Six Queens: Passion and Peril at the Court of Henry VIII

The Wronged Woman; the Goggle-eyed Harlot; the Obedient Wife; the Flanders Mare; the Good-time Girl; the Nurse. Six wives, six stereotypes, and six women whose real stories need to be told.

Unusually for sixteenth-century royalty, Henry VIII believed that his marriages should bring him personal happiness, choosing women he loved more often than political alliances. Yet each of the women was very different in appearance, temperament, religious outlook, and her relationship with the king.

Join a panel of Tudor experts to hear the truth behind the myths about the Six Wives of Henry VIII and explore not just how each of these women rose and fell in the king’s affections, but how they conducted themselves in the role of queen, how they negotiated the tricky politics of the Tudor court, they brought out the best – or the worst – in Henry, and how their legacies lived after them.

Each speaker will have 25 minutes to speak about their queen. Vote for your favourite queen at the start of the event and then again at the end to see if our experts have persuaded you to change your mind!

This event is in partnership with our friends at which is the online repository for all things Tudor and Stewart (1485–1625). To find out more about Tudor Times please visit their website.

This is in-person only event and won't be recorded or streamed.

This event will take place in the Cathedral nave and your ticket allows entry for the whole day.

Please note that if sat in the transepts and particularly in the side aisles there maybe restricted viewing of the speakers, there will be no visual slides used on the day but those sitting in these areas will certainly be able to hear and take part in any Q&A sessions.

Doors will open at 9.45am for a 10.20am start.

Publications written by our speakers will be available to purchase on the day from the Cathedral shop and our speakers will be more than happy to sign any books purchased.

Catherine of Aragon was a Spanish Princess destined for greatness. She embodied the qualities of a medieval Queen; she was intelligent, well-educated, pious, loyal, and a strong leader. She was also proud, passionate, and outspoken. Henry adored his beautiful Spanish wife, and would trust none of his other consorts with political power in the way that he did Catherine. But Catherine bore no son. Desperate for an heir, Henry replaced her with Anne Boleyn. But should we remember Catherine as the quintessential ‘wronged woman’, or as a skilled political survivor?

Melita Thomas is a historian of the early modern period, a doctoral candidate at UCL and the co-founder and editor of the popular Tudor Times website. She is the author of The King’s Pearl: Henry VIII and his daughter Mary, The House of Grey: Friends and Foes of Kings, and 1000 Tudor People.

The imprisonment and execution of Queen Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII`s second wife, in 1536 was unprecedented in the annals of English history. It was sensational in its day, and has exerted endless fascination over the minds of historians, novelists, dramatists, poets, artists and film-makers ever since. It is also the stuff of which myths and legends were made. Owen Emmerson will speak about one of the most charismatic, controversial, courageous and tragic heroines in history.

Dr Owen Emmerson is a social and cultural historian, author, and consultant. He works as an Assistant Curator at Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn's childhood home. In 2024, he was a historical consultant for the BBC adaptation of Dame Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. Emmerson was part of the research teams that identified the Book of Hours captured in Hans Holbein the Younger’s famous portrait of Thomas Cromwell (2023) and a miniature portrait of Princess Mary (later Queen Mary I) by Suzannah Horenbout (2024). The co-author of five books, he has also contributed to numerous television documentaries, such as The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family (BBC2).

Alison Weir is a bestselling historical novelist of Tudor fiction, and the leading female historian in the United Kingdom. She has published more than thirty books, including many leading works of non-fiction, and has sold over three million copies worldwide.

Her novels include the Tudor Rose trilogy, which spans three generations of history's most iconic family - the Tudors, and the highly acclaimed Six Tudor Queens series about the wives of Henry VIII, all of which were Sunday Times bestsellers.

Alison is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an honorary life patron of Historic Royal Palaces.

In her short time as queen consort, Catherine Howard was praised by diplomats for her elegance, dignity, and charm. After her downfall on suspicion of adultery, those testimonies were forgotten and her entire reputation was shaped by her downfall. Gareth Russell explores Catherine's personality and achievements while she was at the height of her glory, as well as asking what made her take the astonishing risks that led to the scaffold.

Gareth Russell is an historian and broadcaster. He is the author of "Young and Damned and Fair," "The Ship of Dreams" (A Daily Telegraph Best History Book, 2019) and "Do Let's Have Another Drink" (A Times Book of the Year, 2022). He is the host of the podcast Single Malt History and divides his time between Belfast and London.

Dr Linda Porter is the critically acclaimed author of five books on the Tudors and Stuarts. She was also the historical consultant on Lucy Worsley's BBC1 series, Six Wives, and is currently working as a consultant for a major new Tudor documentary for BBC2.

Dr Elizabeth Norton is an historian specialising in queenship. She is the author of Elfrida, The First Crowned Queen of England, England's Queens: The Biography and The Lives of Tudor Women. Her new book, Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy will be published by Footnote Press in September 2025. She is also regularly featured on television.

Jane Seymour, whose motto was ‘Bound to Obey and Serve’, rarely receives much attention. Yet, contemporaries viewed her as the most successful of the six wives. The lowest born woman ever to become queen of England, she was a quiet success in the role. Jane took direct control of her household and lands, secured her stepdaughter’s rehabilitation and, crucially, bore a son. Although only queen for eighteen months, she remains the model of the perfect Tudor queen consort.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Southwark Cathedral, Southwark Cathedral, London, United Kingdom

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