(Natalie Dormer and Sarah Bolger in Showtime's The Tudors)
It was early morning on 25 January 1533 at Whitehall Palace. A clandestine wedding was taking place between King Henry VIII and his pregnant mistress, Anne Boleyn. The ceremony was kept a secret until May of that year, when they ruled Henry’s matrimony to Katherine of Aragon null and declared Anne’s marriage valid. This left Henry and Katherine’s daughter in a horrible position. If their parents’ union had been illegal she was then a bastard and no longer the heir to the throne, which you will agree wasn't the best beginning to a positive relationship between 17 year-old Lady Mary and new Queen Anne.
Mary had grown up being the pearl of her father’s world and witnessing somewhat of a loving bond between her mom and dad, as they had started off their years together quite enamoured with each other. It’s very likely that she didn’t know much, if anything at all, of Henry’s many mistresses but surely she knew about Bessie; the woman who proved to the King that he had no issues to sire sons, thus laying all the blame onto his wife. Little Henry was recognized by Mary’s father receiving the Fitzroy surname.
During the King’s Great Matter years, Mary lived listening to her mother blaming Anne Boleyn for Henry’s actions. She believed Anne used magic and was manipulating her husband, leading him astray, away from God. Both Mary and Katherine were sure he would go back to them if Anne disappeared from the picture. This may have affected Mary’s objectivity when dealing with her stepmother. Later on, Mary would try her best to get back on her father’s graces but she’d never do anything that meant accepting Anne as Queen or stepmom.
It’s said that Anne often encouraged her husband to refrain from seeing Mary, probably to prevent any atonement between the two from happening and maintain her own daughter’s succession privileges. This didn’t get any better when Henry VIII sent Mary to serve her half sister and princess Elizabeth, who received all the attention and respect she once held. Mary refused to call her princess and kept saying she only knew of one Queen of England: Katherine of Aragon, her mother, which infuriated Anne. Mary called her the King’s concubine or mistress, and even Madame Pembroke, but never Queen, Her Majesty nor any other royal title. Anne in turn reportedly said of Mary that “she is my death, and I am hers” and that she wished to subdue Mary’s “proud Spanish blood”. Both women despised each other.
Anne did her best to get close to Mary, nonetheless. In one of her visits to Hatfield House she sent Mary a note to meet her, offering to help her get back at court and repair the relationship with her dad if she only accepted her as Queen. Mary rebuffed her, declaring that the only Queen she knew of was her mother but that she’d be thankful to the King’s mistress if she put in a good word for her. Anne must’ve been furious.
On another occasion, Anne thought Mary had bowed to her after mass and sent one of her ladies to go thank Mary but she immediately denied having done so. Strike two, I guess. Anne wrote to Mary’s governess (surely expecting that the message would reach her stubborn stepdaughter) that when she gave birth to a son, the King’s heart may be already far too gone for Mary to regain his love back if she kept that attitude.
Last reconciliation attempt took place shortly after Katherine’s death, when Anne told Mary that she’d treat her as her own daughter if she accepted her dad’s religious supremacy and her illegitimacy. In my opinion, even if Anne had done it with the best of intentions, it was tactless, insensitive and completely delusional. Mary had never been on her side and had always campaigned for Katherine, claiming her parents’ marriage had been valid and refusing to call Elizabeth princess. Trying to take advantage of her at that moment was a low blow. Her mother was the only thing she’d clinged to besides their faith, and they hadn’t seen each other in years due to Henry’s fear of them both gaining support to raise a rebellion against him. Mary was devastated, alone and probably scared of what would become of her. Anne insinuating she’d be a mom to Mary added more fuel to the fire, making Mary think even worse of her.
Anne, in turn, may have been resentful of Mary. The Queen had been pushing for a French alliance using Elizabeth as marriage bargaining tool, but the French insisted on a wedding with the King’s oldest daughter Mary, which gave both Henry and Anne an inkling that they didn’t consider their marriage as lawful nor Elizabeth as heir.
Mary might’ve been relieved when hearing about Anne’s fall from grace and Jane Seymour’s rise in favour. Jane was Catholic just as she was, and had somewhat of a meek and peaceful aura in contrast to her explosive predecessor. Anne was finally beheaded and Mary surely thought that now that the wicked witch was dead, her dad would come back to his senses, reconcile and undo the heretic reforms he had started to wed Anne. She might’ve been scared, though, when Lady Kingston, wife of the Constable of the Tower, unexpectedly showed up at her door. Her father still wanted her to accept her own illegitimacy and his supremacy as Head of the Church of England, which must’ve shocked her. There was no more Anne but her doting and Catholic father wasn’t back. She tried to meet him halfway, affirming that she’d submit as far as "God and my conscience" allowed her to do, but he didn’t stop until she signed the papers, costing her a great deal of guilt.
Even more surprising, Lady Kingston brought a message from Anne herself. Legend says that while Anne awaited her execution at the Tower she asked Lady Kingston to seek Mary’s forgiveness on her behalf, as she had been unfair to her all those years. Was Anne feeling truly guilty? Or was it part of a last minute plan to keep Elizabeth safe? We now know that one of the last things Anne did as Queen from the Tower was buy some clothing items for her infant daughter. She also talked positively of her estranged husband during her speech, presumably to prevent any more harm done to Elizabeth. Asking for Mary’s forgiveness could’ve been an effort to soften Mary’s feelings and actions towards her little half sister now that her mom wouldn’t be there to bring her up and her dad would most likely hate her.
We’ll never know for sure.
Both girls shared the title of bastards and that could very well have helped Mary treat Elizabeth with love and care, at least during her infancy, before religion and the throne came between them.
Only God knows what Anne and Mary’s relationship could’ve been in other circumstances. Even though their differences in religion were definitely there, so they did with Catherine Parr and they still built a light bond. Anne and Mary were both incredibly intelligent, devout to their own beliefs and loved fashion and dances. In another world maybe they could’ve been friends. In this, unfortunately, they were meant to collide and attack each other in order to survive.
References:
Comentarios