What is the verdict?
Guilty, Your Grace.
All of them?
Guilty.
Warrant for the execution of Sir Henry Norris
for the high treason of adultery with Anne, Queen of England.
For the execution of Mark Smeaton, musician,
for the high treason of adultery with Anne, Queen of England.
To the Lieutenant Governor of the Tower of London, a warrant for the execution of
Anne, Queen of England.
For adultery and treason.
To be burned or beheaded at the King's pleasure.
Anne, Queen of England.
My wife.
My wife, Cromwell.
She has borne you a useless daughter and a dead son.
When we married, she promised me a son.
I must have a son to rule England when I am dead.
God has always guided the conscience and answered the prayers of the King.
He will not let you condemn unjustly.
Then why do I hesitate? ls the hesitation from God?
Or is he telling me that you are the one who must die,
you who found the evidence and arranged the trial?
I care only that the King rules absolutely.
The Queen despised her marriage and indulged her carnal lust.
Betrayed me.
Did she, Cromwell? Did she?
Your Grace, the Queen betrayed you and stands condemned.
The warrant is before you.
If she betrayed me, she must die.
If I'm to rule and keep my sanity and hold England off the rocks,
and, as you say, God would not allow me to condemn unjustly.
I question that I question my whole life and all I've done.
At times, I do question it.
Write it down!
Write down Henry Rex, and it's done.
I've condemned men before, nobles and peasants, why not a Queen?
She struck down a few herself, or driven me to do it for her.
It's only...
It's only that when you've held a woman in your arms
and longed for her when she's away, and suffered with her,
and waited with her for the outcome of the child-bed...
You promised me a son.
Anne!
She's new.
Boleyn's youngest daughter, newly returned from the French court.
Do you like her, Kate?
Shall we keep her here at court to cheer you?
Whatever you command, My Lord.
Suppose I command you to give me a son?
Would to God I could, Henry.
Amen.
But you cannot, because our marriage is accursed in heaven and hell, madam.
Play on. Play on. The Queen wishes it and I command it. Play!
When I call for it, tell the musicians to play my galliard.
And see to it, More, that there is no argument.
My Lord Bishop.
Your Majesty.
If it please Your Grace...
No politics tonight, Wolsey. No documents.
Go and commune with the devil while I dance.
No politics, sir. Just a simple domestic matter. A wedding.
Any man who marries when he can be free is a fool.
Here. Here is the couple.
Young Percy, Northumberland's son. He's a member of my household.
And Anne Boleyn.
Their parents have agreed and the couple are in love.
Now, have they your permission to marry?
I've told them... No.
"No," did Your Grace say?
No.
But it is a love match.
Unmatch them, Wolsey. Unmatch them,
and send the Boleyns, father, mother, son, and pliant eldest daughter
back to their castle in Kent,
and send Anne with them tonight, away from the court.
Yes, sir.
I'm bored, Wolsey.
I'm bored with the court.
Bored with my Spanish cow.
I shall go hunting in the beautiful country of Kent.
Your Grace. No ceremony. No ceremony.
I have a mind to put you all to shame in a minute. Weston, you're short of breath.
A misspent life, sir.
Yeah, no doubt. No doubt.
Breareton, for a poet, you keep time like a deaf man.
Your Grace has learned my secret.
Norfolk, you should sit by the fire at nights at your age.
Better to lie by it, Your Grace.
Yes, but with whom?
Percy, you have feet of lead, a northern clodhopper.
With your permission, Mistress Anne, will you teach the King of England
how they dance at the court of France?
There is nothing that France can teach England, Your Majesty.
Well said.
The galliard. Play.
Come with me.
My Lord?
Tell Boleyn I wish to speak to him privately.
Yes, my Lord.
And then prepare for a journey.
Journey?
Yes.
For where the dove is, the hawk will not be far behind.
To Hever Castle in Kent.
Mary, it must be said, the King wishes to see me alone.
He asked not to see me?
Not directly.
That could mean he's finished with me. Has he? Tell me the truth.
One never gets used to these things. There is always a hell to go through.
When a girl gives herself so completely...
You know why I gave myself to the King.
Since I opened my bedroom door to the King, you've lived well by it.
Steward of Ton bridge and Penshurst. Sheriff of Brasted. Viscount.
And now King's treasurer.
You don't want to lose any of those revenues, do you, Father?
Mary, I have always loved you. All those things are true.
The King was generous to me because you were generous to him.
But you're a fool, because you gave him everything and asked for nothing.
What His Majesty is denied, he goes half mad to obtain.
What he gets freely, he despises. You have lost him.
I can't help you. Go now, and cause no trouble.
I will not have you put the rest of us at risk.
What ails you?
Ask our beloved father.
Father, the Lord Cardinal is here.
Boleyn. I see you've told the lady.
Yes, my Lord.
And Anne? No.
Why not? The King is almost here.
Like you, I encouraged Anne with young Percy.
It never entered my head that the King would look at her.
What am I to say?
My Lord, the King is here.
There is no time...
Leave the girl to me.
Go and greet the King, tell him what rubbish you please,
but give me time to deal with her.
As for young Percy, he'll do as I bid him.
Move it. Move it, you.
Whoa, boy. Whoa.
Your Majesty.
Only your king, Thomas. No ceremony. Only your Henry.
This is a great honor.
From Harry Percy?
Where is Anne, Lady Elizabeth?
I found this in her room.
And how is the Vicar of Hell this chilly morning?
Warm enough, Your Majesty.
To be active on the King's business generates a certain heat.
Yes, I'm sure, with your feet on the devil's fender
and your buttocks toasting at God's altar.
Has he spoken to you?
He has, Your Grace.
Good. Good.
And when may I smell this pretty posy of yours?
If you mean Anne, sir, she is still at her mirror.
A new dress, nervous fingers.
If you could give her half an hour, perhaps...
We have us this whole day, Thomas.
I've a new pack of hounds you might care to view,
and there's a clump of red deer in the lower meadow.
Well, we'll see the one and hunt the other.
Good hunting, Your Majesty.
You'll not be with us? Alas, sir, no.
It appears there are two poor souls who seek religious comfort.
I must go where I'm called.
Indeed, my Lord Cardinal, indeed. God's work must come first.
And, who knows, there may be a little worldly profit attached.
Your Majesty.
Find them, bring them to me.
Thomas, a private word with you before I meet Anne.
Yes, Your Grace?
There is always a temptation for a man in my position
to regard the nation as his own trough and to eat from one end to the other.
Not Your Grace.
Why not? Who can say no to me?
Except God, and he does, Thomas, he does. That's the point.
I kneel. I pray. He answers.
But can that be seen to be so?
Why else would His Holiness the Pope
have named you Defender of the Faith, Your Grace?
True. True. I am a religious man.
I want to do right by God and the Church,
and the people and myself, and you, Thomas.
Do you follow?
That's a swathe of folk to satisfy, if it includes God, Your Grace.
Include your two daughters, Thomas.
Are they friends?
Yes.
And do they exchange confidences, do you think?
Do they whisper together at night secrets about me, perhaps?
Who knows, Your Grace? The one you have had, the other you desire.
Will Anne have me? For myself, mind.
I want an honest answer.
She's no fool, my Lord.
Good. Good.
What I do is God's will and my prayer always is
that he will allow no thought to enter my heart or mind
that is not his will.
He has... He has never failed me, Thomas.
But Your Majesty realizes this might seem as...
As what?
As an excuse to do as you please, to eat the trough dry.
I'm the King of England. When I pray, God answers.
Yes, Your Grace.
And let no man dare question that.
Or woman.
Again.
I'm angry with myself.
Why?
Well, think of the years I spent at the French court.
I was surrounded by gallant, captivating, exquisite French courtiers,
and I loved none of them.
No sooner do I return than I fall in love with a...
"Northern clodhopper," said His Majesty.
He was right.
Has no manners, can't dance, can't sing, can't...
Can put his arms around you.
Not as well as I've known it done.
