The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970): Season 1, Episode 4 - Anne of Cleves - full transcript

HENRY: And answer me this,
Archbishop.

If a Christian king were to find
himself alone among the infidel Turk,

what should he do?

Majesty, after much
thought and prayer...

He should convert them
to the Reformed Church.

Happily, sir,
the eventuality is remote.

Hmm?

Would your faithful Duke of Norfolk,
your most reverend Bishop of Winchester,

ever allow you to goal
one among the infidel?

What? Would you all follow me?

(LAUGHING)
A pretty pack you'd make.



To the death, sir.

There is more than enough to be done
for the Church here in Europe, sir.

There is, there is.

I can hardly find the leisure to
amend the dogma of the Church.

Oh, and that recalls to me, Cranmer.

Your bishops argue that Christ empowered
his apostles to elect their successors.

Is this to say that today only the
Church is empowered to elect bishops?

It would appear logical, sir.

The power of the apostles having
descended to the Church.

But why did our Redeemer
so empower his apostles, hmm?

-Clearly, because heconsidered them worthy.
-Nonsense.

Because at that time there
were no Christian kings.

Is this not the purest logic?

This is a matter, sir, on which
prayer has not enlightened me.



It is for the King to guide his people.

And now, are the horses ready?
I need refreshment after all this toil.

One more matter, if Your Majesty will permit.
On Your Majesty's proposed marriage...

-Oh, not now.
-There is new word from France.

You see, my Lord Bishop, politics
interest him,but not marriage.

Two years since Queen Jane
died and he's still making

pretence of being dainty
about a wife.

-And so, Wriothesley?
-And so we should change our plans.

Forget the women. No Queen of England
will up turn anyone's policies again.

He's nearing 50 and looking more.

He's past forgetting everything
but that pair of dark eyes.

In fact, I have heard...
Well, safest not to talk here,

but I'll wager any sum we'll have
no more trouble about the women now.

Well, it's true. It's Cromwell
who's pushing him now.

Cromwell wants a German marriage.
Well, there's some sense in that.

A Protestant marriage.

If France is allying herself with the Empire,
England must ally herself with Germany.

-As for the women, well...
-There is only one son.

This alliance seems to
be directed at England.

France is bound to form no new alliance
with us without the consent of the Empire,

and therefore we must assume
that France will reject our

proposals as to
Your Majesty's marriage.

To be just, sir, you were perhaps
proposing to marry too many ladies.

Anne of Lorraine, Marie de Guise,

Louise de Guise,
Renee de Guise.

-Marie de Vendome, Marguerite de...
-Who was that little beauty...

Oh, no, she wasn't French. Well, with
the post of Queen of England vacant,

don't they expect me to wait
for the highest bidder?

It would have been a neat stroke.

An alliance between England and
France and the Empire is isolated.

An alliance between England and
the Empireand France is isolated.

Well, since they must clasp one
another in brotherly fear of England,

it will have to be a German alliance.
Now, that I like, too.

If you marry a German bride,
it would of course involve you

with an alliance with the
various German Protestant princes.

That would put the
cat among the pigeons.

So, who is it to be? I've lost
myself in all these princesses.

-The Duke of Cleves has two sisters, sir.
-Daughters.

Since we opened negotiations,
the old Duke has died, sir.

Was it so long? Oh, I remember.
Yes, a fair girl. Flaxen.

Oh, yes.
That would be pleasing.

But mark you, Cromwell,
the girl must be bed-worthy.

-I'm man as well as King.
-No one doubts it, sir.

But I fancy it is not the flaxen lady
with whom you're chiefly concerned.

That would be the Princess Amalie,
the younger sister.

Our first approach mentioned the
elder sister, the Princess Anna.

She is said to be a renowned beauty.

Well, our usual procedure, I think.

-Your court painter, sir?
-Mmm.

-Is Master Holbein here?
-Call Master Holbein. Call Master Holbein.

There it is again.
He has to delay matters.

I think not, Wriothesley.
I think you're wrong.

I think the King's
an innocent about marriage.

(LAUGHING)

Oh, you can laugh,

but he looks to find in marriage
what other men find in marriage,

three mistresses and a brothel at hand.

God, the poor fool. How many
more years must he suffer this?

Good day, Master Holbein.

Your Majesty has another
princess for me?

Was ever a king more gracious to artists?

All the ripe young princesses in Europe

have I had the privilege of
seeing on Your Majesty's behalf.

Your Majesty wouldn't be thinking of
converting a daughter of the infidel?

They say their women
are marvellous finds.

No one approaches them but eunuchs.

My manhood or my loyalty? Your Majesty,
have I not served you faithfully?

No, I'll spare you. No Turk.
A couple of flaxen Flemish ladies.

Then is Your Majesty the Turk?

I think the first lady in question
is brown rather than fair.

Oh, no. I know these Nordic girls.
They're flaxen everywhere.

Holbein's eye isas good as mine.

-Which is the elder?
-The Lady Anna, sir.

Anne of Cleves.

If she's comely, Holbein,
take a likeness

and bring it back to her
ever-adoring betrothed.

If not, turn your eye to her sister.
God's love, men, I'm no virgin fumbler.

Let the girl be straight and
let her be sweet-humoured.

The rest, the King's rank and the
King's person will take care of.

(CHUCKLING)

Master Holbein, do your work well.

My work, of course. And yours?

(HUMMING HAPPILY)

-Anna Regina?
-Amalia Regina?

Oh, yes, but keep still, Anna.

And peaches and strawberries
to eat every day,

and a maid to mend your garments
for you. Two maids.

Two gowns. One to wear
and one to mend, huh?

-Why not two wives?
-One to wear and one to mend.

We will both go to England.

Ah, dirty.

Oh, now you have torn it all the way.

But on such an errand, the princesses,
my sisters, should have been warned.

My dear Duke, ladies of the
beauty... Of the reputed beauty

of the Princesses of Cleves are
never unfit to receive admirers.

-Discerning admirers.
-My sisters are not your idle court ladies,

with nothing to dobut sit in
their jewels and sing idle songs.

(PRINCESSES LAUGHING)

They are good German daughters of
the house who leave the adornments...

God's truth, man,
I paint women not jewels.

And if I have to explain
to the King, my master,

that because of the
absence of court dress,

the princessesonce again refused
to see his ambassador...

And his portrait painter.

Sisters, the embassy
from the King of England.

(EXCLAIMING)

I present to you, sisters,

the envoys of His Majesty of England

on this proposed marriage
between our two countries.

Sir Christopher Mont,
Master Hans Holbein.

My younger sister, the Princess Amalie.

And my elder sister, the Princess Anna.

-Anna!
-Huh?

Ladies, we are most happy
to be privileged to see you.

The negotiations between your noble brother,
the Duke, and my royal master, the King,

having reached the fortunate state,
it is the earnest wish of my master

to behold the likeness of
the lady he aspires to marry,

-with your permission and goodwill.
-And which lady is that, sir?

