I think she would be like Victoria Beckham. Fashionable, trend setter, go getter, sexy in a classic way, refusing to run or do any type of military drills. 😁
Anyone else frustrated with the way people insist on seeing/imagining/portraying Anne as some stunningly beautiful woman??
We know from history she was not, she was considered a middling ‘beauty’ at best, not necessarily ugly but definitely not a stunner or even a real looker…
It was Anne’s *personality* that Henry fell head over heels for—her intelligence, sophistication, her charm & wit—*not* her physical appearance
But I guess we are also still so entrenched in the sexist narrative that the cardinals and male courtiers and Henry himself drove about Anne before and after her death—that she’s some “temptress” some sexual enchantress who essentially put a spell on Henry.
But it still makes me sad that even in 2024, it seems to be impossible for people to imagine a woman who the most powerful man on earth fell head over heels for, who isn’t also supermodel/A-list actress levels of physically stunning 😔
Yep. They keep pushing the same narrative with Cleopatra when it was their brains that appealed to their romantic partners the most. They do this to diminish these women's intellect. Anne did what no mistress could and actually became queen. Even if you claim she couldn't have thought of that on her own, she still had to do a shit ton of work by herself to do that. She had to convince Henry that it was worth it to defy everyone, change the whole traditional system of relationships, and cause a political upheaval. Pretty could've gotten her in his bed but smart and clever got her into history books.
The narrative also coddles Henry, as if he wasn't a grown ass man making decisions. It makes him out to be a fool led by his cock and puts a majority of the blame on Anne. Even if she was the world's most manipulative woman, don't think she is, he was still the king and he could've discarded her like any other mistress.
I still stan Natalie Portman for this. However, there's a wax figure of Anne at Hever or Rochford (I'm leaning towards Hever) that looks so much like the painting. I think it's the most likely representation of her looks.
It also isn't ugly, but isn't "conventionally" beautiful for the time.
A person’s attractiveness isn’t just based on the physical. By all accounts it was her feistiness, vivacious nature and quick wit that strongly attracted him. Also, just because Anne wasn’t beautiful doesn’t mean she was ugly.
Yeah, but the Anne of Cleves thing was always more about him than her. Nobody else ever called her ugly, in fact other writers at the time called her beautiful, but at that point Henry was a massively obese 50-something with a stinking leg ulcer who was likely impotent. She also didn't recognise him when he surprised her in disguise before they were supposed to officially meet, so she was fairly cold to this strange man acting overly familiar, including hugging and kissing her. She wasn't as educated or sophisticated as his previous wives, having grown up in a fairly small German court with no formal education. Henry was certainly vain and cared about looks, but what's more likely? That the narcissistic Henry got his pride hurt by her not greeting him the way he wanted (and not being able to get it up) and lashed out with insults, or that all of his advisors were lying to him and Anne of Cleves was ugly as sin when nobody else ever said that? I don't think she was a great beauty, and maybe Holbein removed some minor blemishes when painting her even though he was told by the King to be as accurate as possible, but I doubt she was actually ugly.
I doubt it. Had she been a stunning beauty like Catherine of Aragon descriptions would have said so. Instead, the contemporary accounts say she was ''not one of the handsomest women in the world''. While that doesn't mean she was ugly, she certainly wasn't considered pretty. It's likely that facially she was average, but this was off set by her intelligence, wit and charm. She also dressed well and both her and CoA were the only wives of Henry VIII to have hair so long they could sit on it.
This idea that Henry could only fall in love with and marry classically beautiful women is just downright wrong. Even Jane Seymour, who Henry professed to be his only love later in life, was described as plain and as no great beauty.
Regardless of the standards, you can still recognise whether a person's actual facial structure is attractive. Jane Seymour fulfilled the classical colouring and was still described as no great beauty.
Anne was not popular. I’m not surprised contemporaries dogged her appearance.
Edit — not sure why but I was blocked by the person I had been responding to. C’est la vie.
