The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family

PBS AMERICA: Wednesday 10 – Friday 12 January at 8:25pm

Betrayal, adultery, charges of treason and execution by beheading all feature in the story of Anne Boleyn, the ill-fated second wife of Henry VIII. Their relatively brief union would have centuries-long repercussions for Crown and Church alike.

Drawing upon sixteenth-century sources, among them rare original letters and documents, along with input from prominent Tudor scholars and dramatic re-enactment, this three- part documentary explores Anne Boleyn’s family background.

Tight-knit and adept at intrigue, the aristocratic Boleyns would profit from Anne’s association with Henry, although her failure to provide the king with a much-desired son and heir would, in the end, seal her fate. Yet her daughter Elizabeth would go on to preside over another eventful chapter in the history of these islands.