Madam, it must not be thought that the
King chooses his bride solely as a king.

As a king, he must take
thought for his realm,

but as a man, he must take advice
from where none other can give it,

from his own heart. And as
is Majesty, to his own deep sorrow,

is prevented by cares of state
from coming to please himself,

he sends Master Holbein here.
If you will permit him, my ladies both.

-Not now!
-Master Holbein.

Forgive me, madam. I am not an ambassador.
I am not, alas, a lover. I am merely an artist.

When I see beauty, I have neither words
nor, alas, deeds. I have only my hands.

His Majesty of England
commissions me to take

a likeness of his
most beautiful Princess.

-When may we begin work?
-Beautiful?

You think my sister Anna
might please the King?

Please? My portraits tell truth
about more than a face, sir,

and what I paint now will please
men 400 years in the future.

Please one king?

Generations will lament that they did
not live to be Anna von Cleves' lover.

(GIGGLING)

You are very kind, sir.

Here in our simple life in Cleves,
I had not seriously thought,

but now it seems that I must.

Perhaps you would be even kinder
and instruct my ignorance?

I know nothing of England.

You know everything a highborn
German maiden needs to know.

English queens, sir, are not
precisely highborn German maidens.

Then your King has something to learn.
My sister has been most carefully taught.

She knows nothing of music and
dancing and dress and such doings.

They only encourage lovers
and lead to expense.

Which reminds me, there's still to be
discussed the question of the dowry.

If the ladies will forgive us?

-Now, sir, as to the dowry...
-The dowry, yes.

But I was saying, Sir Christopher, our
father, now, was a man of great foresight.

I'll make no secret of it.
We are a noble family,

but it was our father
who established us,

in the eye, as you might
call it, of Europe.

Oh, more than the eye,
the pivot, the cockpit.

"Cleves," he said,"might one day
dictatethe fortunes of Europe."

-Yes, he was a man who liked to dictate.
-It's a manly liking.

"A woman," he said, "could be as powerful
as a man so long as she were knowledge able."

So, he educated her.
She is a most exquisite needle woman,

but she sometimes takes too great
an interest in men's affairs.

-Men's affairs?
-Politics.

And, in particular,
you must tell us about the King.

Oh, we are provincial here, but
we come to hear about such things.

They say that King Henry is the most
handsomest and most courtly king ever born.

(LAUGHS) The handsomestand most
courtly king ever born?

Now, how, madam,
am I to tell you about the King?

Norfolk!

(GRUNTS)

Norfolk!

-I do not call a third time.
-Beg your pardon, sir.

I needed a word with my niece,
newly come to court. The...

-The Lady Catherine Howard.
-I have no time for nieces, nor so many Howards.

I am a betrothed man, Norfolk.
Or very nearly.

-The Protestant woman? The Princess?
-Mmm.

-The contract's not yet been signed.
-But your intention is firm?

Oh, unyielding.
Mont writes from Cleves

that Holbein is more than
happy with Princess Amalie.

Or is it Anna?

You petitioned for employment?

The Howards, sir,
live to serve our King.

And your family.
"I know my niece and I know my tools."

When I need your services,
I'll take them.

Yet you use men like Robert Barnes,
use them continually.

A Lutheran, a heretic.
A rank heretic. A friend of Cromwell's.

Robert Barnes? Nonsense.
He's no heretic. He's a learned man

and a good diplomat.
I use him for the German court.

You'd be no use to me there, Norfolk.

You'd be like a thunderstorm
to a bowl of fresh milk. Here.

Ah, marriage is the
only estate for a man.

And sons, Norfolk, sons. We'll have a string
of lusty princelings around the throne.

Is the Prince's health no better, sir?

Edward's health? Nonsense. It's a childish
cough. All children have them.

But a King needs sons. Sons!

When I am married to my adored...
Oh, God's body,

but I must have the girl's name.
Where's the man that can tell me? Cromwell!

My Lord Cromwell is likely
with his Lutheran friends, sir.

I rule this kingdom, Norfolk.

I say when one Protestant or
one Catholic is too many.

Sir.

I offend His Grace of Norfolk.

You exist, and you don't
urge me to marry a Howard.

Aye. He's just brought another
to the court, a Lady Catherine.

And he hints that you favour heretics.

On Your Majesty's orders,
I negotiate with the Lutherans,

but you, sir, know that I am
a faithful son of the English Church.

Oh, I know who'sa heretic and who isn't.

And who do you imagine he accuses
with you as a heretic?

Robert Barnes.

Barnes?

The Duke's invention begins to fail him.

It's his intelligence.
Take warning from Norfolk, Cromwell.

Never give way to malice.
It turns the best men into fools.

-Malice, sir?
-To be such a fool as to imagine

I could be persuaded to do without
a tool as useful as Barnes or yourself.

And while it's in my mind,
when are we to have the portrait?

I'll sign nothing until
I'm satisfied of her beauty.

-My little Amalie.
-Anna, sir.

Hmm?

-Your little Anna.
-Oh, yes. Anna.

Ow!

It's the clasp.
It's broken right through.

We do not much use our court
dress here, Master Holbein.

Paint the clasp tomorrow, when we shall
have mended it. And the lace, too.

But at leastyou find the
dress proper for the portrait?

Then as for jewellery...

-Sold.
-You must paint me without.

-HOLBEIN: What? No, impossible.
-Nonsense.

Madam, if I am to paint you
without court jewels,

then I must paint you as I first saw you,
without practically anything.

-It would be the fuller portrait.
-And for a husband.

-Very well. Amalie?
-Hmm?

Oh!

-These are my richest jewels, paint them.
-Ah, the devil take them.

The King will give all the jewels
in England. I am painting you.

Oh, then paint in the crown.

Facing me exactly, yes? You will look
at me all of the time, if you please.

-Hands, so.
-So.

Ah, you must hold a rose,
of course. An English rose.

-So.
-So?

Madam.

Oh, your pardon.
Like this? This?

Forgive me, madam, I was wrong. Hold
your hands as seems natural to you.

-You can talk as you work?
-Yes, if you will stay still.

Tell me about England.

Well, Your Highness must
understand that the King's

troubles are all concerned with France.

-I don't need to know that.
-Madam?

I am the seal on the alliance of England
and Germany against France and the Empire.

Nobody knows the politics
of it better than I do.

No, no, Holbein.
Tell me what I need to learn.

The clothes,
the manners, the dances.

I'm not easy, I confess it.

He has even agreed to waive the dowry.

Well, we couldn't have paid it.

But my sister will be penniless!

He needs the alliance now.

God's truth is laid between
France and the Empire

if it lasts no longer than the decorations
they put up to celebrate it.

-Surely the King mustknow this.
-Is he the man to wait,

cap in hand, for friends?

There's a great deal in that.

And then, of course,
he's been unmarried for two years.

Does a king need to
marry to find a bedfellow?

