BECOMING ANNE: Connections, Culture, Court
Christmas 1526 Hever Castle
Anne Boleyn gives in to King Henry VIII and sends him a love token – a pendant depicting a solitary maiden riding a storm-tossed sea inside a silver ship with a single hanging diamond. The gift marked a turning point in Anne and Henry’s relationship. In his fifth love letter to Anne, the King thanks her for the “fine” interpretation she set upon it. One can only speculate as to what that might have been…
This is my dress, currently on loan to Hever Castle for their nine-month exhibition and featured in The Telegraph and Daily Mail. Photos from the launch night below.
Anne entered Hever’s great chamber as Thomas Boleyn poked the yule log burning in the fire. Smoke drifted upwards; the fire crackled, and glowing embers flared into life. The glow from the fire lit up the Christmastide decorations that adorned the hall.
Turning, he acknowledged her presence with a smile. ‘The gown suits you,’ he said. ‘I told you it would. The gable hood complements the shape of your face.’ He paused, then added, ‘And it reminds everyone that you’re English.’
Lady Boleyn circled her daughter, pulling Anne’s gown into place and admiring the rubies and pearls at its neckline. To mark New Year, the King had had his tailor, John Scut, make Anne a gown from brown velvet with a narrow opening, showing off a warm russet kirtle made of taffeta.
‘You’re quite lovely,’ her mother decided, a rare compliment. ‘Fine feathers do make fine birds.’ She sat back down next to Mary, who was watching Anne enviously.
Anne allowed herself a moment to bask in her mother’s approval, and her sister’s ill-concealed envy, and gave a twirl. The gown was beautiful. But it also made running on turreted stairs difficult, and she had lost little Katherine, with whom she had been playing a spirited game of chase.
‘The heavy velvet makes it difficult to walk in,’ Anne admitted, looking around for the girl.
Thomas Boleyn threw his head back and laughed. ‘The King wants you unable to run.’
‘What gift did you send him?’ Mary enquired.
Anne flushed. ‘I sent him my pendant of the maiden riding out a storm. And a note.’
Frowning, Thomas Boleyn asked, ‘What did it say?’
‘Take away the dross from the silver, and a vessel for the finer shall come forth,’ Anne replied, quoting Proverbs 25.4–5. ‘Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.’
There was a short silence into which she added, ‘That is what we want him to do? To reform the Church’s corrupt practices?’
‘What did he say?’ her father asked, his tone cautious.
‘He wrote thanking me, not only for the necklace but chiefly for the fine interpretation I used,’ Anne replied as the door swung open and her niece burst in.
‘Anna, Anna, chase me. Chase me, Anna,’ she cried, lingering a moment, a mischievous look on her face, before darting back through the door.
Unfastening the velvet partlet at her shoulders, Anne placed it on a chair, lifted her skirts and went after Katherine.
Gown by Samantha Rees of The Tudor Queen Experience — Tudor Royalty Experience — based on the Hans Holbein painting of the young Anne Boleyn displayed at Hever.
