Anne's First Meeting of Henry

I almost didn't do this dress b/c it didn't look that great on Anne in the show. However, out of curiosity I watched a few videos about Henry first meeting Anne in the show, & she was wearing this when he came to see her early after her arrival in England.

The headdress was interesting b/c of the little loops of pearls that framed her face. The dress was a real challenge b/c the "Cranach" style (as it was called, based on the artist's paintings of German female nobility in that time period) was not available in the scene-maker. I finally came up w/ using roses, since 2 of the colors available worked for the costume.

The gold rope necklace she was wearing was interesting, because it was popular for female German royalty & nobility to wear. From what I saw in the Cranach portraits, how the ladies draped it around their necks varied.

It's not surprising that the ppl of Tudor England thought Anne was frumpy. I'm sorry to say that the popular fashions in the Low Countries were not figure-flattering on most ladies, and the real Anne of Cleves was no exception. The dress actually reminds me of a German peasant from a fairy-tale, rather than what a princess would wear.

For some reason, they cast an actress named Joss Stone to play Anne, & she's actually very beautiful. Doesn't make much sense to cast some1 like her to play a supposedly "ugly" wife of Henry VIII. But as I've said w/ Jane Seymour, "The Tudors" was all about the Historical Beauty Update.

I don't really think Anne of Cleves was as ugly in real life as some people made her out to be. The owner of "The Anne Boleyn Files" website actually did research on Henry VIII's other wives, including Anne of Cleves [link] From what she says, the portrait of Anne was a relatively accurate image of what the princess really looked like, it's just that, based on what the records say, Henry was really blaming her for his own shortcomings.

According to the records, Henry VIII was so eager to see his new bride, that he couldn't wait until she actually arrived at court to see her. So he, being a hopeless romantic, decided to follow an ancient chivalrous tradition of meeting her in disguise, & their love would be strong enough that she would recognize her future husband through the disguise. That didn't go over very well :S. [link]

So it's New Year's Day 1540, and Anne was at Rochester, watching bull-baiting out her window in the courtyard below. A servant of the king's comes in, saying that he's brought a present from his majesty for Anne. All of a sudden, this fat, smelly old servant she had been ignoring grabs her at the window, trying to kiss her. Anne is horrified & shoves him away, having no idea that this was King Henry VIII in disguise & she knew nothing of the English custom he was playing out.

Another account says that Henry (in disguise) remained in the background while wedding gifts were brought in for the princess. She didn't take any notice of the fat, middle-aged, smelly servant, which made the king mad, and he left without giving her even half of the wedding presents originally intended for her.

I don't think Henry really thought this whole thing through, or was even aware that Anne was ignorant of the custom. So instead, he's humiliated and decides he hates her, & calling her the ugly "Flanders Mare," even though everyone else liked her & thought she didn't look half bad.

On the tv show, Henry walks into a room where Anne is talking w/ her ladies, & they stop & stare at him. He walks over, gives her a rough kiss after a moment, & then stalks off angrily. (Poor Anne). It makes absolutely no sense that he'd call this version of Anne ugly, b/c she's not. After that he has a very Henry-esque tirade w/ his Councillors over the fact that he feels he's been duped in getting a "horse" of a bride.