It appears in images of CATHERINE OF ARAGON, ANNE BOLEYN, JANE SEYMOUR, KATHERINE HOWARD AND CATHERINE PARR, but how much do we really know about the Tudor consort necklace and why was it so important to Henry VIII and his wives? In this six wives documentary from History Calling, we’ll look at the written and pictorial evidence surrounding this famous piece of royal jewellery to establish what it was made of, how these gems were set and reset, when it might have come into the Tudor royal family, whether Henry VIII’s mother, Elizabeth of York owned it, why Henry passed it from wife to wife and what might have happened to it after the King’s death in 1547 rendered the position of Queen consort of England obsolete for the next 56 years.
Evidence considered will include a comment made by Catherine of Aragon when she was forced to hand over her jewels to Anne Boleyn; a 1534 medal showing the only known contemporary image of Anne Boleyn’s face; the famous portrait of Jane Seymour by Hans Holbein the younger; two miniature portraits thought to be Queen Katherine Howard (the fact that the sitter is wearing the consort necklace is actually how Henry’s youngest Queen has been identified as the woman shown); an inventory of Howard’s jewellery and a painting of Queen Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife.
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