Fragments of Anne Boleyn & the Man who Smashed Her

December 17, 2021

What is known today about historical figures is diluted, as accurate written records are lost and destroyed. The modern day audience has only media representations to learn about people of the past, whether they are historically accurate or not, there is almost no way to tell other than comparing written records. In addition, late twentieth century and twenty-first century media depicting prominent historical events are often dramatized for marketing purposes. In addition, racism, sexism, and homophobia have muddled the history of many noted female and POC figures, resulting in an imprecise present day view and an unreliable understanding of their accomplishments and actions. In the case of Anne Boleyn, second wife of King of England Henry VIII, her true identity has been diluted over time due to historical records and sexism of their keepers, so what people know about this ex-queen is based solely on adaptations through film or literature, such as Wolf Hall, The Tudors, and The Other Boleyn Girl. When viewed through multiple, disparate lenses of modern-day media, Anne Boleyn, as a character, is never given a consistent representation.

In Hilary Mantel’s 2009 historical novel Wolf Hall, Anne Boleyn is depicted as quiet and independent, unique from other noblewomen in the book, but nevertheless is still underestimated by her male acquaintances. Anne’s introduction to the throne is all due to the actions of her ambitious older sister, Mary Boleyn. Here, the sisters are compared more drastically, with the opinionated narrator saying, “Mary Boleyn is a kind little blonde, who is said to have been passed all around the French court before coming home to this one, scattering goodwill, her frowning little sister always trotting at her heels” (Wolf Hall 61). Mary is painted as whore who was placed into the kingdom (first the French, now the English) by her parents and forced to sleep her way to power, while Anne remains the younger sister who is prepped to snatch power once it is in her reach. Consistently throughout the book, Mary is referred to as a whore. After Anne birthes a girl, baby Elizabeth, Henry is immediately reassured that maybe next time she will birth the male heir that he wants by Thomas Cranmer, saying that “The queen is strong and her family are fertile. You can get another child soon” (397). This statement in the middle of the book refers to her family members, namely Mary, sleeping around a lot — a mark that she never seems to dispossess. In opposition to Mary’s reported lewdness, Anne is continually described by the men around her as a clean and god fearing young woman. Cromwell describes her as “stand[ing] by the window, her fingers tugging and ripping at a sprig of rosemary. When she sees him, she drops it, and her hands dip back into her trailing sleeves” (164) and later by the narrator as “wear[ing] a gold chain. Sometimes her fingers pull at it impatiently, and then she tucks her hands back in her sleeves. It is so much a habit that people say she has something to hide” (198). In her descriptions, both by the narrator and the men of the court, she is seen as a coy and timid young woman, her body hidden behind layers of fabric, pure and even in her appearance. After wedging her way into the heart of Henry VIII, she refuses to become his mistress, as he is still married to Katherine of Aragon. During a conversation between Cardinal Wolsey and his friend George Cavendish, they begin to realize the cunningness behind Anne’s plan to get into (or at least near) the throne. After stating that Anne only liked Harry Percy, her significant other at the time, for his title, Cavendish realizes that the king only prohibited the marriage of Anne and Harry Percy so that he could make the move himself, it already being slightly known around the court that Henry is having an affair with Anne’s older sister, Mary. The narrator says of the affair, “Queen Katherine, whose boys have all died, takes it patiently: that is to say, she suffers” (63). confirming that the current Queen Katherine is aware of and tolerates Henry’s infidelity with Mary, and assumably will not do much about other women that Henry surrounds himself with, such as Anne Boleyn. As Henry begins to enjoy having Anne around more in hopes of making her his mistress instead of her sister, the narrator says “The Lady Anne, whom he has chosen to amuse him, while the old wife is cast off and the new wife brought in, refuses to accommodate him at all. How can she refuse? Nobody knows” (66). The narrator conveys the shock of the Royal Court — how a woman with no solid social standing is able to attract the eyes of the king while not having sex with him and actively refusing to before marriage. Even though Anne was born into a family that held no power or land titles, he has still chosen to marry her over any other woman, even the sitting Queen. She denies his physical and sexual advances, however, he is still outwardly in love with her. Cromwell is talking to Wolsey, the two men plotting to get Anne onto the throne to remove the cruel Katherine:

