So obviously the things that happened to Henry VIII’s wives was terrible, but you’ve gotta admit there’s a level of cosmic hilarity to it.
Like this guy’s older brother dies when he’s a kid so his whole life he knows how important it is to have many male heirs.
He marries his first wife and she gives him a daughter and no living sons. He divorces her for a younger wife who gives him a daughter and no living sons. He beheads her for a wife who dies giving him a son. He can’t get it up for his next wife so he divorces her. His next cheats on him before giving him sons so he beheads her. He then marries again and then dies before getting a son.
Then! His only son dies at 15. His oldest daughter takes over and she devotes her reign to dismantling the years of religious changes he made. His other daughter, who he had declared illegitimate for a while, then becomes the most powerful and successful sole queen and ruler of England the country ever had without ever ruling next to a man.
If someone never heard the story and you told them Shakespeare wrote it as a companion piece to his other historical posts they’d believe you.