But they are the arms I want, for some God-knows-what reason.
I love your awkwardness.
But if we love enough to marry, we must love enough to keep nothing back.
So?
Are we to bed together? Before?
If you like.
Kiss me.
Are you a virgin?
I'm a man.
I know, but are you a virgin?
When we bed together, shall I be your first?
I... Speak out.
Well, I'll say it frankly, as they do in France.
In England, we make muddy mysteries of such things, as if they were crimes.
We don't come out of a rainbow at 17, and there's no use pretending we do.
You may ask me whatever you like.
Are you a virgin?
No.
In France?
Yes. And long before.
When I was little, I was playing with a boy, he threw me down and...
The King refuses you permission to marry him.
But...
Why? Why, my Lord?
Marriages of the nobility are affairs of state. I was wrong to encourage you, Percy.
The King and his greater wisdom
wishes you to marry one of the daughters of the Earl of Shrewsbury.
Not I. I am pledged to Anne. It is a good match.
I brought you to court. You're a member of my household.
You will obey.
The whole world knew we meant to marry. Nothing was said against it.
Well, now you've heard the King's pleasure against it.
A half grown steer and a leggy girl
will not be allowed to overturn the policies of state.
Why was nothing said?
Her father, my father, and you, my Lord Cardinal,
who knows the King's business better than he knows it himself...
Be silent!
You will obey or your estates will be forfeit.
If you show further disloyalty by word or action,
it's doubtful how long you will live.
The Duke of Buckingham lost his head for less.
Now go.
You must go.
Kiss me, then.
Don't touch her.
Be careful of yourself.
I will, for you.
My Lord, I love him truly, and we are pledged to each other.
If you force him to marry elsewhere,
although I am only a girl, you'll know you have an enemy.
Madam, you do me wrong.
I have no spleen against you. lam only a messenger.
Messenger? Who has chosen for me?
When Henry of England turns his eyes on a girl,
she can hardly look away.
The King has asked for me?
He has.
And sent you to me?
It is sometimes my duty to anticipate his desires.
Even in carnal matters, my Lord Cardinal?
We have had the King in the bosom of this family for some years.
My sister Mary is with child by him and of no further use.
I shall not go the way of my sister.
You would be wise to anticipate my answer and spare His Majesty any annoyance.
I will not be a mistress of the King even with the blessing of a prince of the church.
Good sport in Boleyn's woods.
And in Boleyn's bowers, he hopes.
I heard you, Norris.
Well, you buzz the girls, you two. Tell me, man to man, all kingship aside,
what's the best way to win a maid?
A maid, Your Majesty?
Well, I couldn't swear to it medically, but it's young and it's wild.
My King, my skills are not for the grade of female you seek.
I'm more successful with waiting women and ladies' maids.
Don't be modest, lad. I've followed your spoor so close
there was scarce time to close the window you left by
or change perfumes to put me off the scent.
Speak on, your lure, your most seductive.
You'll not be offended?
I'll be offended if you hold back.
All right then.
If you truly want her, make her believe that you are potent only with her.
Pretend that you've tried with numbers of others.
Gone to bed, kissed hotly, but hung embarrassed and unable.
But with her you rouse up. You're a man again.
They can't resist that. They open like...
Well, never mind the simile. Yes. What a game.
What a ploy.
Dare I ask, has Your Grace ever been refused by a wench?
Who? I? Refused? Why, never.
When I've wanted them, I've had them. And when I've had a wench, I'm cured.
That's general, isn't it?
Your Grace, can you all leave talking of virgins long enough
to look at the venison?
Yes, yes. Come, come.
Next to the haunch of a virgin, there's nothing like a haunch of venison.
Do you also offer me up to this royal bull? You, my father? And you, my mother?
For God's sake, lower your voice!
Do you know what it is to be in love, either of you?
I love Harry Percy and will marry him.
Anne, you'll have us all dead or disgraced.
Lower your voice. The royal bull can't force you.
Brother, I must fight. I must.
Do you know what it means when a king asks for you?
If I don't, I can ask my pregnant and foolish sister.
If you turn him away, we can say farewell to all we've worked for and all we have.
Anne, if our parents had not taken an advantage when it came their way,
what would've become of us?
If we lose the King's favor, we lose everything.
Then say goodbye to it all, house, rank and revenue,
for I will not take the King to my bed!
Your Majesty.
I was so anxious to see you, madam, I ran ahead.
Have you been faithful to me or lying about with this husband of yours?
Remarkable women you breed, you Howards.
Norfolk, greet your sister.
You see, madam, I brought your brother to make sure that I was welcome.
George, you should have hunted with us and not stayed at home with the ladies.
Nan.
Give me a kiss.
Yes, Your Majesty.
And now on the lips, sweet Nan.
I've been taking medicines for a cold. My breath is foul, Your Grace.
Your health is very dear to us. You must needs keep well.
We live all too brief a span. What little we have should not be wasted.
Well, there's no trace of medicine or fever on these sweet lips.
The overwhelming surprise of Your Majesty's visit must have cured me.
Wonderful, wonderful. I should continue the cure.
Shall I dismiss this ring of chaperones?
No.
By your leave.
Yes, by your leave.
Yes, without your leave. Off. Out. All of you go.
Companions, brothers. Lawyer. Go.
Anne, you see before you not the King, but a poor fellow
as uncertain, as eager, as hopeful, as afraid
as any man that ever fell in love.
I see the King.
Believe me, all kingship on one side.
Women give love to the King like paying taxes.
I wish to be loved for myself.
Well, as you say, you're not the King,
but only a poor, uncertain, eager, hopeful fellow.
Could you tell me, then, why the King sent an old Church pander to give me my orders?
Pander?
The Lord Cardinal Wolsey.
Did he speak clumsily?
No, Your Grace. He spoke to the point.
What the King wants, he will have.
No, no, no, Anne. It's quite the reverse. What you want, you shall have.
If I have you first.
Not against your will.
Not? Never.
I'll earn your love and then your bed.
Tell me what things you want. Prove me.
There is one thing I want.
I want something that has gone from here.
You shall have it. Now walk with me, talk with me.
I love your sweet voice, your company and your bold spirit.
Tell me, dare I ask it?
Is there anything about me that you love?
No.
My God.
You asked not to be treated like the King. I would have lied to the King.
No one has ever talked to me like that before. My God.
My sweet voice will not lie to you.
But in time, Nan, you'll grow to love me.
Anything is possible.
With us, everything is possible.
Well, that's settled. I can return to London.
You, Cromwell, will remain here.
Here, my Lord?
To keep me informed.
And tell my Lord of Suffolk that we shall entertain no more such petitions.
Show that to Sir Thomas More, that's in his province.
Thomas.
You smell of horse sweat.
His Majesty has sent me to inform you, my Lord,
that the entertainment at Hever suits him well, and he intends to remain.
Excellent. No, tell Lovell his request is denied.
That witch has been leading him a dance for two weeks now.
She'll go the way of all the rest. Granted.
The King should be here attending to matters of state,
not pursuing a reluctant girl.
If he wants her, he should take her. He is the King.
And what is Sir Thomas More's opinion about that?
Master Cromwell, when you counsel the King,
tell him what he ought to do, but never what he is able to do.
If he knew his real strength, it would be hard for any man to rule him.
He ought to leave Hever.
Let sleeping kings lie, Thomas,
and we'll see to the government of the country.
Nan, it's a cruel thing to be near a woman day after day,
to touch her when you wanted to, to have her company when you asked it,
and to have no response,
to burn with love as I do for you
and be denied any pleasure in your cool company.
It is a cruel thing, Nan, to be denied love.
The same cruel thing has happened to me. I've fallen in love.
Nan!
But not with you.
My God. I got it right in the face that time. Percy, is it?
You know. You had Wolsey send him away.
Love with that blundering...
I mean to marry him.
Never!
But not as my sister is married.
He won't be a complacent husband, and I shall not be accessible to you.
All wives are accessible.
