“What Henry’s treatment of Anne of Cleves also suggests is that an impossible standard of beauty continued to be upheld for queens, even when experience revealed again and again that human imperfections strained against it. Moreover, the whims of individual preference challenged the very notion of such an ideal; Anne was the only one of Henry’s six wives he had not personally seen and selected. Nonetheless, queen candidates continued to be assessed against the illusory criteria. The narrative constructed of Henry’s spousal choices has been that each queen was chosen in contrast to her predecessor. Thus, Anne of Cleves’s alleged unattractiveness was cited as an explanation for why Henry settled on Katherine Howard, a young, attractive wife from his own country to succeed her. Just months after Anne’s arrival, Henry was already scouting out his next wife; Marillac reported, ‘It is commonly said that this King will marry a lady of great beauty’. A Spanish chronicler described Katherine as ‘the handsomest of his wives and the most giddy’ and diplomat William Thomas thought she was ‘a very beautiful gentlewoman’. Chapuys described Katherine as ‘fatter and handsomer than ever she was’ though this description is difficult to read given that she was at this time awaiting her execution. Most accounts of Katherine are generalized praise, though she was often said to be petite and dark-haired. Perhaps the most interesting description of Katherine is one that has nothing to do with her appearance but is relevant to this discussion. When the demoted Anne of Cleves came to court in January 1541 for the New Year festivities, a potentially awkward meeting of two living queens was prevented by their gracious behaviour. According to Chapuys, ‘Having entered the room, Lady Anne approached the Queen with as much reverence and punctilious ceremony as if she herself were the most insignificant damsel about Court, all the time addressing the Queen on her knees, notwithstanding the prayers and entreaties of the latter, who received her most kindly, showing her great favor and courtesy’. Chapuys adds that Anne and Katherine danced together and that Katherine gave Anne one of the New Year presents she had received from Henry. Though Katherine was the youngest and most naïve of Henry’s queens, this episode offers a rare counterpoint to the culture of rivalry between queens.”
‘The Fairest of Them All: Queenship and Beauty’, Fairy Tale Queens: Representations of Early Modern Queenship, Jo Eldridge Carney
