A Voice Like A Woman . - Tumblr Posts

One thing about the Tudors that always fascinates me is what they were actually like as individuals, how they were as people - What did Henry VIII sound like? How tall exactly were his wives? Did Anne Boleyn have a slight French accent? One Tudor monarch we have a significant description of is Queen Mary I. A Venetian ambassador had this to say about her:

“She is of low rather than of middling stature. She is of a spare and delicate frame, quite unlike her father, who was tall and stout; nor does she resemble her mother, who, if not tall, was nevertheless bulky. Her face is well formed, as shown by her features and lineaments, and as seen by her portraits. When younger she was considered, not merely tolerably handsome, but of beauty exceeding mediocrity. At present, with the exception of some wrinkles, caused more by anxieties than by age, which makes her appear some years older, her aspect, for the rest, is very grave. Her eyes are so piercing that they inspire not only respect, but fear in those on whom she fixes them, although she is very shortsighted, being unable to read or do anything else unless she has her sight quite close to what she wishes to peruse or to see distinctly. Her voice is rough and loud, almost like a man’s, so that when she speaks she is always heard a long way off.”