This is the diary of Anne Boleyn.

Summer1522,
Today I received notice from my sister, a lady in waiting of a
noble in the kings court, that I am to serve as lady in waiting to
the queen. This is an honor I cannot refuse for any lady would
envy such a position. I do hope that the queen finds me a suitable
lady to serve her.
Fall 1522,
I believe I am in love with a noble in the kings court his
name is Henry Percy. However I worry the King sees me attractive
for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey an advisor of the king rebuked Henry
for courting me. This angers me deeply for my relations with
others is not the responsibility of a cardinal but of myself only.
Henry and I shall continue courting in spite of the Cardinals
rebuking for it is not hiss duty to control our relations.

Fall 1522,
This day I swear revenge on Cardinal Wolsey. The Cardinal
sent word of the courtship of Henry and me to Henrys father the
Earl of Northumberland who hastily betrothed Henry to someone
else and threatened to disinherit Henry should he refuse to marry.
I cannot believe the Cardinal could be as cruel as to force Henry
and me apart. And for what reason?

Winter 1522,
Yet another of my courtships has ended quite abruptly. Sir
Thomas Wyatt seems to have desperately needed to marry
immediately. However rather than marry me as we were courting
he marries another. While I am saddened by this I find it only as

confirmation of my pervious beliefs that the king sees me as a

possible mistress, why else would all my courtships end so
abruptly? My sister was once a mistress to King Henry. I refuse to
follow her in her lead and will not be his mistress unless he makes
me his queen. That much I shall make obvious should the king
himself seek me out.

Middle of winter early 1523,

The king has begun sending me many love letters, many are
poems, and they are beautiful. He has written me songs and often
declares to me his love. The king has even promoted my father in
the court. I know he wants to sleep with me but I will not be like
my sister. I refuse to sleep with him while being the lady in
waiting to his wife. Although I find that I am beginning to love the
king and am envious of the queen who is what keeps me from
being king Henrys wife and only love.

Spring 1527,
My dear Henry has told me that his wife cannot have any
more children and has failed in giving him a son. He has told me
that he wants me to be his wife; he believes I will be the one to
give him the heir he wants. I to believe I will make a better queen
then Catherine of Aragon. I still refuse to be his mistress and
sleep with Henry but want to be his wife and queen so I truly hope
that he succeeds in annulling his marriage as he promises me he
will do. Should he not fulfil his promise I shall be extremely
displeased. He has found a bible verse stating that a man who
marries his brothers wife will not have children. Catherine is King
Arthurs widow, they were married only one year and it is
common knowledge he was sick a great deal during the course of
their marriage, but it gives me hope that the marriage can be

annulled by the church and Henry and I can be married soon.

Henry has sent Wolsey, whom I once dreaded for ending my
relationship with Henry Percy, to go to the pope and attempt to
annul Henrys marriage to Catherine. It would be best for him that
he not fails.

Summer 1530,
Henrys marriage is still yet to be annulled. The stubborn
queen will not give up, not only did she protest the annulment but
her nephew Holy Roman Emperor Charles the fifth has also
protested it in her favor. The pope sided with the queens nephew.
I am deeply angered because now it is nearly impossible for me to
be the wife and queen of my dear Henry and many people are
against me as they see me as the kings mistress. I still refuse to
sleep with the king because I do not want to be his mistress but
others see our growing time together as a sign that I am his
mistress.

Spring 1532,
My sweet Henry has taken notice of my displeasure at not
being his wife and has awarded me the title Marquis of Pembroke.
This is a great honor as I am the only lady to have ever earned
this title. My Henry has also been taking me with him to court;
this is usually a place a king brings his queen. This shows me that
if I cannot be his wife and queen I can act like I am. Henry
replaced Wolsey with Sir Thomas More as Chancellor of England.

Early spring 1533,

With Thomas Cranmer as the Archbishop Thomas Cromwell

as the Chief Minister in England Henry and I are again hopeful for
the annulment of Henrys marriage. Sir Cromwell has advised that
Henry split England from the Roman Catholic Church; he claims
that then his marriage could be annulled and Henry could marry
me and be rid of his unwanted queen. Cromwell also tells us that
if we split from the church that an archbishop such as Cranmer
could annul the marriage rather than the pope. My Henry is most
lucky to have two men as loyal to him as to find any possible way
to help him gain what he wants most. I eagerly await the day
when I am the Queen of England and Henrys wife.

