There are references to Arthur Plantagenet, the Queen's half-brother, who came to serve her. Arthur Plantagenet (died 3 March 1542) was an illegitimate son of the English king Edward IV, half-brother-in-law of Henry VII, and an uncle of Henry VIII, at whose court he was a prominent figure. In 1501 he joined the household of his half-sister, the Queen Consort Elizabeth of York, and moved to the household of Henry VII after her death in 1503.
A second son was born, Henry, at Greenwich on 28 June 1491.
The Queen's mother, Elizabeth Woodville died in 1492. Elizabeth Woodville died at Bermondsey Abbey, on 8 June 1492. With the exception of the queen, who was awaiting the birth of her fourth child, and Cecily of York, her daughters attended the funeral at Windsor Castle: Anne of York (the future wife of Thomas Howard), Catherine of York (the future Countess of Devon) and Bridget of York (a nun at Dartford Priory).
The queen had a baby, Elizabeth, who died at the age of three. And then she had another daughter, Mary. Mary was the fifth child of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the youngest of those who survived infancy. She was born at Shene Palace, on 18 March 1496.
At the time there were plots against Henry. The main one was headed by Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Richard, Duke of York, the younger of the queen's two brothers who were murdered at the Tower. Perkin Warbeck (c. 1474 – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower". Followers may have truly believed Warbeck was Richard or may have supported him simply because of their desire to overthrow the reigning king, Henry VII, and reclaim the throne. Warbeck was captured at Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire where he surrendered. Warbeck was initially treated well by Henry. As soon as he confessed to being an impostor, he was released from the Tower of London and was given accommodation at Henry's court. He was, however, kept under guard and was not allowed to sleep with his wife, who was living under the protection of the queen. After eight months at court, Warbeck tried to escape. He was quickly recaptured. On 23 November 1499, he was hanged.
Another plotter was Lamber Simnel. Lambert Simnel (c. 1477 – after 1534) was a pretender to the throne of England. In 1487, his claim to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, threatened the newly established reign of Henry VII (1485–1509). Simnel became the figurehead of a Yorkist rebellion. The rebellion was crushed in 1487. Simnel was pardoned because of his tender years, and was thereafter employed by the royal household as a scullion.
Being groom of the stool was one of the most coveted positions in court. In the court of Henry VII that position was held by Hugh Denys. Hugh Denys (c. 1440 – 1511) of Osterley in Middlesex was a courtier of Kings Henry VII. As Groom of the Stool to Henry VII, he was one of the King's closest courtiers, his role developing into one of administering the Privy Chamber, a department in control of the royal finances which during Denys's tenure of office also gained control over national fiscal policy. 
Henry arranged for Arthur to marry Catherine of Aragon. Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Catherine of Aragon were married in 1501 as part of an Anglo-Spanish alliance. However, Arthur died six months later, leaving Catherine a young widow.
Henry arranged for Arthur to marry Catherine of Aragon. Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Catherine of Aragon were married in 1501 as part of an Anglo-Spanish alliance. However, Arthur died six months later, leaving Catherine a young widow.
When Arthur died, Catherine was sent to the Castle of Ludlow. Ludlow Castle is a ruined mediaeval fortification in the town of the same name in the English county of Shropshire.
The queen died as she gave birth to her last baby, who also died. On 2 February 1503, she gave birth to a daughter, Katherine, who died a few days later. Succumbing to a postpartum infection, Elizabeth of York died on 11 February, her 37th birthday. Her family seems to have been devastated by her death and mourned her deeply.
Henry VII wanted to marry again. He first approached his daughter-in-law, Catherine, who refused. Her mother, Isabella, wrote to Henry, suggesting Joanna, Queen of Naples, but the negotiations failed. Joanna of Naples (15 April 1478 – 27 August 1518) was Queen of Naples by marriage to her nephew, Ferdinand II of Naples. At age 46, Henry was interested in taking a second wife and (the still young) Joanna was suggested as a potential bride by her aunt, Isabella I of Castile, who probably wanted to divert Henry's interest from her daughter, Catherine of Aragon. Lacking a portrait of Joanna, Henry sent ambassadors to Naples in 1505 to report on the physical qualities of the prospective bride. The ambassador's report on Joanna's appearance was satisfactory, but the marriage negotiations failed for political and financial reasons.
