Hello, I'm Professor Suzanne Ellipscombe, and welcome to not just the Tudors from History Hit,

the podcast in which we explore everything from Anne Berlin to the Aztecs,

from Holbein to the Huguenoes, from Shakespeare to Summarise.

Relieved by regular doses of murder, espionage, and witchcraft.

Not in other words, just the Tudors, but most definitely think we know everything.

But beyond their mostly doomed marriages to Henry VIII, and in many cases tragic ends, here

were six women who shaped history in their own unique ways.

The National Portrait Gallery in London is hosting a new exhibition called Six Lives, displaying the images that have shaped our perception of Henry VIII's Queens.

It was just the excuse I needed to bring together the most illuminating interviews about them from the Not Just the Tudor's archives.

I've already discussed Catherine of Aragon, Anne Berlin, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard.

Today in the last of this special series we turned to Henry VIII's sixth and final

consort, Catherine Par, whom he married in July 1543 and who survived

his death.

Often written off as a dowdy old widow who nursed him in his last years, Catherine Par is the most surprising

and one of the most fascinating of all the unfortunate women who were married to the Tudor king.

In this episode I'll be speaking to Dr Susan James,

Dr Michelin White, Dr Elizabeth Norton

and Dr Charlotte Boland,

curator of the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition.

I'm Professor Suzanne Lipscomb and this is not just the tutors. One of the ironies of history is that Henry VIII's last wife was named after his first. Catherine, which saving only one example when she was a child, she always spelled K-A-T-E-R-Y-N was born in 1512 and named for the Spanish Queen who was probably

her godmother. Both of Catherine's parents were operating at the heart of the new

Henrician court. Catherine Par's biographer Dr Susan James tells us more.

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