There was a time, despite what the wagging tongues at Court might wish to imply, that I did love my wife, Katherine of Aragon, quite dearly. Although ours was certainly a marriage of political convenience-- she was, of course, first wedded to my older brother Arthur, who was meant to inherit the throne from our father, but died before that could happen-- requiring a special Papal dispensation to make possible, I held great and true affection for the woman.
She has, in all the years of our marriage and my reign as King of England, shown nothing but the most perfect Christian devotion to myself as husband, lord and ruler.
I am, however, unlike my brother was and would likely to have been as King. Where he was slight and small and of much more serious mien, being Prince of Wales and groomed as heir to the throne, I have always been... of more robust and energetic natures. Arthur, no doubt, would have been a fine ruler and one most satisfied with the kind words and occasional warm bed, I have been forced to accept the fact that I am not.
God created this world, and has filled it to bursting with wonders and delights. Anyone who has witnessed the sun rise, or returned to a bare field after the summer months to find it grown thick with crops or heard a most perfect piece of music brought to life by a choir knows that one must experience the world in order to appreciate it.
And women. Yes, perhaps the Almighty has gifted us with no more pleasant wonder than the fairer sex. There is nothing about them that is not alluring, from their soft skin to their gentle curves to their flowing hair to the scent that is all their own. I could not, I have found, bear to not know what it is to be with a woman in all the act's many faces and shapes.
I am, as my good friends have called me, a man of action. This I showed upon the battlefield, and it is only natural that I show it in every aspect of my life. And so, yes, I have taken mistresses. I have lain with my Queen's ladies-in-waiting and enjoyed their bodies and their beds and their most accommodating and enjoyable company, all their charms and their excitement. It is my release from the pressures of ruling as great a kingdom as England... my reward for my triumphs, and my respite from my difficulties.
And no, I am no liar. I do not pretend to be a true and faithful husband. I cannot claim that virtue.
But I can live without it.
She has, in all the years of our marriage and my reign as King of England, shown nothing but the most perfect Christian devotion to myself as husband, lord and ruler.
I am, however, unlike my brother was and would likely to have been as King. Where he was slight and small and of much more serious mien, being Prince of Wales and groomed as heir to the throne, I have always been... of more robust and energetic natures. Arthur, no doubt, would have been a fine ruler and one most satisfied with the kind words and occasional warm bed, I have been forced to accept the fact that I am not.
God created this world, and has filled it to bursting with wonders and delights. Anyone who has witnessed the sun rise, or returned to a bare field after the summer months to find it grown thick with crops or heard a most perfect piece of music brought to life by a choir knows that one must experience the world in order to appreciate it.
And women. Yes, perhaps the Almighty has gifted us with no more pleasant wonder than the fairer sex. There is nothing about them that is not alluring, from their soft skin to their gentle curves to their flowing hair to the scent that is all their own. I could not, I have found, bear to not know what it is to be with a woman in all the act's many faces and shapes.
I am, as my good friends have called me, a man of action. This I showed upon the battlefield, and it is only natural that I show it in every aspect of my life. And so, yes, I have taken mistresses. I have lain with my Queen's ladies-in-waiting and enjoyed their bodies and their beds and their most accommodating and enjoyable company, all their charms and their excitement. It is my release from the pressures of ruling as great a kingdom as England... my reward for my triumphs, and my respite from my difficulties.
And no, I am no liar. I do not pretend to be a true and faithful husband. I cannot claim that virtue.
But I can live without it.