Katherine Howard

"I've spoken to God so rarely, I do not think he would know who I was." - Katherine Howard

Katherine Howard is the late fifth wife and queen of Henry Tudor. She is the youngest of his wives and is shown to be an immature and easily manipulated person, although this is due to her young age of 17. Henry slept with Katherine while still with his fourth wife Anne of Cleves, to whom Katherine was a lady in waiting. Katherine marries Henry in season four although their wedding isn't shown, but has sexual affairs with Thomas Culpepper and Henry is informed by an anonymous letter, presumably Katherine's lady in waiting Jane Boleyn. When discovering Katherine's sexual affairs, Henry orders her execution and despite her pleas for mercy he doesn't stop her execution. Katherine too fell victim to Henry's cruelty and landed on the scaffold like many of Henry's friends and courtiers, and even his wife, Katherine's cousin Anne Boleyn.

Legend has it that Katherine was Henry's most beautiful queen. Most critics agree on Katherine's appearance: she was small, plump and auburn-haired. Katherine Howard is subject to sympathy because of her young age and immaturity that caused her downfall. Henry cared deeply about Katherine Howard, and even uncharacteristically burst into tears upon finding out of Katherine's sexual affairs. Katherine was nicknamed the "rose without a thorn" by Henry and is sometimes called "the teen queen" by people today.

Biography
Katherine Howard was born in either 1521 or 1524 to Lord Edmund Howard. Her mother had died young and despite being a nobleman Edmund was constantly in debt. Katherine was the fourth of ten children and was brought up in her step mother's household.

Season Three
Katherine first appears in the third season finale. Henry meets her and is entranced by her. They make love for the first time and after Thomas Cromwell's execution, Henry is far away with his new mistress, who will soon become his fifth queen and wife.

Season Four
Henry has just married his fifth queen and seems to love her dearly. He is greatly taken with his lively new queen, and her youth rejuvinates him. However, Henry's daughter Mary instantly hates Katherine and despite the teen queen's efforts to be cordial, Mary's hatred prevails. Katherine inspires many admirers but the biggest of which is King Henry's groom Thomas Culpepper, who has his eye on the queen. However, this eventually turns into an affair with the help of Katherine's lady in waiting Jane Boleyn, who assists them in their adultery. Katherine has multiple sexual affairs with Culpepper but acts normal around Henry, who doesn't suspect a thing and believes her faithful.

Shortly before the end of the fourth season's fourth episode, Henry recieves an anonymous letter (actually from Cranmer) telling him of Katherine's sexual affairs. He believes it to be a fraud but nonetheless still has Katherine confined to her chambers. The Queen is shocked but can do nothing about it. The letter's claims prove to be true, and Henry responds uncharacteristically to this by bursting into tears the same way he did for her cousin Anne, proving he does care about Katherine. However, he won't let her live after she has committed adultery, and Katherine too is condemned. He also discovers that not only has Katherine cheated on him, but she had pre-marital sexual relations with Francis Dereham, whose execution is also ordered. Thomas Culpepper's execution is ordered too, so the three of them will pay with their lives and die for their crimes.

The night before her execution, Katherine asks for the wooden block on which she will be executed so she can practice on it. Seeming prepared, the next day Katherine's lover Thomas Culpepper is beheaded, and the man she had pre-marital sexual relations with, Francis Dereham, is hung, drawn and quartered. Katherine is shown Culpepper's head on a stick, and she freaks out.

The woman who assisted Katherine in her adultery, Lady Jane Boleyn, better known as Lady Rochford, is also executed and then comes the queen's execution. Katherine makes a speech and says that she would rather die as Culpepper's wife but dies as a Queen, and she is beheaded, marking the end of Katherine Howard.

In the last episode of the series, Anne Boleyn appears to Henry in a dream sequence and defends her cousin, telling Henry of the cruel deaths she and Katherine Howard had suffered, saying about Katherine, "Poor child. It was not her fault either. But we were moths drawn to the flame and burned." Anne disappears, and it is strange that Katherine did not appear to defend herself or her cousin's case since she too was personally wronged by the King and suffered unjustly.