Katherine of Aragon The True Queen by Alison Weir

Katherine of Aragon The True Queen is the first in the the Six Tudor Queens series of novels by Alison Weir. Alison Weir is a leading historian, who has published 17 history books, as well as her historical novels.

I’ve been intending to read the Six Tudor Queens novels ever since I became interested in the Tudors and Henry VIII and his wives through reading the Wolf Hall trilogy and the Shardlake novels.

Katherine of Aragon The True Queen tells the story of Katherine, Henry VIII’s first wife. It begins in 1501, when the teenage Katherine (Catalina), youngest child of the Spanish King and Queen, travels to England to marry, Arthur, Prince of Wales. Katherine marries Arthur late in 1501, but he is already weak. The marriage is never consumated and Arthur died in 1502. Katherine is then betrothed to Arthur’s younger brother, Henry, and the rest quite literally is history…

Katherine had a long wait to marry Henry, but their marriage was initially a happy and loving one. It surprised me to read what a loving and caring person Henry was, because we only really know about the Henry VIII who had his wives executed.

But while Katherine lost one child after another and the couple failed to produce a male heir, Henry began to question if their marriage was actually legal. Over the course of many years (and many pages of the book), he seeks answers as to the validity of his marriage, before eventually taking matters into his own hands and casting Katherine aside in favour of Anne Boleyn.

The caring Henry is gone, replaced by a cruel and ruthless King, set to destroy religion and his own wife.

Katherine is an incredible character, who retained her love for Henry and her belief that she was his true wife until she died. Her religious faith was very strong and she feared for what would become of Henry and their daughter, Mary, in the afterlife.

Katherine of Aragon The True Queen is based on historical records. It is an interesting, but quite heavy read. I actually found it a harder read than Wolf Hall. Katherine’s story comes just before the period I am familiar with – both Wolf Hall and the Shardlake series start at the time Henry is looking to marry Anne Boleyn. I must admit I did a little inward cheer when Thomas Cromwell first arrived on the scene in this book, although here he is very much the bad guy, whereas he is quite a sympathetic character in Wolf Hall.

I will definitely read the rest of the Six Tudor Queens series, but it’s not something I will rush into. I anticipate reading them over the course of the next couple of years.

If you are interested in history, particularly the Tudors, and you don’t mind a fairly heavy read, I would definitely recommend Katherine of Aragon The True Queen.