Capturing a Queen review – you’ll lose your head looking at so many pictures of Anne Boleyn

2026-02-26 - 11:53

Hever Castle, Kent Historians have amassed the largest group of portraits of Henry VIII’s second wife, whom he began courting 500 years ago (and beheaded 10 years later). But do we really need a public vote on the best likeness? Royal portraits are enjoying a spike in attention at present. While art historians are salivating over the recent discovery of the Catherine of Aragon pendant, Hever Castle, the childhood home of her successor as queen, is capitalising on its Tudor connection by mounting Capturing a Queen: The Image of Anne Boleyn. It has assembled the greatest number of portraits believed to be of Boleyn ever attempted (Guinness, take note). Curators Owen Emmerson and Kate McCaffrey say it is a “fitting [way] to mark the quincentennial anniversary of Henry VIII’s courtship of Anne”. I look forward to the quincentennial exhibition marking her execution too. Continue reading...