The Jenny Wilson Show (featuring Henry VIII and his six wives) by Louise Birkett

children.”
    “But would the husband of one of your mistresses sleep with his wife while you were doing so?” I thought. I didn’t realise I’d asked the question out loud until Henry raised an eyebrow and suppressed a laugh.
    “Probably not,” he acknowledged, “but a man has the right to sleep with his wife and who could say?”
    “Apart from the husband?”
    “They were well paid. It was considered an honour to be the king’s mistress. Don’t forget, I had the authority to grant them lands and wealth and there were enough greedy, grasping sorts who craved power for me to be able to salve my conscience with a manor or two.”
    I wondered whether there had ever been a lack of ‘greedy, grasping sorts’ down the ages.
    “Just so the audience is aware,” said Catherine, “it wasn’t his women who got the lands and the titles, it was their families.”
    “Shame!” A woman’s voice called from the audience.
    Catherine gave an innocent smile.
    “But all the time,” continued Henry, ignoring her and the audience, “there was the need for a son. I did consider legitimising Bessie’s son but I knew that after my death that could lead to civil war between the people who supported him and the people who supported Mary. I knew something had to be done but what to do was the question.”
    “Meanwhile,” said Catherine, “I found great comfort in my religion and I brought up Mary to be a queen. She was brought up in my household until her staff grew too big and she had to have her own accommodation. I taught her the lessons I’d learned from my mother, I commissioned educational advice from the best scholars and I nursed her when she was ill.”
    “We did work together to establish who her tutors should be,” Henry recalled, with a slight air of injury.
    “Indeed and you treated her as the Princess of Wales – your lawful heir.” Catherine smiled, “But she was never far away from me.”
    “Mary also excelled at music and dancing and as a child was very pretty,” said Henry complacently, “so when it came time to find her a husband I could be sure she would excel. But marrying Mary off was one thing…”
    “There were certainly plenty of suitors,” Catherine interrupted, “First she was pledged to the heir to the French throne when she was two, then to my nephew the Emperor Charles four years later.”
    “A betrothal which he overthrew,” remarked Henry. “But proud as I was of Mary, the fact remained I still required a son and the queen was incapable of giving me a son. Other men had sons, other men had housefuls of sons who caused them no end of bother. Yet I as king had none. Catalina could have none and so I had to do something about it.”
    “Call a break, now!” Ruth shouted in my ear.
    Trying not to wince, I turned to the camera and said, “And we’re now going to take a short break, stay tuned and we’ll be right back.”
     
     
----
     
    Visit: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/70033 to purchase this book to continue reading. Show the author you appreciate their work!