After the movie, we looked up some of the history on the internet and found that most of it was quite true to what is commonly believed. I have always gotten very confused on the kings and queens of England. Could those people not have been named something other than Mary, George, Catherine, Henry, Ann?? That makes it hard to wrap your brain around sometimes.
This particular story is aligned with the life of Henry VIII in the mid 1500s.. If have yet to see the movie, you may want to read no further. Henry was married to a Spaniard named Catherine of Aragon - who did not give him a living male heir, although she did give him several children, all but one was still born. He took mistresses, and was taken with one of the Boleyn sisters. This part is likely fictional although I am sure there are historical artifacts that tell parts of the story such as letters, diaries, etc. but in the movie the King summons Mary and her family to court separating her from her husband so he can have her. And have her he does - and their union produces his only male heir, a son named James. While she is pregnant he loses interest in Mary, and takes an interest in her sister Ann. Oh there is so much to tell. We enjoyed the movie so much and got us looking up things in the Story of the World books we have and on the internet. Here was a great link about the history of the Boleyn family which is said 'could be likened to a Greek tragedy'.
Kaitlyn said she'd love to be a historian. I didn't love history until I was an adult, mainly because of dull, dry textbooks that faded colorful stories such as this to black and white. This is the way we want to learn - every day, all the time, in all sorts of ways.
