Back in time with…SIX THE MUSICAL

Hey Besties! Loads of musicals are set in the past and are based on real historical events, but have you ever wondered how accurate they actually are? Welcome to our new series where we take a look at historical musicals and see what’s accurate and what’s not.

Six the Musical was created in 2017 for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. The show made its West End debut in 2019 and now has productions all over the world. The show portrays the six wives of Henry VIII as a modern girl group, and has them competing to be the lead singer based on who suffered the most hardship at the hands of their husband. Each Queen takes it in turns to sing a song detailing their royal life and debate throughout the show whose experiences are worse.

Now, if you have ever read anything about King Henry, we’re sure you’ll agree he wasn’t overall a very nice man all things considered, and he is definitely not winning any husband of the year awards! But what can we learn about the Queens and their relationships with Henry from the musical; what historical facts are hidden in the lyrics? Often in schools, children are only taught about the wives using the good old rhyme about their eventual fates, but Six is great at expanding on those one-word descriptions to tell more of their stories. Now, of course, it only focuses on their downfalls as Henry’s wives, and as Catherine Parr herself points out in the show, that is only one small part of their lives and experiences.

So let's take a look at the individual Queens…

Catherine of Aragon:

Catherine was a Spanish princess who was sent to England to marry the heir to the throne, Prince Arthur. She was 16 and he was 14 but just six months later, Arthur died leaving Catherine a widow at age 16. Then it was agreed that Catherine would marry Arthur’s younger brother Henry when he was old enough (he was only 11 at the time). Catherine and Henry were married for 24 years, and all five of his other marriages only lasted 14 years collectively. They were very happily married (to a point, obviously), and the marriage only fell apart due to a lack of male heirs to the throne, and Henry’s crush on Catherine’s lady-in-waiting Anne Boleyn… They did have a daughter Mary though and during the divorce, Catherine was desperate to protect her daughter’s rights as a princess. Their divorce was pretty complicated and involved Henry creating a whole new religion that he was in charge of.

The lyrics:

Let’s look at the meaning behind some of the lyrics in ‘No Way’:

“Even though you’ve had one son with someone who don’t own a wedding ring” - Now, despite beheading wives he believed to be having an affair, Henry had lots of mistresses and everyone knew about it. This lyric is referring to Henry Fitzroy, King Henry’s illegitimate son whom he showered with titles and honours because he didn’t have a legitimate son.

“So you read a bible verse that I’m cursed cause I was your brother’s wife” - Despite the Pope deciding that Catherine’s short marriage to Arthur never counted, Henry quoted the bible, which says that if a man must not marry his brother’s widow, if they do, they will have no children. Obviously he didn’t count Mary…

“You’ve got me down on my knees, please tell me what you think I’ve done wrong” - During a meeting about the divorce, Catherine fell to her knees and gave a passionate speech about why she was the rightful Queen.

“You made me your wife, so I’ll be Queen til the end of my life” - Catherine always considered herself to be Henry's true wife and the rightful Queen, right up until her death, much to Henry’s fury. He even banned Catherine and Mary from seeing each other and sending letters unless they both agreed to honour Anne Boleyn as Queen: both refused.

Anne Boleyn

Lots of things are unclear about Anne, mainly because Henry did his best to destroy all records of her after her execution. Anne was not as goofy and sassy as the musical character though, she was very well educated and well spoken, and she had lots of intelligent opinions about matters of court, likely one of the reasons Henry’s courteers disliked her so much.

Anne grew up in the French court just like in the song, and also in the Austrian court, therefore standing out to Henry in the English court due to the harmless flirting known as ‘courtly love’ that was encouraged in the French court, that Anne was so good at. Henry wanted her to be his mistress as her sister had been before, but Anne refused, saying she would only lay with him if she was his wife, therefore starting Henry’s quest to get rid of Catherine. They were only married for three years and had a daughter, Elizabeth, but no sons. Henry fell out of love with Anne and, noticing her still using her ‘courtly love’ flirting on other men, accused her of sleeping with five other men including her own brother! All of them were executed.

