8 Ways To Survive A Tryst With Henry VIII (According To The Women Who Did It)

7. Prove That King Henry VIII Could Father Male Heirs

One thing that everybody knows about King Henry VIII is that he was desperate to provide a male heir to his throne. During their marriage, Henry's first wife Catherine of Aragon was failing to do this with only the couple's daughter Mary surviving infancy. This led to a certain amount of paranoia on Henry's behalf as he started to doubt his ability to biologically produce male children. Enter Elizabeth 'Bessie' Blount, a teenage maid of honour serving Queen Catherine. Bessie's youth and good looks soon caught the eye of the sonless King who entered into an affair with her that led to the birth of an illegitimate son in 1519. Unlike other rumoured children conceived through Henry's discrepancies, Bessie's son was officially acknowledged by the King and even named Henry Fitzroy, which literally means Henry, Son of The King. Soon after her son's birth, Bessie was dismissed as Henry's mistress but her story didn't end there. Bessie did well out of her affair with the King and he even arranged for her to marry Gilbert Tailboys, 1st Baron Tailboys of Kyme, a union that ensured she would live a comfortable life and stand to inherited both lands and money upon Gilbert's death. This generosity from the King was probably due to his gratitude to Bessie for crushing his doubts about his ability to father boys.