Weir - Mary Boleyn : the mistress of kings

Copyright 2011 by Alison Weir

Published simultaneously in the United States of America by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York

Originally published by Jonathan Cape, a division of Random House Group Limited, London, as Mary Boleyn: The Great and Infamous Whore

All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency is an infringement of the copyright law.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Weir, Alison

Mary Boleyn : mistress of kings / Alison Weir.

eISBN: 978-0-7710-8923-7

1. Boleyn, Mary, 1508-1543. 2. Henry VIII, King of England, 1491-1547 Relations with women. 3. Great Britain Kings and rulers Paramours Biography.

4. Great Britain History Henry VIII, 1509-1547. I. Title.

DA335.B66W45 2011 941.052092 C2011-902219-2

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporations Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.

Title-page photograph: iStockphoto

McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
75 Sherbourne Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 2P9

www.mcclelland.com

Cover design: Marietta Anastassatos
Cover images: Corneille de Lyon, portrait of a woman (Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow/Scala/Art Resource, N.Y.), Tudor Rose, wallpaper designed by S. Scott and produced by Cole & Sons, after a design by Augustus Charles Pugin for the Houses of Parliament, 184550 (Victoria & Albert Museum/Bridgeman Art Library International)

v3.1

I owe a debt of gratitude to several kind people for their assistance with this book. To Nicola Tallis, who is surely destined to be one of our great popular historians of the future, for so generously sending me her research paper and numerous related documents on Mary Boleyn, and for encouraging me to write this book and listening so enthusiastically to my arguments. To Douglas Richardson, for emailing me so much helpful information and for his very judicious observations on the paternity of Marys Carey children. To Anthony Hoskins, for so kindly sending me copies of his article Mary Boleyns Carey Children and his unpublished responses to Lady Antonia Frasers views on that article, with other related essays, letters, and press cuttings. Anthony, we may not agree on all points, but it was so generous of you personally to share all this, and your conclusions, with me. To Carole Richmond, whojust as I was finishing revising the textvery kindly drew my attention to, and sent me, Elizabeth Griffiths groundbreaking article on the Boleyns at Blickling, which has proved invaluable. To Josephine Wilkinson, author of Mary Boleyn, for assistance with sources and permission to publish her theory on the sister who was present when Anne Boleyn miscarried in 1536.

I should like to thank my historian friends, Tracy Borman, Sarah Gristwood, Siobhan Clarke, and Susan Ronald, for all the lively discussions about this book, and their professional support while I was writing it.

My agent, Julian Alexanderis it really twenty-three years weve been working together?has been, as ever, enthusiastic and dynamic in his advocacy of my work, and always a friendly and encouraging voice at the other end of the phone. In a year in which we have set up my own historical tours company, at Julians suggestion, he has worked indefatigably to get us off the ground while supporting me in my writing career. Thats some feat!

I wish also to thank my professional colleagues, Siobhan Clarke and John Marston, for shouldering many of the administrative burdens of Alison Weir Tours Ltd., so that I could get on with finishing this book. And to my lovely husband, Rankin, the mainstay of my life, thank you for shouldering nearly everything else, and for the occasional glass of wine placed on my desk when the stress gets too much!

I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my dear mother, Doreen Cullen, for all her selfless support of my work over the years, and for her unending enthusiasm, praise, and encouragement.

I am singularly blessed in having three outstanding editors. A huge thank-you goes to my commissioning editor, Will Sulkin, and to my editorial director, Anthony Whittome, without whose brilliant creative support and boundless interest and enthusiasm this work would not be in print. I want to thank you also, Tony, for all the excellent work you have done on my books over the past twelve years, and for being such a wonderful friend. I feel very privileged to be one of the authors you have chosen to work with following your much-lamented retirement. I have learned so much from you, and it is thanks to you that I am much more knowledgeable about writing and publishing books than I was twelve years ago.

I wish also to acknowledge all the support and advice given to me by my American editor, Susanna Porter, and her lovely team, who welcomed me so warmly to New York last summer. Id like to make special mention of my publicists too: Lisa Barnes at Ballantine, Clara Womersley at Jonathan Cape, and Ruta Liormonas at Doubleday, and to thank them for all their hard and highly professional work on my behalf, and for making publicity such fun.

Finally, I should like to acknowledge all the efforts put in on my behalf by the unsung heroes of the publishing team at Jonathan Cape and Random House, notably: Neil Bradford, Sophie Hartley, and Kay Peddle.

I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.

Alison Weir
Carshalton, Surrey
January 2011

Called Mary Boleyn, artist unknown, Hever Castle, Kent. Photo: Hever Castle Ltd, Kent, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library

Called Mary Boleyn, artist unknown, The Royal Collection, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh. Photo: The Royal Collection 2011 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II/The Bridgeman Art Library

Miniature of an unknown woman by Lucas Horenbout, The Trustees of the 9th Duke of Buccleuchs Chattels Fund

Miniature of an unknown woman by Lucas Horenbout, Royal Ontario Museum. With permission of the Royal Ontario Museum ROM

Thomas Boleyn, brass in Hever Church, c.1539. Photo reproduced by courtesy of H. Martin Stuchfield

Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, artist unknown, Arundel Castle, Sussex. Photo: His Grace The Duke of Norfolk, Arundel Castle/The Bridgeman Art Library

Blickling Hall, Norfolk, drawing by Edmund Prideaux, c.1725. Photo: English Heritage. NMR. From the collection at Prideaux Place. Reproduced with permission

Anne Boleyn, artist unknown, Hever Castle, Kent. Photo: Hever Castle, Kent, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library