Mary Boleyn: The King's Concubine

Mary Boleyn:  Was she the "Great Prostitute", the French king's "English Mare"?  Her affair with King Henry lasted longer than his subsequent marriages--just who was she? Or was she Henry VIII's favorite mistress whose time with him lasted longer than his marriage to her sister Anne.

Mary Boleyn was the older of the two Boleyn girls, daughters of the up-and-coming Thomas Boleyn. He was able to obtain a position for her in the court of Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII, when she was to be sent to France to be married to the ill and elderly Louis XII of France.

Mary Boleyn found herself caught up in the glitter and glamour of the court in France. Alone and unprotected, she fell prey to the charms of the handsome Francis. She became his mistress, unaware of what the consequences might be.

Francis broke her heart and in the meantime, gossip made its way across the channel and word of his daughter's conduct reached the ears of Sir Thomas. He hurried back to France to fetch his errant daughter and wondered how to deal with her disgrace.

He arranged a marriage for her with William Carey, a second son but a favorite of the king. His good looks appealed to Mary and she decided to make the best of it. She and Carey were married in the King's Chapel and Henry himself made an appearance at their wedding.

The lovely Mary drew the attention of the king. For herself, she would just as soon as ignore him, but her family sees her as a way to advance themselves and pushed her into becoming Henry's mistress.

Mary grew to love him, bearing him two children, but she is left unprotected when her husband dies of the sweating sickness for Henry has now tired of her.

Mary is not pleased to be replaced, especially when she is replaced by her younger sister Anne, but she has learned to rely on herself and is determined that she will make her own way, in spite of the king and her family.