Mary Boleyn: Slandered, Seductive...or Simply Misunderstood?
Tudors Dynasty & Beyond
RedTop Media / Rebecca Larson
4.4 • 869 Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2026
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mary Boleyn - the “great whore” of Tudor history…or the victim of a bad translation?
In this episode, we dig into one of the most misunderstood women of the Tudor court and start peeling back the layers of myth that have followed her for centuries. Was Mary really the scandalous figure history made her out to be, or has her reputation been shaped by misread words and repeated assumptions?
We take a closer look at the infamous mistranslation that helped cement her notoriety, and ask a deceptively simple question: was it actually Mary - or Anne Boleyn - who served Margaret of Austria?
From there, we explore Mary’s place within the powerful Boleyn family, her relationships, and what those dynamics might really have looked like behind the scenes. And then there’s the mystery that raises more questions than answers - why did Mary remain a widow for so long before secretly marrying William Stafford? Was it love, necessity…or something else entirely?
This is Mary Boleyn as you’ve rarely heard her - complicated, sidelined, and long overdue a second look.
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Get from Blackwell's (even US residents) now: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Mary-Boleyn-by-Sylvia-Barbara-Soberton/9781837051014
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DON'T MISS OUT!!
SPECIAL EVENT on May 9th with Dr. Steven Veerapon on the medical history of Henry VIII. All the information can be found here: https://henrythetyrant.eventbrite.com--
Host: Rebecca Larson
Guest: Sylvia Barbara Soberton
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the Tudors Dynasty and Beyond podcast, history with a twist. |
| 0:07.2 | And now your host, Rebecca Larson. |
| 0:10.3 | Hello and welcome back to the show. |
| 0:12.4 | I'm Rebecca Larson, and I am joined again by my very good friend, Sylvia Barber Soberton. |
| 0:18.3 | Welcome. |
| 0:19.7 | Welcome, Rebecca. |
| 0:22.2 | Thank you for having me again. |
| 0:27.8 | I know I'm so excited to have you. And I just have to let everybody know before we get started today that Sylvia was a lifesaver for me today because I messed up on my schedule. |
| 0:33.0 | And the person that I thought I was recording with today, It's actually next week. So thank you for coming |
| 0:38.8 | to my rescue today, Sylvia. Well, it's my pleasure. Well, I also, we were just talking about |
| 0:45.1 | having you on so that we can talk about your new book on Mary Berlin, the Queen's slandered sister. |
| 0:51.8 | I, oh my gosh, Sylvia, I am so excited about this book. I think it's the best |
| 0:56.6 | book you've written yet, and I am just so proud of you and all that you've done to get to |
| 1:02.5 | this point. Well, thank you so much. Thank you so much. I'm proud of myself as well, and I feel |
| 1:08.3 | like I have to agree with you. It my my best book so far and you know |
| 1:13.2 | what I plan to put it here like if you're watching here there's a place for it but I don't have it |
| 1:19.8 | yet I know that the publisher the history press sent it over on the 25th of April so it's on |
| 1:26.4 | its way the package but I don't have it. And I was, |
| 1:30.4 | you know, I returned from my holiday on Saturday. And I, I saw instantly on my Instagram |
| 1:36.5 | feed people sharing my book, you know, people reading, you know, bloggers, reviewers. And I was like, |
| 1:42.5 | wow, it's happening. People are reading it. And it's just, you know, |
| 1:46.2 | a little bit strange because I don't have the physical copy yet. So I'm very excited to just see it |
... |
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