Katherine Parr's Katherine The Queen
Historian Linda Porter in Katherine the Queen: The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr, the Last Wife of Henry VIII describes Parr as “so naturally gracious and intelligent that it was not a difficult transition from being a minor noble woman to queen.” She is right; it was not hard for Parr to assume the role of queen. On top of the irreproachable reputation of her virtue and maidenhood given to her by her widowhood, Parr was also educated to the standards befitting an early modern woman; Parr was exposed to the same standard of education that renowned humanist, Thomas More, prescribed to his children, which afforded the same kind of education to both boys and girls, according to Parr’s sister, Anne. She fit the mold that King Henry VIII
wanted to so badly fill after his disastrous previous marriages, because according to author and professor Karen Lindsey, Parr has all of the attractive qualities of King Henry's ex-wives: the intelligence of Katherine of Aragon, the piousness of Anne Boleyn, the quiet properness of Jane Seymour, the domestic attributes of Anne of Cleves, and even, some say, the sexuality of Katherine Howard; but, without all the negative parts that each previous wife brought to the marriage. Parr intended to use this to her advantage; she wanted the world (and Henry) to know that she was the Queen. She commissioned her own portraits and became the first English queen to have a full-length portrait. Adorning herself in all crimson and gold, and covered in jewels, she was the very image of a Tudor queen. She commissioned a second portrait in 1545, covered in more jewels and flashy fabrics, reestablishing and reaffirming her role as queen. According to Porter, there are more portraits of Katherine Parr than any of Henry’s other queens. These portraits are how Parr built her image. An outbreak of the plague in 1543 caused the couple to be almost continuously together for the first six months of their marriage, which is the big break that Parr needed to gain more of Henry’s affections and more importantly, his trust. When war broke out with France in 1544, Henry decided that Parr “shall be Regent in his grace’s (King Henry's) absence, and that his highness’s process shall bear teste in his name,” a role not given to a queen since Henry’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon.
wanted to so badly fill after his disastrous previous marriages, because according to author and professor Karen Lindsey, Parr has all of the attractive qualities of King Henry's ex-wives: the intelligence of Katherine of Aragon, the piousness of Anne Boleyn, the quiet properness of Jane Seymour, the domestic attributes of Anne of Cleves, and even, some say, the sexuality of Katherine Howard; but, without all the negative parts that each previous wife brought to the marriage. Parr intended to use this to her advantage; she wanted the world (and Henry) to know that she was the Queen. She commissioned her own portraits and became the first English queen to have a full-length portrait. Adorning herself in all crimson and gold, and covered in jewels, she was the very image of a Tudor queen. She commissioned a second portrait in 1545, covered in more jewels and flashy fabrics, reestablishing and reaffirming her role as queen. According to Porter, there are more portraits of Katherine Parr than any of Henry’s other queens. These portraits are how Parr built her image. An outbreak of the plague in 1543 caused the couple to be almost continuously together for the first six months of their marriage, which is the big break that Parr needed to gain more of Henry’s affections and more importantly, his trust. When war broke out with France in 1544, Henry decided that Parr “shall be Regent in his grace’s (King Henry's) absence, and that his highness’s process shall bear teste in his name,” a role not given to a queen since Henry’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon.