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Why Did Anne Boleyn Marry Henry VIII? | Anne's Childhood at Hever

Historic Royal Palaces

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In 1526, King Henry VIII sent a letter to Hever Castle – it was a love letter to Anne Boleyn in which he professed his devotion and asked Anne to become his mistress. Over the next couple of years, Henry continued to send love letters to Hever addressed to Anne Boleyn.
We can only speculate what Anne was feeling at this attention from the King. Was she excited? Anxious? Was her family supportive? Thirsty for power or hoping it would all subside?

Hever Castle was home to the Boleyn family for three generations, and the place where Anne Boleyn grew up. In this video, Historic Royal Palaces Chief Curator Tracy Borman takes us on a tour of this fascinating site and speaks to Hever's curators to learn more about the rise and fall of the Boleyns.

Tracy Borman's book The House of Boleyn is now on sale: https://www.historicroyalpalaces.com/...

Read on about the life of Anne Boleyn: https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-londo...

Don't miss an exclusive book talk and dinner with Tracy Borman talking more about her new book House of Boleyn at Hillsborough Castle on 4 August 2026: https://www.hrp.org.uk/hillsborough-c...

Image credits:
Margaret of Austria, RCIN 403428, © Royal Collection Enterprises Ltd 2026 | Royal Collection Trust
Sir Thomas Wyatt, RCIN 912250, © Royal Collection Enterprises Ltd 2026 | Royal Collection Trust
An unidentified man, RCIN 912260, © Royal Collection Enterprises Ltd 2026 | Royal Collection Trust
Anne Boleyn, 1532-36. Hans Holbein the Younger. National Portrait Gallery.
Pageants for the marriage of Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, to Louis XII of France.Shelfmark: Cotton Vespasian B. II, From the British Library Archive
Woodcut of the coronation of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, Reproduced by kind permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library. From Stephen Hawes, 'A Joyfull Medytacvon to All Englande' (1509), printed Wynkyn de Worde, 4to, n.d.
Penshurst Place by Philip Halling, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Blicking Hall, Elliott Brown from Birmingham, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Kilkenny Castle, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Sir William Butts, 1541-1543, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Claude of France and her daughters, f. 100r, Bibliothèque nationale de France
Louis XII and Mary Tudor, Cotton Vespasian B. II, From the British Library Archives

20 Comments

@Monicalovestheocean 3 months ago

The irony of the Vatican storing Henry's letters to Ann😂

@pjm1209 3 months ago

ooooo my show is ON.

@starlight-xt7po 2 months ago

Nice to watch a video that doesn't have an AI voice narrator.

@Shane-Flanagan 3 months ago

Great that some spotlight was placed on Anne's grandmother Margaret Butler. We don't hear enough about her

@annmc-t7p 3 months ago (edited)

I LOVE Tracy Borman, but I wish that, instead of focusing so much on her movements- entering the castle, speaking inside the entrance, etc.- that the camera would pan around, and show us more of her surroundings. There's so much that we don't get to see, because the focus in on the conversations between host and guests.

@freeheartnow 3 months ago

I learned more about Anne Boleyn in this video than all I have seen before it. Thank you.

@Oklahoma_is_me 3 months ago

I love learning about Tudor times<3

@zacwright-p1x 3 months ago

yay love to see videos with tracy borman

@lucasrocha2990 3 months ago

A fascinating look into Anne Boleyn's early life. Really enjoyed this tour!

@TheReal_AnneBoylen_musicals 3 months ago

This is the best one yet ahhh I'm obsessed 💚🌹

@WifeDesignLife 1 month ago

Tracy Borman brings history to life with her curiosity & passion.

@poppyfrostt 3 months ago

anne boleyn & hever castle … my roman empire ✨🌹

@Terri_MacKay 3 months ago

How was Anne feeling. Anxious? Pleased?
Personally, if I'd ever gotten a love letter from Henry VIII, I hope I'd have had the good sense to immediately flee the country and go into hiding somewhere far, far away.

@jilltagmorris 3 months ago

This was wonderful! Thank you.

@blakeyrebeccaross 3 months ago (edited)

interesting that Irish Margaret was declared insane in 1518, but then outlived all of them....
I wonder where she lived from 1518 until she died all those years later?

@GuentherSteiner92923 3 months ago

She sent those letters Royal Mail second class, should arrive with Henry VIII sometime in 2032.

@KD-gd5oq 2 months ago

I would love to see a rendering of what the castle interior would have looked like during Anne's time (without all the wood paneling, etc).

@beverleyroberts1025 2 months ago (edited)

I've just listened to Eric Ives book on Anne Boleyn and also just finished The Wolf Hall trilogy. I'm currently listening to Alison Weir's Cardinal Wolsey. This period of history fascinates me and interests me very much. My sorrows are always with Henry's wives, especially Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. I cannot imagine what they went through and I shed tears while listening to these books. None of them ever deserved their pain and their fate. 🕯 A really interesting video, thank you. 👑

@nicoledeans_x 3 months ago

Fantastic watch, located in the best setting and with the best historians!!

@EhrenSzero 3 months ago

I always want to watch Tracy Borman talk about Anne Boleyne & Henry. She is excited to learn new things about their relationship, but alwasy seems to be excited about the things she already knows. I appreciate that quality in her as a historian.

Also, I know Henry is made out to be a really bad guy. I know, I know.. but think of the time, duty, societal judgement of a king, and what it meant to not have the "correct" offspring to carry on the line. His line carried on with one of the best Queens ever anyway, but he had a way thinking and operating inside that framework in that time that he knew nothing else...even if is was extremely flawed. I couldn't imagine having so many people in my ear over what they wanted, layer on health issues to boot. Then if some mental illness started to creep in, that would be really really difficult. Keeping a stong image was most likely what drove him. Love, didn't really seem to matter in the long run. I feel for both of them honestly.