Though it's true the King of England has shown a curious

passion for marrying his paramours.

He seems to imagine his presence
in bed sacrament enough.

Who the King dares to take, the Church,
Pope and God must acknowledge.

-But mark me, Chancellor...
-I have, my lord. The contract will be unbreakable.

Our lady may be going to a doubtful
husband, no friends and no money,

but once the contract is signed,
she will be safe. I swear to that.

Married to the King of England
to the end of his days.

Hmm.

Or, of course,
to the end of her days.

(HOLBEIN LAUGHING)

What is it?

Oh, it's too quick! Too quick!

(BOTH LAUGHING)

Master painter,
you were engaged to paint.

My Lord Duke, the Princess needed my help
on a matter of great importance. Manners.

The dances, brother, the fashion able
dances. How am I to learn in time?

And all the lacks in myeducation?

No music, no dancing,
no knowledge of fashions.

-What am I to do?
-Sister.

I have been applying myself to the
matter of your marriage contract.

When that is signed, no lack
of music or dancing can harm you.

I am afraid, Holbein.

What am I going to?

The King is delighted
with the portrait, I hear.

Your usual good fortune,
Master Cromwell.

The marriage contract is
to be signed, then?

Our congratulations, Master Cromwell,
on your success.

Thank you.

-The girl's a heretic.
-My lord, she is nothing of the sort.

She is a faithful
daughter of the Church.

Like us, she does not acknowledge
the authority of the Pope.

It's part of your plot, Cromwell.

You'll take us all into league
with heretics. You'll regret it.

So, the King approved
the little German princess.

I hope he can find the happiness
with her he found with Queen Jane.

-And the Princess herself?
-Delighted with her fortune, I suppose.

-You must think more kindly of your tools.
-Your tool, too, Archbishop.

The King is committed to
the Protestants in Europe now.

Cromwell, you pressed very hard for this
alliance. You don't hurry the King too fast?

No one hurries the King. I am his servant.
Nothing else remains for me.

-Norfolk troubles me.
-He sang always for the England of his fathers.

He has some foolish plot with
the prettyHoward girl as bait.

Do they think the King will be caught again
by a pretty face and a guarded maiden head?

No, I suspect there's more a
foot than a pretty Howard girl.

There's persistent talk
of Robert Barnes being a heretic,

-and Barnes is knownto be a friend of yours.
-Barnes?

Barnes is safe enough.
He is a King's man.

King's man.

Madam. Oh, madam, your complexion.

Wind, snow, cold, the worst of
things for the brown complexion.

Oh, Lotte, Lotte, have done.

This face of mine has taken
the German airfor over 20 years,

and 10 minutes of Channel
snow will make no difference.

The King's complexion, as we all
know, is most delicately fair.

His bride must not offend him.

Now, be graciously pleased to sit down.

I am not graciously pleased to do anything

here in this dull Calais,
delayed by this dull weather,

overlooking this dull,
dull, dull English Channel.

(SIGHS)

I have learned a card game

where you put down the cards, you count
the points, you win or you lose, so.

It passes the time.
It's better than this.

(STRUMS TUNELESSLY)

-Is that in tune?
-No, madam.

Why not? I am willing to learn.

Why will nobody tell me what is in tune?

Ah, now, for whitening,

for softening, this lotion of mine
has not its peer in Europe.

Many queens have begged me for the
recipe. If you had used it before,

against so many years of neglect,
of riding in all weathers...

The King likes women
to ride in all weathers.

He does not.
He likes women of delicate complexion.

-Queen Catherine...
-Madam, will you never learn?

The Princess Catherine of Aragon.

We are not in England yet.

Queen Catherine, he dearly loved,
and she was a good rider.

She invariably wore
a veil against the weather,

and no doubtthe reason why she
was eventually divorced

was that not even that preserved her
complexion. Now, we come to your hands.

You're using the cream,
night and morning, and press...

Oh, enough! Enough of it all!

I am what I am,
and nothing will change that.

If only this gale would drop and we
could be quickly on our way to England.

Ah, my little bride,
longing for her bridegroom.

And how do you suppose
the bridegroom is feeling?

Ah, yes, a good hunt.

The King was always the finest rider
in the realm. I can remember times when...

(SCREAMS)

Man, take care.

-Footstool.
-Footstool. Footstool, quickly!

HENRY: Quickly.

-I hear it was a good hunt, sir.
-Yes, good.

(LIVELY MUSIC PLAYING)

-That music...
-The New Year revel, sir.

(GROANING)

-You've ridden far. You really should rest.
-Better, better.

-New Year?
-The music, sir.

No, fool, why should I remember
the New Year? That's what I ask.

The Princess Anne of Cleves
is in England, sir.

Tonight she lies at Rochester,
tomorrow she...

Tomorrow? You say tomorrow to
a bridegroom awaiting his bride?

Clothes. Clothes fit for the bridegroom.
Food, more wine here.

But Rochester is 30 miles away. You've
been riding all day. Sir, I beg of you.

Beg? You think your King's a weakling?

But the Princess will be taken unawares,
sir. She will not be dressed to receive you.

Ready for bed, hmm?
What could be better?

That's a picture we couldn't
send Holbein to take.

Riding dress in half an hour,
horses in an hour.

The gifts we chose for the Princess.
Quickly, let me see them while I eat.

Will you permit us to ride with you, sir?

Those of you who can keep up with me.

(CHUCKLES)

And so long as you remain secret.
No announcement, no state.

We will say...

We will say that I am a messenger
sent by the King. She receives me.

When we're alone, I reveal myself, not the
King, but the lover who can wait no longer.

-Sir?
-(LAUGHING) Cromwell!

You shouldn't have let me forget.
Today, I am the ardent lover.

-Now, you understand?
-No.

It is not the King.
You will not use court ritual.

You will not raise your eyes,
you will not speak

and you will not turn your back on him.

-But you said I wasn't to come out backwards.
-Watch.

Oh, the Princess' maid.
Now, be careful.

What was that noise
in the courtyard outside?

A messenger from the King, madam.
Come to inquire after you.

-Let me see to your hair.
-But I can't receive a messenger like this.

Oh, you are not in your shift,

and he can carry back more news of you
like this than your husband has seen yet,

or why should he
have been sent so late?

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Come.

Madam, His Majesty the King
has been graciously pleased

to send a messenger to
inquire after your health.

-May I admit him?
-Willingly.

So,

this is to be the Queen of England, eh?

(GROANING)

-His Majesty has sent you, sir?
-Yeah.

That was most kind.
I see the journey has tired you.

Twice as far would have been nothing,
madam, so long as it was to your side.

And does England please you as
much as you will please England?

The journey, these lodgings, your attendants?
Are they all you could wish?

One finger lifted, and all England is yours.

Everything is most
comfortable, thank you.

(CHUCKLES)

And while we hear your views on England,

we will take a cup of wine with you.

Go on, go on, get out.

