The King's Damsel

A real-life letter from Spanish Ambassador Eustace Chapuys, written on September 27, 1534, reported that the king had 'renewed and increased the love he formerly bore to another very handsome young lady of the Court' and that the queen had tried 'to dismiss the damsel from her service.' Other letters reveal that the mystery woman was a 'true friend' of the Princess (later Queen) Mary, Henry's daughter by Catherine of Aragon. Though no one knows who 'the king's damsel' really was, here Kate Emerson presents her as young gentlewoman Thomasine Lodge, a lady-in-waiting to King Henry's daughter, Princess Mary.

Thomasine becomes the Princess's confidante, especially as Henry's marriage to Catherine dissolves and tensions run high. When the king procures a divorce in order to marry Anne Boleyn, who is suspicious and distrustful of Mary, Mary has Thomasine placed in Anne's service to be her eyes and ears. And that's when she gets the attention of the king.