“If the king doesn’t tire of Anne quickly,” he tells the cardinal, “I don’t see what you are to do. We know princes please themselves, and usually it’s possible to put some gloss on their actions. But what case can you make for Boleyn’s daughter? What does she bring him? No treaty. No land. No money. How are you to present it as a credible match at all?” (77)

Eventually, Anne convinces Henry to break apart from the Catholic church in order to divorce Katherine so that they can be married and have marital intercourse. When Mark, a young musician is practicing a piece he is to play as a present for Anne, he is giddy, asking “So when I am with Lady Anne she is sure to notice me, and give me presents… and look on me with favor. Don’t you think?” (139). He is reminded by an unnamed and out of sight servant that “[Anne] is no maid. Not she” (139). Her being known for her refusal of premarital sex and therefore purity and perfection remains associated with her — the idea that she would even think of cheating on Henry is immediately shut down. However, a rumor has begun concerning Anne’s loyalty to Henry and her past partner Harry Percy, with the narrator saying “Well, perhaps, [Cromwell] says, but he tells him about the boy Mark, the musician, who seems sure Wyatt’s had her; if the story’s bouncing around Europe, among servants and menials, what are the odds the king hasn’t heard?” (160). In an attempt to refute these claims, Cromwell says:

Yes, but Anne…’ he senses, from his glimpses of her, that she is unlikely to be moved by anything so impermanent as beauty. ‘These few years she has needed a husband, more than anything: a name, an establishment, a place from which she can stand and negotiate with the king. Now, Wyatt’s married. What could he offer her?’ (160)

Once the adultery rumors start amongst the servants, her original presence of being wholesome and maidenly is instantly forgotten. Cromwell, who feels like he knows her best out of the men of the Court, attests that these rumors cannot be true as she is not shallow enough to have an affair just because the other man is attractive. In the novel, despite Anne’s confiningly royal marriage, she still manages to display a definite independence throughout her presence in the novel. She is a unique character for a piece of literature set in this time, she is fierce and fights for her own leadership. Even though her husband is the sitting King of England, Anne acts with bravery, the narrator saying that “Anne lets [Henry] treat her fairly normally, except when she has a sudden, savage seizure of I-who-will-be-Queen, and slaps him down” (194). Rather than being an obedient wife who stands only as a symbol of beauty, she acts as a strategist and helper to Henry. Speaking of Henry and Anne, Cromwell says, “He’s frightened of her, you know” (52). All can tell the difference between how Henry made Katherine act versus Anne’s apparent freedom. Even Anne herself sees it, proclaiming while about to give birth, “They say the people love Katherine, but really, it is just the women, they pity her. We will show them something better. They will love me, when this creature is out of me” (383). Her competitive nature is evident here — she is not content with herself, even when she is the sitting Queen of England. Additionally, in a conversation with Cromwell, Norfolk, Anne’s uncle but also one of Henry’s closer councilmembers, says that “‘Anne’s out for bloody murder. She wants [Wolsey’s] guts in a dish to feed her spaniels, and his limbs nailed over the city gates of York” (198). Anne’s dislike of Wolsey is due to his religion and therefore his denial to divorce Katherine and Henry. A woman that has been thirsty for power as early as her sister began sleeping around for it, Anne’s ruthlessness is displayed here, but due to the book being based around Cromwell, there are no solo scenes with Anne — shutting out the audience at the proposed aggressiveness that she would not want the public to see about herself. In Wolf Hall, Anne has proved herself unconventional when compared to other women shown in the novel. From the beginning of the novel, Anne presents as beautiful and quiet on the surface, but is observant and strong-willed when needed.

