Wives Henry VIII Antonia Fraser

Is the most famous portrait of Anne Boleyn actually a picture of her daughter, Elizabeth I? That’s the explosive new theory from Dr Owen Emmerson and Kate McCaffrey in their book, Capturing a Queen: The Image of Anne Boleyn, released through Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn’s childhood home, in February 2026. The argument is that while this portrait, which is held in the National Portrait Gallery in London, was always intended to be used to represent Anne Boleyn (she is wearing a B pendant in it after all) the face pattern was modelled on Elizabeth I and so the question of what did Anne Bolyen look like, is still much more up in the air than previously thought. The painting has been dated to 1584 or later using dendrochronology and Emmerson and McCaffrey argue that for political reasons, at a time when Elizabeth’s throne was under increasing attack at home and abroad, her legitimacy was in doubt and she was past childbearing, it was deemed politic to make her look like her mother as well as like other members of her family, like her half-sister and paternal great grandfather, Edward IV and as such, the same face pattern (that of Elizabeth) was used to create portraits of her extended family in the 1580s, all by the same artist. Does this intriguing theory hold water though? Join me in this episode of History Calling as I delve into the evidence presented in this book and explain whether or not I find it convincing and why. If true, this theory would completely reshape how we see Anne Boleyn and her portraiture and leave us with even fewer images of her which we can trust. That said, the book also claims to have identified a previously unknown image of Anne Boleyn from her lifetime, a claim which I’ll also examine. In addition, I’ll examine how the National Portrait Gallery painting of Anne Boleyn compare to others we have of Henry VIII’s second wife, including the famous Moost Happi medal, created in 1534 (until now the only contemporary image we have of Anne Boleyn and still the best), the Chequer’s Ring, made in c. 1575 and depicting her alongside her daughter and Hever Castle’s Anne Boleyn rose portrait, so called because she holds a red rose in it and now properly dated for the first time using dendrochronology. If you love Tudor art history, the history of the Tudor royal family or stories about the life of Anne Boleyn, this is the video for you. #AnneBoleyn #AnneBoleynPortrait #QueenAnneBoleyn BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): https://amzn.to/3Z2ChnG Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): https://www.historycallingofficial.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/historycalling Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/historycalling Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/historycalling/ DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF ANNE BOLEYN’S ONLY AUTHENTIC IMAGE | WHAT IS THE MOOST HAPPI MEDAL OF 1534? https://youtu.be/8x4W2gYrmHg DOES THE CHEQUERS’ RING SHOW A PORTRAIT OF ANNE BOLEYN AND ELIZABETH I https://youtu.be/hvgl1Wbjw1I IS PORTRAIT OF KATHERINE HOWARD ACTUALLY ANNE OF CLEVES? https://youtu.be/G8vm7FtdtXE DOES THIS HOLBEIN DRAWING SHOW ANNE BOLEYN? https://youtu.be/4ZX3tMcLo7c Has a LOST PORTRAIT of Anne Boleyn been found? https://youtu.be/EsUGXO9wieA THE BIRTH OF ANNE BOLEYN https://youtu.be/iA_9SM0UTyw ANNE BOLEYN’S B NECKLACE https://youtu.be/RrODYM4mRdM DID ANNE BOLEYN HAVE A PSEUDO PREGNANCY IN 1534? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTCTzd4IG9s ANNE BOLEYN’S LAST LETTER https://youtu.be/PZHvxGetth8 ANNE BOLEYN’S EXECUTION: HOLLYWOOD VS HISTORY https://youtu.be/gBczwBsGCqM ANNE BOLEYN’S EXECUTION OUTFIT https://youtu.be/N-uSu7zY_m4 LEARN MORE: Owen Emmerson and Kate McCaffrey, Capturing a Queen: the image of Anne Boleyn (2026) https://shop.hevercastle.co.uk/products/capturing-a-queen Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) https://amzn.to/3xLivgr Susan Bordo, The Creation of Anne Boleyn: In Search of the Tudors' Most Notorious Queen (One World Publications, 2014) https://amzn.to/3zznLY1 Sarah Morris and Natalie Grueninger, In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn (2013) https://amzn.to/2W9oJct Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) https://amzn.to/36IqD5r David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) https://amzn.to/3wImKIh GEAR USED Apple MacBook Pro Laptop (for video editing): https://amzn.to/3S6IoRK Blue Yeti Microphone: https://amzn.to/3FgEDYq Go-Pro Hero 13 camera: https://amzn.to/41H4Xnt GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): https://amzn.to/3vaVxjU Memory Card: https://amzn.to/3KeLZZs DJI Drone: https://amzn.to/39hROZm NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay. Open Street Map copyright information https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright Creative Commons licenses used see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/