The Sixth Wife

Though the novel is a work of fiction, it contains minor historical inaccuracies regarding the Six Wives of Henry VIII. It states that Anne Boleyn suffered four miscarriages during her marriage to the King yet there were three that were historically confirmed. Also Henry, while reflecting upon his wives, recalls that he married Jane Seymour quickly because she was pregnant and she lost the child shortly after the wedding, something which is entirely fictional. Catherine Howard is also recalled to have lost a child. There is only small historical evidence to suggest that Catherine may have become pregnant during her short term as Queen, but she may have suffered a false pregnancy before beginning her menstrual cycle and not having a miscarriage as stated in the novel.^[3] Today, the pregnancies of the wives are still debated, with Boleyn and Howard possibly having miscarriages, and Seymour maybe having one during her early marriage, and not before as fictitiously stated.