In the 2007 television series The Tudors, Anne Boleyn begins her rule as a resilient and promising monarch but is swallowed by her unwavering demand for revenge. In the first season she emotionally acts very erratic and distant. She shows cruelty only to those who stand in or near her path to the throne, but is kind and sweet to those who show her love. When Katherine or Henry enter the room, the entire court is supposed to bow. When helping prepare the queen for bed one night, Anne begins to help Katherine to tie on her nightcap, but Katherine pushes her hands away. She turns to Anne, aware of her desire for Henry:

KATHERINE: Lady Anne! I know what you are doing. But do not think you can take the king away from me. Let him play with you, let him… give you gifts. But he cannot give you his true heart… for I have that in my keeping. (“True Love”)

Anne curtsies, and leaves Katherine’s chambers. Katherine, who obviously fears Anne and the idea that her crown may be taken from her, attempts to warn Anne away from the heart of her husband. Still, Anne, as her lady-in-waiting, does a slight mock of a curtsy to Katherine whenever she enters the room, in retaliation for still being married to the man she loves. Sir Thomas More says of Katherine regarding Anne’s advances “I fear for the Queen. They say Anne Boleyn hates her openly and her daughter, too. She’s made threats against the child” (“Checkmate”). An unnamed female member of the court waves away this statement, reminding him that he has children of his own and by spreading false rumors about the new lover of the king, they might not be safe. These reported threats are later shown in a conversation between Anne and her brother George:

ANNE: I’m unable to give a King a son. As long as Mary is alive, she could be Queen.

GEORGE: No, your daughter will be made heir to the throne.

ANNE: The king can change his mind. (“The Act of Succession”)

Relatively early on in their marriage, Anne exhibits that she has lost trust in her husband, if it was ever there at all. This account also displays that the less important members of the Royal Court are aware of Henry’s growing distaste for Katherine and his plans to leave her, in the end pursuing Anne. Anne’s actions towards Katherine remain stony-hearted, such as making direct eye contact with Katherine whenever she makes her entrances into the court, both women knowing that the queen is losing her grip on Henry — fast. In season two, the pair are still yet to be married as the other pair has yet to be divorced. They have begun making public appearances together, such as attending communion together at church. Shortly after Henry informs Anne that he has just made himself Head of the Church of England in an attempt to both win her over and also solidify her hand in marriage, just scenes later he ruins it for himself again. Anne comes to Henry in his chambers, stomping indignantly. She interrogates him, stating that she has just found out that Katherine still makes Henry’s clothing. Forcing eye contact with him, she says “You can’t have three people in a marriage!” (“Everything is Beautiful”). Without a sensible retort, Henry takes this as her last straw. In the third episode, a lot of information is crammed in. Henry and Anne rushedly wed in secret, having had sex for the first time the night before. In addition, Anne gives birth to her healthy baby girl Elizabeth. Upon being told that the baby is a girl, Anne bursts into tears. Itching for a male heir, Henry is told of the baby’s gender and halts mid-chortle, his face expressionless. Immediately Anne looks to him, saying “I’m so sorry.” With a dull expression, Henry takes a deep breath and sternly reminds her “You and I are both young and by God’s grace, boys will follow” (“Checkmate”). This is the first time that the audience sees Anne in a truly emotive state. The episode ends as Anne is holding her newborn child, smiling slightly, then the scene abruptly cuts to Henry passionately kissing Lady Eleanor, a woman he had already arranged to meet with earlier that day, even before the birth of his baby girl, then cuts back to the new queen, now elated. This is the first time that the audience sees her actually smile due to happiness, the other times, such as her coronation (“Checkmate”) and revenge-seeking glances at Katherine (“His Majesty, the King”) seem to be smiles out of spite. Her happiness in this scene, though short lived in the overall series, foreshadows the true love and affection she would give her daughter, unlike how she treats anyone else in show save for her beloved sister Mary. After the suffering and guilt she felt upon birthing the incorrect result, even though it was out of her personal control, she tries harder to get pregnant again, but eventually brutally miscarries, possibly driven by the stress her husband has placed on her to conceive a male heir. This is revealed brutal scene where Anne is surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting, she coats her fingers in the bloody stream of her miscarriage, crying, she faints at the thought that she could let her husband down again (“His Majesty’s Pleasure”). In following episodes, Anne continuously has dreams that Katherine and her daughter Mary Tudor are trying to take her down, proclaiming again to her brother:

