Dr. Angela Ranson - Author

Tudor Tale of the Week

Mother or Daughter?

This image is usually labelled as Anne Boleyn.  New research suggests that it might actually be Elizabeth’s face on Anne’s body.  It was designed to connect Elizabeth to her mother through resemblance, and thus show a divine line of succession.  It sounds unlikely because Anne didn’t have a good reputation during Elizabeth’s reign, and some say Elizabeth had to distance herself from a mother many people called ‘the great whore’.  But - this portrait was painted in the later sixteenth century, when it might have been safer to make the connection between Anne and Elizabeth.  I’m still skeptical - how about you?