Any husband can be placated, even a Percy of Northumberland.
Well, then you have nothing to fear, Your Grace. Let me marry him.
No! No! I want you all to myself!
Nan. Nan.
If you give yourself to me, this whole kingdom will turn around you.
Whatever you wanted for anyone, knighthoods, revenues,
you shall dispose of them exactly as you please.
And be thrown out in the end?
What great revenues does my sister dispose of?
Well, Mary asked for nothing.
I won't bargain with you. Ask for what you want.
My freedom. To marry whom I love.
Never.
I've heard what your courtiers say and I've seen what you are.
You're spoiled and vengeful and bloody.
Your poetry is sour and your music is worse.
You make love as you eat, with a good deal of noise and no subtlety.
This is not safe.
Yes, I've been told it's not safe for any of us to say no to our King.
That put on, kindly, hail-fellow-well-met of yours.
My father's house will be pulled down, and Northumberland's, too, they tell me.
Well, pull them down, Your Majesty, you are what I said.
There is no better way to make an end than to raise anger in me.
I thank you for that. You made a fool of me! And I'm well out of it!
Your Grace!
You will not harm Harry Percy?
I'll try not.
Vengeful and bloody as I am, I'll try not!
Where are you from?
Northumberland.
I've a message for the Lady Anne.
You better get some rest. Give me the letter.
Give it to no one but the Lady Anne.
All right.
Harry Percy is married.
"Anne, my love, forgive me."
The King did this.
Not the King, Wolsey.
See here.
"I would have held out. But for your safety, dearest Anne, I had to marry."
That would be Wolsey's threat,
that you would suffer if Percy remained defiant.
God, I can't believe it. The pain is so great, I want to die.
Pain goes, my child. Few of us marry where our hearts lie.
Damn all entertainment and damn all women!
Why must I want the one woman who doesn't want me?
I'll see her!
Elizabeth.
For God's sake, go up to her, make her hurry.
The King is hungry, and when he's hungry he's in an evil temper. I'll see to this.
Will.
Let's see what the Lady Elizabeth has decided.
He's never returned to a woman before.
Lucky for all of us, not least for the child you're going to have.
Henry was always generous with his children.
Learn from me, Nan.
Lock up your heart, never surrender yourself completely.
I shall not surrender myself at all.
The moment you're conquered, he'll walk away.
That's enough!
I hate him only a little less than I hate Wolsey.
Ready? Are we ready?
Quite ready, Father.
Farewell, farewell, my pleasure past
Welcome my present pain
Welcome the torment in my heart
To see my love again
Alone, alone, I longed for her
All mistresses forsaking
Now must I tell my hopes and fear
of love in her awaking
Bravo, Your Majesty! Bravo!
Bravo, Majesty.
No other king in Europe can write as you do, Your Majesty.
That cheers me, Elizabeth.
Someone, I forget whom, said once that my music was sour and my poetry worse.
No. No.
That caused me great anguish. True verse and music grow from suffering.
This song I heard in my mind when I woke from a troubled sleep.
I wrote it down at once without a correction. It sings what is truly in my heart.
If some young man wrote this song for you, Anne, what would you say of it?
I would ask him how his wife liked it, Your Grace.
You shall dance to my tune, mistress.
The basse dance I composed. Play. Be merry. Dance.
Anne, why do you taunt me?
Percy is married, Your Majesty.
None of my doing.
I see.
Wolsey is King of England, is he?
That's enough. I am the King.
If you dare to treat me like a bawling boy in front of my court,
I'll tear this castle down about your ears.
Do so.
Anne, even a king cannot choose where he will love.
I want no one in this kingdom but you. That's why I've returned.
You are not free to love, you have a wife.
If a man is married, king or commoner, he is not free.
I never married Katherine. England married Spain.
My father coupled my brother Arthur with Katherine
for the sake of the Spanish Alliance.
Arthur died and I became heir to the throne, so it was decided that I, in my turn,
should marry my dead brother's widow.
I was 17 and she 23.
So England and Spain married, not Henry and Katherine.
There's a... There's a curse on that marriage.
All my sons were born dead.
For 20 years, I've had dead sons.
Now she's past the age of bearing children.
What has this barren marriage to do with you and me?
You cannot touch my heart. You cannot bribe me with favors.
The only love I will give you is the love of a loyal subject for her King.
Very well, then.
As your King, I command you to return with me to the court.
I command you to be lady-in-waiting to my wife, Katherine the Queen.
You will be in my presence every day of your life.
Then we shall see.
Was he shouting for me?
Bellowing.
How they all tremble when he bellows.
And you?
Does that tremble?
No. But you so hated coming here you spoke wildly.
I feared you might provoke his worst anger.
That was six months ago.
I'm still young. I love dancing and new clothes and gifts.
And power.
Power is as exciting as love, I discover.
And who has more of it than the King?
The warship will be launched from the main yard at Portsmouth
in five days' time, Your Grace. Here is the warrant.
But a name is needed for the vessel.
The Anne Boleyn.
The ambassadors from Spain...
Deal with them yourself.
She almost reigns. She entirely rules.
And I believe gives nothing for it.
She could prove powerful.
Thomas, this is a man's world.
The seat of power does not lie between a woman's legs.
Now, Wolsey, Nan reminds me that her father's patent of the Earl of Wiltshire
has not yet been drawn. Indeed.
It shall be done at once, Your Grace.
Cromwell. Good. Good.
I must tell you, my Lord, a game we ladies-in-waiting play.
A game of titles.
Who has the most titles in the land?
Well, I said that, of course, His Majesty. But another said, "No, no.
"The great Cardinal Wolsey has more than the King
"for he is Bishop of Tournai, of Lincoln,
"of Bath, of Wells, of Durham, and of Winchester.
"He is also Archbishop of York and Papal Legate in England,
"which puts him above even the Archbishop of Canterbury.
"Who knows? He may one day be Pope. So he is the most powerful churchman.
"He is also Lord Chancellor, and therefore the most powerful layman."
I said, "How fortunate for His Majesty that the good Cardinal
"is devoted only to the King and to England.
"Consider how dangerous it would be if so powerful a man
"had ambitions of his own."
His Sovereign,
I confess your royal favors showered on me daily are more than I deserve.
I can render nothing but my thanks, my prayers, and my unending loyalty.
And what livings would you shed to prove your loyalty, my good Vicar of Hell?
Any, or all, sir, at your command.
And your wealth, my Lord?
I believe he is richer even than you, Your Grace.
So many livings, so many palaces.
I wonder.
Such vanities mean little to me if I may serve you.
Choose anything I have and it is yours, Majesty.
I will. I will.
When I have given it some thought.
Thank you. Thank you, Anne.
My Lord, you are as generous as you are great.
I shall ask the King to show me your palace at Hampton Court.
Bull's-eye.
Come, girl, play something cheerful.
Men prefer women who laugh and are gay.
Well, what more do you want?
Nothing.
For yourself, for your family, for your friends?
Nothing. Liar!
You have a taste for power. It's very common, madam. I've seen it many times.
But you don't get it for nothing. You have to pay.
You ordered me to court.
The power is yours, not mine.
I'm mad for you. I dream of you at night. I long for you by day.
And you dare to tell me that I have the power?
I'm no good with any other woman.
I think of nothing but you,
of you and me playing dog and bitch, of you and me playing horse and mare,
of you and me in every way.
I want to fill you up night after night. I want to fill you up with sons.
Bastards. They would be bastards.
One word more and I'll strike you. One word more.
Without marriage, if you and I have sons, they will be bastards.
Anne.
Forgive me. Forgive me, Anne.
Who is it?
Norfolk, with a message from the King.
The devil could take him.
Bess.
Bess, be gone. Come on.
Out you go, out you go.
What?
For form's sake.
Come on, come on, come on.
Enter.
Well?
The King commands that you come at once to the palace at Greenwich, Cardinal.
Does he, my Lord? Is he ill? ls there some urgent danger?
A boat is waiting.
Norfolk!
