Channel 4 - Henry VIII The Mind of a Tyrant (2009) Part 3 Lover 1526 -1536

Historian and broadcaster, Dr David Starkey, follows his acclaimed series Monarchy with this gripping portrait of England's best-known king. In 1509, Henry VIII's accession to the throne was greeted with wild rejoicing. Tall, athletic and handsome, he filled the nation with hope. Yet, by his death 38 years later, Henry VIII had earned the reputation of a tyrannical and ruthless monarch. Dr David Starkey reveals how this glamorous prince became the nation's most notorious tyrant. From the young man who became heir to the throne at the sudden death of his brother to his establishment of the Church of England and the bellicose quest to become a major player in Europe. The series reveals the truth of the King's relationships: the beautiful Anne Boleyn; the machiavellian Cardinal Wolsey; Thomas More, the lifelong friend he beheaded and, of course, the bloody cycle of marriage, divorce and execution. It tells of a ruthless King, infatuated with power, who released an orgy of iconoclasm and sadistic revenge on those who rebelled against him. This compelling series brings this fascinating monarch to vivid life, shows how he influence our very sense of identity and nationhood and tells one of the strangest and most dramatic stories in history.

Part 3: Lover 1526 -1536

This episode traces Henry's ten-year affair with Anne Boleyn. Henry began to pursue Anne in early 1526. As lust turned to love, he conceived the idea of marrying her. But that required a Papal annulment of his marriage to Catherine. David Starkey's research in the Vatican archives has revealed the real story of Henry's futile six-year struggle to get what he wanted from Rome. During this time, and prompted by Anne, Henry began to re-think the nature of the English monarchy. He came to believe that the King, not the Pope, should rule the Church in England. The result was the break with Rome, a new wife for Henry, and a new religion for his subjects. But the marriage did not last. Henry's court had always been a dangerous place, and when Queen Anne turned against Thomas Cromwell, Henry's chief minister, Cromwell knew that he had to move against her to save himself. He manipulated Henry's naturally suspicious nature to engineer Anne's execution. Money and power had triumphed over love.

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