Anne Collins Diets

Anne Collins Diets

Anne Collins Diets

How does one go from being the Queen of England to the king’s sister? Anne of Cleves could well answer this question for she lived it herself. Married after viewing a portrait and a brief introduction, the marriage between Anne and King Henry VIII was disastrous from the start.

Anne, born in 1515, was the sister to the Duke of Cleves, who owned territories in north Germany. She was one of his two sisters who were eligible for marriage. The appeal of such a union laid in the close marital connection of the Duke of Cleves to Duke John Frederick of Saxony, a great Lutheran leader. Such an alliance would offer strength to the newly Protestant kingdom.

Marriage Negotiations between Henry VIII and the Cleves Court

When marriage negotiations between Henry and the Cleves court began in March 1539, the Cleves girls, Anne and Amelia, were kept from the sight of the English envoys, except for one portrait. The English ambassadors, however, would not continue with negotiations until they had seen Anne for themselves.