The Boleyns: An Infamous Family ( 7R %H &RQÀUPHG)

Summer TBC

BBC Two

The story of the Boleyns is often told by focusing on Anne (c1501– 1536), the doomed queen consort who was executed on the instructions of her husband. Yet as this three-part series explores, her ascension to the apex of power wasn’t simply a case of one remarkable woman catching the eye of Henry VIII. Rather, Anne’s family shaped her life.

Drawing on original source material, the programme portrays the Boleyns as tireless social climbers. Wealthy from the wool trade and a member of the landed gentry, Anne’s father Thomas (1477–1539) – a man both charming and ambitious – needed to make a good match to advance the family’s place in society. In this he succeeded because his bride, Lady Elizabeth Howard (c1480–1538), was the eldest daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk (1443–1524). In a scenario often repeated down the years, the Howards needed money, and the Boleyns the respectability that a marriage into nobility offered.

What followed was a tale shaped by competing factions at court and, with Anne’s marriage to Henry, spectacular success. However, the Boleyns’ fall, which was largely orchestrated by Thomas Cromwell, was equally dramatic. Anne’s brother George (c1503–1536) was executed too, after being accused of committing incest with his sister.

Yet if you take the longer view you can argue that the Boleyns ultimately succeeded in their ambitions. Surviving a troubled childhood, Anne’s daughter Elizabeth reigned as queen of England and Ireland from 1558 until her death in 1603.