Did Anne Boleyn Have a Pseudo Pregnancy in 1534?

From History Calling

Did ANNE BOLEYN have a PSEUDO PREGNANCY in 1534? The second wife of Henry VIII is generally assumed to have had three pregnancies; one which resulted in the birth of Elizabeth I in 1533, one which ended in an unrecorded miscarriage or stillbirth in the summer of 1534 and one which ended in a miscarried son in January 1536. These are also the pregnancies frequently shown in films, TV shows and documentaries about Henry’s doomed Queen, such as The Tudors and Wolf Hall. There is debate however, as to whether Anne Boleyn’s second pregnancy was real, or if she mistakenly thought she was expecting again; a condition known as a pseudo pregnancy (or pseudocyesis). Indeed her step-daughter, Queen Mary I, would later experience one of the most famous cases of pseudo pregnancy in history, due to the extreme psychological stress she felt around the need to produce an heir. In Anne’s case, the Imperial Ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, reported that by September 1534, Henry was beginning ‘to entertain doubts as to his mistress’ reported pregnancy’ and this comment has fuelled speculation that Mary was not the only Tudor Queen affected by pseudocyesis. In this six wives documentary from History Calling, we’ll look at the evidence for Anne’s middle pregnancy, the causes of pseudo pregnancies and how likely it is that she suffered from this phenomena. In the course of the video, I’ll also reveal how many pregnancies Anne Boleyn had and discuss the theory that she was pregnant in the summer of 1535.