Mary Boleyn

About Mary Boleyn

Who is it?: Mistress of Henry VIII
Birth Year: 1499
Birth Place: Blickling Hall, Blickling, United Kingdom, British
Died On: 19 July 1543 (aged 43–44)
Noble family: Boleyn
Spouse(s): William Carey, of Aldenham William Stafford, of Chebsey
Father: Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire
Mother: Lady Elizabeth Howard

Mary Boleyn Net Worth

Mary Boleyn was born on 1499 in Blickling Hall, Blickling, United Kingdom, British, is Mistress of Henry VIII. Mary Boleyn was a mistress of the English King Henry VIII, prior to his marriage to her sister, Queen Anne Boleyn. She was a daughter of an affluent English diplomat and courtier, and thus received the proper education deemed fit for a young girl of her rank and birth. She was accepted as the maid-of-honour to the King’s sister, Mary Tudor, who was travelling to France to marry King Louis XII. She developed a notorious reputation at the French court by having several affairs, including one with Francis I, the French King and Henry’s rival. Upon returning to England, she started to serve as the maid-of-honour to Catherine of Aragon, Henry’s first wife. In 1520, she was married to the courtier and businessman William Carey. Her relationship with Henry began shortly after, though the duration of it is a matter of debate. She was rumoured to have borne him two children, although in official capacity they both had Carey’s name. Her husband died in 1528, following which her sister secured her a pension of £100. Six years later, she secretly married William Stafford, a man with meagre prospects. It led to her banishment from the court and disownment by the Boleyn family. Facing financial difficulties, she reached out to her sister, the queen, a few times but the relationship between them remained strained till Anne’s execution in 1536.
Mary Boleyn is a member of Historical Personalities

💰 Net worth: Under Review

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Biography/Timeline

1514

Mary remained in England for most of her childhood, until she was sent abroad in 1514 around the age of fifteen when her father secured her a place as maid-of-honour to the King's sister, Princess Mary, who was going to Paris to marry King Louis XII of France.

1515

After a few weeks, many of the Queen's English maids were sent away, but Mary was allowed to stay, probably due to the fact that her father was the new English ambassador to France. Even when Queen Mary left France after she was widowed on 1 January 1515, Mary remained behind at the court of Louis's son-in-law and daughter, Francis I and Claude.

1519

She returned to England in 1519, where she was appointed a maid-of-honour to Catherine of Aragon, the queen consort of Henry VIII.

1520

Soon after her return, Mary was married to william Carey, a wealthy and influential courtier, on 4 February 1520; Henry VIII was a guest at the couple's wedding. At some point, Mary became Henry's mistress; the starting date and duration of the liaison are unknown.

1522

Anne had returned to England in January 1522; she soon joined the royal court as one of Queen Catherine's maids-of-honour. Anne achieved considerable popularity at court, although the sisters already moved in different circles and were not thought to have been particularly close.

1527

Although Mary was said to have been more attractive than her sister, Anne seems to have been more ambitious and intelligent. When the king took an interest in Anne, she refused to become his mistress, being shrewd enough not to give in to his sexual advances and returning his gifts. By the middle of 1527, Henry was determined to marry her. This gave him further incentive to seek the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. A year later, when Mary's husband died during an outbreak of sweating sickness, Henry granted Anne Boleyn the wardship of her nephew, Henry Carey. Mary's husband had left her with considerable debts, and Anne arranged for her nephew to be educated at a respectable Cistercian monastery. Anne also interceded to secure her widowed sister an annual pension of £100.

1533

In 1532, when Anne accompanied Henry to the English Pale of Calais on his way to a state visit to France, Mary was one of her companions. Anne was crowned queen on 1 June 1533 and on 7 September gave birth to Henry's daughter Elizabeth, who later became Queen Elizabeth I. In 1534, Mary secretly married an Essex landowner's younger son: william Stafford (later Sir william Stafford). Since Stafford was a soldier, his prospects as a second son so slight, and his income so small, many believed the union was a love match. When Mary became pregnant, the marriage was discovered. Queen Anne was furious, and the Boleyn family disowned Mary. The couple were banished from court.

1536

Mary's life between 1534 and her sister's execution on 19 May 1536 is difficult to trace. There is no record of her visiting her parents, and no evidence of any correspondence with, or visits to, her sister Anne or her brother George when they were imprisoned in the Tower of London. Like their uncle, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, she may have thought it wise to avoid association with her now-disgraced relatives.

1543

Mary died of unknown causes, on 19 July 1543, in her early forties.

1556

Mary's marriage to william Stafford (d. 5 May 1556) may have resulted in the birth of two further children:

1969

Mary was played by Valerie Gearonwas in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, and by Perdita Weeks in the Showtime television series The Tudors (2007–2010).

2003

The Other Boleyn Girl was made into a BBC television drama in January 2003, starring Natascha McElhone as Mary and Jodhi May as Anne.

2008

A Hollywood film version of the book was released in February 2008, with Scarlett Johansson as Mary and Natalie Portman as Anne and Eric Bana as King Henry VIII. In Wolf Hall, Boleyn is portrayed by Charity Wakefield.