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An Afternoon with Katherine of Aragon at Lichfield Methodist Church
2pm Arrival
2:30pm Performance
We look forward to welcoming you to this performance by Lesley Smith in the character of Katherine of Aragon.
Katherine was born into one of the most powerful and warlike families in Europe. She was the youngest of five children who had for royal parents King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. Many in her family died young and madness stalked each generation.
Katherine arrived in England to marry Arthur, Prince of Wales, of the new Tudor dynasty but within months of the marriage, he was dead, and she was effectively abandoned for six years with little money and poor care.When the glittering young Henry VIII leapt upon the throne of England he married Katherine and she became Queen. After a very happy start to the marriage they went on to suffer a series of miscarriages. Their son died within weeks of his birth although their daughter, Mary, would later become queen. Katherine herself was a powerful woman, rather than the slightly pathetic figure often portrayed in film and television, leading the English army in person against the Scots while Henry was in France. Henry desperately wanted a male heir and after more than 20 years of marriage to Katherine, he divorced her to marry Anne Boleyn. Katherine died in isolation, near poverty and ill health when she was just 50 years old. Come and hear her side of the story – a queen neglected both by her husband and by history!