KING HENRY VIII
as seen in
Kate Emerson's novels
THE PLEASURE PALACE
BETWEEN TWO QUEENS
BY ROYAL DECREE
and
AT THE KING'S PLEASURE

King Henry VIII is a key player in Kate Emerson's novels, THE PLEASURE PALACE, BETWEEN TWO QUEENS, BY ROYAL DECREE, and AT THE KING'S PLEASURE. THE PLEASURE PALACE begins during the reign of Henry VII, Henry VIII's father, and continues into the early years of Henry VIII's reign. Henry appears first as a boy (as shown below), and then as a young man at the height of his physical prowess. The portrait above was painted c.1509, when AT THE KING'S PLEASURE begins, and the two below are variations on a portrait of c.1520. This Henry VIII was athletic, good-looking, and cheerful. The pictures on this page capture some of that, although they cannot convey the charisma he obviously possessed. In 1514 he was, 6'2" tall, a head taller than most other men at court, with a 35" waist and a 42" chest. He had a very fair complexion, delicate features, broad shoulders, long, muscular legs, blue eyes, and hair that has variously been described as red, auburn, and golden. He wore it cut straight, in the French fashion and was clean shaven during the first years of his reign. Later, as shown below, his hair was shorter but he grew a beard.

In BETWEEN TWO QUEENS Henry is starting to show the effects of age and hard living (and too much rich food!). It was not until after the death of his third wife, Jane Seymour, that he became obese. BETWEEN TWO QUEENS begins just before Jane's death and Henry's last appearance is just before his marriage to sixth wife Kathryn Parr in 1543. Below are likenesses of Henry VIII from this period.

Sadly, by the time period of BY ROYAL DECREE, Henry was old, fat, and suffering from numerous unpleasant ailments. He died in 1547. Here's what he looked like toward the end of his life.

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last updated 10/28/11