May 1533,
I am worried that I am pregnant. I had sworn not to sleep
with Henry until the marriage was completely annulled but I
became too hopeful that it would happen sooner. The marriage
has still not been annulled. Henry and I have been planning on
getting married secretly for a while but now that I am pregnant
the marriage and annulment are even more important than
before. If these events do not occur then my child will be deemed
illegitimate and will not be allowed a chance at the crown. This
would be quite terrible especially if the child is a boy because my
Henry needs a son to be his heir and if his son is illegitimate he
will lose that chance at having an heir from me. We are both quite
desperate for the annulment to happen soon so that our marriage
may no longer be secret and the legitimacy of our child is not
questioned.

May 1533,

My pregnancy is beginning to become noticeable and rumors

are spreading around court. Much controversy now surrounds me
and my pregnancy. The annulment needs to be soon so that we
can share that we are married and our child is legitimate.

May 23, 1533,

I am much relieved, today in court Cranmer announced the
annulment of Catherines marriage to Henry. He also announced
that Henrys marriage with me was legal since his marriage with
Catherine was invalid due to her being his brothers widow. She
was given back the title she had before her husband King Arthur
died, Dowager Princess of Whales. Unfortunately the pope has
threatened Henry with excommunication if he does not accept
Catherine back by September of this year. Henry assures me that
he will not take her back. My coronation is set for next month.

June 1, 1533,
Today I have been formally crowned Queen of England. Still
many dont support me for taking Catherines place. They do not
realize Catherine is better off not married to Henry because he
does not love her and would only continue to be, as they claim,
adulterous to her. The people will one day learn to accept and
love me as they did Catherine. One day I will earn their respect.

September 7, 1533,
Today my first child was born, Princess Elizabeth. She is quite
lovely, but she is not the son my Henry wanted. This worries me
because he is so desperate for a male heir that I fear he will be rid
of me like he rid himself of Catherine. He could say that since he

was still married to Catherine when he married me that our

marriage is invalid. It is vital a give him a son before he is too
disappointed with me. I do believe he still loves me as I still love
him but he has informed me that he will not go to her christening
because she is not the male heir he wanted. I am determined that
my next child be a son.

September 1533,
My lady in waiting is Jane Seymour. She reminds me of my
days of serving the previous queen. She is nearly my age and a
very lovely girl; it is quite nice to have a lady like her serving me
and helping me through the trials of being queen and the
disappointment of not having the child my husband really wanted.
Many people are still against me being queen and still support the
Dowager Princess of Whales more than me. I have not even the
slightest notion as to what my new step-daughter thinks of me
but I do hope that she accepts my child as her sister. I hope that
England accepts my daughter as their princess and possible heir
to the throne.
Winter 1534,
Today is a tragic day. I am completely devastated for I have
lost the baby that I had so hoped would be the son Henry longs
for. I must have another child soon because my dear Henry is
growing increasingly disappointed with me for not giving him a
son. I do not know what to do. I truly wish my baby could have
lived; it may have been the boy my husband and I want so
terribly.

Summer 1535,

I am pregnant again. Henry and I are very hopeful the child

is a boy. If the child is a boy perhaps henry will be more pleased
with me and he will be content that he has the heir he wants. It
will also be good for Elizabeth to have a brother to learn and play
with as she grows.
January 7, 1536,
Catherine has died today, perhaps now there will be no more
dispute over who is truly queen. I am nearly ready to have my
child. I know that this time it is a boy, it must be a boy.
January 1536,
Henry was badly injured in a Jousting match today. This is
very troubling to me. I am worried about his health and do so
hope he recovers soon. I am so stressed and upset I fear for the
health of our child when it is born.

January 1536,
The pain I feel is beyond description, it is almost too much to
bear. I have lost another child, though this one hurts much worse
as it died soon after it was born. It was a boy as I knew it would
be, he was a beautiful boy. They told me he was born dead. If he
were alive I know he would grow into a handsome and intelligent
young man like his father. Henry is greatly displeased with me; I
think he may no longer love me. If he will give me another chance
perhaps I could have another son and he would live. However I
fear he will be rid of me before I can prove that I can give him the
heir he wants. I still love him. How can one endure so much pain
as I must endure today? I have lost a son and my husband no
longer favors me. Even worse is I now know how Catherine felt as
my lady in waiting is my dear Henrys mistress and I must see her
everyday knowing that he only loves because I could not have a
son. My fear is that he rids himself of me like he rid himself of

Catherine and puts her on the throne so that she may give him
the son he thinks I cant. How much more pain will I go through,
why couldnt my sweet child Elizabeth have been a boy. If she
were all would be well. I do so wish my baby boy was born alive
so that my Henry would favor me again.

