After watching David Starkey’s Henry VIII: Man and Monarch series I felt rather ill. I know that in his position he was at times forced to make some difficult decisions but it seems to me that he really enjoyed handing out gruesome death sentences on his subjects. A gentle prince? I don’t think so, especially not in his later years. What are your thoughts?
NG
I think Henry VIII was a gentle prince in his early life but the events of his years with Anne Boleyn, the frustration of the succession and the continuing poor health from the wound on his leg contributed into making him the monster he later became. He was an extremely charismatic man but also extremely dangerous …. A frightening mix!