ANNE: I had the dream, again.

GEORGE: Anne.

ANNE: I told you — I am her death and she is mine.

GEORGE: For God’s sake!

ANNE: So long as they are both alive, I can’t be safe. Why doesn’t Katherine just die? Everyone keeps telling me how ill she is. Why doesn’t she die?

GEORGE: Stop it!

ANNE: And, I had a thought. The next time Henry goes abroad, I shall be left as

Regent. I can just order their deaths.

GEORGE: You’re crazy! Stop it! Stop it. You’re the Queen of England. For the love of God, act like it! After all, you were a Lady to Queen Katherine. You saw and heard how she behaved. It seemed to me she never betrayed her real feelings. Can you not be more like her? … At least seem happy, not a heap of misery. (“Matters of State”)

This scene marks the beginning of the transition of Anne’s power-craze into just a normal craze. The honor and force that she holds has driven her into a state of madness — the idea that she can truly do anything triggers the megalomania that had propelled her to the crown in the first place. In George’s attempt to straighten Anne’s violent thoughts out, he instead makes her feel more isolated. Her routine of showing both verbal and physical hostility to those that stand in her way of gaining power while acting sweet and kind to those that show her true familial love displays her inconsistent and temperamental pathos and how it rules her decision-making. Both in her decisions and as a person, Anne Boleyn is brazen and brave, even standing up to Henry when they first meet. As Mary Boleyn has already slept with Henry on-and-off as one of his mistresses, hers and Anne’s father Thomas Boleyn suggests that perhaps Anne has a turn, in order to give more power to their family:

THOMAS: His Majesty is tiring of your sister. He no longer invites her to his bed.

ANNE: They say that all his liaisons are soon over.

THOMAS: Sweet Anne, perhaps you could find a way to keep his interest more prolonged? (“In Cold Blood”)

Thomas, trusting in Anne’s diligence and cunningness, chooses his younger daughter to take the place of Mary in the bed of Henry VIII. In a masquerade event, they meet, and Henry first sets his eyes on Anne. (“Wolsey, Wolsey, Wolsey!”) The next time he sees her, however, Henry tells her that he desires her with all of his heart and that he needs to have him. He also gifts her a necklace, which she reveals to George, who raises his eyebrows and smirks, proud of her endeavors (“His Majesty, the King”). While her other variations in Wolf Hall and The Other Boleyn Girl state that they do not kiss until the night before they are married, he then grabs Anne by the throat and forces her into a kiss. She pulls herself off him, smiling, saying “Her majesty expects me” (“His Majesty, the King”). Her actions here — choosing to be with the queen rather than have intercourse with the king — reveal her purity and piety to him, which makes Henry desire her even more. As her plan furthers, Henry continues to fall for it. He carries on courting her, with her refusing to do anything farther than kiss him until the season one finale. In the woods, she finally gives in and she does not allow him to reach orgasm, which sends him into a rage. However, she is aware that the throne is in very, very close reach, as he chose to start their physical affair in the forest rather than in his chambers, where his servants and subjects would begin to catch on. To Anne, this means that he plans to marry her somewhat soon, so they cannot be messing around in public together. Much later on, in season two, as their marriage falls apart, and Anne, drunk, tormented by him continuing on his habit of having affairs, and at the end of her rope comes to him in his chambers.

