The roots of dislike: Anne Boleyn, Duke of Suffolk and Mary Tudor Brandon

Henry VIII’s sister, Mary Tudor Brandon known at the Tudor court as the French Queen, never accepted Anne Boleyn as Henry’s wife and queen. In April 1532 Mary publicly referred to Anne Boleyn using “opprobrious language … against Madame Anne”[1] and the Venetian ambassador speculated that this incident sparked a fight between the servants of Dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk.

Joanna Denny stated in her book, that Mary Tudor Brandon was jealous because Henry VIII gave Anne Boleyn the precedence over his own sister. Denny wrote:

“Her vanity, and the remembered disapproval shown by Anne when she had scandalously married Brandon, turned Mary into Anne’s enemy.”[2]

Historian Eric Ives looked for the cause of enmity between Anne Boleyn and Mary Tudor Brandon in Anne’s disapproval of Mary’s marriage to Charles Brandon in 1515:

“Although we have no details, there was certainly talk among Mary’s attendants at Brandon’s undue familiarity, and one might guess that somewhere here is the root of the dislike Mary Tudor had in later life for Anne Boleyn; the pert contempt of a 14-year-old product of the Habsburg nursery, well aware of Brandon’s earlier and foolish behaviour with Margaret of Austria, might be hard to forgive and forget.” [3]

Is it possible that Anne Boleyn disapproved Mary Tudor Brandon’s scandalous behavior in France, and Mary disliked Anne on that account?

If Anne Boleyn indeed was a part of Mary Tudor’s royal entourage in France, then she certainly witnessed what happened after Mary’s husband, King Louis XII’s death. When the ageing king died, Mary Tudor became ‘la reine blanche’, as it was customary to call royal widows. The custom dictated that a royal widow, ‘the white queen’, resided in seclusion for 40 days to make sure if she was pregnant with the heir to the throne.

Fortunately for Mary, she was not pregnant with the late king’s child. When Charles Brandon, Henry VIII’s trusted friend and servant came to France to take Mary back to England, they secretly married, causing a scandal at the French court. The controversy was caused by the speed of events – Mary was still in mourning and the custom dictated that a royal widow should wait at least one year before the remarriage. Additionally, Mary married beneath her station. She could have married whomever she chose, but Charles Brandon, as the English subject, should have obtained Henry VIII’s permission. However, that is not all – Charles Brandon was not free to remarry. According to Joanna Denny:

“Given the scandals attached to his name, not to mention at least two wives at home, this was tantamount to a great insult. Margaret Mortimer was still fighting the annulment of their marriage in a ten-year battle at the Vatican and meanwhile Brandon’s betrothal to his child ward, Elizabeth Grey, was another impediment. It could be said he already had two wives, without adding the third.” [4]

If Anne Boleyn was Mary Tudor’s servant, she witnessed all this, but sadly, we do not know what she felt about her royal mistress’ remarriage. I assume, however, that the roots of Mary Tudor Brandon’s dislike of Anne Boleyn laid elsewhere. Back in 1531, the Imperial ambassador reported, that Anne Boleyn:

“because she wants to revenge herself on the duke of Suffolk, for having once brought a charge against her honour, accused, him of criminal intercourse with his own daughter. No one knows yet what will come out of all this.” [5]

Anne’s relationship with the Duke of Suffolk was not an easy one and apparently, the Duke brought some information about Anne Boleyn’s romantic link with the unnamed gentleman of the court to the King’s attention back in 1530. Eustace Chapuys reported in May 1530, that

“It is now a long time since the duke of Suffolk has been at Court. Some say that he has been exiled for some time owing to his having denounced to the King a criminal connection of the Lady with a gentleman of the Court who had already once been dismissed from Court on such suspicion.” [6]

Anne Boleyn had every reason to be angry at the Duke of Suffolk, but accusing him of having an incestuous relationship with his own daughter was one step too far. Eric Ives wrote:

“It is small wonder that Anne exploited Suffolk’s colourful private life to hit back with the allegation that he had an incestuous relationship with his son’s fiance´e, and the accusation was the sweeter since the girl was the daughter of one of Katherine of Aragon’s  Spanish attendants.” (p. 141)

According to Ives, Anne accused Suffolk of having an incestuous relationship with his son’s fiancée, but that is not correct. Both Spanish Calendar of State Papers and Letters and Papers cited by Ives are clear that Anne accused Suffolk of an incestuous relationship with his own daughter – there is even a report in original French language:

“La dite dame aussi pour le mesme respect, et pour se venger de ce que le due de sufforcq lauoit autres fois voulu charger de son honneur, luy a fait mectre sus quil se mesloit et copuloit avec sa propre fille” (Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 4 Part 1, note 302.)

I assume that Anne’s accusation triggered Mary Tudor Brandon’s dislike towards her and this is the reason why she never accepted Anne as Henry VIII’s wife and queen.

Mary Tudor Brandon and her daughter Frances did not appear at Anne Boleyn’s coronation on June 1 1533. Historian Eric Ives wrote that “Henry’s sister was near to death and her daughter hardly out of childhood” [7] and that was the reason behind their notable absence at Anne’s coronation. Frances Brandon, however, was 16 years old in 1533, so she was not “hardly out of childhood” according to the standards of the times she lived in – she married Henry Grey, Marquis of Dorset that same year.

Given that Mary Tudor Brandon died in the end of June 1533, merely a month after Anne’s coronation, we might assume that she was unwell and she simply could not attend the coronation. It is, however, reasonable to assume, that Mary Tudor Brandon did not want to attend the coronation of a woman who accused her husband of having an incestuous relationship with his daughter!

In 1536 Anne Boleyn herself was accused of having an incestuous relationship with her brother, George Boleyn. Given that Charles Brandon was Henry VIII’s close friend, and Anne accused him of having an incestuous relationship with his daughter, I dare say that Anne’s reckless accusation led Henry VIII to accuse her of incest with her brother.