Was Henry VIII The Father To His Niece And Nephew?

The FORGOTTEN Illegitimate Children Of Henry VIII and Mary Boleyn

Henry VIII is remembered mostly in History for being a King who had 6 wives, and also executed two of these. However his greatest desire throughout his reign was for a son and for a male heir to pass the throne to after his death. He got this in the form of Edward VI, but he did have an illeigitmate son who he showered it titles and lavish gifts. Henry Fitzroy was the son of Henry VIII and Elizabeth Blount, and he was given a dukedom, and was given the title of the Duke of Richmond and Somerset. Fitzroy was celebrated across the royal court, and Henry VIII was very proud of him, and the King made it known that he could produce a male heir, and many believed that he may have been preparing to make his illegitimate son the successor. He may have even tried to legitimise Fitzroy by marrying him off to even his half sister the future Mary I. But the King’s most famous mistress was Mary Boleyn, the sister of his future second wife. But there has been a significant amount of mystery regarding Mary Boleyn and whether two of her children, Catherine and Henry Carey were actually fathered by Henry VIII, and there was much speculation and gossip about the fact Henry VIII may have been the father of these two Boleyn children. But what is the story of this?

[symon]

Logically there would no way Henry could acknowledge Mary Boleynes children if he wanted to marry Anne. That would have blown his divorce argument against Katherine of Spain to bits.

[HighlineGuitars]

If Henry VIII's DNA is ever extracted, I wonder if it could be compared to a descendant of Catherine Carey?

[lindawitowski]

The fact that Henry did not ‘claim’ the Boleyn children seems to plague historians and frustrates everyone. The man vacillated on his moral obligations; legal, religious, and political. Being raised from the cradle to become the nexts Archbishop of Canterbury and suddenly shifted to King left him unprepared for having to straddle the mark differences in their stewardship roles leaving him with a Jekyll and Hyde conundrum. The results being consistency was never his strong suit especially when it came to parenting. With the exception of Edward VI, all other offspring were relegated to the role of illegitimate children. Who knows what might have happened to that status had Jane Seymour lived. Fickle, thy name is Henry VIII. (Now that’s a scenario you rarely hear discussed.)

[Nightbird]

Thank you for another excellent video. I have always found it heartwarming that Queen Elizabeth I found places for her Aunt Mary’s children at court. Since she lost her mother at such a young age, I believe it was a way of honoring her memory. Of course these cousins could very well have been her half siblings but I guess we will never know for sure. Then Catherine’s daughter Lettice Knollys became Elizabeth’s great rival for the affections of Robert Dudley who Lettice married and as a result she was banished from court.

[susanstewart]

Henry VIII is thought to have suffered from an X-linked genetic disorder, as well as having rare blood type (Kell). It would explain Henry's health conditions, as well as the multiple miscarriages, and lack of healthy male babies. The rare blood type would make it unlikely that he could father a second child with any woman due to immune sensitization of the mother from carrying the first child (similar to Rh positive/negative situation causing blue babies). Given this history, I would consider Catherine Carey to be the sibling most likely fathered by Henry.

[andreaphillips]

All the women in this era were named Catherine, Mary, Jane, Elizabeth or Anne.

[jamessmithson-brrm]

The fact that Henry Carey lived to the age of 70 and male bloodline continued without the problems of Henry VIII suggests they were not his descendants 😅

Henry Fitzroy on the other hand dying at 17 and not having any children seems much more likely to have been an actual male child of Henry VIII.

[suzzannegabel]

I'd recommend Alison Weir's book on Mary Boleyn to anyone interested on another view of this subject.

[hughdncy]

Mary Boleyn was over all forgotten. Anne is famous but Mary is very underrated

[Mashka]

Compelling fascinating informative video on the unknown children King Henry VIII and Mary Boleyn it further proves that Henry had a extremely complicated love life outside of his famous six marriages

[ruthparker]

If Henry had acknowledged Mary's children, he wouldn't have been able to marry anne. The Catholic church would have never allowed it. He couldn't shake the church even after he split the country from Rome.

[gupgzyd]

I’ve always wondered why they were married so briefly. He never gave her time to produce a male heir. He seemed to want her dispatched pretty swiftly for some reason.

[JuliahistoryLover]

How could he be in a relationship with someone for five years and then marry their sister, and then allow her to become impoverished (when he had complete ability to help)
I’d love to learn more about her offspring

[historybarf]

Henry was dead by 1590. That’s a glaring mistake.

[maryellencook]

Even if Henry VIII was the father of Mary Boleyn Carey's children, the fact that she was married to William Carey made Catherine and Henry Carey legitimate by English law.

[annhenriques]

It is very unlikely that either child was sired by Henry, especially if their affair started in 1519. It was probably over when she married William Carey, but definitely over before her first successful pregnancy. History doesn’t record if Mary had any miscarriages before 1524. Considering Henry’s poor record of siring healthy children, that both Catherine and Henry Carey had many healthy children is a strong indicator Henry wasn’t their father.

Henry’s affairs usually did not last long. Anne Boleyn was the exception, likely because she didn’t sleep with him until right before their marriage.

[bostonblackie]

Henry had many illegitimate children. He made most of them Duke and Earls. The girls were married off well.

[AndriaBieberDesigns]

Most historians say they never had children together

[Luffy_onepiece]

Great video as always but the background music is very distracting and i struggled to concentrate on the subject.

[joiedevivre]

I am a descendant of Mary Boleyn & Catherine Carey through Catherine's daughter, Anne Knollys who married Thomas West, 2nd Baron De La Warr. Anne & Thomas were the parents of 14 children, including Lt. Col. Nathaniel West (who was their youngest son), from whom I am directly descended. Her eldest living son (Nathaniel's brother), also named Thomas West, was the first governor of the Colony of Virginia & the state of Delaware was named for him (a variation of "De La Warr").