-Your woman may leave us now.
-Leave Her Highness alone, sir?

It's not manners in Cleves, mistress?

Well, just here, manners are different.

I shall be within call, madam.

(HENRY CHUCKLES)

(EXCLAIMS) Oh,
to be Queen of England,

what greater glory could
any woman wish, hmm?

When I was young, what was England then?
A little country.

Absorbed in its own affairs, disregarded
in the councils of the world.

Here.

-Oh.
-Who feared England then?

When we signed the Treaty of Lille in 1514...

-It's 13.
-Madam?

-The Treaty of Lille was signed in 1513.
-Mmm?

-October.
-Oh.

The 17th.

What a pretty thought to
prepare yourself for marriage

by familiarising yourself with
your husband's triumphs.

But...

There are better ways
of pleasing a husband.

I am not dressed to receive
visitors so late at night.

That's a mighty pretty piece of silk,
but nothing so fine as what it covers, hmm?

Sir, this is too much.
If the King were here himself...

-But he is.
-Oh, where?

Sweetheart...

behold him.

(GROANS IN DISBELIEF)

I tell you,
it's becoming a new profession,

tinker of marriage contracts
for queens of England.

Well, no one's going to break this one,
believe me.

Is this the way to think on the
eve of a Christian marriage?

Yes, on the eve, it is.
If only forthe sake of the bride.

As for the morrow...

(HENRY GROANING)

(ANNA SCREAMING)

The Princess.

-My procuring has been successful.
-Yes?

-Then why are you so uneasy?
-No. There was no need.

He has settled the German alliance
and he has signed the contract.

-Did you catch a sight of her?
-Yes. I thought she had a sweet face.

It may be she's what he needs.
What we all need.

Can I rest easy for a night or two,
I wonder?

Ah, you haven't the trick of it.

Do you ever rest?

No. I'll work myself into my grave,
if they let me live so long.

Oh, tomorrow.
Let a servant take them tomorrow.

Sir?

I am ashamed that men
have so praised the Princess.

-I like her not.
-Sir?

I like her not!

I'll see you in the morning.

-That sweet lady.
-And of that sweet contract.

By God, I should have
trusted no one but myself.

This matter touches me too nearly.

But, sir, the portrait
pleased you well enough,

and it is admitted to
bea most lively image.

For that that is not entered
into the portrait...

There's the evil odours about her.

-Her form is most...
-Enough, enough.

I complain... I complain only of the
marvellous good words I've heard of her.

Her face, her form, her bearing
so queenly, her voice...

Oh!

(GROANING)

I've not been well-handled.

But, sir, the Princess
is a stranger in this realm

and likely confused as
to her great destiny.

But she will learn, she will learn.
She will bear you sons.

And who will doubt that the Majesty of
England will be the best of teachers?

So, this is the happy bridegroom.

Catherine, Anne, Jane,

three happy brides.

And not so long ago.

So, I must put my neck in this
yoke you have prepared for me.

My lord, were it not to please my realm,

I would not do that I must do
this day for none earthly thing.

(GRUNTING)

The bridegroom, gentlemen, is ready.

And in Christian marriage, must the
wife not be submissive to her husband?

A signed contract is not yet
a Christian marriage.

It is a promise you have put
your hand to in the name of God.

Archbishop, how is it with your wife?

-You know I'm married?
-It was whispered about in Germany.

-I know you hide it in England.
-Yes, we hide it.

There were times when the King
seemed to favour a married clergy.

I had hoped... Why do you ask this?

Archbishop, remember your wedding night,
and then imagine mine.

Madam, my dear wife lives
in obscurity and danger.

We can meet seldom. We bear this
unhappiness because we think it our duty.

My Lady Anne.

Anna,

we work for peace and
toward a Protestant Church.

We think this worth much unhappiness.
Can you not bear your share?

Peace as a Protestant Church.

I must fix my eyes on one thing alone.

And yes, I have promised to marry this King.

Archbishop,

the bride is ready.

You need to give me your hand.

(WEDDING BELLS RINGING)

(LADIES LAUGHING)

(MEN CHEERING)

What, no music in the wedding chamber?
What's love without music?

(LAUGHING)

Let the musicians draw nearer.

(MEN CATCALLING)

Leave off!

Wedding done, bedding done.

Ladies and gentlemen, you have our leave.

Go on, then!

(PRAYING IN LATIN)

Amen.

-A tiring ceremony, sir.
-It is our duty, madam.

The most tiring part is yet to come.

-You will take some refreshment?
-No.

Then you will allow me.

I am not used to these long hours.
I must revive myself a little.

Oh, come here, wife.

I have heard that you are
very skilful at card games.

I have all the skills of a man, wife.

I learned the card gamebefore I came
to England for your pleasure, sir.

My pleasure, wife?

But I am not very skilful. If you
will graciously please to instruct me?

I will indeed. Here.

Kind.

But in music, I fear, not even the
greatest of masters can teach me much.

(STRUMMING TUNELESSLY)

Madam.

-That is not in tune?
-No.

It sounds well enough to me.

(SINGING)

Madam!

But surely you will play to me? The King
is reputed such a wonderful master.

No, I will not play to you yet.
We're not here for music.

Now come on, Anne. We're married now.

When we met in Rochester, we... Well,
we didn't agree. Let that be forgotten.

Sir, our meeting at Rochester was the
subject of gossip throughout the court.

Gossip?

-What did they say?
-That I did not please you, my lord.

Oh.

Oh, I beg your pardon.
I thought that you meant...

Oh, no. That I did
not please you, my lord.

How can you bed with a woman
who does not please you?

Can eventhe Church command that?

Yes, it's true that such
an impediment might hinder...

My God.

No, let that be forgotten.
Anne, come on.

Can any honest woman thrust herself upon
a man who is repelled by her ugliness?

Yes, if it is her duty.
And you are my wife!

Repelled by her ugliness?

Particularly in view of
the bad news from Germany.

What bad news?

The League of the Protestant
princes is about to break up.

Hesse is going over to the Empire.

Hesse? Nonsense. He's one of
the leading members of the League.

You don't believe me? Very well.

But are you satisfied
with the news from Germany?

Is there now
avering in the League?

The league is ramshackle...
What is amiss in Hesse?

-Do you know that?
-No. Would they advertise it?

But Hesse is of the Empire,
however Protestant its rulers may be.

-Now, if the GermanLeague breaks up...
-And England tied to it.

Ah, not yet. Ours is
a political marriage, sir.

-It's celebrated.
-But not consummated.

That would fox them. Keep them
guessing as to my intentions.

(HENRY CHUCKLING)

France andthe Empire can't
remain friends for much longer.

Am I married to the German
League or am I not?

But we're married, Anne.

-No?
-No.

(GROANING)

Jane.

Sweet, sweet Jane.

ANNE: That's right.
Pull the needle through.

Pull, and back again.

That's right.

(GROANS)

Oh, my pretty.

