Both Sides of the Coin

By Sylvia Thackeray

People like myself who are interested in history, will I hope enjoy my thought, regarding Henry and his children. Having written this collection of short stories, I found myself fortunate enough to feel what I was writing, in my minds eye I was able to see the children with the pleasure their privaleged life gave them. Also the inability to have a say in their lives i.e. Edward loved Elizabeth and thought she would make an excellent Queen (which she eventually did) she had breeding and was extremely intelligent, already speaking three languages fluently, and in those days marriage between royal relatives was common.

I think Henry would have taken any time he could to enable him to spend time with his children, of whom he was so proud, especially Edward who was his heir, and the same could be said of his children. Time with their father must have been very precious to them, perhaps not so with Mary who bore him many grievances i.e. his cruel treatment of her mother and their many arguments over his changing the countrys religion to suit his purposes, i.e. his marriage to Anne Bolyn. Elizabeth also would never forgive him for the early death of her mother depriving her of a mothers love, but she loved her father dearly and was not adverse to a cuddle.

Being able to into their lives as I wrote gave me great pleasure and it felt that I was on the outside looking in. I feel that Mary would not have joined in their games she would have considered it beneath her, on the other hand Elizabeth I should imagine would have been game for anything. Very mischevious and full of fun as was her father before the death of his brother put a stop to that. Edward must have found it difficult to accept the restraints placed upon him and envied Elizabeth her comparative freedom, but he was easily led astray by his younger sister and life was good.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jan 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9781456772789

Sylvia Thackeray

As the writer of this book, I found great pleasure in doing so. I have always enjoyed learning the history of my country, the Tudors in particular, and having the opportunity to visit the places thay inhabited from time to time, in particular Hever castle, Hampton court and especially The Tower of London having seen them many times they never fail to thrill me and my imagination goes wild. Istand in the Italian gardens at Haptom especially where the barges would draw up to deposit their passengers, and I can almost hear the trumpets blaring as Henry arrived and stepped out onto the landing the larger than life figure ablaze with jewels. And in the formal gardens I like to imagine the ladies of the court strolling around chattering, and the laughter of the children, and poor Anne trying desperately to hang on to her husband, her crown and her life. Hever castle I love but it seems small to bear the title of a castle but none the less it contains the same magic. Once when visiting Hever they had dressed volunteers in Tudor costumes as I came around a corner Henry was facing me and without thinking I curtsied. Had I been there before? When I visit these places in that era I feel at home it probably sounds stupid, but even when I read a novel of this era I feel I could easily talk as they did all those years ago. Mind you had I been a lady of the court in those days I would have kept a wary eye on Henry and I am sure many did. King or no King I would have preferred to keep my head but unfortunately for those women they did not have a say in the matter. An interesting and colourful period in my countrys history but I would not have cared to live in it.

Book preview

© 2010 Sylvia Thackeray. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 1/11/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4567-7280-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-7279-6 (dj)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-7278-9 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Foreword

The Loss of The Mary Rose

Henry rides out with his family

Henry viii

Henry and Mary

Henry and religion

Henry and Elizabeth

The Chess Game

Henry, Elizabeth and Anne

Henry

Henry and his son

Elizabeths first dance

Henry, Elizabeth and Edward

Henrys fifth marriage

HENRY

THE END

Foreword

I should imagine that most people like myself think of Henry as a tyrant and a womaniser,which he was,but I feel that there was a soft side when it came to his chilren,he would tell his many distinguished visitors how Edward was reading and writing in Latin when he was only nine years old,and he would parade Elizabeth,perched on his shoulders to his courtiers declaring had they ever seen such a more comely chid.

For all of his six wives they only produced three children between then,and the ironic point to my mind is that Anne Bolyn and Henry gave England possibly its greatest Queen,Elizabeth the First,

Hence this collection of short stories.

The Loss of The Mary Rose

There she was the pride and joy of his fleet The Mary Rose,she lay at anchor in Portsmouth harbour awaiting the arrival of the French fleet, the battle was imminent.

Henry had commissioned the building of her in 1509,but this time she was the first ship to carry cannons seventy eight in all,which meant she could fire broadside into the enemy,hopefully the French fleet would be sunk,preventing so much loss of life of his men through boarding the enemy ships and hand to hand combat also arrows in all directions,Henry had named his flagship The Mary Rose after his beloved sister,now it was just a question of time,lookouts had been posted for the first sight of the French fleet.

Henry was becoming impatient,it had been along trip to Portsmouth and he did not think that the French fleet would attack in the dark and he was correct,at first light cries of sails ahoy rang out,from his vantage point Henry spotted the French fleet as they aproached he watched the Mary Rose fire her first salvo of cannons,then she turned broadside to fire at the French ship creeping into view on the already sinking French Flag ship,Henry was exultant,then disaster struck,he could not believe his eyes the Mary Rose was floundering and as he watched in disbelief she gradually rolled to one side and slowly she began to sink, and as he watched he could see the men and horses struggling to abandon the ship but without much success. Along with cries of the men and terrified horses neighing in fear were joined the cries of the watchers staring in despair

Henry searched the waters for survivors,but there was none to be seen,slowly he turned to the watching crowds he raised his fist in the air,his face blood red,Heads will roll for this,he bellowed across the heads of the dumbstruck crowd. Find me the people responsible for this bellowed Henry. Servants ran in all directions searching for said culprits. After some time a small group of men appeared to face the wrath of their King. Well? He roared. What caused this appalling disaster?

One brave soul stepped forward We do not know Sire. What do you mean you dont know?We must look at the drawings again,Do that,but I am telling you again that