Becoming Anne Boleyn
Early Modern • 33m
March 2022 marks the 500th anniversary since Anne Boleyn made her debut at the court of King Henry VIII.
Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb investigates the story of Anne’s remarkable upbringing in England, the Netherlands and France before she arrived at the heart of Tudor England. For all Anne Boleyn’s fame, this is a period of her life where the evidence is hard to find and fact needs to be carefully sifted from fiction.
Suzannah explores Anne’s childhood home, beautiful Hever Castle, to discover what made her - what formed her into the extraordinary woman who would change the course of history.
With special access to a remarkable new exhibition at Hever, Suzannah joins the curatorial team to handle and analyse the original evidence relating to Anne’s upbringing and the shaping of her character, including a significant illuminated book of hours complete with Anne’s personal signature and a newly re-examined original painting, reattributed as being of Catherine of Aragon, Henry’s queen when Anne arrived at court.
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