You shouldn't sew in this evening light.
I think you should run along now.

Let me see.

(CLOCK CHIMING)

Oh, yes, my Lady Elizabeth.

That will soon be a very fine shirt
for your brother, the prince.

And your father, the King,
will praise you for it.

Just one tiny knot there.

Shall I, without letting anyone know,
just put right that tiny knot?

Yes, madam.

Hush, then.

WRIOTHESLEY: You must be mad.

You work against the German alliance,
which was made by Cromwell.

You work against the Queen because
the marriage was made by Cromwell.

God help us, you even work against
the harmless man, Robert Barnes,

because he's a friend of Cromwell's.
Yet when was Cromwell ever stronger?

-He has the King's favour in everything he does.
-No, you have it wrong.

We work against
Cromwell through Barnes.

-But he's done nothing!
-What does innocence matter?

Barnes has a foolish tongue.
I can see to Barnes.

-And then?
-He'll burn.

Burn him twice over for all I care.

How will that bring down
Cromwell and the Queen?

For mark this, to bring down Cromwell,
you must first demolish this German marriage.

It is no marriage.

-It may be now.
-It is no marriage.

Well, you have your spies
in her household, I suppose.

That flaxen-haired niece of yours.

But the contract is signed.
The Queen is living at court as queen.

No. The King seldom goes near her,
the court ignores her.

She's neither married,
divorced, nor beheaded.

Christ, can we go through that again?

-If we have to.
-We have to.

The alliance between France and
the Empire grows weaker every day.

At any moment now,
the King must make up his mind.

Is he with the German Protestants
or is he not?

Is he married to this
German girl or is he not?

And so... And so, Wriothesley,
now is our time to strike.

Bring down the German girl,
we bring down the German alliance,

and Thomas Cromwell at the same time.
So, we attack Barnes as soon as may be.

(MAN AND WOMAN GIGGLING)

We should not be seen plotting.

Well, it seems that the plots are yours.
Very well, I'll leave you.

The Howards always had a brief way with
them. But Wriothesley is right, you know.

The King looks on Cromwell
with all his favour.

He looked with all his favour
on Wolsey, too.

Times are very different now.
The Pope, the so-called Queen.

Times, popes, queens,
they have nothing to do with it.

The King will have no strength
in his kingdom greater than his own,

and Cromwell is the most
faithful of servants.

But the lion of the forest
strikes down every rival.

That's very true.

So that our plots need do
nothing but keep the victim

well within reach of the lion's paw.

Mmm-hmm.

Norfolk, do you ever give thought to
what follows when we're successful?

When Norfolk is the
King's greatest servant?

Do you remember Flodden, Winchester?
It was the Howards that won that great battle.

How times were merry in England
before this new learning came in.

I see little hope of
merriment in the future.

Perhaps the Howards will go where
the other great families have gone,

into the urns and
sepulchres of mortality.

No, one chance of merriment I do see,

to pull down thispeasant's son,
Cromwell, with my own hands.

(LADIES LAUGHING)

Ladies, ladies, please.
What is this noise?

Oh. Oh, we...
We didn't know you were here, madam.

It was so quiet in coming from the court.

Yes, the Queen's apartments are
not gay like the King's court.

Well, and so the new caps have
arrived from the milliner?

Yes, and the new silks from
abroad, too.Oh, such colours.

Would it please you to see them?

From abroad?
Lotte, have them fetched.

-Oh, can I...
-No, no. They're too heavy for you.

-Show me the caps.
-This one is the one with the seed pearls.

-Too plain, I think.
-Oh, but very rich.

Though if it had a knot here
and here in gold bands.

-Yes.
-No knots.

That one is altogether to my favour.
Oh, beautiful, beautiful.

Yes. We must think
carefully about this.

Oh, this. Oh, now,
carefully worked in gold.

Crisscross, a pearl in each space.

Oh, madam, they're much more
thickly than ever you wear.

Such fashionable trimmings don't suit me.
They're for little fair girls like you.

And so are these.

Lady Margaret.

And Lady Frances.

(EXCLAIMING)

-For us?
-Madam, you're always so kind.

But where is the fairest of the little girls?
The flaxen one? This one was for her.

Oh, Catherine Howard?
She will be here this evening.

-Shall we take it?
-No, no. I'll give it to her myself.

And I shan't need you for another hour
now so run away and try on your new caps.

Thank you.

Safe for an hour.

It's the flaxen one, is the Howard's spy.

They're all spies for someone.
It does no harm.

Now quick,Lotte, the green velvet.

The truth from Hesse, I hope.
If we know that.

No news at all. My brother
says he's sending a messenger.

A messenger to you?
Haven't you told him the danger?

I have writtenin words of blood
until my fingers ached.

Lotte, some plan to hide this messenger?

A plan? When six spies watch
if you speak to a gardener?

Have I even found a gardener
who'll speak to me?

Oh, Lotte, I thought
I was coming to a gay country.

Oh, for some merry company.

-Madam.
-Hmm?

-(WHISPERS) The letter. Hide the letter.
-Why?

Sir, you are intruding.
These are the Queen's apartments.

Mistress, I am at fault.

I was waiting in the pleasant evening
air and strayed here innocently.

I hope I have not disturbed Her Majesty?

But would it be possible for me
to make my apologies in person?

-Her brother, the Duke, has honoured me with...
-My brother?

Lotte, the doors.

Your Majesty.

It was never my good fortune
to be in Cleves at a moment

when I might be presented to you,

but to see a daughter of Cleves,
a daughter of that Protestant Church

we have fought for for so long.

Sir, my movements are watched.

Give me your message, please,
as quickly as possible.

-Message? -From my brother.

It is some months since I saw your brother,
since I was last in Cleves on embassy.

My name is Barnes, Robert Barnes.

You disappoint me, Master Barnes.

I had hoped that you had seen
my brother later than myself.

I think I have read some of your works.

I'm sorry I disappoint you.
I will be honest with you.

I was walking outside awaiting
my Lord Cromwell,

and when I thought that I could
reach your window unobserved,

I made so bold as to try.
I have no message.

Only a message of loyalty
to our Protestant Queen.

Is it so impossible to
obtain audience of me?

Madam, no one knows,
so it is safer not to try.

You must not blame men for
looking after their own safety.

I do not. I sympathise.

The King has employed you, I know,
Master Barnes, on many embassies to Europe.

-What late news have you?
-Little new.

The German alliance is uneasy,
and I have forebodings.

These Protestant Princes,
they are weak alone.

They must unite if they are going
to hold up against the Empire.

More, they must have England behind them.
It would be of advantage to the King.

It would clinch his great reforms of the
Church, but he hesitates. He hesitates.

I greatly fear that the hope of some
worldly success may tempt him to...

Master Barnes, I have heard much
good of you,but one thing evil.

You talk unwisely.

Madam, I preach only the dogma
propounded by the King himself,

his great reforms of the Church.
His Majesty has my most pro found devotion.

