What did Anne Boleyn look like?

Anne Boleyn was the second unfortunate bride of Henry VIII. It is well known that she met a sticky end on the king's chopping block and it is also quite well known that she was the mother to one of England's greatest monarchs- Elizabeth I, but there has been dispute over what she looked like.  

Unlike her sister Mary Boleyn and her mother- in- law Elizabeth of York, Anne was not an English rose. A Medieval and Tudor woman's ideal looks were long blonde hair, bright blue eyes and papery skin that showed the blue veins. If you look at the surviving portraits of Henry's second queen, she has long dark hair, enchanting black eyes and olive skin. She is also said to have had a 'pretty mouth' and a tall and slender stature. 

Usually when of Anne Boleyn's appearance, we think of six fingers and warts. It is likely that the propaganda about her ugliness was started by the Catholic propagandist Nicholas Sanders who describes Anne as 'rather tall of stature' with 'an oval face with a sallow complexion, as if troubled by jaundice'. He also tells us of her 'projecting tooth' and 'her right hand, six fingers' as well the' large wen under her chin'! However he does contradict himself at the end of this vile description because he adds: "She was handsome to look at with a pretty mouth.". Therefore we can probably establish that she was a least a bit pretty if a man who hated her could add it in a rotten description! Also, other accounts of her possessing an ugly appearance came about when her royal husband was trying to dispose of her. And to be honest, she couldn't have been to ugly if Henry fell in love with her and went to great lengths to marry her! But he later blamed his falling in love with Anne to be down to witchcraft, of course this is just propaganda.

For more about the rumour of Anne Boleyn's supposed sixth finger click here.