Anne of Cleves was a German princess. Arranged mainly by Thomas Cromwell, an advisor of Henry VIII, she was chosen by Henry to be his fourth wife after the death of Jane Seymour. But Henry had never met Anne, and so did Anne.
Arriving England
When Anne arrived at court, Henry came to court, dressed as a merchant. Then the “merchant” came and kissed Anne. Anne hadn’t seen Henry yet; she thought that the “merchant” was someone in the court. So she pushed him away from kissing him. This made the king angry, and maybe since then Anne learnt to be smart. The king didn’t like what Anne had done to him, and I think the king remembered this forever.
At court
Anne didn’t know English when she came to England. (She grew up in Germany.) Therefore, many people at court regarded her as stupid as she didn’t speak English as fluently as others. It was Lady Rochford (Jane Boleyn, née Parker) who had taught her English well. But she was trying really hard to learn English. Eventually others thought she knew nothing, she was actually smart and quick-witted.
No sons
Anne couldn’t bear a son for Henry. Maybe Henry didn’t like Anne. Even at their wedding night, they maybe didn’t bed at all. (It was a tradition to wed and bed at the Tudor court.) The nights later, Henry just said “good night” to her. This made both the queen and the court (partly her ladies-in-waiting) anxious. They all knew, if Anne of Cleves couldn’t bore Henry a son, their marriage would be annulled.
Then Henry met Anne’s lady-in-waiting, Katherine Howard. He liked this 14-year-old and wanted to marry her. Henry started to think that Anne couldn’t bore him a son. He didn’t like Anne anymore, maybe he didn’t even like Anne at first.
Marriage annulled
Henry VIII thought Anne was not a virgin when she married him. Therefore Henry annulled their marriage and beheaded Thomas Cromwell for treason (yes, the king can do that), because he recommended Anne to the king. Anne could only agree to the annulment and try to survive, as she knew that she was lucky to survive when Henry was angry at someone. Not many people could escape the scaffold.
Life afterwards
After the annulment, Anne of Cleves became the “beloved sister” of Henry. She could go to court during the festival celebrations. Upon seeing her previous lady-in-waiting Katherine became the queen, she did not feel jealous; instead she was worried about the 14-year-old. Her worries weren’t wrong: Katherine was beheaded two years later.
Anne of Cleves outlived Henry VIII in the end.
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