What happened to Anne of Cleves?

Question

After her divorce from Henry the 8th? I know she stayed in England until she died. But I cant find any information about wether she ever got married again, had children or how she even died?

Answer 1

Anne after her divorce lived the high-society life in England. There is a story that she became very friendly with the Flemish painter Hans Holbein - who produced all those familiar Tudor portraits - and that there may have been a child of this friendship. She was certainly very matey with the princess Elizabeth who became Queen.

Answer 2

You're right-there isn't a a lot of online info about Anne of Cleves after her divorce.The Wives of Henry VIII, a book by Antonia Fraser gives some researched info. She lived in England after the divorce as Henry's "good sister". Henry gave her a fantastic divorce settlement of estates, income and social standing as long as she stayed in England. She lived a privileged and weird life by Tudor standards, as she was not controlled by any male or family members other than the king. It's been documented that she loved her wine (probably too much). She never remarried or had children, but was on good terms  with Henry's children and last two wives. She did attend court on occasion, but mainly lived a solitary life(another weird concept for Tudor times) which explains the rumors that cropped up about her. She outlived Henry and all his wives. She died in 1557 at the age of 41 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. There's not much known about her death, but some think it must have been some kind of cancer.

Answer 3

She never remarried, but she lived in England, converted to Catholicism, and outlived Henry.  She is said to have commented when he married his sixth wife, Catherine Parr, "Well, I'm better looking than she is!"

As the one wife who came out of her marriage to Henry pretty well, she has caught the imagination of quite a few writers, among them Margaret Campbell Barnes, whose novel My Lady of Cleves depicts her as scoring off Henry in a particularly appropriate way.  The screenplay writers of The Private Life of Henry VIII and the TV series the Six Wives of Henry VIII (the one in which Dorothy Tutin plays Anne Boleyn) both depict her, rather than Henry, as the one who had second thoughts about the marriage when they met.

Answer 4

Anne of Cleves's marriage was annulled on July 9, 1540, on the grounds both of non-consummation and of her pre-contract to Francis of Lorraine. Anne, fully aware of Henry's marital history, cooperated in an annulment, and retired from court with the title "King's Sister." and often invited her to court. Anne was given an allowance of £4 000 per year which included two houses and a household staff. This settlement satisfied and relieved her, as once she realized that Henry was out to end their marriage she was sure that she would follow in the steps of the ill-fated Anne Boleyn. She could have returned home, but she chose to remain in England rather than return to live under the control of her brother. She had more freedom in England than she would have had in Cleves, and if she had returned home she would have forfeited her settlement. She received a generous settlement, including Hever Castle, home of Henry's former in-laws, the Boleyns. Anne of Cleves House, in Lewes, Sussex, is just one of many properties she owned. She never lived there. Her position and fortune made her a powerful independent woman, though there was little opportunity to exercise such power in any public sphere.

She and the King remained friends, and were made a Princess of England and called "the King's Beloved Sister" by her former husband, Anne remained in England for the rest of her life and never remarried. She was close to his children. She continued her friendship with Henrys daughter Mary, who was her own age, and also took his younger daughter Elizabeth under her wing. Even after the annulment, the Lady Elizabeth would continue to visit her former stepmother at Richmond. She was later to ride with Elizabeth at Mary's coronation. As a woman of means, she had the freedom to do as she pleased, and because she never remarried, she never again had a manfather, brother, or husband whose orders she had to obey. Anne lived away from court quietly in the countryside until 1557 and attended the coronation of her former stepdaughter, Mary I. Anne of Cleves died seventeen years after she and Henry divorced, the last of his wives to die.

Answer 5

Anne of Cleves never remarried, had no children and lived in relative obscurity until her death of natural causes in1557. She was at the time of her death one of the wealthiest women in England.