I think I've proved that. I worked
faithfully for him these many years.

You put your trust in princes.

I honour you as an upholder
of the Protestant Church.

Its life is precarious, madam.
We must all give of our best.

Night by night, I think of it.
Day by day, I work for it.

And I sit at home and think of my maker.

Madam, you rebuke us all. Man's chief
aim in life is to glorify God.

And yet, while we sit and think of him,

the Pope has slipped in
with some cursed alliance

that separates city from city and treacherously
extracts taxes from the faithful.

Is this battle of the Churches all
that there is in life, Master Barnes?

(LAUGHING) Madam, what else is there?

Why, saving a child from unhappiness.

Lotte, the work.
This must be done before tomorrow.

A child, a single child.

It would be against scripture to deny
that that would be acceptable to Christ.

But to us, who have given our lives to the
true Church, what is a child's misery?

Master Barnes,
you seem to be a good man,

but you have said one of the
most wicked things possible.

Pray, say something to
restore my liking for you.

Madam, what can I say? My life has
been given to the true Church.

Then you are the stuff of martyrs.
Let you be happy while you burn.

Madam? Robert.

It seems the Queen's apartments
have become a thorough fare.

Madam, I come to guard your
privacy rather than to break it.

I saw that Robert here had come this
way. I would have taken him off, but...

-You were talking of burning?
-I spoke in irritation.

I will leave you to your tryst with
Master Barnes, whom I am happy to have met.

-I had also hoped to obtain an audience, madam.
-Of the Queen?

We have interests in common.

We visit the same merchants,
but we bargain for different goods.

And lower our voices in the open air.

If my Lord Cromwell risks coming to the
Queen, the Queen must risk my Lord Cromwell.

Lotte, the wine.

-Madam, I...
-You have travelled much in Europe,

-Master Barnes?
-These last 10 years, madam.

I was first in Wittenberg to see
Master Martin Luther in the year 1531,

-and then I was thereagain later to secure...
-Robert.

To secure for the King approval of
his divorce from Queen Catherine.

I beg pardon,
the Princess of Aragon.

The King's inclination to the
Protestants is far from new.

But Luther would not agree.
His argument was an interesting one.

There were those whom intended

the marriage could not be dissolved
because it had been consummated.

-Now this point was one...
-Robert, will you never learn to be discreet?

Be quiet, my Lord Cromwell.

The subject of the King's divorces
is of interest to me.

Am I wrong in thinking it
pertinent toyour errand here?

Madam, I wish that half of my clerks
had half of your good sense.

I take it then that there is nothing in
the situation that I need explain to you.

You have had a grand design,

an alliance of all
the Protestant powers of Europe

against all the Catholic powers.

-I am a small part of that design.
-You are not a small part.

I need your help.

The help of Anne of England,
who not even the King ever visits?

Madam, I know why. I shaped your fate,
your Majesty, but you shape mine.

If you fall, I fall, if I fall, you fall,
and with us both falls our English Church.

You... I'll never say it.
Queens are one thing, but you...

-Robert, your tongue.
-Tongue?

-Well, perhaps I spoke in haste, madam, but I...
-My Lord Cromwell,

they say that you have never been
higher in your King's favour.

So I smell my danger. Do neither
of you yet know this King?

Have you heard none of the things that
are said of him in this land that

30 years ago adored him?

Oh, I read the reports
as they come to me.

When the King has a fall, they wish it
had broken his neck for him.

If the King knew his subjects'
true feelings,they say

he would quake with fear
when he rode among them.

Jesu, they even say that
Thomas Cromwell had been an honest man,

if he had an honest master, and what worse
condemnation could there be than that?

And they are right.

You are married to a monster, madam,
God and His Holy Church defend us.

A monster who knows nothing, sees nothing,
cares for nothing but his own will.

And you remain his servant.

What other kennel would hold me?

And now my ruin is in your hands.
I have been speaking treason.

I take it that you have honoured
me with your confidence.

You have alsomightily puzzled me.
Why have you come to me?

Madam, I do not inquire into the
secrets of the marriage bed,

but I know my master.

Will you hear my conclusions as
to the state that we are all in

and the one solution that I see?

Madam, you are the only solution.

-The King does not visit me.
-No, madam, but he needs you.

A wife who could offer him
quiet at his day's end.

Peace at his life's end.

I think she could
be my King's salvation,

and in his peacewould be
England's hope of peace.

You speak persuasively.

Almost as persuasively as His Grace
of Canterbury on my wedding morning.

You set me three problems.

Whether I agree with your view,

whether I have the will
to act as you think I should

and whether I have also the ability.

You must give me time.

Time? The spring draws on,
troubles mount in Europe,

the German League squabbles,
France disagrees with the Empire.

What is happening in Hesse, God
alone knows, and you talk of time?

If you forgot your papers sometimes,

you would discover that more things
go on inthe world than politics.

Yes, you and I, Master Barnes,
have had words on this.

-Words?
-Young children shamed.

Honourable ladies brought
to deaths or despair.

God bless us, my Lord Cromwell.

God bless all the kings
and rulers of the Earth.

Have you never counted
how sweetly life goes on

with never a thought of your existence?

Did the milk ever curdle in
the mouth ofthe popish babe?

Did the corn ever grow higher because
it was sown by a good Protestant?

God, madam, is merciful to the sinner
in the hope of his amendment.

And man, sir, takes on too much
in speaking for his Maker.

But the Protestant Church is
foundedon the very word of God.

And I would rather comfort a shamed
child than save a dozen churches.

(DOOR BANGING)

(BOTH EXCLAIMING)

(SCREAMING AT EACH OTHER)

Lousy servant woman!

Kitchen whore!

-German tart!
-This lady would interrupt you.

Madam, it is not the place of your serving
woman to say whom you will see or not see.

If Lotte chances to know
that I'm occupied, Lady Frances,

-your good sense should lead you to listen to her.
-Madam.

Your Majesty, an envoy from
your august brother of Cleves.

His Excellency, the Chancellor of the
Duchy of Cleves-Julich with Guelders.

-Madam.
-Sir.

I bring so flowery a garland of greetings

that it will add lustre
even to thatvery moon of beauty

that was born the
adorable Anna von Cleves.

Ah, sad, sad Cleves to have lost her.

Happy England to have
her forever beaming upon them.

Cleves, sir, seems to have gained
a new chancellor since I left.

Here, madam, is the humble devotion of
every soul in the land you once graced.

And here, the lifelong homage of this
servant of your beauty, now at your feet.

And here are the fraternal greetings
of your ever-loving brother.

Brother.

And there are yet two sisters,
a brother-in-law and several dogs.

-Dogs.
-At least do not disappoint the dogs.

So...

Guards!

So, madam.

This is how you pass your time
in your husband's absence, hmm?

(LAUGHING NERVOUSLY)

I see a lucky man.

