Wives of Henry VIII

The wives of Henry VIII were the six queens consort married to Henry VIII of England between 1509 and 1547.

The six women to hold the title "queens consort" of King Henry VIII were, in order:

• Catherine of Aragon (annulled; died while detained under guard at Kimbolton Castle)
• Anne Boleyn (executed)
• Jane Seymour (died days after giving birth, widely believed to be following birth complications)
• Anne of Cleves (annulled)
• Catherine Howard (executed)
• Catherine Parr (widowed)

A common device to remember the fates of his consorts is "annulled, beheaded, died, annulled, beheaded, survived" or “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived”. It is often noted that Catherine Parr "survived him"; in fact Anne of Cleves also survived the king and was the last of his queens to die. Of the six queens, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour each gave Henry one child who survived infancy—two daughters and one son, all three of whom would eventually ascend to the throne. They were Queen Mary I, Queen Elizabeth I, and King Edward VI, respectively.

Catherine Howard and Anne Boleyn, Henry's two queens who were beheaded, were first cousins. Several of his wives worked in at least one of his other wives' service (that is, former ladies in waiting). Anne Boleyn worked in Catherine of Aragon's service; Jane Seymour worked in Catherine of Aragon's and Anne Boleyn's service; and Catherine Howard worked in Anne of Cleves's.

Legally speaking, four of these marriages (Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, and Catherine Howard) never occurred as they were annulled, so under a legal interpretation, Henry VIII actually had only two wives (Jane Seymour and Catherine Parr) despite having six weddings.

Henry was distantly related to all six of his wives through their common ancestor, King Edward I of England.

There is a rhyme which also helps to remember his wives:

King Henry the Eighth,

to six wives he was wedded.

One died, one survived,

two divorced, two beheaded.

However, this rhyme is somewhat invalid, because he did not divorce two wives; he had the marriages annulled.

Henry and at least four of his wives (Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour and Catherine Parr) have been characters in opera (for details, see List of historical opera characters).