The fat monarch with a string of wives and a taste for expensive war-mongering who broke ties with Rome and founded his own Church is the stereotypical image of Henry VIII that schoolchildren and adults alike are familiar with. Katherine of Aragon was the first of his six wives, who having failed to give him a son and male heir was cast aside for a younger model and then suffered the humiliation of divorce. Cardinal Wolsey was his trusted right-hand-man and a brilliant statesman, who rose to the top only to spectacularly fall from power, charged with treason.

But do these stereotypes of King, Queen and Bishop overshadow the true characters in the story of Young Henry VIII? A new exhibition opening at Hampton Court Palace this summer (28 June), the Tudor King’s most famous residence, will tell the real story of what happened during the first twenty years of Henry’s reign through the eyes of the three people who shaped it.

Tudor paintings are brought together alongside audiovisual displays, interactive touch screens and historic quotes to tell the story of dashing Prince Henry who, after the early death of his older brother Arthur, inherited the title of heir to the throne as well as his widowed sister-in-law. Henry’s long relationship with Katherine of Aragon, a powerful, respected Spanish Princess, is explored in light of her political and maternal battles. Cardinal Wolsey, the butcher’s son who became a respected senior clergymen and one of King Henry’s most influential advisors, is the final character woven in our narrative.

Our story begins after Henry VII seized the throne following his victory at the Battle of Bosworth. The painting The Family of Henry VII with St George, extensively conserved for display in this exhibition, depicts young Prince Henry with his parents, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, older brother Arthur, Prince of Wales, and other siblings, who are shown vowing to look after England before God and St George. Visitors will be able to discover the story behind the painting, the man Prince Henry was when he inherited the throne as a teenager, as well as meet the ambitious and passionate Spanish princess, Katherine of Aragon, and the then rising star at court, Thomas Wolsey.

Having met our trio, the themes of war and European expansion are explored through two important Tudor history paintings: The Meeting of Henry and Maximilian (c1520) and The Battle of the Spurs (c1520). Henry, keen to follow in the footsteps of his royal ancestors who led heroic victories in Europe, formed an alliance with Maximilian I, the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1513, aged just 22 years, they led an army of up to forty thousand men across the Channel to challenge French King Louis XII.

The Meeting of Henry and Maximilian records Henry and Maximilian’s military success against Louis’s army, depicting the Battle of the Spurs and the two French cities, Therouanne and Tournai, which fell to the Anglo-Imperial army during their campaign. The Battle of the Spurs painting shows the engagement in detail, with Henry at the heart of the battle, which ended with the French cavalry fleeing the scene and all the English could see were the spurs on their heels.

Meanwhile, where were Wolsey and Katherine? Whilst Wolsey did not make it to the battlefield himself, his meticulous planning, including arranging transportation for soldiers, organising supplies and collecting taxes to finance the campaign, was fundamental to it’s success.  And with Henry in France, Queen Katherine (already familiar with the battlefields of Spain) took the lead defending England from the invading Scottish army. King James IV and up to 10,000 Scottish soldiers were killed in the bloody battle at Flodden Field led by Katherine. Together the three of them were a dream team!

In 1518, King Henry VIII and Francis I of France signed a peace treaty and in 1520 Henry set sail from Dover with some 6000 members of court on a mission to further improve relations between the two rulers. The Embarkation at Dover shows the scene as they departed with Henry on board his largest ship, the Great Harry, bedecked with magnificent gold sails. This time Henry was accompanied by his two closest confidants, Queen Katherine and Cardinal Wolsey.

The Field of the Cloth of Gold painting depicts the festivities. A temporary palace (where Henry, Katherine and Wolsey all had rooms), sumptuous tents bedecked in cloth of gold and fountains flowing with red wine show the sheer extravagance of the jamboree. Tilts, jousts, wrestling and other chivalric activity provided daily entertainment that lasted for nearly three weeks. Henry and Wolsey are shown arriving at and participating in the summit alongside thousands of French and English courtiers (some of whom clearly enjoyed the novelty fountains!). Wolsey, now renowned as a meticulous organiser, orchestrated the affair, sealing what was hoped to be a lasting friendship between England and France.

Despite the political celebrations at this time, one uncertainty continued to plague Henry and Katherine: they had yet to produce a male heir. Princess Mary was born in 1516 but the Queen’s ongoing desperation for a much needed son led only to a succession of miscarriages and great personal sadness, which is discussed in the exhibition. Henry VIII finally got the son he so desired from his mistress Elizabeth Blount and despite Henry Fitzroy’s illegitimate status, the young boy became the Duke of Richmond and was even groomed as a possible heir. This was a personal blow to Katherine who slowly began withdrawing from indulgent court life having failed to deliver her husband a son herself.

Meanwhile Henry saw getting a new wife as the only solution to his dynastic problems: Katherine, now aged 40, was unlikely to give him a son, and a young lady at court by the name of Anne Boleyn had caught his eye. Wolsey, fundamental to so many of Henry’s other successes, would certainly be able to secure the King’s divorce….wouldn’t he?
A portrait of Henry in his early 40s by Joos van Cleve (c1535) is the final painting displayed in the exhibition. The King, embittered by events, was now on his way to becoming the familiar tyrannical figure of popular culture. History tells us what the following decades bring the ageing Henry VIII, the story of which will be explored at Hampton Court Palace in 2008 and 2009.

Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace 2006-2009

2009 is the 500th anniversary of King Henry VIII’s accession to the throne. In the years leading up to this celebratory year, Historic Royal Palaces is re-presenting the Tudor areas of Hampton Court Palace, bringing Henry’s court and the story of his reign back to his most famous residence.

In 2006 the Tudor Kitchens, the largest surviving from the period, were re-presented transforming the kitchens into the busy factory floor that they would have resembled in the 1500s.

In 2007 the early years of Henry’s reign will be explored in the Young Henry VIII exhibition in the Wolsey Rooms.

2008 and 2009 will explore the magnificence of the latter years of Henry’s reign, including the stories of his five other wives.