Individual Details

Marriage

Anne Parr was a witness to the wedding ceremony performed at Hampton Court on 12 July 1543, when King Henry married her sister Catherine. In September 1544, William Herbert was knighted on the battlefield at the Siege of Boulogne during the King's campaign against the French. Anne, now Lady Herbert, was her sister's chief lady-in-waiting and the sisters were close. Anne was also part of the clique of Protestants who surrounded the new Queen. In 1546, fellow Protestant Anne Askew was arrested for heresy. Those who opposed the Queen tried to gain a confession from Askew that the Queen, her sister, and the other women were Protestants. Queen Catherine and some of her closest friends had previously shown favour to the arrested woman. Bishop Stephen Gardiner, Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton and Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich were involved in torturing Anne Askew and interrogating her about her connections to the ladies at court who were suspected to be Protestants, in particular, Anne Parr, the Queen, Katherine Willoughby, Anne Stanhope and Anne Calthorpe, Countess of Sussex. Gardiner and Wriothesley obtained the King’s permission to arrest and question the Queen about her religious beliefs.
Catherine visited the King in his bedchamber and adroitly managed to persuade the King that her interest in the new religion had been undertaken solely as a means to provide stimulating conversation to distract the King from the pain caused by his ulcerous leg. Henry was appeased, and before the arrests were due to take place, he was reconciled to Catherine. On 28 January 1547, the King died. After Henry VIII's death, when the queen dowager's household was at Chelsea, both Anne and her son Edward were part of the household there. Her husband, William Herbert was appointed as one of the guardians to the new king, Edward VI. Catherine shortly afterward married Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, Lord Sudeley, Lord High Admiral of England, who was an uncle of King Edward. In September 1548, following the birth of a daughter, Lady Mary, Catherine Parr died ofPuerperal fever.