Anne Boleyn Was Queen for 3 Years - What Did She Actually Do?

We spend so much time talking about Anne Boleyn's extraordinary rise and her dramatic fall that we often skip over the bit in between, but what was Anne actually like as Queen of England?

Anne was Henry VIII's queen for just three years, but during that short time she acted as an intercessor, supported scholars and universities, promoted religious reform, gave to the poor, patronised artists and used her access to Henry VIII to help people who appealed to her.

In this instalment of my Anne Boleyn documentary series, I'm looking at Anne "the queen in her own right". What was expected of a Tudor queen consort? How much influence could Anne really exercise? How did she use patronage, her household and her position close to the king? And what can surviving objects such as her famous "Most Happy" medal, crowned falcon badge, jewellery and books tell us about the way Anne presented herself as queen?

I'll also look at Anne's religious and charitable activities, her patronage of scholars and reformers, her role as intercessor, her pregnancies and the all-important expectation that she would provide Henry VIII with a male heir.

Join me as we explore an often overlooked part of Anne Boleyn's story: the years when she wasn't Henry VIII's prospective bride or his condemned wife, but Queen of England.

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