ANNE: No, no you told me. You said we should always be truthful with each other. You said it was the definition of love. 

HENRY: Then there’s truth. You must shut your eyes and endure, like your betters have done before you.

ANNE: How can you say that to me? Don’t you know I love you a thousand times more than Katherine ever did?

HENRY: Don’t you know I can drag you down as quickly as I raised you? ‘Tis lucky you have your bed already, Madam. Because if you did not, I would not give it back to you again. Francis won’t accept the betrothal [with Elizabeth].... Because the Pope and the Emperor all agree she is a bastard. And you are not my wife. (“The Definition of Love”)

Anne sinks back into the bed and shakily stares at the wall as his words set in — she has lost her place as queen to Anne Seymour, whom she has seen leaving Henry’s chambers multiple times. As her romanticized view of royalty begins to fade, her fate begins to be solidified by Henry’s iron decision-making. Due to the visual tangibility of a TV show, the audience is able to see a more emotional view of Anne. When she informs Henry that she has become pregnant for the second time (which will become the aforementioned miscarriage in “His Majesty’s Pleasure”), she, knowing and unwillingly accepting of his chronic infidelity, heads for her lady-in-waiting, and cousin, Madge. She sits Madge down:

ANNE: But would it surprise you to learn that one of your admirers is the king?

MADGE: It’s not true.

ANNE: It is true.

MADGE: But I always remember what Your Majesty told us about not being lewd and setting a standard. (“The Act of Succession”)

Anne explains to Madge the unspoken rule of pleasing the king that the ladies-in-waiting must tend to if she herself cannot. She presents the invitation to Madge while smiling and knitting, happy to please her husband in the public eye of her chambers. Shortly after, however, Anne runs to her bed and cries, with her head placed in her bedding, revealing that she is truly not able to give up Henry to another woman, even though she did so of her own volition. Jane Seymour is asked to be brought to court by Henry to her father, and the next day she becomes a lady-in-waiting to Anne. Anne, now heavily pregnant, is experiencing stomach pains so she comes back to her chambers to lie down. As she walks in, verbally groaning in pain, she sees her newest lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour, sitting on Henry’s lap in her chair. Originally shocked at seeing this blatant mockery of the sanctity of Her Majesty’s chambers, it turns to fury as she slams the door, making a scene. She bursts into more tears alone in her room, feeling betrayed by her ladies-in-waiting and especially by her husband. In an attempt to control his imminent infidelity by gifting him Madge (which took a lot of her own courage), she is mad that he could not even be satisfied with just one woman, one that Anne trusts, and had to go off and bring another to court. Anne, knowing that this was exactly how she got the crown in the first place, sees a brand new necklace on Jane’s neck and sees that her future as the queen is truly done for. In The Tudors, Anne Boleyn is perceived not as a quiet monarch but as a brutal and easily jealous woman who had cunning ideals at first, but as Henry becomes fed up with her independence and seals her fate, she is shown as the weak and emotional woman that was hidden by her rise to power in the public eye.

In the 2008 film The Other Boleyn Girl, Anne Boleyn is portrayed as a jealous and ambitious vixen that uses manipulation to get her way. As she is in the other historical adaptations, Anne and Mary begin close, hugging and holding hands before Mary is to be married off. However, as the film progresses, Anne is used as an oversexualized pawn in order to gain power for herself and her father. Thomas Boleyn greets his daughter, having spoken with Norfolk about incorporating his daughter as one of Henry’s mistresses. Thomas proposes to her:

THOMAS: An opportunity has arisen. An opportunity in which, were you to succeed, you could secure for yourself and for this family incalculable wealth and position.

...

ANNE: So that I can bed him instead?

