Anne requested a meeting with her mother, father, brother and uncle shortly after Henry had left her chambers. She was granted a meeting and told them her news when it came around.
"Anne why did you call a meeting? You have successfully bedded the King, what else do you want?" Began her impatient father.
Anne knew that she had to tell her secret to be taken seriously "I am with child" she proclaimed
"The King's?" Verified her uncle.
Anne was offended and shot back a rude response. She still disliked her uncle "Yes uncle the King's child. Do you believe me to be a harlot?"
Her brother, George and her father chuckled at Anne's pure wit but her uncle looked displeased.
"Anyway" returned Anne "What am I to do?"
Her mother answered "There is nothing you can do. Simply keep it a secret."
"I have told the King" Anne admitted
"What did you do that for?" George harshly questioned
Anne replied "Well it's the Kings child. He has a right to know."
Anne's mother was looking distressed at Anne's last confession so Anne asked "Why is it so different if I told the King?"
"Anne you are young and inexperienced in these matters" Anne knew a lecture was coming from her mother "A child born or conceived out of wedlock can be fatal for a family reputation. We could be destitute and you ruined. You must claim it was a mistake and you aren't carrying or loose it. You can never be married to a man with a wife."
Despite her news of the Katherine dispatch, Anne knew she couldn't tell even her closest family. She wouldn't even have told Mary had she still been alive. "I will not loose my child, nor claim it was a mistake and I am not carrying. I will simply hope for a boy and hope Catherine faces a terrible illness making Henry a widow."
Her uncle was skeptical "Dangerous words from a woman in your position. You have dark thoughts that you should rid yourself of, Katherine is in good health."
Anne could do nothing but close the meting. She hoped she would gain support from her family, but clearly she was mistaken. She only had Henry and hope for a boy. She dreaded what would happen if she had a girl.
Katherine had been moved to a castle in the North so Henry could appear to have actions matching the fake contract. Although her faith in her husband was beginning to recover, Katherine still wrote to the Pope expressing her concern as she threatened to do in the tower:
Your Holiness,
I have received the pardoning papers sent from Rome to clear me of my sins. The crime they were for was not one I had committed but still I thank you for the offer of pardon. I must ask the legitimacy of the papers however as the language was Italian and not Latin- I am not questioning the Lord or your judgement but I must ask for my own safety.
Sincere Blessings
Queen Katherine of England and Aragon.
The letter was beautifully written in Katherine's perfect handwriting and was sealed with the seal of the queen. It was unmistakably obvious in its importance and simply beamed 'threatening to the King'.
Katherine sent the letter to the Pope through her private messenger, however it never arrived in the Vatican. Henry received news that Katherine had released her private messenger with an urgent letter and sent a guard to intercept it. The guard paid the messenger to give up the letter and lie to Katherine if it's deliverance, the messenger agreed and returned to Katherine with enough money to pay rent for 4 months.
The guard returned the letter to Henry as instructed. Henry received the letter whilst he was at lunch with Anne. He laughed when he read it and then passed it to Anne who positively chortled with laughter.
"I thought you said Katherine was difficult to trick" teased Anne
Henry gave a deep laugh "Apparently she isn't. Stupid woman."
"You did a good job to stop this letter, it could have been your downfall." exclaimed Anne with flirtatious congratulations.
"Oh yes, but I have an excellent selection of loyal guards. Nothing gets past me" he announced proudly.
Henry put the letter in his pocket so it couldn't be found and joked "Dear Katherine, surely she'd realize that i'm smarter than her and would have been checking any suspicious letters. It doesn't get any more suspicious than a letter written in her handwriting and closed by the queens royal seal, travelling by her own private messenger."
Katherine might not have realized that Henry was intercepting her letters straight away, but when she got no response to 5 letters sent over 10 weeks, she started to wonder. She had to get a message to the Pope now she was starting to doubt the legitimacy of the scroll of even more. She came up with a new idea and wrote to Henry to start her plan:
Dearest Husband,
Whilst I appreciate your generosity of sending me to a beautiful castle in the North, I feel lonely. Please can you send each of my ladies and personal staff to be with me, I miss Court and need to see some faces I know and dearly admire. Thank you again for your surprise holiday to the North after allowing me to be pardoned.
Your Wife
Queen Katherine of England and Aragon.