Another candidate was Margaret of Savoy, but she swore never to marry again. Margaret of Austria (10 January 1480 – 1 December 1530) was Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1507 to 1515 and again from 1519 until her death in 1530. In 1505 Maximilian and Philip had tried to arrange a match with Henry VII of England, 48 years old at the time, but Margaret refused.
Henry VII died of tuberculosis at Richmond Palace on 21 April 1509 and was buried in the chapel he commissioned in Westminster Abbey next to his wife, Elizabeth.
Catherine of Aragon married Henry. She married Henry VIII shortly after his accession in 1509.
There are references to men who Henry trusted. One was Charles Brandon, who led a scandalous life. Charles Brandon (c. 1484 – 22 August 1545) was an English military leader and courtier. The book explains that he got Anne Browne pregnant, but abandoned her to marry her aunt, Margaret Mortimer. When he managed to get the money from his wife, he got the marriage annulled, cliamed that they were related. And then he married Anne Browne. Brandon also married Herny's sister, Mary.
Lady Margaret Beaufort died after Henry's coronation. Margaret had been ill for several days, as legend has it, after eating a cygnet (a young swan) for dinner. The Countess died in the Deanery of Westminster Abbey on 29 June 1509. This was the day after her grandson Henry VIII's 18th birthday, 5 days after his coronation and just over two months after the death of her son.
Catherine had several pregnancies, but many were miscarriages or the children survived for just a short time. During this time Henry had an affair with Anne of Hastings. Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (née Anne Stafford) (c. 1483–1544) was an English noble. In 1510, Anne was the subject of a sex scandal. Her brother had heard rumours that Anne was having an affair with Sir William Compton, who was close to Henry VIII; she had been one of Henry's mistresses. On one occasion, Stafford found Compton in Anne's room. Compton was forced to take the sacrament to prove that he had not committed adultery.
While pregnant, Catherine went to war in Scotland. The English army was victorious and King James IV died. Catherine of Aragon played a significant role in the Scottish war of 1513, not as a soldier on the battlefield, but as a powerful regent for England while her husband, Henry VIII, was fighting in France. She famously led the English defense against the Scottish invasion, culminating in the decisive Battle of Flodden.
Jane Popincourt (c. 1484 - c. 1530 CE) , was a French noblewoman, tutor, and maid-of-honour. In 1514, there were rumors that Jane had become the King's mistress. Jane remained in England until 1516, when she returned to France.
Elizabeth Blount (c. 1498/c. 1500/c. 1502 – 1540), commonly known during her lifetime as Bessie Blount, was a mistress of Henry VIII of England. Blount's relationship with Henry VIII lasted for some time, compared to his other affairs, which were generally short-lived and unacknowledged. While Henry and his first wife were unsuccessful at producing a male heir to the throne, Henry had a healthy son by Blount, her first pregnancy and her only child by the king. On 15 June 1519, Blount bore the King an illegitimate son who was named Henry FitzRoy, later created Duke of Richmond and Somerset and Earl of Nottingham.
Catherine of Aragon gave birth to a daughter, Mary, her only surviving child. Mary was born on 18 February 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich.
Ferdinand of Aragon died earlier in the year. Ferdinand II died on 23 January 1516 in Madrigalejo, Extremadura, Kingdom of Castile and Leon. He is entombed at Capilla Real, Granada. His wife Isabella, daughter Joanna, and son-in-law Philip rest beside him there.
Margaret Pole was Mary's greatest influence during her life. Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury (14 August 1473 – 27 May 1541), was the only surviving daughter of George Plantagenet (a brother of Kings Edward IV and Richard III) and his wife Isabel Neville. Margaret was appointed as one of Catherine's ladies-in-waiting. She attended to the new Queen during the coronation. In 1516, Margaret became godmother of the King's and Queen's daughter Mary and stood sponsor for her confirmation. In 1520 she was also appointed as Lady governess to Mary, a position of great honour and prestige that solidified her as a powerful force for patronage.
