The Other Boleyn Girl

Just watched "The Other Boleyn Girl" last night. I was struck by how easy it is for a monarch to dictate the lives of the people under him, even his queen/s. The only reason why King Henry VIII married Anne in the first place is because she would not allow him to be intimate with her unless they get married and she becomes queen. He therefore cut ties with the Catholic church and set up his own Church of England so that he could have his marriage to Catherine, his first wife, annulled, since the Pope did not want to grant him an annulment. Anne got pregnant soon after her pregnancy but gave birth to a daughter rather to the son that the kind desperately wanted. King Henry's roving eye was already seeking other women by then. Eventually, Queen Anne Boleyn was beheaded on charges of adultery, treason and incest, even if no concrete proof was given.

The narration is supposedly by Mary Boleyn, Anne's sister, who became Henry's mistress way before he married Anne.

I do not know how much artistic license was applied in this case, or if this story is historicall accurate, but it certainly was an entertaining movie. Maybe I should read the book.