FROM GOLDEN GOD TO OBESE TYRANT – HENRY VIII’S EVOLUTION IN PORTRAITS

Over the course of his reign, Henry VIII evolved from ‘the handsomest prince in Christendom … in every respect a most accomplished prince’ (so said the starry-eyed Venetian ambassador to Henry’s court) into the mean-mouthed obese tyrant we still love to hate. Below are four portraits that illustrate how Henry changed over the course of his c38-year reign (1509–1547). (But first, a modern take on Henry as devised for the launch of WIFE AFTER WIFE, my modern retelling of Henry’s tale, by the marketing folk at Penguin Random House in New York.)

The Venetian ambassador wrote of 24-year-old Henry that his face was ‘so very beautiful that it would become a pretty woman.’ He was athletic in build, and over six foot tall, which was exceptionally lofty for the times.

In the far-left portrait, Henry is 18 (this is when he became king, in 1509). ‘It is the prettiest thing in the world to see the King playing tennis, his fair skin flowing through [his] shirt,’ gushed the ambassador.

In the next portrait, he is about 29. Now bearded.

Then, in his 40s, an old jousting wound became problematic and poor Henry ended up with an agonising ulcer that refused to heal. He was in constant pain and often ill-tempered as a result.

Another jousting accident when he was 45, after which he was unconscious for two hours, may have caused brain damage, which some historians speculate could have been responsible for his explosive temper and swinging mood changes. His personality does seem to have changed radically at this point.

In the last decade of his life (he died aged 55), Henry was increasingly immobile and put on much weight; nobody dared say no to this terrifying bully and so his absolute power and ill health turned him into something of a monster. Later portraits like the one on the far right, painted when he was about 51, show the Henry we are most familiar with. Not appealing!

Am I Being Too Kind?

In Wife After Wife I took Henry and put him in the 20th-21st century, where he wouldn’t have absolute power, and modern healthcare would sort out his bad leg. He’s still Henry – arrogant, entitled, vain – but also intelligent, well-read, witty, charismatic (and hot!). If you’ve read the book, do you think I’ve got him right? Or have I been too kind?