Henry VIII had some palaces built or acquired:
Nonsuch Palace was a Tudor royal palace built by Henry VIII in Surrey, England, starting in 1538. It was intended to be his grandest palace, named "None Such" because it was meant to be without equal, inspired by the French Château de Chambord. The palace was designed to showcase the power and grandeur of the Tudor dynasty. Despite its intended magnificence, it was never fully completed and was eventually demolished in the late 17th century.
Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, 19 kilometres southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York, chief minister to and a favourite of Henry VIII, took over the site of Hampton Court Palace in 1514. In 1529, knowing that his enemies and the King were engineering his downfall, he passed the palace to the King as a gift.
The men who served Henry in his privy chambers were:
Sir Edward Neville (died 8 December 1538) was an English courtier. He was the brother of George Nevill, 5th Baron Bergavenny and the two of them became close to King Henry VIII (their distant cousin) and the Queen, Catherine of Aragon.
Thomas Boleyn (c. 1477 – 12 March 1539), of Hever Castle in Kent, was an English diplomat and politician.
Sir Henry Guildford (1489–1532) was an English courtier of the reign of King Henry VIII, master of the horse and comptroller of the royal household.
William FitzWilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton, (c. 1490 – 15 October 1542) was an English courtier and soldier. After King Henry's coronation in 1509, he was made a Gentleman Usher and King's Cupbearer, and gradually rose at Court.
King Henry took Mary Boleyn as mistress. Mary Boleyn (c. 1499– 19 or 30 July 1543) was one of the mistresses of Henry VIII for an unknown period. It has been rumoured that she bore two of the King's children, though Henry did not acknowledge either. Mary was also rumoured to have been a mistress of Henry VIII's rival, King Francis I of France, for some period between 1515 and 1519.
The book mentions Will Sommers, the king's fool. William Sommers (or Somers or Somer; died 15 June 1560) was the best-known court jester (believed to be a ‘natural fool’) of Henry VIII of England. Sommers remained in service to the King for the rest of Henry's life. In the King's later years, when he was troubled by a painful leg condition, it was said that only Sommers could lift his spirits.
In 1526 Wolsey drew up the Eltham Ordinances, a set of rules to stop the rising power of the Boleyns. These ordinances aimed to reform the court, improve efficiency, and reduce expenses by regulating various aspects of court life, including the daily routines of servants and courtiers.
By the time Henry was already in love with Anne Boleyn. In 1526, Henry VIII became enamoured of Anne and began his pursuit. Anne was a skilful player at the game of courtly love, which was often played in the antechambers. This may have been how she caught the eye of Henry, who was also an experienced player. Anne resisted Henry's attempts to seduce her, refusing to become his mistress, and often left the court for the seclusion of Hever Castle. But within a year, he proposed marriage to her, and she accepted.
Thomas Cromwell rose in favour instead. Thomas Cromwell (/ˈkrɒmwəl, -wɛl/;[1][a] c. 1485 – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540.
In 1531 CAtherine was banished from court. This separation from court marked the beginning of her isolation and exile from the royal sphere. Henry also forbade her from seeing their daughter, Mary.
Henry only trusted a few men around this time.
Sir Francis Weston (1511 – 17 May 1536) was a gentleman of the Privy Chamber at the court of King Henry VIII of England. He became a friend of the king.
William Brereton, c. 1487/1490 – 17 May 1536, was a member of a prominent Cheshire family who served as a courtier to Henry VIII.
Henry Norris (or Norreys) (c. 1482 – 17 May 1536) was an English courtier who was Groom of the Stool in the privy chamber of King Henry VIII.