Is the tide with or against us?
I leave such details to the boatmen and other riffraff, my Lord.
You may go.
Enter.
What keeps you half the night from getting here when I send for you?
Your Grace's pardon. The tide is flooding.
Now, now, tell the Lady Anne the law of England, my Holy Lord Chancellor.
Is it or is it not true that I can make legitimate whomsoever I choose?
Most certainly, Your Grace.
And the documents could be drawn at once?
Within the hour.
So?
Could any child of the King's body be made legitimate, my Lord?
Yes.
And such a child would be heir to the throne of England?
Most certainly.
Thank you. Thank you, Thomas.
Take the flooding tide and go home.
Wait.
Madam?
Surely, such a child would be heir to the throne after the Princess Mary,
daughter of the King and his rightful Queen?
Well, my Lord?
That might be argued.
No. Let us have it clearly.
Princess Mary is first in line against any son His Majesty may father out of wedlock.
After Mary comes the Duke of Richmond, his bastard by Bessie Blount.
Can you deny that he would inherit if she died?
Richmond? He's a sickly fellow. I doubt if he'll live out the year.
Then my sister's child by the King.
We're affectionate, Mary and I, and forgive each other the little things,
but if she would rather her son sat on the throne than mine,
I would rather mine than hers.
And so mine, you must agree, would be fourth in the lists.
Who knows, madam, you may not be capable of a son.
I'll give the man that marries me a houseful of lusty sons.
Marriage.
If I were free of Katherine.
You cannot be free of Katherine.
If I were.
It is impossible.
For the last time, if I were free of Katherine and made you the Queen of England,
would you marry me?
Yes.
If you make me Queen of England, I'll marry you and give you sons.
Meanwhile...
I'll go alone to my bed, with your gracious leave.
Brilliant, Your Grace. Brilliant.
You think so?
Yes. Keep promising her marriage and the siege will soon be over.
In a month at most, you'll have breached her.
You think I was lying?
Well, if wooing, praise, gifts and power have failed,
then of course you must try a new strategy.
When I go down on my hunkers and pray, good Cardinal, as I do day in, day out,
there's only one thing I pray.
Show me how to save England from chaos when I'm dead.
That prayer has just been answered. I shall remarry and have a son.
Divorce? Katherine?
Annulment.
My marriage is cursed and my sons born dead
because I've transgressed God's law in marrying my brother's wife.
It was incest and for 20 years I have been punished.
I was never married in the eyes of God.
Indeed you were, my Lord. Thoroughly married.
All the world knows, the Pope granted you a dispensation to marry Katherine
when Arthur died.
Because England and Spain needed one another.
No! Because your brother was a boy of 15
and there was doubt that he'd consummated the marriage before he died.
Fifteen! At 15, I was rogering maids right, left and center.
But at the time of my marriage, I believed, and the Pope believed,
and my father chose to believe, that Katherine was virgin.
I was deceived. The marriage was consummated.
Prepare the evidence. Get me a case for annulment.
My Lord, I beg you... As your faithful servant,
I beg you to consider.
Katherine is a princess of Spain.
Try to annul your marriage and you'll gather enormous forces against you.
The combination of Spain, Naples, Germany, the Netherlands.
All of them ruled by Katherine's nephew. The Roman Catholic Church all over Europe.
Your own people even, who love the Queen.
I will marry Anne! I will have her crowned Queen!
It could mean war. It could mean the loss of your kingdom.
I will marry Anne if it breaks the Earth in two like an apple
and flings the two halves into the void!
No. I don't believe it of him.
I fear it is true, madam.
As Spanish Ambassador, it is my duty to have many sources of information.
Then it is Wolsey, not the King.
That butcher's cur, Wolsey, who put it in his mind.
Wolsey is preparing the case to take to Rome.
Enter.
The King is here. He wishes to see Your Majesty.
I will do all in my power to aid you.
I will send word today to your nephew, the Emperor Charles.
Yes and to His Holiness.
This Pope bends to the wind, madam.
Your hope lies in your nephew.
Your Majesty.
My Lord Ambassador.
It delights my heart to see you privately after so many months, my Lord.
Sit, Kate. Sit.
Kate,
I'll come bluntly to the point.
God tells me that our marriage is a sin.
My conscience is deeply troubled.
Incest will be punished and we have been punished, you and I, with dead sons.
Our daughter, Mary, is alive and well, Henry.
Our marriage must be annulled.
Then it is true. Wolsey has brought you to this.
Kate.
Kate, it's God's will.
My conscience is clear.
Help me, for both our sakes. Support me in my case to the Pope.
But I'm your wife.
Do you believe that I can ask Pope Clement to tell the world that my father lied?
My mother lied?
Ferdinand and Isabella, the most Christian princes, that each of them lied
when they swore my marriage to your brother was never consummated?
Your own father signed the paper with them.
God knows he lied like a Trojan, in season and out.
I've had little happiness in my life.
I was a lonely girl, brought from Spain at 15 to be used for English politics.
When Arthur died, I was pushed aside and kept here for seven years,
until I could be used for you.
And you, I loved.
With you, I had my only happiness.
I love you still.
Then do as I ask!
No. I will not betray our daughter.
Our daughter is a threat, not a blessing.
I must...
I must have a son!
Get one, then, from one of your women!
I'm your wife and your Queen.
And neither you nor the Pope can make my child a bastard!
If you defy me, I'll have you sent from the court.
You shall be shut away in the country.
It's you, then, and not Wolsey, who really wants this thing.
I will have it!
I too gave evidence that my marriage to Arthur was never consummated.
Did I lie to the Pope all those years ago?
Did I lie to God?
Did I lie to you, Hal?
No.
I will live and I will die your wife.
And your Queen.
As soon as I reach Rome,
I shall send dispatches back via Holland.
See that messengers are there.
Not long.
Not long to wait now, Nan.
I shall believe it on the day it happens.
Your Grace.
Yes?
The Spanish Emperor has captured the Vatican.
Captured the Vatican?
Rome is sacked.
The dead in their hundreds lie unburied in the streets.
And the Pope?
Is besieged.
But tell me, what...
By your gracious permission, in private.
Well? Well?
The Pope had fled from the Vatican to the hill town of Orvieto.
I couldn't reach him, but we exchanged letters.
Yes, yes, and the annulment?
He refuses to annul your marriage. He cannot refuse!
He cannot do anything else.
What's his reason?
The Spanish Emperor has got him by the nose. That's his reason.
The Pope's not going to offend that Emperor
by annulling his aunt's marriage to you.
Poor Henry.
He shall, by God Almighty.
I say he shall!
And to hell with the Spanish Emperor.
Sir Thomas.
My Lord Bishop.
Shall you in your conscience accept the annulment
if the decision is for the King?
The Pope has finally answered the King's appeal
and has sent Cardinal Campeggio to try this case.
Campeggio speaks for His Holiness. I will accept that.
I shall speak against it while I have breath.
I shall be silent until I am forced to speak.
Well, I'm an old man and have no family.
At my age, a good death is better than a bad conscience.
Well, you will be the mother and father,
and I shall be the uncle of a queen next week.
God be praised.
I wonder what Anne is thinking.
Out there are my bishops, my courtiers and my loyal subjects.
Campeggio is not your subject.
But I am, Your Majesty. And I promise you the verdict.
You shall see, Anne.
Wolsey has never failed me yet.
Pray silence for His Grace, the Lord Cardinal of York.
Our commission from Rome, having been publicly read,
this inquiry will now proceed.
Henry, King of England, come into court.
Here, my Lords.
Katherine, Queen of England, come into court.
On. On.
What can I do if the Queen will not appear?
My Lord Cardinal.
The King may now proceed.
My Lords, I have come to this court not because I wish to discard a wife,
but because such grave doubts are cast upon my marriage
and such grave fears invest my conscience.
I do not wish to marry another woman for carnal pleasure,
nor for any displeasure of the Queen's person or age.
This court has been convened to try the validity of that marriage.
