I am delighted to share with you a short extract from Lady Katherine Knollys: The Unacknowledged Daughter of King Henry VIII by Sarah-Beth Watkins. The paternity of Mary Boleyn’s children, Katherine and Henry Carey, has been the subject of much contentious debate. Some historians believe that Katherine and Henry were the illegitimate children of King Henry VIII, while others affirm that their father was Mary’s first husband, William Carey.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter but for now, over to Sarah-Beth Watkins!
Book Blurb
Katherine Knollys was Mary Boleyn’s first child, born in 1524 when Mary was having an affair with King Henry VIII. Katherine spent her life unacknowledged as the king’s daughter, yet she was given prime appointments at court as maid of honour to both Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard. She married Francis Knollys when she was 16 and went on to become mother to many successful men and women at court including Lettice Knollys who created a scandal when she married Sir Robert Dudley, the queen’s favourite. This fascinating book studies Katherine’s life and times, including her intriguing relationship with Elizabeth I.
About the Author
Sarah-Beth Watkins grew up in Richmond, Surrey and began soaking up history from an early age. Her love of writing has seen her articles published in various publications over the past twenty years. Working as a writing tutor, Sarah-Beth has condensed her knowledge into a series of writing guides for Compass Books. Her history works are Ireland’s Suffragettes and Lady Katherine Knollys: The Unacknowledged Daughter of King Henry VIII. She lives in County Wexford, Ireland.
An excerpt from Chapter One
Mary Boleyn placed her hand on her stomach. It was time to shut herself away from the world and enter her darkened chambers. Richly embroidered tapestries lined the room, shutting out the light and keeping in the warmth from the banked-up fire. Mary was going to give birth to her first child; born of lust and passion, a child whose father was not the man she had married, a child whose father was secretly the King. A child she named Katherine. Katherine would grow up never to be acknowledged as King Henry VIII‘s daughter. Henry had every reason not to acknowledge her. He had his daughters, one already born when Katherine came into the world, and he needed no more. His denial of his affair with Katherine’s mother, Mary, would be something that would always position Katherine as a bastard. Yet Katherine joined the Tudor court as maid of honour to Queen Anne of Cleves and she went on to serve Catherine Howard as well as becoming one of Elizabeth I’s closest confidantes – cousins for definite, more likely half-sisters. Katherine lived through the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and on into Elizabeth I’s. Never far from court, she lived in a world where she would never be a princess but a lady she was born to be.
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As a 14th generation descendant of Katherine Knollys I’ve become fascinated with the question of her paternity. At 50yo I only recently found out about my extended family pedigree when my mother petitioned DAR (Daughter of the American Revolution) for membership and their research uncovered her connection via the Knollys-West-Fox-Burgess-Hallman family tree. Even after 14-16 generations it is interesting to see traits of resemblance in the old portraits, when looking at current family.