A Pelham Puppet Redressed as Queen Anne Boleyn - second wife of King Henry VIII

 

A Pelham Puppet Redressed 

as King Henry VIII's second, infamous 

Queen Anne Boleyn

This portrait puppet portrays Queen Anne Boleyn - tragic second wife of King Henry VIII - and is inspired by Anne's famous picture displayed at the National Portrait Gallery. 

Stylish, intelligent and captivating to the end, Anne was educated at the royal courts of Europe and when returning to England she swiftly drew the attention of King Henry. After Anne refused to become the King's mistress Henry decided to divorce his current Queen, Catherine of Aragon and replace her with Anne. After many years of struggle with the Pope Henry finally made himself Head of the Church of England and granted himself the needed annulment and swiftly married Anne and crowned her his new queen. 

Sadly though, after three years of marriage Anne had not provided Henry with his longed for son - only having one living daughter, the future Elizabeth I - and she was beheaded in the Tower of London after being accused, almost certainly falsely, with treason, adultery and incest. She met her demise under the sharp blade of an expert swordsman from Calais.

The base puppet used was a Pelham puppet Ballet Girl. 

Her gown is constructed from black cotton velvet with a gold, patterned, brocade underskirt. The neckline is decorated with metallic gold trim and pearls and her undersleeves are made using the same brocade embellished with pearl accents. Her bodice is boned and laced closed at it's back and her voluminous folded back sleeves are lined in a soft faux fur. She wears a buckram stiffened, black satin veiled, French hood which is trimmed with string pearls and a pleated red under-hood. Her hair has been restyled to sit underneath in the classic Tudor centre parting.

Created by Alexander Sanderson Designs