Anne, Queen of England

The coronation of Anne Boleyn, which took place on June 1st 1533, was a lavish event that officially proclaimed one of the most controversial women the English court had ever known as queen consort of the country.  The crown of St Edward the Confessor, only ever used in the coronation of kings, was placed on Anne's head in a lavish ceremony in Westminster Abbey before the lords of the realm cheered their new queen.  It was the highest point of Anne's power and glory and in some ways it is the moment that her story changes from that of unstoppable force of nature to increasingly vulnerable politician.  For while Henry VIII watched his new wife wear his own crown and process through his capital city in splendid ceremony, the beginning of her downfall was already taking shape.  From the moment that Anne Boleyn became Queen of England she was a moving target for jealous courtiers concerned about their own power and influence.

Anne Boleyn, Queen of England 1533 - 1536

For at the moment that the crown was placed on her head and she was declared queen, her role at court changed and her place in Henry's heart began to alter as well.  Anne had been a master at maneuvering her way into the king's affections and seeing off those who would displace her.  She had been adept at engineering situations that would make Henry love her more and need her more and want her so much that he risked war and excommunication to make her his wife.  In modern terms, once Henry had made up his mind to get rid of Catherine of Aragon, Anne ran a slick marketing campaign that made him believe no one else could be the queen he needed to make him the king he wanted to be.  On June 1st 1533 he gave her what she wanted but, more than that, he gave himself the queen he desperately desired - not just on a physical or emotional level but on a political one as well. Anne had been one of his closest advisers for years now and had shown herself more than capable of handling policy, intrigue and plots.  She was the mirror of his dreams, the right hand that would make him the most invincible king in Europe and among the most famous in history.

Born to greatness and determined to achieve it - Henry VIII

It's perhaps no surprise then that the king spent so much on the coronation of a woman who was widely disliked.  Not only was he showing the country and the wider world that he loved and respected the queen he was making that day.  He was boosting his own power and glory.  Anne had processed through the streets of London on the night before she was crowned, passing through lanes hung with cloth of gold.  She had been received by the Mayor of London and his aldermen and spent the night at the Tower of London before entering Westminster Abbey wearing robes of purple velvet trimmed with ermine with a gold canopy above her head.  Anne was around six months pregnant at the time and it has long been speculated that Henry was convinced this child was a boy.  After all, everything else Anne had promised him had come to pass so her convictions that they would soon hold a prince in their arms would have no doubt been enough to persuade her husband.  It may be that Henry made this coronation so lavish to give a glorious start to a new part of his reign that would soon culminate in the birth of the son and heir he now so desperately wanted.

Anne Boleyn was at the height of her powers on the day she was crowned - June 1st 1533

But the fact that Henry allowed Anne to be crowned with St Edward's Crown, reserved for the regnant himself, perhaps shows the influence that she held at that moment.  Anne had already been made the Marquess of Pembroke by Henry - the first woman to be given a title in her own right.  And now, as she became queen, she was the only woman to wear a crown that symbolised the English monarchy and the power of its kings.  In some ways, Henry was making her his joint ruler - his other half in every sense of the word.  Which makes her downfall perhaps even more confusing.  Anne, as queen, could expect even more power but she was also expected to act in a queenly manner. Historians have long speculated that it was Anne's refusal to take a backseat and her insistence on arguing with her husband, even in public, that caused him to begin to turn against her and allowed her enemies to gain his confidence and her ruin.  Anne had been able to say what she liked and do as she pleased while a wife in waiting but as consort, where her every move was followed, her behaviour was expected to change.  It is perhaps the fact that on this day, in 1533, that Anne decided a crown would not change her demeanor that ultimately led to her fall from grace.