Anne of Cleves: The Truth Behind Henry VIII's "Ugly" Wife and the Flanders Mare Myth

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Explore the real story of Anne of Cleves, the fourth wife of Henry VIII, often mislabeled as "the ugly one." This video dives into the true reasons behind Henry's displeasure, debunks the infamous "Flanders Mare" myth, and reveals how Anne navigated her annulment with grace, becoming one of Henry's most successful wives. Discover how cultural misunderstandings, political pressures, and Henry's own insecurities shaped the narrative, and learn why Anne's post-annulment life was filled with wealth, independence, and respect at the Tudor court.
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[@timelordvictorious]

I like Lucie Worley’s take on it that Henry had to make her the ugly one because she rejected him and that hurt his ego .

[@sandisteinberg731]

Lucy Worsley is far from the only historian who shares this view.

[@timelordvictorious]

@@sandisteinberg731 ok😅

[@danyf.1442]

Love Anna of Cleves, she managed to get out of an impossible situation not only with her head still on her shoulders, but also with her reputation intact! And as always when she is mentioned I need to quote Six the musical..."funny how we all discuss that, but never Henry's little..." Lol he was just salty she rejected him after his stunt and hurt his ego.

[@johnnzboy]

Wow, I'm impressed - I made my little comment about the "Mare of Flanders" epithet on your recent video only a few days ago and you responded with a video! Lucky us :)

[@Yathome00]

Anne of Cleves was no fool! She knew what she was doing and played her hand brilliantly ❤she obtained wealth and independence and was on excellent terms with the Royal family!

[@chrissy9]

Her sister, Sybylle, had 4 sons, 3 reached adulthood. It would have been ironic if Anne had the potential to give Henry sons

[@hteysko]

Her grandfather was a fertile machine - I think he had like 64 kids. They called him The Babymaker. Imagine if she had inherited that fertility!

[@chrissy9]

@@hteysko oh my, I didn’t know that. A missed opportunity for Henry lol

[@Laramaria2]

That would have been the greatest irony of Tudor England 🤭

[@alancumming6407]

I think the recent restoration of the Holbein does much to promote how attractive Anne actually was. As you said- Holbein was probably saved by his talent. Really enjoyable episode - many thanks.

[@BeanieThe13th]

My mom has a print of the Anne painting by Holbein over her bed. She found it in a box at a yard sale along with other prints of the queens. She didn't know who any of them where but she picked Anne because she really spoke to her. And before I knew who Anne was, I'd always see my mom's picture, and I think she was so beautiful. I still do.

[@Yathome00]

Hans Holbein was the only portraitist in my OPINION who made portraits almost life like. He was brilliant!

[@theresalaux5655]

I love Anne of Cleves. She is my favorite!

[@timelordvictorious]

I’m a Cathrine parr fan

[@Judykag]

What a terrible way to be remembered through history. Pictures prove otherwise. To me Katherine Howard was no beauty .but Henry had to come up with something.

[@Laramaria2]

I'm going to my grave defending Anne of Cleves 💁🏻‍♀️ She was too good for Henry!

[@williamegler8771]

She wasn't ugly. Holbein wouldn't have painted her as beautiful and threatened his very profitable relationship with the Tudors. She was characterized as attractive and pleasant looking if not beautiful by several of her contemporaries. She was different than the Tudor perception of beauty because she was supposedly voluptuous as opposed to thin and had a swarthy complexion as opposed to a very pale complexion. Her education differ from that of a a Tudor courtier because she was taught domestic skills and how to run an estate. By this time Henry was obese and most likely suffered from type 2 diabetes and he chose to portray her as ugly because he was most likely impotent and Little Henry wasn't up to the task and he had to blame somebody.

[@hteysko]

I mean, did you actually watch the video, or did you just comment? Because I literally said most of that that in the video :) Great minds, haha.

[@williamegler8771]

@hteysko I watched the first few minutes but it was basically a repeat of what I've heard dozens of times before so I just commented. I'm German and grew up near Dusseldorf and have seen portraits of Anne and numerous members of her family. They certainly are not handsome or beautiful by contemporary standards to most people but they certainly aren't ugly.

[@hteysko]

@@williamegler8771 Which again, is what I said in the video, haha. Have you read the books by Heather Darsie? She's a tudor historian who looks at tudor history through a german lens - I interviewed her several years ago about Anna. Here's the video - might give you something different, since you've heard so much of everything dozens of times :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIGrdoeEpL9ob9k

[@thomashattey8037]

Woujdbt be understood by all thT the portrait portrait would be. Flattered? This wS lingerie Cromwell "paint me warts and all?