Katherine Howard was a flighty teenager when she married Henry. She had neither the education nor the experience, to cope with the pressures of being a queen. She also had a passionate physical nature and a secret love life from before her marriage. When details of her romps with some of Henry’s courtiers emerged she was crushed by the full might of the Tudor state.

Catherine Parr had to choose between love and duty when she married Henry. She loved another man, but she believed that God had ordained her to marry the King. She was an ideal companion and restored some semblance of family life to the Royal Court. But she was almost undone by her strong belief in Protestant ideology. Henry was suspicious of the new faith and signed an arrest warrant for his wife. It took all Catherine’s diplomatic skill to avoid arrest and certain death.