The lyrics:

Let’s look at the meaning behind some of the lyrics in ‘Don’t Lose Ur Head’:

“He got a promotion, caused a commotion, set in motion the C of E” - At the time, England was a Catholic country but when the Pope refused to annul Henry’s marriage to Catherine, Henry created the new Church of England (C of E), which made the monarch the head of the church rather than the Pope. So basically he could do what he liked… He made everyone follow his new religion, and the country is still C of E today!

“Soon, excommunicated” - The Pope was, understandably, angry at Henry for making his own religion and especially for closing down all the monasteries and taking money and land off the monks. Henry was excommunicated, which basically means he was officially banned from the church.

“You damned witch” - Amongst all the crimes Anne was officially accused of and eventually beheaded for, some people thought she was a witch who had used magic to trick Henry into marrying her.

“And now he’s going round like, off with her head” - Anne was the only Tudor person to be beheaded by sword rather than axe. Henry ordered an expert French swordsman because it was believed that a sword hurt less, how considerate eh?

Jane Seymour

History has long considered Jane to be the ‘boring’ queen, but there is a lot more to her than that. She was lady-in-waiting to both of Henry’s previous Queens and she was known to be sweet, intelligent and dignified, all the perfect qualities for wives at the time. Whilst Jane did use her position to speak out about issues she cared about, including getting the Princesses back in their father’’s favour after he disowned them, she was also careful not to challenge him too much, having witnessed the downfall of both other Queens. In fact, Henry even sent her out of the room once, warning her that Anne had died after meddling with state affairs. Of course Jane had Edward, the son that Henry so desperately craved and died following the birth, therefore securing her place as Henry's favourite wife (only because of the son though).

The lyrics:

Let’s look at the meaning behind some of the lyrics in ‘Heart of Stone’:

“You’d lift me high, or let me fall’ - As lady-in-waiting to Catherine and Anne, Jane had watched Henry fall out of love with them and bring about their downfall. He actually warned her that he could “at any time lower her as much as he had raised her.”

“But I know, without my song your love could disappear” - Edward’s birth was definitely the reason Henry said that Jane was the only wife he truly loved. He blamed the others for ‘failing’ to provide a son. He chose to be buried beside Jane because of her ‘achievement’. He also had her included in future family portraits instead of his current wife!

“Soon I’ll have to go, I’ll never see him grow” - Jane died 12 days after her son Edward was born. The exact cause is unknown, but it is suggested that it could have been dehydration following the birth.

Photo credit: Pamela Raith

Anne of Cleves

In the musical, Anne is called Anna, which was her German name, but here she was known as Anne, the English version. As the Queens point out in the musical, Anne definitely came off best from her marriage. Henry didn’t want another wife after Jane’s death, but was soon advised to get one. Anne, a German princess was suggested and Henry sent his favourite painter Hans Holbein (*puts on sunglasses and ruff*) to paint a portrait so he could decide. He loved the picture and agreed to marry her, but when she arrived, he was horrified and claimed she was ugly and looked like a horse. The thing is, he had already agreed and had to have the wedding, but he did have the people that suggested the marriage beheaded though.

Anne didn’t speak any English, so probably had no idea that her new husband hated her. After six months, Henry had fallen for her lady-in-waiting Katherine Howard and he asked Anne for a divorce on the grounds that they never consummated the marriage. Anne readily agreed and therefore was well-loved by Henry for being cooperative. She lived a rich lifestyle, remained good friends with Henry and was welcomed and loved by all in court, known as ‘the King’s dear sister’. She even outlived Henry and all the other wives by a decade.

The lyrics:

Let’s look at the meaning behind some of the lyrics in ‘Get Down’:

“In a palace that I happen to own” - As thanks for agreeing to the annulment, Henry gifted Anne many houses including Richmond Palace and Hever Castle

“No one tells me I need a rich man” - Anne never married after Henry. No one knows exactly why she stayed single but realistically, would you dare marry Henry's ex?

“When I get bored, I go to court” - Anne was welcomed when she often visited court and became a ‘sister’ to Henry and an aunt to his children. Henry announced that after his wife and daughters, she was to be the most important woman in England.

