Anne of Cleves by Hans Holbein
After the death of his third wife in childbirth, Jane Seymour, King Henry VIII of England went looking for a No. four to replace her. At that time he had three living children from his previous marriages: His and Jane Seymour's son, Edward, and two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, by two former wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. However, he wanted more male heirs that would keep his Tudor-dynasty thriving by, in their turn, having male heirs who were able to procreate - and so on and so on. Girls were not wanted the same way as boys, because even though they were Tudors, they didn't keep the family name alive when marrying as did their brothers.
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Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536)
Just like the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon, who became Henry's first wife, his fourth, Anne of Cleves (1515-1557), was out of a royal house. I think, that had that not been the case, Anne's fate might have been much different from what it was, because he really, really wanted to get rid of her "because she was so very ugly". His second wife, Anne Boleyn (c. 1501-1536), whom he had beheaded when he wanted to get rid of her, was out of a noble family, but she wasn't born a royal princess, like Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves. He may have felt tempted to behead these royal wives too, but how could he? Both of them had strong political allies through their family ties to foreign royal houses, which none of his other four wives had, so they didn't have any protection that was as strong as the ones of the royal born queens.
Anne Boleyn
Both his royally born wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves, ended up with annulments of their marriage to the king. In both cases, he used the fact that there had been some kind of previous engagements to other men before they were married to him. Catherine had been engaged to his late brother, Arthur, and Anne of Cleves was originally contracted to Francis I, Duke of
Lorraine. The annulment meant that these two queens were stripped of their royal titles, but at least they weren't beheaded.
Anne, being a clever woman, feigned sorrow at losing the "love" of Henry, but I suspect that she must have laughed at him and all his machinations to get rid of her. The annulment brought her several advantages at the court of her former husband. After the annulment, she became "The Lady Anne of Cleves", and she would later on be elevated to a new stage above all other women in England, except the current queen and Henry's daughters, as "The King's Beloved Sister". That should do it, but she also was granted an annuity, some generous settlements, a pension, as well as some rich properties: Hatfield, Richmond Palace, Blethingley Estate and Hever Castle, which was the ancestral home of the king’s second wife, Queen Anne Boleyn.
Francis I, Duke of
Lorraine (1517-1545)
Of course, Anne of Cleves missed a properly very good, and peaceful marriage to the Duke of Lorraine, Francis I, as well as having children by him, but she sure gained a lot by marrying Henry VIII: Well, sometimes it kind of pays off to be considered "ugly" - which she wasn't by far! - as the annulment also gave her a personal freedom she might not have had otherwise. She even maintained a close relationship with Henry and his children,
particularly Elizabeth.
A "twist of fate" is that Francis I married the Danish princess, Christina, whom Henry VIII had wanted either for one of his illegitimate sons or for himself as his fourth wife. However, she reclined the offer and is reputed to have stated that "If I had two heads, I would happily put one at the disposal of the King of England".
Christina of Denmark
Britannica
Wikipedia
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