The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970)

(To avoid to be on your Black list, I marked this message, with a warning "Contains spoiler" but please decide yourselves! Thank you very much!) Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to, kindly, advise you, that my Dear Ancestry Grandmother the German Princess and English Queen Anne of Cleves, with my Ancestry Grandfather the English Monarch King Henry VIII have had together two Royal Children. Their first-born Royal Child was their little Princess, born, in Sept/October 1540, which, then, became, my next Ancestry Grandmother, and their second Royal Child was the "Faire Boye", born, in January 1542, when this Truth, about these their concealed Royal Children, have been exposed, by the servants, which loved their English Queen Anne of Cleves, very much, and wanted her, to live, also, officially, with her Royal Husband, and not just secretly. But however, in this moment, when this have been revealed, our Dear Ancestry Grandmother the English Queen Ann of Cleves, according which, all things and all beings, in this world, which were and which are CLEVER, have been named, have immediately lost both of her Royal Children, at ones, as they had to be, immediately, sent, secretly, to exile, on to the Slovak Territory, of the Holly Roman Empire, where they, then had to live, without Mother and Father, in poverty and need and discriminations, and where all their Royal Descendants lives, this way, even, until today! Dear Friends, I would like to ask you, very much, please, be so kind, and do not talk, anymore, about our Dear Ancestry Grandmother the German Princess and English Queen Anne of Cleves, such disgracing her, and also us, all her English Royal Descendants, totally untrue things. She is my maternal strait line Ancestry Grandmother, through her first-born Royal Daughter, fathered by my Ancestry Grandfather the English Monarch King Henry VIII, and born in Sept/Oct 1542, and she was the most beautiful and the most decent, merciful, kind, and the most humble Queen, this entire World ever had! And this, I know absolutely exactly! Because exactly the same human character and beautiful look, have and had, also, all her Royal Descendants, - also my dear Mom, my dear Grandmother, and all the Ladies and Girls, in our Family, which are the Royal Descendants from this English Royal Family Tudor-Cleves. Please, be so kind, and just, read very carefully, and cautiously, everything about her, and do not believe any illogical statements, about her. Please, just, Open your Eyes and see, that she was a very beautiful Lady. Holbein did not lie, he was a GENUINE ARTIST! And nothing was "flattered", nothing was "old fashion", she just did something, what no one, in this world, ever, did, and this has caused, then, just, quite logically, this "strange/loving" behavior of my Ancestry Grandfather the King Henry VIII, towards her. But all this illogical, disgracing her, slanderous words, against her, dishonoring her and putting her down, were just made up, by her enemies, wanting to get, instead of her, and instead of her Royal Children, fathered by my Ancestry Grandfather the English Monarch King Henry VIII, and instead of their Royal Descendants, on to the English Throne! But our Grandfather the King Henry VIII loved her very, very much!!! Just look, what he gave her, and how he treated her! Always the best, as he could! He made her the most richest Lady, in England! But on the other hand, also, he wanted to protecting, her, and also his Dearest and most Precious Beautiful Royal Children, with her, so he did, what he did, as otherwise, no one from us, would be here, today! His first three Children, living in gold and silver, died, without even, being able, having their own children! Is this not strange, enough? And the Royal Descendants, from his both Royal Children, with his Royal Wife and our Ancestry Grandmother the German Princess and English Queen Anne of Cleves, even, despite of the poverty, need, discriminations and terribly hard life, in Exile, they, still, live in Slovakia, even, until today! And what their enemies did to me, personally, also, and this, absolutely innocently, you can read on: www.ludovitbialon.com". Thank you very much and Best Regards to all! Prince of England and Ireland from Tudor-Cleves Ludovit Bialon.

This series - and can you imagine the BBC financing and supporting a nine-hour historical drama series these days? - focuses on one of the six wives each episode, an interesting approach which comes off better in some instalments than others. Still, what is here is excellent - and far better than the ridiculously truncated film which followed a few years later.Keith Michell as Henry. What more can I add to the praise which has already been put forward? He is excellent in every episode; we see Henry as a complex character who at times can cause us to sympathise with his predicament. The writing of this series is tight and believable, and the supporting characters are solid. This always helps move a series along when many supporting players are there throughout. Of particular note are Patrick Troughton as Norfolk, Bernard Hepton as Cranmer, and Sheila Burrell as Lady Rochford.Of the six wives, all are excellent in their own ways. Katherine of Aragon's story is rushed, but Annette Crosbie does her best and is both memorable and pathetic ... Dorothy Tutin as Anne Boleyn is more fiery but the trial scene is truly regal and gives a different perspective ... Anne Stallybrass as Jane Seymour is sweet, pious, and just a little bit cunning (and that episode, largely in flashback as Jane lies sick to death at her son's christening, is well done) ... Elvi Hale as Anne of Cleves is extremely convincing, and her episode is full of intrigue ... Catherine Howard, as played by Angela Pleasance, is all gloss and no substance, but you still feel for her as she goes headlong to her fate without recognition ... and Rosalie Crutchley as Katharine Parr is a dull old crow in black, widow of old men, who at first resents her lot and then comes to respect and love the sick king.This series really is remarkable. I would never get bored watching it - and eventually, it led to another top-class BBC drama, Elizabeth R, using some of the same cast and moving the story through the reigns of Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I herself.

I have the DVD version of "Six Wives of Henry 8th" and I love it each time I watch it. Keith Mitchell is Henry 8th. Nuff said. The costumes were beautiful. I fancy myself as a royal expert (at least my family says so). I watch it at least once every two weeks. The women chosen to play Henry's six wives were well played. I noticed two people in the series. The man that played "Thomas Seymour" and the man that played "Steven Gardiner Bishop of Winchester" were played by the same men in "Elizabeth R" (Henry's daughter by Anne Boylen). The Duke of Richmond is only mentioned once in "Catherine of Aragon". In the history books he lived to see Anne Boylen executed. Why was he not mentioned in "Jane Seymour" when he died? My next question is the man that played "Cardinal Wosley" in "Anne of Thousand Days" was credited in "Six Wives of Henry 8th" as the Narrator/Voice. As many times as I've seen the series I can not recall him. Any one know where he is so for future reference I will hear or see him?

I first saw this BBC production at 13 in 1971, and was simply fascinated. I have seen it several times since, and it's always fresh and interesting to watch. Keith Mitchell is excellent as Henry VIII, and I found no fault with the acting or history of the series. Well-cast, well-acted. I must say that my favorite episodes were Dorothy Tutin as Anne Boleyn and the very unfortunate young Katherine Howard, played by Angela Pleasence. I was surprised that she is the daughter of of Donald Pleasance. All of the episodes are outstanding, and are educational as well. Keith Mitchell plays Henry the VIII with all the conceited, bombastic, loving, hating and self-indulging qualities that history describes him as having. A must-see for lovers of drama, romance, and English History. 10 out of 10 stars easily.