Did Anne Boleyn shag her brother George?

[lordStrange]

I have spent quite a lot of time pondering this recently .

I always assumed it was a tall tale cooked up by her charming husband H VIII and his monster pals, but now I'm coming to the idea that desperation to produce an heir for H might have caused her to view her brother George as a decent sperm donor.

I'm no historian so I wonder what the view is on here?

This thread is fascinating.

Mmm.

I don't know. I mean, KofA had been around such a long time. And she can't have expected it to be such a precarious situation - Kings didn't usually go through strings of wives unless those women died.

I find it fascinating to try to think how it could have been different.

Trib, she really was pregnant for a large part of their married life though. They slept together late 1532, got married early 1533 when she was already PG with Eliazbeth. Elizabeth was born sept 1533 and Anne would've been churched 40 days after so sometime in October.

Catherine Parr was first married at 14. To a 62-year-old widower with grandchildren. He didn't last long, and she remarried the 38-year-old Lord Latimer. Then ancient Henry. When she finally married a man near enough her own age he went too far with Elizabeth when Catherine was pregnant and then she died about 10 days after her daughter was born.

No record of her daughter at all, and someone of her rank would have been heard of if she lived, so it's likely she followed her mother to an early grave.

Then sometime in nov or dec 1533 or so she was pregnant again, due summer 1534

Yeah, I don't think she was having a lot of sex with the 62 year old ....

It is awful, though, isn't it? So sad to think she survived Henry, and then died of something that a course of antibiotics (or just basic sanitation) would have taken care of.

She miscarried quite late in that pregnancy (she was still pregnant in June 1534). Then, assuming her last pregnancy was Henry's , she miscarried that in jan 1536 at 15 odd weeks so she was pregnant again around oct 1535.

More recent research suggests there was confusion among historians over Katherine Parr's first marriage - it wasn't the 62 year old but his son or grandson (can't remember which) of the same name but he was mad so it probably wasn't consummated.

Crikey! That's dramatic.

Poor woman.

I would need to check but my books are upstairs.

No, I believe you!

Wikipedia, for what it's worth, believes she married the grandson but it was the grandfather who was mad. Although grandson also in ill-health.

Being one of Henry's wives really was the pits.

Very interesting thread