February1536,
I am fearful that Henry will not divorce me as I thought he
would and as he did with Catherine. I heard the ever faithful
Cromwell, a man who helped Henry and me in our struggles of
getting rid of Catherine saying that it would be easier to get rid of
me by charging me with adultery. That is treason punishable by
death when a queen is adulterous to her king. Still I have hope I
have never been unfaithful to Henry, the court knows that we
have been married nearly two and a half years and I have been
pregnant three times all with his children. It is evident I have been
nothing but faithful to him. He will not be able to prove these
accusations, who would believe such lies?

April 30, 1536,

Cromwell is so dedicated to my husbands goal of getting rid
of me that he has arrested any man whom I have seen in the past
years of my marriage with Henry. He plans on arresting my own
brother. How anyone could ever believe me to have slept with my
brother disturbs me greatly. My brother will never confess such

lies. My dear brother Lord Rochford, I do pity him for I know how
Cromwell gets people to admit things they do not want to admit
or say the incriminating lies he wants to hear. My personal
musician Mark Smeaton was the first man arrested today, he was
persuaded in a most horrible way by Cromwell. He lied and said
that he had had an affair with me and named four other innocent
men including my brother saying they had slept with me as well.
How could he betray me so? And why with such lies? My brother
and I will likely die because of him and he too will likely be put to
death. Could Henry kill five innocent men and his wife based
solely on lies? I know he has no other evidence. Would he kill us
anyway? I have never experienced so much fear and sadness
before in my life. Elizabeth will not have a mother, she is only two,
someday she may be queen and I wont be there to see it. What if
Henry kills her too simply for being my child? But I know he wont
kill her, if he does and Mary dies then he will have no mere heirs.
Even if he marries Jane Seymour he will still keep Elizabeth and
Mary, he needs them so that if he loses an heir he has another.
The man I love is going to kill me because he is so led by the
greed of having an heir to keep the throne in the Tudor family. I
hope none of his children have heirs so that all his efforts of
keeping the throne within his family are for nothing but failure.

May 2, 1536,
Today I was arrested for adultery and incest. Smeaton, my
brother and the three other men have also been arrested today as
well. They all promise to deny everything and stand by my
innocence until the end. I know they will all be killed before me
and I will not be able to give them protection for that I am truly
very sorry.

May 1536,
Today Thomas Cranmer came to visit me in the Tower
Prison. He informed me that he had deemed my marriage to
Henry as illegitimate since he was still married to Catherine when
he married me. This should have been a comfort to me as the
only adultery that is punishable by death and ruled treason is
when a queen is unfaithful to a king, once the marriage annulled
it is no longer treason so this news of annulment should have
made me glad. However I know that Henry will not let me live, he
has already decided to kill me and that is what he will do. He also
told me very few people believed the lies King Henry and Thomas
Cromwell had created, and that the people of England now pitied
me. I find it most upsetting that to make my people like me I had
to be sentenced to death on false pretenses. Cranmer told me
that Henry was willing to be merciful and bring in a master
headsman to kill me using a sword so that my death is quicker
and less painful. I am at least glad my death wont be as
agonizing as many who are sentenced to death must face.
Cranmer gave me the most comfort though in saying that Henry
will still consider my daughter an heir to the throne. She will grow
up to be a beautiful lady someday, it pains me knowing I shall
never see her as a queen or watch her to grow. I know in my heart
that someday she will be the greatest queen ever to lead
England, but perhaps that is a mothers bias.

May 19, 1536,

I hear the men coming for me. Today is the day I die. I wish
only the best for my precious Elizabeth. For the sake of the poor

Jane I hope she has a son so she doesnt suffer the same fate as
me, but I also hope that she suffers because she stole my
husband from me and that has cost me the chance of seeing my
daughter become queen. I know Henry will marry her soon after
my demise. I pray he gets a son so no more women have to suffer
the punishments of being his wife. I loved him, I was faithful to
him, yet he kills me based on falsities because I could not give
him a son.

Citations for notes/ project

Source Citation (MLA 7th Edition)
"Anne Boleyn." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. Vol. 18. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 47-49.
Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 6 Sept. 2014.

Source Citation (MLA 7th Edition)

"Henry VIII." Renaissance and Reformation Reference Library. Ed. Julie L. Carnagie, Peggy
Saari, and Aaron Saari. Vol. 3: Vol. 1: Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2002. 155-163. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 6 Sept. 2014.

Source Citation (MLA 7th Edition)

"The Reformation in England." Elizabethan World Reference Library. Ed. Sonia G. Benson and
Jennifer York Stock. Vol. 1: Almanac. Detroit: UXL, 2007. 13-29. Gale Virtual Reference
Library. Web. 6 Sept. 2014.
*I also used the notes taken in class on the many wives of Henry the 8th