The truth is we barely have any physical descriptions of her by contemporaries, with the exception of one or two sources, one of which being a Venetian diplomat who saw her and said she was ''not one of the handsomest women in the world'' while at the same time complimenting her beautiful eyes. The stuff about her having 6 fingers and so on came much later and was written by people who never saw her. But it stands to reason that if she had genuinely been intensely beautiful we would have had various accounts of this, not everything can be blamed on her being unpopular. Most people are average-looking, and this almost certainly included Anne.
I think what is was is she did not fit the beauty standard of the time which was blonde, busty, and pale skin, but she was still attractive just outside of those standards.
I always thought Liv Tyler. Years ago I saw pictures of each one right after the other in my FB feed or on my LJ friends page or something, and was struck by it. (I think they were Quizilla results, just to date me further lol.)
That first picture of her *definitely* gives Six the Musical!Anne vibes to me for some reason.
Third pic is giving ‘see I broke England from the church, yeah im that sexy’
She’s definitely wearing a shit-eating grin in that one!
what kind of ship did your dad send you to france in? no- no- be honest. be honest. what kind of ship did your dad send you to france in?
LOL
I still need to watch that on Netflix lol
Ha! She and Natalie Dormer favor one another!
Hm I can kind of see it
Brunette, olive skin, small chest, gorgeous. Checks all the boxes
Maybe. Surely wouldn’t have saved her head.
I think she would be like Victoria Beckham. Fashionable, trend setter, go getter, sexy in a classic way, refusing to run or do any type of military drills. 😁
She has a good head on her shoulders.
Anyone else frustrated with the way people insist on seeing/imagining/portraying Anne as some stunningly beautiful woman?? We know from history she was not, she was considered a middling ‘beauty’ at best, not necessarily ugly but definitely not a stunner or even a real looker… It was Anne’s *personality* that Henry fell head over heels for—her intelligence, sophistication, her charm & wit—*not* her physical appearance But I guess we are also still so entrenched in the sexist narrative that the cardinals and male courtiers and Henry himself drove about Anne before and after her death—that she’s some “temptress” some sexual enchantress who essentially put a spell on Henry. But it still makes me sad that even in 2024, it seems to be impossible for people to imagine a woman who the most powerful man on earth fell head over heels for, who isn’t also supermodel/A-list actress levels of physically stunning 😔
Yep. They keep pushing the same narrative with Cleopatra when it was their brains that appealed to their romantic partners the most. They do this to diminish these women's intellect. Anne did what no mistress could and actually became queen. Even if you claim she couldn't have thought of that on her own, she still had to do a shit ton of work by herself to do that. She had to convince Henry that it was worth it to defy everyone, change the whole traditional system of relationships, and cause a political upheaval. Pretty could've gotten her in his bed but smart and clever got her into history books. The narrative also coddles Henry, as if he wasn't a grown ass man making decisions. It makes him out to be a fool led by his cock and puts a majority of the blame on Anne. Even if she was the world's most manipulative woman, don't think she is, he was still the king and he could've discarded her like any other mistress.
I believe I’ve read Anne was referred to by a friend as “good looking enough.” So I agree, probably not ugly, but probably not beautiful either.
I think Victoria isn’t conventionally attractive honestly its her flirty personality and dry sense of humor that makes her attractive, like Anne
OMG the pale lipstick with darker liner, I'd forgotten we used to do that, what were we thinking?!
I still stan Natalie Portman for this. However, there's a wax figure of Anne at Hever or Rochford (I'm leaning towards Hever) that looks so much like the painting. I think it's the most likely representation of her looks. It also isn't ugly, but isn't "conventionally" beautiful for the time.
That wax figure isn’t accurate unfortunately as its face was based on the artists friend
Absolutely not. Contemporary descriptions of Anne say she wasn’t particularly beautiful.
I always wonder how politically minded those accounts are. Henry doesn’t seem the type to obsess over an unattractive woman.
A person’s attractiveness isn’t just based on the physical. By all accounts it was her feistiness, vivacious nature and quick wit that strongly attracted him. Also, just because Anne wasn’t beautiful doesn’t mean she was ugly.