NORFOLK: Exactly. (Chadwick, 2008, 0:11:23)

Bewitched by her father’s explanation of the wealth and social status that she could hold if she succeeded in gaining the king’s affection, which she refers to when telling her sister as “a commission” to “divert him” (0:15:53). Mary soon becomes displeased with her relationship with her husband, and is summoned to go to court by the king himself despite Mary’s pleas on how she does not want to go (0:28:18). From Anne’s perspective, this is where she begins to gain her reputation as a whore who is attempting to ruin Anne’s plans to be queen. Mary begins to fall for the king, and they have a passionate affair while he is still married to Mary, who soon becomes pregnant with his child. With the situation being orchestrated by the girls’ father and uncle, they immediately call to send in Anne to please Henry while Mary is “too ill to perform intercourse” (0:46:17). With both sisters’ hearts set on the same man — Mary for love and an escape from her husband and Anne for the gaining of riches and power — they both see each other as an act of betrayal. In an attempt to seduce the king, she stands out to the king as she speaks out loudly against the French king (0:59:10). Her bright green dress amongst the grey and dark blue outfits of the court shows to the audience that she stands out, and that her thoughts are even being enjoyed by the king. Her individuality and ingenuity enchants Henry as she begins to keep his attention while Mary is in bed. (1:01:41). Anne, confident in herself, knows that she is succeeding, smiling and smirking at every opportunity she has to see him. Henry gifts her a necklace and she instructs the messenger to send it back (1:05:38), in a deliberate attempt to flirt, not as a wannabe mistress to him, but as a prospective future wife. She seems to taunt him in front of him, but not let him be with her until she has secured her position. Jealous of the attention her sister may receive if she brings a male heir to term, Anne lets her absolutist behavior take hold, even if that means leaving her family behind. Her jealousy does indeed help spur her on farther towards the throne. She goes to see Mary, when ill in bed carrying Henry’s child:

ANNE: Do you feel as awful as you look? You know, in France, no woman would allow herself to get in such a state.

MARY: Why did you come, Anne, if all you desire is to torment me?

ANNE: Perhaps now you know how it feels to be deceived by your sister. (1:06:58)

With both women seeing each other not as sisters but as traitors, both tasked with amusing the king, their hatred grows and swells until only one can healthily stay in the kingdom. While Mary is in the middle of childbirth, Henry leaves her side to find Anne, who he tells “I vow I will never lie with my wife nor speak to your sister again. Just allow me to hope. I will take care of Mary and the child” (1:12:17). They are interrupted by the announcement of Mary’s birth of a son, meaning a male heir. However, Anne smiles and accepts his offer before he can rejoice. Keeping his promise, he calls Anne his one true love, and stops in the doorway to look at the baby before leaving, as Anne walks into frame and smirks at Mary (1:13:58). Her instructions, Anne says, are that “Mary and her bastard child will go back to the country. It is the King’s wish… and mine” (1:14:52). Emotionlessly, she watches as her mother leaves the room, Anne having just isolated herself from her family for the sake of gaining power. Now, Anne only knows peace once her sister has left the area, meaning she no longer has to fight for Henry’s affection. Anne is seen as a manipulative woman who betrays her family when it will serve her best. When Henry tries to send her yet another gift, Anne again instructs it to be sent back (1:07:21). Mary’s mouth gapes open in surprise that she is refusing the king’s advances, Anne turning to her and saying “You see? I have your interests at heart” (1:07:35). However, it is just another trick for Anne to win over the king — which happens. He stomps to see Elizabeth Boleyn, the girls’ mother, who points him in Anne’s direction, and he tries to kiss her. She again puts on the act of purity when he comes to her door, showing the king that she will not even kiss him before marriage but that she was “pleased by his sending of gifts” (1:09:13), showing that she does indeed want him. After forcing him to leave the Catholic Church so that his and Katherine’s marriage can be annulled, Anne is brought in as new queen (1:35:04). This scene is sandwiched between her brutal rape by Henry on the night before her marriage and her name-calling by a majority of the court, calling her a witch, on the night after. This scene foreshadows the unhealthy relationship the two are destined to have and echoes how being a queen was not the beauty she once imagined. As their marriage and their love for each other both dwindle upon her catching him beginning another relationship with Jane Seymour, Anne feels completely alone in the castle, having pushed away her family and other ladies-in-waiting. Lost, the only person she feels she can turn to is her own brother George. After birthing a daughter and two miscarriages, she is desperate to get pregnant again with a male heir to redeem herself, as that is the only way she can keep the crown for sure. She begs George to impregnate her, having driven herself insane by the king’s demands. As he begins to undress himself, George begins crying and refuses to commit incest as Anne hurriedly removes his shirt (1:48:41). She accepts, within it accepting her own fate that she will in all likelihood be removed from the throne and put to death. While power was what her family wanted in order to stay strong, all it has done is tear them apart, and will eventually have them beheaded.

