The third queen

Jane Seymour died on October 24, 1537 of the complications of childbirth, twelve days after giving birth to Henry’s longed-for son. Jane may have been lucky to go out on a high note, exiting at the top of her game, if you will, given her husband’s increasingly erratic, unpredictable nature. (See Parr, Katherine) But imagine if she had survived. How would that have changed history? I can immediately think of three women who’d have had much happier lives—Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Katherine Parr. Her son would certainly have benefited from having his mother around. Maybe even her grasping, ambitious brothers, who could conceivably have avoided their fatal over-reaching, although I rather doubt it. Of course if Henry had only three wives, subsequent Hollywood screenwriters and historical novelists would have been deprived of some of their best material.