Katherine sealed it with the queens seal and sent it by her own private messenger, that way she could be sure Henry receives it. If she got her wish, then she would know that Henry still loved her a little and might even take her back. The letter wasn't threatening and gave away none of her plan although she could have complained easily. The castle she was at was cold and damp, she had minimal servants and was confined to the Castle walls due to the constant cold temperatures and wind. Even if she wanted to walk she couldn't, the castle possessed no grounds and was guarded by a deep moat.
Henry received Katherine's letter and suspected nothing. He sent her her staff and ladies to carry on pretending he was standing by his word. He knew of the awful conditions in the Castle where he had imprisoned his wife and just hoped that the staff would be alright through the cold winter that approached.
Katherine was excited to see her staff and ladies and ran out to greet them despite her age. She was particularly excited to see Jane Seymour who was her favourite maid and formed the next part of her plan. As the servants unpacked the small amount of possessions owned by Katherine's staff, Katherine called Jane to her chamber to explain her situation:
"I need to tell you something important Jane. I am telling you and only you because you are my most trusted friend and lady." she began.
Jane nodded in excitement of being named favourite lady.
"When I was in the tower, Henry came to me with a scroll written in Italian. He told me it was a pardon sent by the Pope so I signed it (I didn't have much of a choice). I'm not sure of it's legitimacy as it wasn't written in Latin."
Jane asked "Have you written to his Holiness to express your concern your majesty?"
Katherine smiled "That's where I need you. Henry has been intercepting all of my letters so I can't get any out of the county. He isn't intercepting yours though so you could write on my behalf, explaining my situation and the reason I can't write myself."
Jane was nervous about her new and important job but was excited to be given such responsibility "Yes, your majesty" she exclaimed whilst sitting next to the queen at her desk "What do you want me to write?"
Katherine knew that Jane was completely unaware of how dangerous this letter could be for her but was happy to find someone who shared the same mutual hatred the Boleyns. Jane was a Seymour, she was from a noble and powerful family famous for their sensible beliefs and morals. The Seymours were lifelong rivals of the Boleyns so Jane had been brought up to hate them.
"Write what you think would be appropriate and then I will check it and change any parts I disagree with." Katherine suggested.
Jane picked up a quill and wrote:
Your holiness,
I am writing on behalf of Katherine of Aragon, a resilient Catholic. She has tried several times to contact you but her letters are being intercepted by Henry VIII, her husband. She was recently imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit and was framed for, she was forced to sign a letter of pardoning for her crime or face execution. Katherine signed the scroll out of desperation but is now doubting it's legitimacy as it was written in Italian and not Latin, therefore she couldn't read it and is unaware of what she has signed. Please can you put her suspicions to rest and confirm the legitimacy of the scroll and take any necessary actions in the event of a forgery.
Sincere Blessings,
Jane Seymour.
The letter was agreed with a few tweaks and was neatly written in Jane's adequate handwriting. It was folded and sealed with the Seymour seal before being sent to the Pope by a paid spy on a merchant ship travelling to Italy. There was no way that Henry could intercept the letter.
The letter was received by the Pope and a reply was sent to Katherine confirming her suspicions, a representative of the Vatican was sent to Henry with a stern and sudden notice from the Pope.
The representative arrived and read a decree to Henry "Henry VIII of England. Due to your forgery of a scroll that your wife was pressured to sign, you are hereby disconnected from the Catholic church and the Pope. Your country will no longer be considered Catholic and you will no longer be considered a Catholic ruler. We grant you a single leniency of not reporting the details of the scroll."
Henry was outraged by the news and the fact that Katherine had been able to get a letter past him. He turned to Anne who was smiling "Why are you happy? Do you mock me? I have been disconnected from my church, my faith."
Anne giggled, undoubtedly as a result of hormones "Make your own church then." she laughed "You are the King of England, make a Church of England that is run by you. Then you can do as you want."
Henry loved Anne's idea, he could control the religion of his people and gain ultimate power and wealth. He decided to pursue Anne's idea their and then and he ordered a message to be sent to everyone in the County explaining the Vatican's disconnection and his plans for the new church. Anne was excited by this news but couldn't show it as she had suddenly become very low and felt ill once again. Her morning sickness was still upon her and soon the Court would start to wonder about her.