Madam, your noble and fortunate
husband. Majesty of England, delighted.

My lord, allow me to present to
you an envoy from my brother,

the Chancellor of our duchy.

Whom you, madam, receive alone. By God,
madam, is this not treason in a queen?

Am I alone where my husband
can enter unannounced?

CROMWELL: Sir.

Her Majesty is not alone.

I had withdrawn while she
heard her family's greetings.

(GROANING)

What kind of conference is this?
Behind my back, plots, hmm?

What business, madam,
have you to talk to my minister?

My talk, sir, was with Master Barnes.
I have read his works with interest.

Oh, Robert Barnes, good day to you.

Well, if you must read divines, madam,
you can do no better than Robert Barnes.

He's thoroughly sound.
He knows my mind.

Oh, your pardon, I have not
yet presented these gentlemen.

My Lord Cromwell, Master Barnes,
the Chancellor of Cleves.

I am of course well
acquainted with His Highness.

-Highness?
-Highness?

What a devilish chance.

Disguised in my wife's apartments.

Sir, you are not acquainted with
His Highness, the Landgrave of Hesse.

-Hesse?
-Your Majesty.

I wonder if he has come to enlighten
us as to the situation in Hesse?

Perhaps he has.

But first of all, he will enlighten us
as to why he is in my kingdom,

disguised, unannouncedand in
secret conference with my wife,

who is trying to hide
his identity from me?

Queens, madam, may commit
other treasons than adultery.

Secretconference with a woman?
Do you think me mad?

Madam, I beg your pardon, but
let us retain our good sense.

Certainly I come to England
in secrecy, but to the King.

And how better to approach
His Royal Highness,

but by way of my German compatriot,
his beloved wife?

I am delighted at the
success of your scheme, sir.

May I wish your conference equal success.

Wait. Are your women discreet?

They were chosenby Your Majesty.
It is for you to judge.

Well, madam, we shall
so far try your patience

as to use your apartments
for a little longer.

Instruct your servants not to disturb us.

Is it, sir?
I must either summon my ladies

to my bedchamber or wait
in the court outside.

-Hmm?
-Or it will be thought that you and I...

-Oh.
-But why should not Her Majesty stay, hmm?

A feminine wit for feminine matters.
She may even be of help.

Feminine matters? Your country's
twisting in the Protestant League

has kept Europe troubled for months,
and you talk of feminine matters?

It has happened before.

And will again, no doubt.
No, pray, let Her Majesty stay.

Let my Lord Cromwell stay, too.
It will concern him soon enough, no doubt.

And Master Barnes here knows the
German courts as well as any Englishman.

Brother Henry, I need
all the help I can get.

Herr Landgraf,
we have been hoping for months

that you would take up your position as
one of the leaders of the German League.

And defy the Empire, hmm?

I would very willingly do it, but for
one obstacle in my path. One woman.

And that is why
I have come to see Your Majesty.

-To me. Why?
-She is my wife.

Brother, advise me.
How am I to divorce her?

-Well?
-The Queen is moving.

The King is with her in her rooms.

There are instructions
they are not to be disturbed.

-But they're not alone?
-They are together.

The King dismissed the guards.
Her ladies are refused entry.

-Well, you suggest?
-Well, she's young. She's comely.

He's been a bachelor for two years.
Oh, Lord, help you for fools.

Do you never take
account of a woman's fears?

She can entice him to her bed
or she is cast off.

And what happens to
cast-off queens in England?

Landgrave, I cannot advise you.

I've never been divorced.

Well, annulment, execution, divorce.
The effect was the same.

You rid yourself of them
and you did it legally.

How? I need to rid myself of my wife.
Otherwise I must submit to the Empire.

Submit? Renounce the Protestant League?
Give up the cause of the Church?

Church? The true Church in
Europe? It would go down.

The King would never agree
to an alliance with...

I am sure the Landgrave
has your attention, sir.

-Proceed, Herr Landgraf.
-Thank you.

Briefly, I have got myself
into a damnable tangle,

and all because of this wife of mine.
Now, Master Barnes, you know her.

-She seems an agreeable woman.
-Oh, she is, so execution is out of the question.

I have not a complaint against her,
except that I can't abide her.

I can't bring myself to her bed.

God saves, but a man must have a bed
he can climb into at his day's end.

-Sir, we feel for you.
-HENRY: Madam.

Herr Landgraf, the solution to your
difficulty seems to us, simple.

-Get yourself a mistress.
-Oh, but I can't.

That is, of course, I have.

A charming little love, but I cannot
go on sleeping with her as my mistress.

-Well, why not?
-It's a mortal sin.

I can't take the sacrament.

Madam, suppose that every time this
fortunate man, your husband, came to your bed,

a consciousness of mortal sin
impeded you both.

Would you both not long for more comfort?

Sir, we were speaking
of the German alliance.

-Yes, well, I had not yet finished my story.
-Ah.

So I took advice elsewhere.
I consulted Martin Luther.

-Oh, and what did he advise?
-To commit bigamy.

(EXCLAIMS) I always
said Luther was no scholar.

I think the same solution
once occurred to you, sir.

In connection with
the Princess of Aragon, was it not?

It also occurred to the Pope.
There were biblical precedents.

(CHUCKLING) There are indeed!
Luther named them all.

So, I did.

-Did what?
-Commit bigamy.

And if one wife was hell, two turned
out to be hell, death and damnation.

It leaked out. And, of course,
what we had all forgotten

is that I am by law a subject of the Empire.

And in the Empire,
bigamy is punishable by death.

-Death?
-I'm on a short rope.

Either I abandon the Protestant
alliance or I'm executed for bigamy.

I had always thought Luther a man of God.

But were we not talking of what
politics does to men of God?

And life or Luther, what sensible
man would hesitate to choose life?

Men have chosen Luther, Herr Landgraf,
and died in the fire for him.

Master Barnes, there's only one man

you have a right to urge into
martyrdom and that is yourself.

-If that were to be my fate,
sir, I should...

-Robert, there is no talk
of your burning.

I hope not.

Though the flames do disturb
my dreams sometimes.

I beg your pardon.
I interrupted the Landgrave.

So, in order to obtain my divorce,

I must once more become
a loyal subject of the Empire.

Unless Your Majesty can show me
a way out of this tangle.

Now, can you?

(GROANING)

Landgrave,

I can't.

Then it's the Empire for me.

-And not the Protestant Churches?
-And not the German alliance.

That is a subject you and I must
discuss further, my Lord Earl.

Sir?

So faithful a servant, Cromwell,
you are now Earl of Essex by my pleasure.

I know how Your Majesty rewards
his faithful servants.

My gratitude will be as long as my life.

To the continuing glory
of so pre-eminent a queen.

Drink, Landgrave,
simply to the happiness of Anne.

And my thanks, Master Barnes,
for your spiritual advice.

-We did not agree, madam.
-No, but it cleared my mind wonderfully.

My Lord Earl,

you have my leave.

