Young Henry

Henry VIII always had problems with women. Born on 28 June 1491, he lived in the shadow of his elder brother Arthur and his dour and autocratic father, Henry VII. Elizabeth of York, Henry's mother, died when he was twelve and thereafter he lived under the thumb of his formidable grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, who beneath a pious exterior was the arch-conspirator of the last days of the Wars of the Roses.When Henry VII died in April 1509, young Henry quickly swept away the musty cobwebs of his father's court. He loved magnificence, merriment and the hunting field and could fire an arrow further than most of his professional archers. Henry could dance everyone off their feet and could drink most men under the table. But Henry became frustrated and angry at his lack of sons by Catherine and his attention began to wander. Sometime in 1526 he fell passionately in love with Anne Boleyn...and the rest is history.