The bishops assembled here have all signed this document
declaring that the marriage is in doubt and must be resolved by trial.
That is the truth, if it please Your Highness.
No, sir, that is not the truth.
I do not give my consent.
Wolsey.
Your memory is failing with age, Bishop.
We argued, and in the end, you agreed that I should sign for you and affix your seal.
My Lord, there is nothing more untrue.
I told you I would never support this cause.
Well, well, you're only one man.
Continue.
Hear the witnesses, my Lord Cardinal, who spoke with my brother
the morning after he left the bedchamber.
Are we to have no evidence but bedroom sniggering and gossip?
Get a message to the Queen, More. She should be here.
She'll let her case go by default.
I will hear the Queen.
I will only be heard in Rome. I appeal to Rome.
I appeal against all judges here.
To Rome and to God I commit my cause.
Katherine. Katherine!
Proceed.
I am going to adjourn.
No, I beseech you, do not.
I adjourn this court.
You have the power. I say you should use it.
Power to hear the case, Your Majesty.
But you've heard it, hours of it.
From Your Majesty's witnesses.
The Queen says no court in England can be impartial.
She appeals directly to Rome.
But you are Rome come to England, my Lord.
My hands are tied.
The trial is adjourned for the Queen's appeal.
To the Pope, who fears the Queen's nephew more than he loves the justice of God.
Your Grace could be excommunicated!
Get out!
Limp back to Rome.
And tell His Holiness I will have the marriage annulled. Get out, get out.
Get out!
Well, my Lord Cardinal, so much for your boastful promises.
Your Grace, forgive me.
Forgive me.
Go to the Queen.
Banish her from the court and house her at your own expense in some remote place.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Wolsey.
Remove yourself from my sight. You are unfit for office.
Render up the Great Seal.
And hide, Wolsey. Hide from my anger.
Go now. Go.
Wolsey.
I do not forgive you. I spare you for your past services.
The business of the day is over, lawyer.
I am a lawyer who has read the law.
So?
There is a law of this land that says it is treason
to acknowledge any higher authority than the will of the King.
It is, I take it, the will of the King
that he shall divorce the Queen and marry the Lady Anne?
It is.
Then the Church in England must grant your will
because it is treasonable to say that the Pope is a higher authority
than the King
under the law.
I've always been a defender of the faith and of the Church.
As matters stand, you are but half a king.
To say that Rome may dictate this matter
is to say that Rome may dictate the succession to the Crown.
What the King of England wants, he should have without hindrance from abroad.
True.
It is true.
It would mean excommunication.
It would mean a break with Rome.
It would need only the appointment of a new Primate of the Church in England.
He would then grant the divorce.
And the penalty for all those good men
who could not stomach your law, Master Cromwell?
The penalty for treason has always been death, Your Grace.
You may go.
There is something else, Your Majesty.
Cardinal Wolsey, through skillful manipulation,
has seen to it that the monasteries of England are richer
than the goldmines of the New World.
If, as you should be, you become Head of the Church,
those riches are yours.
You're a man without scruple, lawyer.
Entirely without scruple.
I learned my trade under Cardinal Wolsey, Your Grace.
Are you also a pupil of the Cardinal's?
No, no, no, I studied under a real master, my father.
Whatever villainy was lacking in the world when Henry VII was born,
he invented before he left it.
But the one cardinal principle he taught me was
always keep the Church on your side.
Well, you have the Church on one side and you have me on the other.
Yes. The choice is now clear.
If I make myself Head of the Church in England, I make you my Queen,
I make myself wealthier than all the monarchs in Europe,
and I shall be excommunicated.
Everlasting damnation.
In this life, no child of the Church shall speak with me, feed me, shelter me.
And when dead, my body shall lie without burial
and my soul
shall be cast into hell forever.
Heavenly Father,
what I seek is not for myself, as you know,
but for the future safety of my realm and the greater glory of your name.
If I weaken in my resolve, remember I am but a man.
Give me your heavenly strength for my intended journey
and resolve my doubts.
My Lords,
I intend to bring before Parliament certain matters which have concerned us greatly.
I am deeply alarmed by the increasing influence and power in our state
of the Church of Rome.
Not content alone with the misappropriation of property and money,
Rome now seeks to interfere with the laws and statutes of this realm.
In particular, the King's prerogatives relating to the succession to the throne.
For all these reasons, and many others known to you all,
we must free ourselves from the interference, influence,
and direction of the See of Rome.
Hear, hear!
Item. The Oath of Allegiance to the King of England, sworn by you all.
Item. The Oath of Allegiance to the Pope of Rome, sworn by the Clergy.
Question. Whom do the Clergy serve? Pope or King?
Cardinal Wolsey, the greatest churchman of our land, is cast down.
Any bishop or priest who does not first serve the King will follow him.
Parliament will be summoned for the enactment of this bill
named The Act of Supremacy.
Where under the King is declared to be supreme
in all matters relating to the welfare of his subjects, both spiritual and temporal.
Sire... My Lord Bishop, keep silent!
There is only one question I will put to this council.
No other will be tolerated or discussed.
And the question I put to you is this, does any lord here,
either spiritual or temporal,
deny the right of Parliament to enact this law and make it the law of the land
if Parliament so chooses? Sir Thomas More?
I do not deny the right of Parliament to enact laws.
Good. Good.
Master Cromwell.
My Lord Chancellor?
I regret, Master Cromwell, that you did not heed my advice.
Concerning what?
You have, I believe, told the King not what he ought to do, but what he can do.
Now no man in the world can hold him.
The King's power must be complete.
And your own?
To serve his.
After today, I fear I must resign mine.
Every man to the devil his own way.
Forgive me, Your Majesty, I had meant to be gone.
I fear I cannot rise.
Cromwell, your hand. Get me on my feet.
It's the habit of a lifetime to see myself that the inventory is complete
and the keys are all ready, all labeled for you.
I'm...
I'm sorry to see you ill.
No, my Lord.
Your Majesty has taken from my shoulders a load that would sink a navy.
Well, I'll leave these and be gone.
Is it...
Is it for you, Mistress Anne, the palace?
Yes. Yes, yes.
It's much too beautiful for an old man. It needs youth in it.
There, take it.
I've been your enemy, but I can't take it from you.
Then I will leave it.
A leggy girl and a half-grown steer.
What does that mean?
No, no.
Some friends of yours are waiting to see you, Your Majesty.
More, Fisher and Prior Houghton. It seemed urgent.
Urgent for them. Send them in.
I'll tell them as I leave.
Well, the country air will do him good at Esher.
The King will see you.
Take heed, Sir Thomas.
The King's passion for the lady is blind to all reason and past service.
My Lord, for your wisdom, lam sorry to see you go.
The King has gone beyond me.
Through that one woman,
I am lost forever.
Do not neglect the King, but see to your own safety.
It happens, my good lord, that I have been unwell lately.
Therefore, I have given up my office and shall leave the court and go home.
There I will speak of nothing but domestic affairs.
Well, God be with you.
It is Pope or King, there is no other choice.
For me, it must be the Pope.
I must follow my conscience.
I cannot sign.
Though I am sorry to lose old friends,
you will die for it.
There are hundreds of my order who in good conscience cannot take this oath.
Must they all die?
If they insist, they will. My cause is just.
The English Church cut off from Rome is without an anchor.
The only anchor I know is the King.
The King had to choose, so must the Clergy.
Well, Sir Thomas?
I have come to say goodbye, Your Grace.
I gave up my chain of office today, as you kindly permitted.
And when that day comes when you have to choose, will you sign the oath?
I shall read the document with care
and hope that my conscience will permit me to sign, Your Grace.
Goodbye, Thomas.
Goodbye, my Lord.
Goodbye, Prior John.
You leave this world of your own will,
and I am sad for it.
Your Majesty, it will go on without us.
And that is the last of them who dare question.
The rest will die silent.
I think there has never been a king who gave so much to find his way
to the heart of the woman he loved.