You dismiss me?

It has all been said.

Your Majesty.

-Ah, my Lord Earl of Essex.
-Our felicitations to my Lord Earl.

The King indeed holds
you high in his favour.

-I thank you of your kindness.
-Kindness? My Lord Earl.

-Is His Grace of Canterbury within?
-I believe so.

I have an urgent need of him.
Forgive me.

You had a speck of dust just there,
my Lord Earl.

Dust, which some would call decoration.

-My Lord Earl.
-Not you, Archbishop.

Stand silent a little.

My lord?

For a learned man,
you're mighty slow in your wits.

You've done some shameful things
in your life,

and you're likely
to do more before you die,

so how is it I find such comfort in you?

-Comfort? I have never any to give.
-No?

I fancy when that King in there,
that arrogant bag of

diseased guts and crazed pride,

at last comes to die, he will only go
in peace if he has your hand in his.

What comfort can you need?

I've seen the warrants ready and
the pen dipped to sign them.

Few could have been favoured with
such clear notice of their deaths.

Will you pay a debt for me, Archbishop?

You have credit with me.

Stay, Tom,

until the King leaves the Queen tonight.

Whatever happens, there will be
a ladyin dire need of comfort.

Comfort again, and my hands so empty.

What will happen?

The more I know of that Lady of Cleves,

the more I wonder.

-Punch is good on an April night.
-Yes.

-Are you trying to keep me here?
-But you have not dined, sir.

Ooh, is that chicken?

(LAUGHING)

Seethed with almonds.

Oh, beauty.

We're alone. Is this some trick?

-Husband, we were alone on our wedding night.
-What do you mean?

If our marriage is to be valid,
it was consummated.

If it was consummated, it was on
that night, when we were alone.

-So, madam, you think you have me?
-Only if I want you, husband.

If now I was some foolish young girl
thinking only of the title of queen,

or if I were so forlorn as to be frightened
by what happens to unwanted queens in England,

then I might affirm that our
marriage had been consummated.

Might mention that contract on
which my brother spent so many hours.

-That contract.
-But then I am not so foolish, husband.

Not all the brothers and kingdoms and
churches in Christendom can contradict us,

so long as we agree that our
marriage wasnever consummated.

And so, it should be easy enough
to have it annulled.

Annulled? Do you think
I would divorce you?

You cannot help Philip of Hesse.

Hesse will fall to the Empire, and without
Hesse, the German League will fall apart.

Oh, you never really liked that League,
Henry. The part was too small for you.

You wanted to be one of
the great three of Europe,

not simply a leader
of many small states.

And so, you see, the reason for
our marriage no longer exists.

Our marriage may be as though
it had never been.

You dictate to me?

Oh, I assure Your Majesty
I understand his pleasure.

You mean that...
You mean that you would accept?

-Yes.
-Would you really?

Without resistance? Without legal battles
and years and years of senseless arguing?

Yes.

-You would do as I ask?
-Yes.

-I've been saying so for some time.
-Madam, Anne... Anna,

give me your hands. Both, both.

Mind you, I do that without prejudice.

In homage merely to a woman who can
discuss marriage without, without...

-With sense.
-I salute you.

And I do not accede to your demands.

I have made none.
I have acceded to yours.

Oh, you won't be ungenerous, Henry.
You are far too great a king for that.

Now, you will give me
a household of my own,

just to show that there
is no ill-will between us.

You will let me stay in England, hmm?

You will let me see your children.
Oh, I love your children, Henry.

They're all so like you.
In their different ways, of course.

The chief pointnow is to free us...
You, from this marriage.

And then you can make
another approach to the Empire,

-which by then will be free of the French alliance...
-Anne.

(BURPS)

You're right.
You're perfectly right.

I am no petty German
princeling thinking myself

mighty because I defy the Empire.

I am Emperor and Pope myself,
in all but mere name.

What other man in England has
ruled both kingdom and church?

Yes.

I must talk and walk with emperors,
or I cannot be all that I am.

But, Anna...

Anna, I need also a wife.

We laughed at Philip of Hesse
quite rightly. He needs pity.

What do you think happens
when he gets into bed?

His consciousness of sin becomes...

(LAUGHING)

But he's right. A married man
should be faithful to his wife.

Utterly, utterly faithful.

# As the ivy groweth green
and never changeth hue

# So am I, and ever hath been

(COUGHING)

# Unto my lady true #

I wrote that. I forget who for.

-But Philip of Hesse?
-By the passion of Christ, he's right.

All men are sinners and kings.

Kings, all these women thrust sin upon
kings. And all, all, all for their own glory.

No. No, there was one.

And it ended too soon.

But if it hadn't ended...

What was I saying?

-Yes, about peace. -Peace?

For I am not as other kings,
I am not as other men are.

In anything, I pursue, I pursue.
I can find women, but peace?

Yet it came, it did come once... Twice.
But even three times, always with women.

Anna.

Anna, if I had a wife
I could be faithful to,

a beauty, yes, but chiefly kind to me.

Quiet at my day's end,
peace at my life's end.

Oh, God, what is my
life's end going to be?

If I could find peace, peace...

Peace, so that I can attack France.

Anna, Anna, save me from these women
because they will have me married.

They will take some pretty wench

and some great family and parade
it in front of me, and I'm a man.

An old man.

And she would make such a fool of me.

Oh, such an old fool of me.

Anna, Anna, save me from that.

And if I ever find a man
who called you ugly,

I shall have him hanged as a traitor.

My beauty, my queen.

My wife.

(SNORING)

(CRYING)

Now, there, there, my child.

Come now.

Now, come.

-You don't need comforting now.
-Oh, yes.

-Yes.
-Oh, no, no.

Just cool your head a little.

Now, come now. No more weeping now.

Yes.

Yes, that's enough.

Now, listen.

Tell Cromwell his cause is lost.

-Tell him to save himself.
-Anna, Cromwell knows this.

He has seen his death already.

-And Robert Barnes?
-Barnes, too.

Oh, well, perhaps it must be.

I pray it will not be the fire for him.

For anyone.

We all dream of those flames.

There is still time. Tell them.

-Let me have no martyrs.
-Every good needs its martyrs,

even the hatred of martyrdom.
Leave us to the ends we need to find.

Now, you must pray.
I am very happy for your salvation.

(PRAYING IN LATIN)

(SNORING)

(EXCLAIMS)

Oh, I must have dozed a little.

Such a warm night.

And in the middle of so important a talk,

and with so much business so well settled.

Hmm?

-The annulmentof our marriage.
-Oh.

So it's settled?

Our marriage was never consummated,
but we remain friends.

Friends. We must agree...

Friends.

I could call myself your sister.

Your Majesty's most loving

and obedient sister.

May I ask Your Majesty's leave
to call my ladies and retire?

Madam, er... Sister.

Your brother...

Your...

Your loving brother

wishes you a very good night.

Sister!

(LAUGHING)