Two of the six versions of the portrait said, probably erroneously, to be of Mary Boleyn.
Is this Mary Boleyn? Miniature of an unknown woman, sometimes called “Anne Boleyn.”
Miniature of the same unknown woman.
Mary’s father, the ambitious Thomas Boleyn, later Earl of Wiltshire. Brass in Hever Church, c.1539.
Mary’s maternal grandfather, Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk.
Blickling Hall, Norfolk, where Mary Boleyn was probably born. In this drawing of the Jacobean mansion built in 1619, made by Edmund Prideaux in c.1725, the Tudor gable and windows of the Boleyns’ earlier red-brick house can be seen.
Mary’s younger sister, the ill-fated Anne Boleyn.
Hever Castle, Kent, where Mary spent many years of her life, during her childhood and widowhood.
“The Yule Log” by Robert Alexander Hillingford, shows the great hall at Hever Castle much as Mary knew it.
The courtyard at Hever: a fanciful but architecturally accurate representation. Drawing by Joseph Nash from The Mansions of England in Olden Time, 1849.
The long gallery at Hever, which was built by Mary’s father, is here shown as the imagined setting for Henry VIII’s courtship of Anne Boleyn. Drawing by Joseph Nash from The Mansions of England in Olden Time, 1849.
Henry VIII c.1520, two years before his affair with Mary probably began.
Henry VIII in 1525/6, around the time he fell in love with Anne Boleyn.
Katherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII, who is unlikely to have known anything of her husband’s affair with Mary Boleyn.
Mary’s predecessor, Elizabeth Blount, mistress of Henry VIII from around 1514 to 1519. Memorial brass, c.1539/4.
Duke Humphrey’s Tower, seen on top of the hill behind Greenwich Palace. Henry VIII is said to have had trysts with his mistresses here. Drawing by Anthony van der Wyngaerde, 1558.
Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, natural son of Henry VIII by Elizabeth Blount, the only bastard child acknowledged by the King. Miniature by Lucas Horenbout, c.1533/4.
Letter from Anne Boleyn to her father, written at La Veure, 1514. The handwriting is that of a teenager at least, which supports a birthdate c.1501. Mary Boleyn must therefore have been born before that date.
Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, in whose train Mary Boleyn went to France. French School, c.1514.
Tapestry depicting the marriage of Louis XII and Mary Tudor in 1514. Mary Boleyn may be among the female attendants. Tournai tapestry, c.1525.
François I, King of France. It is likely that Mary was his mistress for a brief spell. School of Jean Clouet.
Claude de France, the virtuous Queen of François I. Tomb sculpture by Pierre Bontemps, 1549, Basilica of St. Denis, Paris.
The Hôtel de Cluny, Paris, where Mary and Anne Boleyn attended upon Mary Tudor during the enforced seclusion of her widowhood. Print c.1835.
“Cloth of Gold do not despise, tho’ thou art matcht with Cloth of Frieze; Cloth of Frieze, be not too bold, tho’ thou art matcht with Cloth of Gold.” Wedding portrait of Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, 1515.
The “Donjon d’Anne Boleyn” at Briis-sous-Forges. It is possible that Mary was sent here after leaving the French court.
William Carey, Mary’s first husband, a man set for a glittering career at court. Possibly by or after Hans Holbein.
William Carey. Elizabethan copy of a lost portrait of 1526.
The Chapel Royal, Greenwich Palace, where Mary Boleyn and William Carey were married, can be seen to the left of the picture, behind the wall, with the great hall behind. Drawing by Anthony van der Wyngaerde, 1558.
Syon Abbey, as it would have looked around 1535, when Henry Carey was sent there to be taught by Nicholas Bourbon. Painting by Jonathan Foyle, 2004.
Nicholas Bourbon, the reformist tutor of Mary’s son, Henry Carey. Drawing by Hans Holbein, 1535.
Sir John Russell, who may have been Henry Carey’s guardian for a time. Drawing by Hans Holbein.
Mary Boleyn’s signature, “Mary Carey,” from a letter dated February 13, 1534. Only two of Mary’s letters survive.
Anne of Cleves, who was welcomed to Calais in 1539 by, among others, William Stafford and probably Mary Boleyn. Miniature by Hans Holbein, 1539.
This portrait may well depict Katherine Howard, against whom William Stafford may have testified. Miniature by Hans Holbein.
Henden Manor, Kent, where Mary perhaps lived for a short time with her second husband, William Stafford.
Rochford Hall, Essex, much altered now, which Mary inherited from her grandmother, Margaret Butler, and which was in her possession for just four days.
St. Andrew’s Church, Rochford, where Mary may be buried.
Elizabeth I, who was close to her Carey cousins. Steven van der Meulan, c.1563.
Mary’s son, Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon. Artist unknown, 1591.
Lord Hunsdon’s magnificent tomb in Westminster Abbey.
Portrait of a pregnant lady, probably Katherine Carey, Lady Knollys. Steven van der Meulan, 1562.
This close-up shows a striking resemblance to Henry VIII. (Detail)
The empty tomb of Katherine Carey and Sir Francis Knollys in Rotherfield Greys Church.