“I wanna go hunting, any takers” - Anne enjoyed a comfortable life in her many houses. She liked to gamble and hunt and wore the nicest possible dresses.

Katherine Howard

Katherine (or sometimes Catherine because spelling was not standardised then) was only 17 when she married 49-year-old Henry, or possibly even 15 as her exact birth was not recorded. Her song in the musical talks about how she was sexually abused from as young as 13 (or possibly younger) and describes how she was used and abused by powerful men throughout her short life. But up until recently, history hasn’t been very nice to Katherine. She has long been blamed and villainised for her relationships and was often referred to as a stupid girl who only cared about dancing and dresses. In truth though, she was the victim of bad luck, her family’s poor decisions and having no real control over her life. She tried hard to be a good Queen, doing her best to befriend the King's children, more as a sister than a mother though as she was seven years younger than Mary! She was beheaded for supposedly cheating on Henry and therefore committing treason (a crime against the King). She was likely 19, but may have been 17 when she was killed. Katherine was actually the cousin of Anne Boleyn, the other of Henry’s wives to be beheaded.

The lyrics:

Let’s look at the meaning behind some of the lyrics in ‘All You Wanna Do’:

“He cares so much, he calls me love” - Henry claimed to be completely in love with the young and beautiful Katherine. She called her his “rose without a thorn”, which basically means pure and ‘unspoilt’ because she was so young. That’s why he was so furious to find out she was not a virgin as he thought!

“But Thomas is there to lend a helping hand” - After a year of marriage to Henry, Katherine began some sort of relationship with Thomas Culpeper, one of the courtiers. No one knows whether they were just good friends, or whether they were actually having an affair, but Thomas was beheaded not long before Katherine for their supposed adultery along with Francis Dereham who slept with Katherine before her marriage..

“All you wanna do baby, is squeeze me, don’t care if you don’t please me” - Katherine was long thought of as a promiscuous woman who slept around, but historians now acknowledge that she was a teenager who was abused and taken advantage of by a series of older men. She is now thought of as a victim of abuse.

Catherine Parr

Catherine is often just ‘the one who survived’ or ‘the nursemaid’ to several dying husbands, including Henry, but as her song says, she is so much more than that. When she married Henry aged 31, she had already been widowed twice. She didn’t want to marry Henry and had hoped to marry Thomas Seymour (Jane’s brother), but she couldn’t refuse the King! She made the most of her role as Queen though. She was the first woman to publish a book under her own name, she provided education for girls, acted as a mother to the King’s children and restored the Princesses’ to their rightful place, encouraging Henry to repair his relationship with them. She also often ran the country while Henry was away at war. Catherine and Henry had a good relationship and, being clever and knowledgeable about court life, Catherine knew exactly what to do and say to keep in his good books. She even talked her way out of being executed when Henry’s advisers turned against her. After Henry’s death, at his request, Catherine was to still be treated as Queen. She married Thomas Seymour and became Princess Elizabeth’s guardian but died during childbirth just a year later.

The lyrics:

Let’s look at the meaning behind some of the lyrics in “I Don’t Need Your Love”:

“Cause I have built a future in my mind with you” - Catherine did eventually get to marry Thomas Seymour, but it wasn’t quite the one she planned. Their marriage was tainted by Thomas’ inappropriate actions towards Catherine’s 14 year old step daughter, Princess Elizabeth. Thomas planned to attempt to marry Elizabeth and was eventually beheaded.

“Been a wife twice before just to survive” - At the time, life could be quite hard for an unmarried woman, and widows were often cast aside within society. Plus it was unlikely that women would have their own money, so they would rely on their husbands.

“I even got a woman to paint my picture” - There are no surviving portraits of Catherine by a female painter, but she was friends with Susanna Horenbout who worked in the Royal Court and was one of the only female painters in Tudor England.

So there is some historical context behind the musical which might give you a new perspective on the show during your next visit. Hope you enjoyed this article, and we’re sure you will all join us in the Henry hate club. Boo! Which is your favourite Queen?

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