Anne Boleyn conspiracy theory discussed by expert

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King Henry VIII famously married Anne Boleyn after parting ways with his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Anne, one of Henry’s six wives, met the larger-than-life Tudor monarch at his court while serving as Catherine’s lady in waiting. But despite Anne and Henry’s whirlwind romance, their relationship soured, and the King had his Queen executed at the Tower of London in 1536. Anne fell out of favour as she was unable to give birth to the male heir to the throne that he desired.

She was also found guilty of treason after being accused of having sexual relationships with Henry’s courtiers, with whom she allegedly also plotted against the King.

But despite Henry’s brutal treatment of Anne, she still held a special place in his heart in the hours and days leading up to his death in 1547.

The King harboured regrets over how he treated Anne and their daughter Elizabeth I – the future Queen – and expressed his “grief” about them on his deathbed, Tudor expert Sandra Vasoli told Express.co.uk.

The US-based historian, who wrote the 2015 book ‘Anne Boleyn’s Letter from the Tower: A New Assessment’, has unearthed key evidence about how Henry felt about Anne more than a decade after he had her killed.

Through hundreds of hours of gruelling research, Ms Vasoli discovered a key inscription that provides a unique insight into the King’s mind just before he died.

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It reads: “The king acknowledges with great grief at his death the injuries he had done to the lady Anne Boleyn and her daughter.

“As André Thevet in his cosmography, a writer, in no way partial, has testified.”

The passage about Henry’s thoughts was published in the book ‘Cosmographie Universalle’ by André Thevet.

The Sixteenth Century explorer from France was known to have had contact with some of Henry’s inner circle leading up to his death.

His account is referenced in a volume of writing known as ‘biographical memorials’, which Ms Vasoli discovered in the British Library.

She translated the text, which was written in old French and assembled by an antiquarian known as Bishop White.

Ms Vasoli told Express.co.uk: “The story is that there was a Franciscan friar, who lived at the same time as Henry.

“He was 32 when Henry died, and it’s probable that he lived at the Franciscan friary that was attached to Greenwich Palace, because there was one there.

“He was this André Thevet. He was the Franciscan friar, and he wrote a lot. He travelled a lot.

“He was a very unusual person. He travelled literally all over the world, which at that time was really remarkable.

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“And he did a lot of writings in various subjects. But in one of his books, he wrote this.

“The King acknowledges with great grief at his death the injuries he had done to the lady Anne Boleyn and her daughter.”

For Ms Vasoli, the discovery marked a key step in understanding how Henry felt about Anne during his final moments.

She said: “There were a few people who were there with him at his time of death.

“And so, you have to wonder to whom Henry confessed this grief. Henry confessed it or told it to this Franciscan friar.

“It says that he regularly heard the confessions of the top English courtiers.

“So, it’s very probable. In my mind, it makes all the sense in the world actually. So, I do think he regretted it.”

‘Anne Boleyn’s Letter from the Tower: A New Assessment’ was written by Sandra Vasoli and published by MadeGlobal Publishing in 2015. It is available here.

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