Philippa Gregory 3-Book Tudor Collection 1: The Constant Princess, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Boleyn Inheritance
From the bestselling author of THE WHITE QUEEN - the first three novels of her Tudor Court series: THE CONSTANT PRINCESS, THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL, THE BOLEYN INHERITANCETHE CONSTANT PRINCESS tells the story of Henry VIII’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon, the Spanish princess raised to be Queen of England and first brought to England to marry Henry’s older brother, Prince Arthur. But when her new husband dies, she must fight for her birthright – and in marrying the now heir to the throne, she must tell the greatest lie… and hold to it.THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL, made famous by the film adaptation, tells the story of the less notorious Boleyn sister, Mary, who catches the wandering eye of the young King Henry VIII. But when he tires of her, she sets out to school her sister, Anne, as a replacement – and before their story is over, the course of English history has been irrevocably changed. Politics and passion are inextricably bound together in this compelling drama.In THE BOLEYN INHERITANCE, the court of Henry VIII is increasingly fearful at the moods of the ageing sick king. With only a baby in the cradle for an heir, Henry must take another wife and the dangerous prize of the crown of England is won by Anne of Cleves. Anne, although fascinated by the glamour of her new surroundings, senses a trap closing around her. Katherine Howard is confident that she can follow in the steps of her cousin Anne Boleyn to dazzle her way to the throne but her kinswoman Jane Boleyn, haunted by the past, knows that Anne’s path led to Tower Green and to an adulterer’s death.
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PHILIPPA GREGORY
TUDOR COLLECTION VOLUME 1
The Constant Princess
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Boleyn Inheritance
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it, while based on historical events, are the work of the author’s imagination.
Harper
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2001, 2005, 2006
Copyright © Philippa Gregory Ltd 2001, 2005, 2006
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
Philippa Gregory asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBNs:
The Constant Princess 9780007190317
The Other Boleyn Girl 9780006514008
The Boleyn Inheritance 9780007190331
Ebook Edition © JULY 2013 ISBN: 9780007518739
Version: 2016-10-06
Contents
PHILIPPA GREGORY
THE CONSTANT PRINCESS
For Anthony
Contents
Dedication
Dogmersfield Palace, Hampshire, Autumn 1501
Blackfriars Hall The Papal Legate sitting as a court to hear the King’s Great Matter, June 1529
There was a scream, and then the loud roar of fire enveloping silken hangings, then a mounting crescendo of shouts of panic that spread and spread from one tent to another as the flames ran too, leaping from one silk standard to another, running up guy ropes and bursting through muslin doors. Then the horses were neighing in terror and men shouting to calm them, but the terror in their own voices made it worse, until the whole plain was alight with a thousand raging blazes, and the night swirled with smoke and rang with shouts and screams.
The little girl, starting up out of her bed in her fear, cried out in Spanish for her mother and screamed: ‘The Moors? Are the Moors coming for us?’
‘Dear God, save us, they are firing the camp!’ her nurse gasped. ‘Mother of God, they will rape me, and spit you on their sickle blades.’
‘Mother!’ cried the child, struggling from her bed. ‘Where is my mother?’
She dashed outside, her nightgown flapping at her legs, the hangings of her tent now alight and blazing up behind her in an inferno of panic. All the thousand, thousand tents in the camp were ablaze, sparks pouring up into the dark night sky like fiery fountains, blowing like a swarm of fireflies to carry the disaster onwards.
‘Mother!’ She screamed for help.
Out of the flames came two huge, dark horses, like great, mythical beasts moving as one, jet black against the brightness of the fire. High up, higher than one could dream, the child’s mother bent down to speak to her daughter who was trembling, her head no higher than the horse’s shoulder. ‘Stay with your nurse and be a good girl,’ the woman commanded, no trace of fear in her voice. ‘Your father and I have to ride out and show ourselves.’
‘Let me come with you! Mother! I shall be burned. Let me come! The Moors will get me!’ The little girl reached her arms up to her mother.
The firelight glinted weirdly off the mother’s breastplate, off the embossed greaves of her legs, as if she were a metal woman, a woman of silver and gilt, as she leaned forwards to command. ‘If the men don’t see me, then they will desert,’ she said sternly. ‘You don’t want that.’
‘I don’t care!’ the child wailed in her panic. ‘I don’t care about anything but you! Lift me up!’
‘The army comes first,’ the woman mounted high on the black horse ruled. ‘I have to ride out.’
She turned her horse’s head from her panic-stricken daughter. ‘I will come back for you,’ she said over her shoulder. ‘Wait there. I have to do this now.’
Helpless, the child watched her mother and father ride away. ‘Madre!’ she whimpered. ‘Madre! Please!’ but the woman did not turn.
