He then met her formally on New years day but I think by that time the image had been created of her as the Flanders Mare.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and there is no accounting for taste. All sorts of cliches could be made but in the Henry VIII special exhibition still on at Windsor castle there are some water and pin colour sketches of his wives painted by Holbien on display. These are magnificent in detail and Anne of Cleves does not look unattractive at all in comparison to the others. This could be the brush deceiving the eye or she could have been exactly as portrayed either way Henry just did not fancy her but went through with the marraige for the good of the country.

Anne of Cleves out lived all the other wives but after Henry died she was treated very poorly by Parliament depiving her of the money that was rightfully hers by the divorce settlement. She is entombed in Westminster Abbey.