Princess Elizabeth was sent to Hatfield House. Hatfield House is a country house set in a large park, the Great Park, on the eastern side of Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Henry VIII's children, King Edward VI and the future Queen Elizabeth I, spent their youth at Hatfield Palace. His eldest daughter, who later reigned as Queen Mary I, lived there between 1533 and 1536, when she was sent to wait on the then Princess Elizabeth as punishment for refusing to recognise Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn and his religious reforms.
Anne failed to give Henry another child, and the king took other mistresses. One of them was Mary Shelton. Mary Shelton (1510/15 – 1570/71)[1] was an English courtier. One of the Shelton sisters is believed to have been King Henry's mistress for a six-month period beginning in February 1535.
In 1536 Catherine of Aragon died at Kimbolton Castle. Catherine was buried in Peterborough Cathedral with the ceremony due to her position as a Dowager Princess of Wales, and not a queen. Henry did not attend the funeral and forbade Mary to attend.
Anne was arrested, taken to the tower and then executed. On the morning of Friday 19 May, Anne was taken to a scaffold erected on the north side of the White Tower. She wore a red petticoat under a loose, dark grey gown of damask trimmed in fur, and a mantle of ermine. Accompanied by two female attendants, Anne made her final walk from the Queen's House to the scaffold. She was buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London.
Henry then married Jane Seymour. Jane Seymour (/ˈsiːmɔːr/; c. 1508 – 24 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn.
Jane died after giving birth to Edward. Jane's labour had been difficult, lasting two days and three nights, probably because the baby was not well positioned. After the christening, it became clear that she was seriously ill. She died on 24 October 1537 at Hampton Court Palace.
Henry's next wife was Anne of Cleves, and the marriage did not last because Henry disliked his wife from the first moment. Anne of Cleves (28 June or 22 September 1515 – 16 July 1557) was Queen of England from 6 January to 12 July 1540 as the fourth wife of Henry VIII. Anne arrived in England in December 1539 and married Henry a week later, but the marriage was declared unconsummated after six months and Anne was not crowned queen consort. Following the annulment, Henry gave her a generous settlement and Anne was thereafter known as the King's Beloved Sister.
Henry's next wife was Katherine Howard, a very young courtier. Katherine was not innocent as she had relations with Francis Derehan when she was very young. Francis Dereham (c. 1506/09 – executed 10 December 1541) was a Tudor courtier whose involvement with Henry VIII's fifth Queen, Catherine Howard, in her youth, prior to engagement with the king, was eventually found out and led to his arrest.
Katherine started an affair with Thomas Culpepper. Thomas Culpeper (c. 1514 – 10 December 1541) was an English courtier and close friend of Henry VIII. In 1540, Culpeper caught the attention of Henry's young new bride, Catherine Howard, and by 1541 they were spending time together, often alone and late at night, aided and abetted by Catherine's lady-in-waiting, Lady Rochford, the widowed sister-in-law of Anne Boleyn. Culpeper had access to the Queen's apartments and often came into contact with the Queen and her attendants.
On All Saints' Day, 1 November 1541, the King arranged to be found praying in the Chapel Royal. There he received a letter describing the allegations against Catherine. On 7 November 1541, Archbishop Cranmer led a delegation of councillors to Winchester Palace in Southwark, to question her. Catherine was stripped of her title as queen on 23 November 1541 and imprisoned in the new Syon Abbey, Middlesex.
Katherine Howard,was executed by beheading on February 13, 1542, at the Tower of London. She was found guilty of treason for having premarital relationships and for committing adultery with her distant cousin, Thomas Culpeper. The execution took place after Parliament passed a bill of attainder declaring it treason for an unchaste woman to marry the king.
Henry's last wife was Catherine Parr. Catherine Parr (c. July or August 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until Henry's death on 28 January 1547.
She was widowed twice when she married Henry. In 1529, when she was seventeen, Catherine married Sir Edward Burgh. Following her first husband's death, in the summer of 1534, Catherine married, secondly, John Neville.
Catherine was in love with Thomas Seymour, but she could not refuse to marry the King. Thomas Seymour (c. 1508 – 20 March 1549) was a brother of Jane Seymour.
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