I have stabbed, fought, and clawed my way through the tissues of the Church and State.
I've looted and plundered.
I've ripped and torn the bodies of my friends.
And all to come to this day.
And yet, not once...
Not once have you said, "I love you."
Now, my Nan...
My Nan will say it now.
Yes. I do love you.
No.
No, that's not it. That's not what I meant.
What more do you want, my Lord?
I don't know, Nan.
I don't know, but I still don't have you.
Tell me, Nan, did someone some day say to you,
"Never give in to him, never melt to him, never forget to hate him for a time,
"otherwise you'll lose him"?
I've said it to myself.
And do you say so still?
Yes.
I see.
Keep your heart, then! Preserve your special chastity.
I'm too old to suffer the longings and passions and frenzy of a stupid boy!
Writing poems in the middle of the night to the cold-hearted bitch that I love
and tearing them up.
Pacing up and down, pacing up and down in my room, unable to sleep.
Sons you have promised me when you are Queen, and sons I will have.
Sons without love, if I must.
Enjoy your palace.
I will not come near you again until the marriage day.
Henry!
I do love you.
Henry, I love you. I love you with all my heart. I love you.
Can this be true?
I love you.
Take me, take me now. I want to be yours only.
I've been yours for a long time.
Now you for the first time are mine, too.
Henry.
These men who are to die,
let them live.
It was done for you.
I no longer care about the divorce.
I'm so in love with you, my darling heart.
Can it be true after this long time?
God in heaven, I do love you with my whole heart.
And our love will make a son that will rule the world.
Our son. A son. A son.
With that and with your love, I'll be the King I've always wanted to be,
wise, generous, just, merciful.
So I'll kill no man for you.
It's like a new age.
Wildfire in the air and in the blood.
Harry!
The King sent for me to meet him here.
Here?
Perhaps he is jealous and testing my faithfulness by bringing us together.
Perhaps.
Has he reason to be jealous?
No. Never.
Well, well. You're his concubine. I have a hag for a wife.
Now I am to arrest Wolsey who began it all.
Cold comfort.
Arrest him? He's old and sick.
I thought it was your doing.
No. I'm past hating him.
Give him the warrant.
Your Grace.
Well, there's your first love.
The one you hated me for.
Did your heart race?
No, you great royal fool.
I'm a happy man.
And I, my great King, I'm with child.
Anne.
Nan. Nan!
Where is she? What keeps her?
The Lady...
Begin. Begin.
Yes.
I mean, Your Grace, the door must be open, that is to say, for legality.
Witnesses are required.
Here they are, man. On, man, on, on, on.
It's a new fashion. Marry the one before you divorce the other.
"Henry, wilt thou take Anne, here present, to thy lawful wife
"according to the rites of our Holy Mother Church?"
I will.
"Anne, wilt thou take Henry, here present, to thy lawful husband
"according to the rites of our Holy Mother Church?"
I will.
"L, Henry, take thee, Anne."
I, Henry, take thee, Anne.
"To my wedded wife."
To my wedded wife.
"To my wedded wife, to have and to..."
To my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health...
"Till death us do part." Till death us do part,
and there, too, I plight thee my troth. "And there, too, I plight thee my troth."
And after that, Nan, you shall have bells and a crowning.
Stand back. Stand back.
Out of the way.
Stand back. Stand back!
Here, Nan, for luck.
The flowers of May.
How much were they paid to cheer?
A groat each. A thousand between here and Westminster.
They should've got a silver penny each.
They'd have thrown their caps in the air for that.
God save Queen Katherine!
We've been outbid by the Spanish Ambassador.
Whore! King's whore!
Long live the Queen!
There's an honest fellow.
Which queen does he mean, my Lord?
Whore! Long live the true Queen!
Whore!
Long live Queen Katherine! Whore!
Heralds, play!
Long live Queen Katherine! Whore!
Out! Out!
The King would speak with his Queen. Out! All you ladies, out!
Come here.
It's a long time since I've kissed a queen.
Nan, I've kept every part of the bargain.
Will you be happy now? My Queen, my woman, my...
"Whore," the crowd said.
Damn the Spanish Ambassador!
You must outbid him at the christening, Hal.
In four months, when I give you a son, I want cheers of joy.
Nan, they won't need bribes.
It'll be the happiest day in the whole history of this kingdom.
My Lord, would you rape a pregnant woman?
Nan. God forgive me.
You great royal fool!
Whoa. Whoa there, boy. Whoa.
Go and get her!
Your pardon, madam, but the Queen is calling.
Is it born? Is it a boy?
It is nearly time, the midwife says.
Fetch the King.
I've waited 20 years for this.
I shall teach him to ride, wrestle, draw a bow.
It makes a man young again to have a son.
Your Majesty!
Here comes my good news.
The child is born!
The child is perfectly formed and in good health, Your Majesty.
I have failed. I have failed.
God help me.
Give me privacy.
Don't weep. Pinch your cheeks and give them color. Sit up and smile.
You are the Queen. Brazen it out.
A girl this time, but a boy the next time. Do you hear me?
Is she beautiful?
Yes, yes, she is.
Give me the child. Give me my daughter.
Is he well? Is he strong?
My Lord...
Those are lungs that will out-bellow the Spanish Ambassador. Nan?
And the eyes. The eyes are clever.
We'll call him Edward. It's a lucky name for English Kings.
I have borne you a daughter, Your Majesty.
A daughter?
Yes.
Why did no one tell me before I entered this chamber?
I wanted to tell you myself, Hal.
We have a beautiful daughter.
Next time, a son.
Elizabeth.
We shall call her Elizabeth.
Is the child in good health?
Perfect, Your Majesty.
Good.
Well, if we can have a healthy daughter, we can have a healthy son,
as you say, as you say.
I'll kiss you and leave you, Anne. God bless all here.
Will you not kiss your daughter?
My daughter?
No. When she's older.
When she has a brother.
Still no word from the King?
No, Your Majesty.
No answer even to my letter?
Nothing, Your Majesty.
How can he so utterly forget so much?
He does not forget, Mother. He just has no wish to remember.
But rumors from court say that all is not well with them.
Still no sign of a son. That woman is in despair, they say.
For already my beloved father's eye has started to wander again.
Poor Hal.
You pity him?
Was I not his much-loved wife?
And you are his daughter.
Unless he has a son of a true marriage, you are his heir.
You must be Queen.
And remember,
when I'm gone.
You're first.
Doctor! Quickly!
Touch her and I'll have her sent from court.
Who?
That half-witted Seymour, who is always so tongue-tied and blushing and adoring
whenever you enter my chamber.
She's a mere child.
But you would get a child by her if you could.
But not by you, it seems, except a useless girl.
Mind your tongue, or I'll have you sent from court to cool your temper, madam.
Play on! Play!
The Queen is tired, but does not wish to spoil your pleasure.
Play!
Jane.
I... I think we shall dance well together.
If I lead strongly, will you softly follow?
I hope so, Your Grace.
That little sheep won't hold the royal bull beyond the first encounter.
I order you!
Leave us.
Where is Jane Seymour?
Cromwell tells me that when the dance was ended,
she was sent away under guard.
She's on her way to Northumberland.
As far away as I could send her, since we don't own Scotland.
She has the face of a simpering sheep, and the manners, but not the morals.
I don't want her near me.
You will bring her back!
I think not!
If you want her near you, why, find a place for her in your palace at Whitehall.
Whilst I am here, Jane Seymour must lie elsewhere.
Tell her.
Your Majesty, the people say that you are the witch Queen.
Are we ruled by superstition?
Katherine still lives in the heart of the people.
The people say that her daughter is the heir and yours the bastard.
I do not fear the people.
The people hate you, madam, for displacing Queen Katherine
and tearing the King away from the true Church.
As they hate me for despoiling the monasteries.
But the King, they truly love.
You and I, madam, live in the protection of the King.
So?
So in Parliament, which speaks for the people, there is a bill.
It is called the Act of Succession.
It makes your daughter the heir and Katherine's daughter, Mary, illegitimate.
