Anne Boleyn

"Anne Boleyn as a Witch," by Brian A. Pavlac.

Anne Boleyn's reputation for being a witch has been unfairly held against her.  In trying to find grounds to incriminate her, King Henry claimed that she had used witchcraft to make him fall in love with her.  He also said he feared that she would harm him with poison -- a common accusation against witches.  Her enemies also repeated charges of physical deformity, such as that she was too tall, had a sixth finger (which was probably just an extra fingernail), and had strange warts and growths on her body that could have been witch's teats.  The allegedly deformed male fetus of her last birth in 1536 was also used against her.  While raised as an issue at first, witchcraft did not end up among the charges used by the court which found her guilty of treason in conspiracy with her alleged lovers (including her brother).  That the first English law against witchcraft was passed just a few years after her trial, in 1542, reflects the growing fears about witches in England, in which Anne was also ensnared.  For more on witches see The Witch Hunts (1400-1800).

"Parallels of Anne Boleyn and Princess Di:  Disposable Royal Wives" by Brian A. Pavlac.

The most obvious parallel between Queen Anne (b.1507?-d.1536) and Princess Diana (b. 1961-d.1997) is that both were cast aside, when the monarchy no longer needed them.  But how these women of minor nobility became and lived as royal wives was very different.  

King Henry VIII at first had a true passion for Anne, who, surprisingly, was not eager to fall into the king's bed.  Her reputation for virginity, unlike her older sister whose sexual activity was less pure, made her a suitable breeding candidate for royal offspring.  Henry Tudor's tempting her with marriage eventually overcame her resistance.  Unfortunately, the scandal created by his marrying her and annulling his first marriage with Catherine of Aragon did not help Anne's popularity.  Many with Roman Catholic sympathies blamed her for the break with the papacy. And Anne had no real public role, being only perceived as a sexual partner and a breeder--as was typical of the 16th Century.  The English people had little contact with or love for her (except for a few Protestant reformers).  

Anne's failure to bear an heir doomed her.  When Henry turned to another (Jane Seymour) for sex and breeding, he needed to get rid of Anne as quickly and conveniently as possible.  Tortured conspirators and bribed or intimidated witnesses before a kangaroo court expedited her execution.  

Although the media manufactured a romance, Charles and Di never shared much passion.  Prince Charles Windsor seems to have used Lady Diana Spencer's virtue of virginity as the main criteria for choosing her as a spouse (and like Anne, Di had an older sister, Sarah, who had been involved with the prince, but lacked the virtuous reputation).  Charles, for his own reasons, clearly never desired her as a sexual partner, turning to his old flame, Camilla.  Charles would hardly have been able to end the marriage, though, since Diana was protected in her position by tradition, church law, and the Queen's conservative attitudes on family.  Most important, modern media had granted her a unique public status as a popular royal figure comparable to, if not surpassing, Charles and even Queen Elizabeth II.  

And Princess Di did fulfill her role as a breeder, begetting the "heir and the spare."  But she refused to put up with a sham marriage, and revealed her unhappiness to the sympathetic media, leading to a formal marital separation.  Because of the exposure of Di's own marital infidelity, however, she embarrassed the monarchy.  Although she lost some public sympathy, her charm and popularity still  protected her.  And, fortunately, by the late 20th Century divorce was a more acceptable means of dumping adulterous royal wives than execution.  The monarchy eventually agreed to the end of the marriage in 1996.  Her sudden and surprising death in 1997 preserved her in public memory as a life cut short.  

Strangely enough, the idea of the execution method has been resurrected with posthumous publications (by her butler among others) of Diana's alleged fear that she would be murdered to make way for Charles to legitimately remarry.  Thus the historical connection between Princess Di and Queen Anne Boleyn had become more noticeable.