To New Beginnings

I’m nervous about this new marriage. I know Mary is a good match for me but she is old and ugly. She is the total opposite of the Lady Elizabeth, her sister, who is beautiful and full of life. If only she was Catholic, I’m sure the Pope would grant me permission to marry her. Alas she is Protestant, the dreadful faith of the devil. Well maybe I will get lucky and at least get an heir out of the marriage, but maybe not because of her age. Well if not an heir maybe a mistress that can create one, seeing how I do not plan to stay in the same estates as Mary, she is so boring. Maybe Lady Elizabeth will be kind enough to travel around the country with me. And maybe as time goes by Mary will accept that I long for her sister more than I do her. So then she can rule here in England and Elizabeth and I can go to Spain and she will be Queen in everything but name, until Mary dies at least. She would love that, to live lavishly after the hell her sister has put her through. That sounds like a good idea; I’m going to tell Mary to send for Elizabeth, that all of us should be seen together as a family. I’ll make it sound like it is a benefit for her, when really I will start my courtship with Elizabeth.

Hopefully this new Spanish King has seen a picture of me. Maybe if he sees one he’ll fall in love with me and send for me to come to court. I can’t stay here awaiting my horrible fate. If I have the King’s favor I would be so safe from Mary. I know she would never defy her husband, pitiful. She will let him rule England and let him run this country into the ground even more. She obviously did not learn a thing form our mothers’ fates. The only thing men are good for are to help create an heir. I hardly doubt I will ever marry, there is just no need. The only mother I need to be is mother to this country and for its sake hopefully Mary will die at her old age. God knows she can not crate an heir anymore. She is no use for this country at all if it wants to grow. A letter for me, that’s strange no one ever sends me anything these days…

Dear Lady Elizabeth,
King Philip of Spain, your soon to be brother-in-law, would like you back in court before his coronation to become your King. I write to not to worry for I have already told the Queen Mary how I would like all of us to be together. How perfect it would look to the commoners to see their rulers as one big happy family. She is delighted with this plan and is impatiently awaiting your arrival.

Hoping to see you soon,
King Philip

Well, well, well I can’t wait to see you either sister. My time has finally come!

Henry

She was the love of my life. No one in t he world could ever replace her in my heart not even your mother. Don’t get me wrong I loved your mother and would have done anything for her, but Anna was before her and it was true, our love, it was pure and something I never should have given up. Before I fought in the War of Roses Anna was there. She was so beautiful, with her fair skin and rosy cheeks and there was always a look in her eyes like she cared for no one else in the world. I promised her, that she would be my queen when I became King of England. She was usually portrayed as a simple girl because she was not materialistic; she did not need fancy things in her life to make her happy. Trust me she had more than enough to spend money on fancy cloths, and lavish jewels but she chose not to. She always said all she needed in life to be happy was me. I knew that I was the only man for her and she was the only woman for me but fate was unkind to us.
As you know to end the War of Roses we had to come to an agreement and that was for me to marry your mother. I knew if I did this I would be a good king and make England a better place. I also knew to marry your mother to become king would break Anna’s heart and I only wished she knew that my heart was breaking too. I am such a coward, I could not even say it to her face, and I wrote her a letter instead and sent my page to give it to her. I wrote of how much I would miss her, how I would never forget her, and how no body would ever replace her in my heart. With the letter I gave her a pair of pearl earrings, earrings I was going to give her on our wedding day, because she would not accept them before that. A month later I got a letter back from Anna, she had only written three simple words, “I love you”; with the letter there was a portrait of her with her pearl earrings. The portrait was heart breaking, the sadness in her eyes the longing in her face, I have kept both the portrait and the letter with me ever since. I keep them to remind myself of the life I could have had and of the price I paid each day to be king. I buried myself in work to escape the pain I have felt these long years, but it never leaves me.
I tell you this story, Henry, to remind you, even though you are now King of England never let the finer things in life slip away. Don’t let being king get in your way of feeling happy because as soon as you do you will have an unfulfilled life. Henry VII died soon after telling this story to his son, later to be Henry VIII. He never would have thought his story about Anna, the love of his lonely life, would be the driving force behind this son’s tyrannical rein over England.