The Queen is Dead!: Katherine of Aragon dies in 1518

Rephrase that: I'm not getting involved with wives for Henry AT ALL...

Sleeping with Henry's wives is bad for your health.

I think that the key word is wives rather than wife, which means Henry will be relatively content

I think the Queen of England and the next Queen of France will have the surname Boylen.
 
Sleeping with Henry's wives is bad for your health.

I think that the key word is wives rather than wife, which means Henry will be relatively content

I think the Queen of England and the next Queen of France will have the surname Boylen.

Sleeping with anyone's wife other than your own isn't ideal...

Francis I is still married as in history, you know, even if his sister is not...
 
Sleeping with Henry's wives is bad for your health.

I think that the key word is wives rather than wife, which means Henry will be relatively content

I think the Queen of England and the next Queen of France will have the surname Boylen.
Queen of England likely, for the other well in OTL she has interest elsewhere and here the situation would be favorable for that other match
 
XXVII - March 1520
“Where is he? Where is my son?” Henry burst into Bessie’s apartments, catching her midwives and maids unawares. There was a flurry of shocked curtsies and respectful murmurs, “Your Majesty.”

“The Lady Blount is resting,” one of the girls ventured, but even as she spoke, Bessie’s voice came from the next room, “Oh nonsense, Jane. Let His Majesty come in. Let him see his son.”

The bevy parted like the Red Sea at Moses’s command. Henry rushed across the room and into Bessie’s bedchamber.

She sat up as he came in, sat up and took the child from the cradle next to her bed, holding him out for the King to hold, “Come and meet your son, Henry,” she invited.

Faint warning bells rang in Henry’s head as Bessie took the liberty of calling him by his Christian name without his permission, but he ignored them, choosing instead to focus on his boy. His boy!

He was perfect. Kicking energetically against his swaddling, he showed Henry a strength that not even little Mary, his sole living child to date, had shown him., His eyes were a vivid blue –as vivid as Bessie’s – and his soft downy hair already had the unmistakable tinge of Tudor copper about it. Henry couldn’t take his eyes off him.

“He’s wonderful, Bessie, wonderful!” he murmured, awestruck, “What shall we call him?”

“Henry,” Bessie’s voice came back from the bed so fast that Henry knew she’d been expecting the question, “How could he have any name but his father’s?”

“Henry. Henry Fitzroy,” Henry murmured, trying it on to the little boy for size, “Yes, I like it. We’ll call him Hal for short, like they used to call me Harry.”

“He’ll be another Bluff King Hal,” Bessie breathed, scarcely aware of what she was saying. It took a moment, but when her words pierced the fog of elation that clouded Henry's’ brain, he looked sharply at her, “He can’t be my heir, Bessie. He’ll be brought up with all the honour that befits a King’s son, but he can’t be my heir. You know that.”

“And why not? You’re the King! Surely you can designate anyone you wish to be your heir!”

Bessie knew she was pushing her luck, but she couldn’t help it. She had Hal to fight for now. Thrusting herself back up on her pillows, she glared at the King. “I gave you a boy, Henry! A beautiful healthy boy! What more can you want of me?! Hal’s your eldest son; of course he can be your heir!”

“Not in the eyes of the law!”

“Then marry me! Marry me and gain your heir in the same ceremony! God knows John of Gaunt did it with Katherine Swynford, why can’t you do the same with me?!”

“Enough!” Henry roared, startling his son as anger coursed through him. How dare Bessie presume to tell him what to do? He was the King of England! “Enough!”

Suddenly, fear sparked in Bessie’s heart. Had she pushed him too far, too fast? She bowed her head silently.

Henry saw her do it and made a colossal effort to pull himself together. She was young. And she’d been through a lot. Of course he’d have to make allowances for her, especially just now. If she was anything like Cata, her emotions would be all over the place after giving birth.

Placing his now crying son back in the bassinet, he offered her a smile, “You’ve done well, Elizabeth. I’ll visit you again later, when you’re not so tired. When you’re a little more yourself.”

“Give me Hal,” she begged, holding out her arms for the child, “He’s probably hungry.”

“Then give him to his wet nurse. It’s beneath a King’s sweetheart to feed her own child.”

He kept his voice steady so as not to upset her and even stroked her hair briefly, “I’ll come back later,” he promised, before striding from the room.
 
John of Gaunt? Now someone knows her history!

Methinks Henry will find somewhere remote for Bessie, and give Hal to someone else to raise...
 
John of Gaunt? Now someone knows her history!

Methinks Henry will find somewhere remote for Bessie, and give Hal to someone else to raise...

That would be the sensible option...

It's not her history Bessie knows so much as the romance of a mistress being raised to a Duchess and having her children declared trueborn...
 
His eyes were a vivid blue –as vivid as Bessie’s

Does Henry know all babies are born with blue eyes?

I sense Bessie's moment is the sun is nearing it's close? And would she know about John of Gaunt and Kathryn Swynford? I mean, half a century later, some noblewoman (ICR who) thought that Edward IV was Henry VI's son. I'm not sure if the woman was really just dim or what, but I suspect that her education was more about netting purses and embroidering altarcloths.

Even Henry was actually not in favour of giving a girl a type of education that differed from the norm - Mary ended up with her education in no small part thanks to Katherine of Aragon; and Elizabeth in no small part thanks to Anne of Cleves and Kathryn Parr IIRC. The contemporary view (IIRC) was that educating a girl was like "putting an axe in the hands of a madman".
 
And would she know about John of Gaunt and Kathryn Swynford?

I don't see why the story of the Duke of Lancaster and the mistress he raised to be a wife wouldn't be common knowledge. It's either as good as a song, or an absolute scandal. Both of which people love. This Bessie just sees the romance in it, not the political complexities...
 
She has over-reached, really over-reached.

Henry, will be a lot more cautious around till she's packed off. Whereas if she'd played her cards right she could of gained so much more.

However, she has just given birth so everything will be swirling around in her head.

I'm willing to bet that she said that will be be leaked to someone else and before long everybody will know and those that are in opposing camps to the Blouts will be reminding Henry that have a bastard son but no true heir, is not a good precedent or legacy to leave.
 
She has over-reached, really over-reached.

Henry, will be a lot more cautious around till she's packed off. Whereas if she'd played her cards right she could of gained so much more.

However, she has just given birth so everything will be swirling around in her head.

I'm willing to bet that she said that will be be leaked to someone else and before long everybody will know and those that are in opposing camps to the Blouts will be reminding Henry that have a bastard son but no true heir, is not a good precedent or legacy to leave.

Oh, Henry has figured that one out for himself, thanks...
 
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