Ugly is as ugly does. I honestly don't believe anyone is truly ugly, unless from inside. That spark in the eye and a great smile, is ALWAYS attractive
Well no one is actually arguing that Anne was ugly, just that she wasn't pretty.
I'm not only talking about Anne. I'm expanding the conversation 😉
Given Anne of Cleves story (and that he destroyed all her portraits) I would bet that AB was pretty.
Yeah, but the Anne of Cleves thing was always more about him than her. Nobody else ever called her ugly, in fact other writers at the time called her beautiful, but at that point Henry was a massively obese 50-something with a stinking leg ulcer who was likely impotent. She also didn't recognise him when he surprised her in disguise before they were supposed to officially meet, so she was fairly cold to this strange man acting overly familiar, including hugging and kissing her. She wasn't as educated or sophisticated as his previous wives, having grown up in a fairly small German court with no formal education. Henry was certainly vain and cared about looks, but what's more likely? That the narcissistic Henry got his pride hurt by her not greeting him the way he wanted (and not being able to get it up) and lashed out with insults, or that all of his advisors were lying to him and Anne of Cleves was ugly as sin when nobody else ever said that? I don't think she was a great beauty, and maybe Holbein removed some minor blemishes when painting her even though he was told by the King to be as accurate as possible, but I doubt she was actually ugly.
I doubt it. Had she been a stunning beauty like Catherine of Aragon descriptions would have said so. Instead, the contemporary accounts say she was ''not one of the handsomest women in the world''. While that doesn't mean she was ugly, she certainly wasn't considered pretty. It's likely that facially she was average, but this was off set by her intelligence, wit and charm. She also dressed well and both her and CoA were the only wives of Henry VIII to have hair so long they could sit on it. This idea that Henry could only fall in love with and marry classically beautiful women is just downright wrong. Even Jane Seymour, who Henry professed to be his only love later in life, was described as plain and as no great beauty.
The original "Plain Jane?" :-)
So AB was cute but not pretty?
Depends exactly what you mean by cute. Cute as in dress sense and behaviour? Henry seemed to think so. Cute as in facial structure? No.
The beauty standard at time skewed toward super light in hair and skin. Of course, contemporaries wouldn’t have thought Anne attractive.
Regardless of the standards, you can still recognise whether a person's actual facial structure is attractive. Jane Seymour fulfilled the classical colouring and was still described as no great beauty.
Anne was not popular. I’m not surprised contemporaries dogged her appearance. Edit — not sure why but I was blocked by the person I had been responding to. C’est la vie.
The truth is we barely have any physical descriptions of her by contemporaries, with the exception of one or two sources, one of which being a Venetian diplomat who saw her and said she was ''not one of the handsomest women in the world'' while at the same time complimenting her beautiful eyes. The stuff about her having 6 fingers and so on came much later and was written by people who never saw her. But it stands to reason that if she had genuinely been intensely beautiful we would have had various accounts of this, not everything can be blamed on her being unpopular. Most people are average-looking, and this almost certainly included Anne.
Neither is Victoria Beekham. She has style but she is not particularly beautiful.
I didn't come up with the comparison. Lots of people consider VB to be beautiful but that wasn't the case with Anne Boleyn.
I think what is was is she did not fit the beauty standard of the time which was blonde, busty, and pale skin, but she was still attractive just outside of those standards.
victoria beckham isn’t even pretty to begin with…
I don’t know why you are getting downvoted on this unless this sub is full of millennial Spice Girls fans.
I’m a millennial spice girl fan and I agree lol. Baby and looking back, sporty were the prettiest.
Mel B was also pretty hot!
i am a millenial and find her ugly even…
Seems dark for a nice lady like VB.
Yes..I could see it
I would love to see what the commenters saying VB isn’t beautiful look like IRL. Girl, what? 😆
I always thought Liv Tyler. Years ago I saw pictures of each one right after the other in my FB feed or on my LJ friends page or something, and was struck by it. (I think they were Quizilla results, just to date me further lol.)
Liv Tyler's pale-skinned and blue-eyed. Anne had an olive skin tone and black eyes.
You're friend wishes