The Queen Of

   The Queen Of

Suzanne Marsh

It was one of those games on the computer XYZ? It stated my AI person, a queen. I thought queen of what? Queen of the theater, queen of hearts, queen of England, queen of the jungle, maybe queen of the wild frontier, the of Sheeba, what. What would it be like to be a queen? What about the human factor? AI, does not seem to cope with humans at least not thus far in the history of the human race. I thought perhaps I should be queen of the England. I thought about being queen during the reign of King Henry Viii. That was not the best time to be queen. AI must have decided that my being queen would be funny. I found myself being transported back in time.

“I walked swiftly toward Henry; I had waited so very long to meet him. Now that I was here in

the court of Henry VIII. I had hoped to be able to convince him to be a kinder person than

he had been. Make him more human is a better term. I am foremost a humanitarian, kindness

is something that should come naturally however Henry is not kind to anyone.

The king has been ill for quite a few years, he is still seeking a wife that will give

him healthy sons. I surely hope I am that woman. The court of Henry Tudor is not a happy one.

, I still think about my cousin Anne Boleyn, accused of adultery and incest. I cannot understand

why Henry could be so cruel as to have her beheaded. I pray I can make things work between

Henry and I.

The barge arrived early this morning, we are finally leaving for the Progress. It is a great

adventure for me. Our Progress took us north toward a meeting with King James the V and the

Duke of York, neither of whom met us. King Henry knew he had found a good wife in me.

I wanted to give him the sons he longed for.

However, as the Progress continued, I found myself yearning for a younger man, someone

close to my age, Henry was old enough to be my father. I still have no idea why I

desired to have an affair with Thomas Culpepper. He was twenty-seven, I saw eighteen.

I also had no idea that I would be caught and tried for adultery and treason. I am however

getting ahead of myself. Once we left and the Progress began heading south my desire

got the better of my sound judgment. We were at Pontefract when I sent Tomas a note:

“As ye find the door, so to come.” That would be my undoing as Queen. Lady Rochford,

was my friend and more or less my conspirator, she brought ring to me from Culpepper and I

in return sent him bracelets to keep him warm, we both promiscuous but I was love with him.

I tried with Henry, he smelled horribly from some sort of wound that did not hear correctly.

Making love to him, was a chore. I was small he was huge by the time he took me as his

fifth wife. I loved in way a daughter loves her father, but I could not bring myself to

make love to him more than a few times.

Matters became increasing tense between Henry and I. I had never mentioned my indiscretions

to Henry, I still considered myself a virgin in that respect. Lady Rochford, was always helpful

to me. I knew sooner or later I would have to confess my sins to a priest, but I could trust

no one. Henry was the supreme head of the Church of England. He would no doubt begin

to doubt my loyalty if he were to be told of my escapades during my time with the Duchess.

Even though I had tried to breech the vastness between Henry and his daughters, it was in

vain. He disliked Mary because she was Catherine of Aragon’s daughter and Elizabeth was

Anne Boleyn’s child. Both were girls, Henry still longed for a health male heir. His son

Edward was a sickly child, Henry was always worried he would never ascend the throne.

Upon return from the Progress, I found myself in a terrible mess. Henry found out about

Culpepper and myself. He also discovered my exploits at the Duchess’s. I knew I would find

myself forced into saying I was promiscuous. I just had no idea that Henry would have

Culpepper executed for his part in my crime. Culpepper was beheaded in part because he was

at one time favored by Henry and he had powerful friends. Although they could not stop

the execution, it was better than Dereham received, he was drawn and quartered for having

sex with me before I married Henry. Everything was now out in the open. Lady Rochford and I

were condemned by the Act of Attainder. According to the Bill the key clauses of the stated that

if any loose-living woman dare to marry the King ‘without plain declaration, before of her

unchaste life unto his majesty’ it was to be considered treason. Adultery by or with the Queen

was considered treason. I wish now I had told Henry the truth about my exploits before

matters got out of hand. I had no control over what Henry was going to do. He was as they

say disillusioned. He would not allow me to see him, nor would he speak. Everything was over

between us. I had tried so hard to make things work, I had made something of a friend of

Queen Anne of Cleves, she was a very lovely lady. I did try to unite Henry with his

daughters. I failed when it came to being a good wife to Henry, I would now pay

the price.

The morning was cold on that February 13, 1542, I shivered as I was led to the executioners

block. I had practiced laying my head just so. I wanted to at least exit life in a true

queenly manor. The last thing I remember is the ax descending toward my head, I hope

God showed me mercy.

I have now returned to the twenty first century where I belong. I hope I made at least a slight

difference of how historians saw Catherine Howard.