Days that shook the world: The execution of Anne Boleyn

The BBC series Days that shook the world features various events throughout history, one of which is the execution of Anne Boleyn.

This dramatisation of Anne’s final days is based on first hand accounts and depicts the last 24 hours of Anne’s life while imprisoned in the Tower of London. It also briefly features Anne’s debut at the English Court in 1521, the beginning of Henry’s fascination with her in 1526 and the events that paved the way for their marriage in 1532-33.

There are a number of theories pertaining to Anne’s downfall, one of which is that Thomas Cromwell, a former ally of the Boleyn’s, felt Anne had become too much of a threat to his power and position and so plotted her downfall. This is the theory depicted in the documentary.

We witness Anne’s final day in the Tower, we are with her when she hears mass for the last time and professes her innocence before God (and several witnesses who would later report her declaration to Cromwell) which “in an age of such piety… is compelling proof of her innocence.”

I must admit to being moved by the last part, not only because of Anne’s execution but because of the inclusion of snapshots of the two year old Princess Elizabeth innocently playing with her carer at Hatfield, unawares of the terrible tragedy that was about to befall her mother.

It is by no means an extensive investigation into Anne’s downfall, rather a dramatic interpretation of the 24 hours leading up to Anne’s execution on May 19th 1536 – an event that still shakes me.

Part 1

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Part 2

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Part 3

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