If the King does not wish it, the Act of Succession will not be passed.
Would you sacrifice the child of our love
to get a silly little harlot brought back to court?
One daughter is much like another.
I care not who's named bastard when I'm dead.
And if I bring Jane Seymour back,
you will have Parliament pass the Act of Succession?
Yes.
What a liar you are.
What good is that Act unless every man in the kingdom
who has power to accept my child as legitimate heir
first swears an oath of fealty to you as Head of the Church?
And if they do not, Act of Succession or no Act of Succession,
they will say my child is the bastard, and there's an end!
Go.
Nan, if you love me, don't defy me. Bring her back.
I love you.
I shall go to my grave loving you, no doubt, and hating you.
I will bring her back to my court
if the oath is sworn by all men of power, high and low.
But those who refuse must die.
You once said they must not die.
And it was you who once said they must.
And now so say I.
Anne.
If you love me, forget the succession.
If you remember how it all came about,
how can you look me in my eyes and say our daughter will not succeed?
Because it would need unlimited murder. Nan, look at me.
Is it fitting I should be Head of the Church, Pope and King at once,
a farce, a monumental tragic farce, so that so many men must die?
Could you sign the death warrants?
I'd sign 10,000 rather than disinherit my blood!
It's that, or else it's my blood and Elizabeth's.
Cromwell knows that. Your butcher cleaver man knows that.
Send him out to implement these details and let it be done quickly.
High or low, they will sign. I wish I were loved, but I'm not.
And yet I am Queen of this island and Elizabeth also shall be Queen.
No.
For Elizabeth, no.
For her, I will not commit murder.
Anne, if we had a male heir, your son and mine...
I can be angrier than you've seen me yet. I know where your heart is, it's not with me.
What has love got to do with the getting of a king?
I'm not young. I'm not true. I'm bitter. I'm envious. I'm dangerous. I'm malicious!
It's your misfortune that you love me now that I no longer love you.
And yet, at this moment I want you,
because of the anger in your face and the spark of blood in your cheek.
No.
Anne. Anne, give me a prince, and everything would be forgotten.
No! Not unless you kill them, More and Houghton and Fisher
and all who will not sign, not unless Elizabeth is your heir!
I'll kill them, then.
I rob, murder and commit sacrilege
at your command.
You do what you wish and call the deed mine.
I hate you. I hate your desire and mine!
I pray you, Master Kingston, see me safe up.
As for my coming down, let me shift for myself.
Good people, it has...
The King's orders. You must not be heard.
Well, then I will not speak.
I die the King's good servant,
but God's first.
No!
No! No!
Well?
A boy born dead.
She has miscarried of her savior.
I am accursed!
A live daughter and a dead son! Did I accept excommunication for this?
Did I send More, and Houghton and Fisher to their death for this?
She cannot give me a living son!
Very well, then.
If she cannot give me a male heir, I shall rid myself of her.
Sir, with Katherine's death, Anne is too firmly the Queen.
Find a way. Find a legal way. I will divorce Anne.
Divorce is like killing.
After the first time, it doesn't seem so difficult.
Your Grace, we asserted English law before. Anne is now Queen by English law.
Indeed. Indeed. I divorced Katherine in good faith.
But since that time, I have discovered an impediment to my marriage to Anne.
I had a child by her sister Mary. That, too, is incestuous.
We used the incest excuse last time. We can't make a habit of it.
Neither Pope nor Emperor will uphold her, and the people hate her.
She'd fight.
Her sister was married when she bore your child.
You couldn't prove it wasn't her husband's.
For God's sake, Cromwell, who do you serve?
The King, sir. Your Grace can't afford to start all that again.
Then do you know another way?
No, you! You, you tied me to her!
Now you find a way to get rid of her!
Perhaps
in her own life.
Her life?
Yes.
Her marriage contract with Percy. He had her.
That's it, you crawling toad.
No, Your Grace, not her past life, the present.
The rumors that she has a lover.
Anne? A lover?
L, a cuckold?
Why, you're mad.
If I could prove it?
Invent it, you mean, with false evidence.
Adultery is high treason.
The penalty is death.
Get out.
Cromwell.
It's most kind of you to come, Master Smeaton.
I am honored, Master Cromwell.
As a rule, when invited to supper, I'm expected to sing for it.
As you do for the Queen?
That is my pleasure.
She wishes me to be the first music teacher to the Princess.
Please, sit. No other guests.
Thank you.
Yes, for the Queen to make the Princess your pupil,
she must think most highly of you.
The advantages of music.
I did not know that music interested you.
It doesn't.
I am interested in the Queen, and you know her so well.
Why, I'm merely a servant.
I have the King's express orders to protect the Queen's person.
We have learned of threats. Many hate her.
I am dining you, as I will dine others, to get to know those whom I may trust.
I see, I see.
And it is true that she likes to have you close to her, is it not?
Without boasting, I believe she prefers me to many.
She prefers my style to the Italian.
It is nearer to the manner she learned to love in the French court.
She learned to love like a French woman.
Yes, simple tunes sung with...
You would be wiser not to laugh.
It is a more valuable asset than a pleasant singing voice.
I make my way by singing.
I've no desire to go any further by any other route.
Come now.
There are only two reasons for you to be constantly in the Queen's apartments.
You love her, or you are in the pay of Spain.
Why, I go when I am sent for.
To love or spy? Which?
I'm sorry...
Which?
You're too simple to spy, I know that.
So it is love. You love her?
No! No!
You do not love your Queen?
Well, yes, all right, I do love her. As my Queen.
And she loves you.
No, sir, of course not.
Barton, come out here. Bring your papers.
The last reply, but one.
"Well, yes, all right, I do love her."
What are you trying to make me say?
The truth.
That you are the Queen's lover.
No.
No! No!
You first slept with her in February.
Never! I never!
On the 18th of February.
No!
Surely you remember such an important date?
No!
Come, try to remember.
No! No! No!
Try!
Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!
Anyone can walk, but can you walk with a train?
Yes.
All right, head up.
Go on. Good!
Don't look around. Go on. It will follow you like a kitten's tail.
What a queen it will make some day.
Enter.
Madam, the Duke of Norfolk insists...
Uncle!
This is a rare honor nowadays.
Leave us.
Nan, brace yourself, girl.
I have a warrant for your arrest.
For my arrest?
A poor joke.
It's not a joke, Anne.
I could've let others do it, but I felt I could do it more gently.
But I'm the Queen. How could I be arrested? For what?
Adultery, it says here. Nonsense, no doubt, but there it is.
Adultery? With whom?
Smeaton, Norris, and others.
I thought you were serious.
I am.
I am to take you to the Tower. There's to be a trial. I am to preside.
But I'm the Queen.
My child, she's the King's heir.
You're to leave her with your women.
My women... Anne, you must come at once.
Elizabeth!
Anne.
Down?
Master Kingston, shall I be shut in a dungeon?
No, madam.
You will be lodged near the room where you lay on the night before your coronation.
Jesus, have mercy on me.
lam Lady Kingston, madam,
and will wait upon you, whatever your wishes are.
Will you? Then go away. Leave me!
I fear, madam, that she must stay.
Every word spoken to you or by you must be reported.
Send them away, Norfolk!
Leave us. But...
Leave us!
Shall I ever be allowed to walk out and look at the sky?
Shall I ever be free?
Norris, Weston, his friends?
His friends since I first met him?
And they are accused with me?
Yes.
He is willing to kill them to get rid of me?
To kill his closest friends?
Come on! The other way!
My brother.
Why have they arrested him?
He also is accused of being your lover.
Incest.
God help me. The King is mad.
I am doomed.
Your Highness, you are accused of high treason
in that you, being the lawfully wedded wife of our Sovereign Lord the King,
did commit adultery.
I ask that you answer my questions.
By what lawful authority am I called here?
I am your Queen.
And, as such, share the King's immunity from arrest and trial.
