Six Wives with Lucy Worsley - Episode Guide

Lucy sees the early passion of young Henry VIII and his first wife, the Spanish princess Katherine of Aragon, and follows Katherine through her emotional and physical struggles to give Henry the heir he so desperately needs to continue his own dynasty. 16years into their marriage, Katherine finally has a baby who lives - the only problem is that it's a girl. Henry's eye wanders to the ladies at court - first to Mary Boleyn and then to her sister, the infamous Anne. Lucy travels to Rome to read the love letters that Henry sent her, now kept at the Vatican. Not wishing to be laid aside as her sister had been, Anne Boleyn spurns all Henry's advances - unless he marries her. Henry needs the Pope to annul his marriage to Katherine but the diplomatic process to get this proves harder than he ever could have imagined.

Henry is still desperate to marry Anne and be rid of his wife Queen Katherine. The Pope is still refusing to annul the royal marriage, but there is a new revolutionary form of Christianity emerging in Europe - and Henry begins to see how he could become head of his own church in England in order to marry Anne. Lucy is a witness at the wedding of Henry and Anne - where the bride is already pregnant. As Anne is crowned Queen in Westminster Abbey, she prepares to go into confinement for the birth of their baby and a baby girl is born - Elizabeth. Meanwhile, rumours start to circulate that Anne has been having affairs with several men - including her own brother. Lucy witnesses Anne desperately pleading with Henry, but she is soon arrested and brought to the Tower of London. As soon as Anne is dead, Henry marries Jane Seymour. Lucy serves at a dinner in which Jane has an argument with Henry about the destruction of the monasteries. Jane fulfils her most important role as Queen: giving birth to a healthy son, baby Edward. Henry's joy is overshadowed by grief as Jane dies 12 days later from an infection.

Lucy Worsley revisits key events in the lives of Henry VIII's six wives, revealing how each attempted to exert influence on the king and the Tudor court; this episode follows Henry's marriage annulment to Anne of Cleves due to non-consummation. Middle-aged Henry then marries teenager Catherine Howard two weeks later, only for her to be convicted of treason and beheaded. Henry's last wife, Katherine Parr, is a good stepmother to his children, but her religious views differed greatly from the king's. Her book, Prayers or Meditations, was the first book to be written in English by a woman, but its popularity threatened Henry's advisors. Lucy observes as Katherine narrowly escapes being arrested for treason. Henry dies and his son Edward VI takes the throne, Katherine remarries and gets pregnant but tragically dies a week after the baby is born.