Katherine of Aragon - Henry VIII's First Wife

hello my name is Kate and I'm a costumed historical interpreter here at Hampton Court Palace and as I stand in front of This Magnificent um fireplace created by Cardinal Woolsey for Queen Catherine of aragan I'm going to tell you why I believe that the crown of best and truest wife to King Henry should be given to Queen Katherine of aragan his first wife she was alone of all of the six marital alliances uh raised to be a queen and that alone fits her for the job she was also Queen and wife to Henry for the longest time of any of them 18 years before there was a whiff of a problem 6 and 20 years in entirety um indeed the other wives put together only come to 15 years in total uh she was modest Pious and faithful she was unlike Katherine Howard she was never questioned about her Fidelity and loyalty to the king and the country um and she enjoyed the king in His Glory Days when he was young and handsome all of which you can see in the young Henry exhibition here at Hampton Court Palace Catherine did her Duty by the king and country she produced children for the king one of whom actually survived infancy and grew to be in her adulthood Queen Mary the first Katherine had the strength to be Regent stepping into the shoes of the King when he was fighting abroad and uh she did not bring upon the country any civil War which she could have done with all the supporters and the great love they bore her in the country uh after the king chose to set her aside no she lived quietly and uh in sufferance but quietly in the country um as the king well had set her aside so Katherine of aragan is the patroness of the First Wives Club and deserves our consideration as the first best and truest wife of King Henry

Channel: Historic Royal Palaces

Views: 39,232

Keywords: Henry VIII, Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's Six Wives, Hampton Court Palace, Kings and Queens of England, Tudor history, Medieval History

Id: 2uBkxTYFuwQ

Length: 2min 5sec (125 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 10 2008