Norris, Weston, Smeaton, and Breareton were tried, found guilty,
and condemned 10 days ago.
If they are guilty, then you are guilty.
Did they plead guilty?
They were found guilty.
They were innocent as I am innocent!
Any man, no matter who he is, who says the contrary is a liar!
My Lord, the warrant of treason was issued by direction of the King.
That is sufficient to give this tribunal jurisdiction.
However, so that there may be no possibility of doubt as to the guilt of the Queen,
will my Lord call the first witness?
Call the Earl of Rochford.
George Boleyn, Earl of Rochford, come into court.
The Earl of Rochford.
Read the indictment.
George Boleyn, you are accused of high treason,
in that on certain days and dates, here and after specified,
you did commit adultery with Anne, Queen of England.
Being your own sister in the flesh, an act of incest.
No! Not true!
It is not your turn to speak.
How do you plead, guilty or not guilty?
You are a foul liar, and my judges are your creatures.
Stand up, Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire. Come to the bar.
Do you recognize these two here accused,
known as Anne and George Boleyn, as issue of your body?
I do.
Look at them, my Lord.
By the same mother, Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the late Duke of Norfolk,
and therefore full brother and sister in the flesh
so that their lying together would be incest?
- Yes. - For which the penalty is death.
Proper evidence in this matter will be introduced later.
Remove the prisoner.
That's all, my Lord.
As father of the accused,
you are now excused your duty as a judge and may leave.
Master Cromwell, present your next witness.
Mark Smeaton, come into court.
Mark Smeaton.
My Lords, this man was tried as a commoner.
He confessed and was found guilty of adultery with the Queen
by a jury of his own order.
He will give evidence against the Queen.
Put your questions.
Smeaton, did you have carnal relations with the Queen?
Smeaton, did you lie with the Queen?
No.
There is mercy only for those that tell the truth.
Three men have been found guilty on your evidence.
Was that evidence perjury?
You confessed to your own guilt knowing the penalty for treason,
knowing, unless the King is merciful, that you will be hanged,
cut down while you still live, disemboweled and your heart torn out while it still beats!
The King will not be merciful if you lie!
Did you have carnal relations with the Queen?
Yes!
My Lord of Norfolk,
may I question this man?
I have not finished.
Justice must be seen to be done, Master Cromwell.
Proceed.
Thank you, my Lord.
Mark, look at me.
I know well you have been tortured, but tell them the truth, Mark.
Have courage.
It is true.
Write that. He says the charge is true.
They have promised you your life, haven't they?
If you lie for them?
Well, they will break the promise. It would not be safe to leave you alive.
It is true.
He says the charge is true for a third time.
Write it down. We have our evidence.
Poor gentle singer.
Isn't it better, if you are to die, that you die with the truth on your lips?
I am guilty! I was guilty with the Queen!
Let me go now. She came to my bed.
Let me go. She came to my bed, I swear it.
Even when she tells him he will die anyway, he still admits his guilt.
Write that. Take him out.
No. Wait.
My husband, the King.
Smeaton,
how many times did the Queen come to your bed? How many times?
Many times.
When?
I don't remember.
You will remember, Smeaton.
Call it to mind or you'll speak with those who can jog your memory.
Where did you couch with the Queen, my wife?
York Place.
That's a lie.
It could never have happened at York Place. You shared a room with two others.
No, no, it was at Windsor.
Fool, she never went to Windsor except with me.
Can you think of no better lie? It was many places.
She came to my bed. It was wherever you like, whenever you like.
God, help me. Let me go free. I'll say whatever you like.
Did Cromwell promise you your life if you said this?
Answer me! Did he?
Yes.
He lied.
Say what you like, Smeaton, and you will not live.
Say what you like.
Speak now without lying, for it will avail you nothing.
I am to die?
What happened between you and the Queen?
Between us?
Nothing.
She was kind and pleasant and just.
I would not hurt her.
I lied because they have broken me with ropes and irons,
and then promised I would go free.
Take him away.
And yet.
It could be true.
For six years...
This year and this,
and this,
I did not love him.
And then I did.
Then I was his.
I can count the days I was his in hundreds.
The days we bedded.
Married.
Were happy.
Bore Elizabeth.
Hated.
Lusted.
Bore a dead child,
which condemned me
to death.
In all,
one thousand days.
Just a thousand.
Strange.
And of those thousand, one,
when we were both in love, only one,
when our loves met and overlapped and were both mine and his.
And when I no longer hated him,
he began to hate me.
Except for that one day.
I'm not hungry. Take the food and leave me.
Nan,
is it true?
Have you stepped into your own trap, my Lord?
Any evidence you have against me, you yourself bought and paid for.
Do you now begin to believe it?
Anne.
Anne, the court is still in session to decide your verdict.
I don't want to hear your guilt from them.
I want to hear it from you, from your own lips.
That I was unfaithful to you?
Yes, just that.
Were you unfaithful to me whilst I still loved you?
Of course I'll never know.
Whether you say aye or no, I shall never know.
You come here to make sure whether there was truly adultery
because that would touch your manhood or your pride,
and even so, my heart and my eyes are glad of you.
Fool of all women that I am, I'm glad of you here.
Go, then.
Keep your pride of manhood, you know about me now.
Nan, is it true that you're glad to see me?
Yes, it's true.
Then, Anne, let's do all gently for old time's sake.
I have no wish to harm you, and your words have moved me deeply.
I must be free to have a son,
and the son must be free to rule England when I die.
Why must you leave a king to follow you, Henry?
Why not a queen?
This country has never been ruled by a queen. I know it never could be.
We can never have a son now, and God has spoken.
I must have a son elsewhere.
And it's getting late. I'm not as young as I was.
And what do you want of me?
Agree to annul the marriage and give up all rights.
You shall go abroad and take Elizabeth with you.
You will be well cared for.
Please set me free.
To marry Seymour and make our child a bastard?
No. No. No.
Nan... Nan, you leave me no choice!
Once, I told you any children we had would not be bastards.
You promised marriage and the Crown.
Now you try to dance out of your promise. Well, I won't have it!
We are man and wife together. King and Queen. I keep that.
Take it from me as best you can.
Then you have decided, and so have I!
Before you go, perhaps you should hear one thing.
I lied to you. I said, "I love you," but I lied.
I was untrue. Untrue with many.
That is a lie. It is true.
I was unfaithful to you with all of them. With half your court!
With soldiers of your guard, with grooms, with stable hands.
Look, for the rest of your life, at every man that ever knew me
and wonder if I didn't find him a better man than you!
You whore!
But Elizabeth was yours. Watch her as she grows.
She's yours. She's a Tudor.
Get yourself a son on that sweet pale girl if you can and hope that it will live,
but Elizabeth shall reign after you.
Yes! Elizabeth, child of Anne the whore
and Henry the bloodstained lecher, shall be Queen.
You've asked for death
and you shall have it.
So be it.
Only what I take to my grave, you take to yours.
And think of this, Henry.
Elizabeth shall be a greater queen than any king of yours.
She shall rule a greater England than you could ever have built.
Yes! My Elizabeth shall be Queen,
and my blood will have been well spent.
She's lying. She was never unfaithful to me.
She could. Any woman could.
No. She lies.
If she lies, let her die for lying.
Let her die!
Is everything ready?
Yes, my Lord. The Queen is at prayer.
Fetch her. The time for prayer is passed.
And where is the King?
At Richmond. Out hunting.
Will you join him later?
No, by God. For me, there's killing enough this day.
Will it hurt?
They say not, my Lady.
The executioner from France is an expert with the sword.
I hear that he is good.
And I have a little neck.
My Lady.
No, Kingston. No.
Come, I am glad to die.
The month is May.
My Lady?
Nothing.
Mon Dieu! She looks at me! Distract her!
Away, my Lords.
Where to, Your Grace?
To Mistress Seymour's.
Elizabeth shall be a greater queen than any king of yours.
She shall rule a greater England than you could ever have built.
My Elizabeth shall be Queen,
and my blood will have been well spent.