The king [Henry VIII] soon after, came to Westminster with the Queen [Katharine of Aragon], and all their train: And on a time being there, his grace the earls of Essex [Henry Bourchier], Wiltshire [Henry Stafford], and other noble men, to the number, of twelve, came suddenly in a morning, into the Queen’s Chamber, all appareled in short coats, of Kentish Kendal, with hoods on their heads, and hose of the same, every one of them, his bow and arrows, and a sword and a buckler [shield], like outlaws, or Robin Hood’s men, whereof the Queen, the Ladies, and all other there, were abashed, as well for the strange sight, as also for their sudden coming, and after certain dances, and pastime made, they departed. Edward Hall’s Chronicle, published 1548.
18 January, 1[st year in the reign of] Henry VIII. — At Westminster “ran … for a gladness to the Queen’s grace [Katharine of Aragon]” in which the King, Lord Harry Stafford [the Earl of Wiltshire], the Earl of Essex [Henry Bourchier], Lord [George] Hastings, Lord Fitzwalter [Robert Radclyffe], Sir Edward Howard, Mr. Thomas Parr, Sir Thomas Boleyn, Edward Neville, Edward Guildford, Sir Harry Guildford, William Parr, 11 of them in green coats and hose of Kentish Kendal like [Robin] Hood[’s] men, and a woman like Maid Marian. Richard Gibson’s revel accounts, 28 February 1510.
On 18th January 1510, Henry VIII (aged 18) and 11 companions dressed up as Robin Hood’s men, alongside a woman as Maid Marian, to entertain Katharine of Aragon (aged 24) and her ladies.
Two of Henry’s companions were the fathers of his future wives —Thomas Boleyn (then in his early thirties) was the father of Anne Boleyn (then aged between 3 and 9, who became Henry’s second wife in 1532/33); Thomas Parr (then in his early thirties) would become the father of Kateryn Parr (who was not born for around two more years, and became Henry’s sixth wife in 1543).
(In both extracts, spelling & grammar has been modernised, and emphasis added.)












