When is a queen not a Queen? When she has not been crowned, or has become queen in name and not in fact, as when being wed to the King? Henry Vlll, notorious for - among other things - his many marriages made six women queen in name but only two of them Queen by virtue of being crowned.
His first wife, Katherine of Aragon, had in fact briefly been the wife of Henry's elder brother Arthur. Henry was delighted when the time came to make his brother's widow his own wife. However, in later years, when she produced only a daughter after their male children either died in infancy or were stillborn, he used this fact to claim the marriage was wrongful in the eyes of God. His logic was based on an Old Testament verse claiming it was wrong for a man to lie with his brother's widow. Katherine denied to her deathbed that this first marriage had ever been consumated, and was probably telling the truth. Arthur was a sickly youth, and Katherine's own sometimes fanatical religious beliefs would have forced her to speak the truth on this matter. She was not always believed.
Eventually, after many crises, and the schism in the Church that remains to this day, Henry was rid of Katherine - in his eyes anyway, although she maintained to the end of her days that she was still the rightful, one and only wife of Henry and his Queen as well. He found her very troublesome.
Unfortunately, in spite of all his early infatuation with his second queen, Anne Boleyn, he came to detest her also and thoroughly. She also failed to produce the necessary Royal Prince. Of course it would never have occurred to Henry, male chauvinist extreme, that the reason for his being without Royal sons might have been his fault. Anne did give birth to several stillborn children, of whom at least one was a boy. She was doomed. However, the only surviving child of Henry and Anne, a red headed daughter, went on to become one of the best known of English Queens. It is believed by many that the fact of Anne's execution had great influence upon Elizabeth's later refusal to marry, possibly seeing marriage as equating with death.
The third queen, Jane Seymour, did Henry's will and provided him with a son. Unfortunately, in so doing she died, probably from pueperal fever, a common enough fate for women in those times. Opinions have differed over the years as to whether Henry valued more a wife or a son. But he was not satisfied with one son, two daughters and three wives, but went on to three more marriages. None of these provided more children.
Christina, the Duchess of Milan is reported to have said, in response to the suggestion she wed Henry, that if she had two heads, 'one should be at his Grace's service!' Henry was apparently not in great demand as a potential bridegroom.
Fourth on the list was Anne of Cleves. She was apparently physically so repellent to Henry he did not even consumate the marriage. He is reported to have referred to her derogatively as a 'Flanders mare'. Anne of Cleves, however, was the only one of Henry's wives who escaped the marriage with not only her head intact upon her shoulders, but financially secure for the rest of her life, and with the friendship of the King. She was probably just as happy to get out of it as he was! Little, comparatively, is known about this Anne but her ability to outmanoeuvre Henry could indicate she deserves more admiration than she has received. She outlived Henry and was always popular with not only the people, but also Henry's children and his next two wives. No mean feat. I suspect she has been greatly underrated, especially in the brains department. It would not have occurred to Henry that he also might have been physically repellent by now, and he wasted no time in acquiring another young wife, this time pretty but empty headed.
Katherine Howard was younger than Henry's daughter Mary (later Mary 1) when she was executed after a marriage lasting less than two years. She had been brought up apparently in a state of moral neglect and may or may not have been guilty of sleeping with other men before Henry wed her. However, getting rid of her was politic and she also had to go. She was probably a flighty young girl, but did not deserve to lose her head.
Last of the ill-fated queens of Henry was Katherine Parr. She had been widowed twice previously but was childless, chaste and virtuous. She became more Henry's nursemaid than his wife - probably to her relief. By then he was a fat ugly bad tempered old tyrant who suffered a chronic ulcer on his leg. He may or may not also have had venereal disease, depending on which historians you prefer to believe. Katherine had a couple of narrow escapes, due to her having a mind of her own and tending to argue with her husband. This was not a wise course to take if one wished to live, especially when the topic was that of religion and the will of God, upon which matters Henry considered himself an expert.
Katherine survived Henry and remarried, to die in childbirth. Her husband, Thomas Seymour, is rumoured to have been a lover of Elizabeth l, before she ever reached the throne. This may or may not be truth, again depending on the historian. It is likely he at least tried to seduce Elizabeth, but found Katherine an easier touch.
The sequence of the fates of the six women who married Henry Vlll can be remembered by the school boy ditty:
Divorced, beheaded, she died,
Divorced, beheaded, survived.
Reference: The Six Wives of Henry Vlll by Alison Weir