Modern media adaptations of the life of Anne Boleyn provide conflicting details of her history and legacy due to a lack of relevant and factual records. Therefore, today’s historians, although they try, will forever be unable to correctly target and pinpoint her motives and ideas. Most of what is known about her in the present day comes through the written history from (mostly male) acquaintances and people near her in life. As a woman, her history and struggle relating to gender has been diluted over time, and is seen only through the minds of people like Cranmer, Cromwell, and Henry VIII. The greatest example of this sexist overturning of history is her being brought to trial for incest, infidelity, and treason, all of which she probably did not commit. Whether or not the historical adaptations helped or hindered her story is up to the individual. In these modern pieces of media, film, television, and radio options are often dramatized for the purpose of marketing, leading to factual imperfections. What is evident through the outer coating of dramatic amplification is that she was a brave and uniquely independent woman, unafraid of her husband, the king. The changes in each adaptation are her motives for gaining power: in Wolf Hall, she is seen as quiet and calm, acting for the good of England, more powerful in the backgrounds of decision-making than Henry will allow her to seem in the forefront; in The Tudors, she reveals herself as power-hungry yet family-motivated, working to gain power and wealth under her last name; and in The Other Boleyn Girl, she is narcissistic and cruel to all, only trying to advance her own riches, even though she is originally spurred on by her family to pursue Henry. However, one thing that stays the same, and most definitely stands out, throughout all three editions is the dedication that Anne and Mary Boleyn have to each other, despite their ever-present rudeness and cruelty. In The Tudors, even after Anne has had Mary exiled from the kingdom for months, she is invited back to serve as Anne’s lady-in-waiting once she becomes pregnant for the first time. The two sisters are seen hugging and happily laughing as fireworks go off in the background for the celebration of Anne’s coronation ceremony. Anne happily exclaims “Oh Mary, and it’s all for me!” (“Checkmate”), and Mary appears genuinely happy at her sister’s success. In The Other Boleyn Girl, Anne returns to Mary’s chambers, after ordering Henry to never make contact with Mary again. Anne, standing in front of Mary but unable to look her in the eyes tells her how Henry raped her. Instead of turning a cold cheek to Anne as she did to her, Mary reaches to Anne’s cheek from behind her and caresses it lovingly. This show of affection reveals how Mary and Anne’s link of sisterhood is stronger than their moments of inhumanity. In Wolf Hall, Mary and Anne end on a poor note, with Mary telling Jane, Henry’s adulteress, that she “has the only kind head in court” (650). However, Wolf Hall’s timeline of Anne’s story is relatively shorter than the film and TV show productions, with their relationship repairing in Mantel’s sequel Bring Up the Bodies. As the series of charges is as old as the events themselves, people of the modern day still do not know the truth about the behind-the-scenes of her downfall. Even with the reliability of certain historical happenings forever astir, Anne Boleyn will forever be remembered in history as the power-mad conwoman who was halted by the lust and greed of Henry VIII, whether that is the truth or not.