Editing The Private Life of Henry VIII (section)

==Historicity==
===Accuracy===
[[File:Godfrey phillips laughton card.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Laughton on vintage cigarette card]]
''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' is credited with creating the popular image of [[Henry VIII]] as a fat, lecherous glutton who eats turkey legs and tosses bones over his shoulder (although in the film, what Henry eats is actually an entire [[capon]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.debunkingmandelaeffects.com/painting-of-henry-viii-holding-a-turkey-leg/|title=Painting of Henry VIII Holding a Turkey Leg – Debunking Mandela Effects|website=debunkingmandelaeffects.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thebestpictureproject.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/the-private-life-of-henry-viii/|title=The Private Life of Henry VIII|date=30 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aoUxL33ijmwC&q=%22Private+Life+of+Henry+VIII%22+chicken&pg=PA30|title=Body in Medical Culture, The|date=16 April 2009 |publisher=SUNY Press|via=Google Books|isbn=9781438425962}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6E-caLC4HZEC&q=%22Private+Life+of+Henry+VIII%22+chicken&pg=PA259|title=The Age of the Dream Palace: Cinema and Society in 1930s Britain|first=Jeffrey|last=Richards|date=10 February 1984|publisher=I.B. Tauris|via=Google Books|isbn=9781848851221}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historytoday.com/greg-walker/private-life-henry-viii|title=The Private Life of Henry VIII|work=History Today}}</ref> Historian [[Alison Weir]] has pointed out that this image is contradicted by primary sources, noting: "As a rule, Henry did not dine in the great halls of his palaces, and his table manners were highly refined, as was the code of etiquette followed at his court. He was in fact a most fastidious man, and—for his time—unusually obsessed with hygiene. As for his pursuit of the ladies, there is plenty of evidence, but most of it fragmentary, for Henry was also far more discreet and prudish than we have been led to believe. These are just superficial examples of how the truth about historical figures can become distorted."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SA7A89d0W2YC&q=%22Private+Life+of+Henry+VIII%22+chicken&pg=PP13|title=Henry VIII: King and Court|first=Alison|last=Weir|date=18 April 2011|publisher=Random House|via=Google Books|isbn=9781446449233}}</ref>

[[Catherine of Aragon]] is excluded from the script because she was a "respectable woman," in the words of the introductory titles,{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=89}} but the exclusion may have occurred because the real-life Catherine stubbornly refused to allow Henry to marry Anne Boleyn, a fact that might have weakened the audience's identification with the king. The film also does not mention that Boleyn was convicted of false charges of [[incest]] with her brother, who was also executed, a fact that might have pitted the audience against Henry.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=90}} The film inaccurately depicts Henry marrying [[Jane Seymour]] on the same day as Boleyn was beheaded (19 May 1536); in fact, Henry only obtained permission to remarry that day, marrying Seymour on 30 May 1536.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=91}} The film's portrayal of Seymour as a vain, stupid, childlike woman contradicts some accounts that the real Seymour was an intelligent woman.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=91}}

[[Anne of Cleves]] is inaccurately shown in love with another man before she marries Henry, and this is presented as her reason for wanting to end the marriage. The relationship is played for comic effect, but the real process of ending the marriage lasted several weeks rather than over the course of a single night as portrayed in the film. Anne's desire to remain in England is attributed to her love for Peynell in the film, but in reality, her motivation may have been to escape the tyrannical supervision of her stern brother, [[William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg]].{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=93}}

According to historical accounts, [[Catherine Howard]] was an immature teenager of limited intelligence who did not realize the grave risk involved with her adultery.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=94}} However, the film portrays Howard as a mature, intelligent woman who knew the risks of adultery, an inaccuracy that may have been intended to elicit audience sympathy for Henry's decision to have her executed.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=94}}

[[Catherine Parr]] may also have been inaccurately portrayed; rather than a nagging tyrant, the real Parr was an intellectual with a strong interest in [[theology]] and a gentle demeanour who engaged Henry in intellectual discussions about religion in his final years.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=95}}

===Contemporary echos===
Historian Greg Walker has noted that Korda integrated references to contemporary political issues, as the film anachronistically refers to the [[Holy Roman Empire]] as Germany and portrays the empire as more united than it really was at the time.<ref name="Walker">{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Greg |title=The Private Life of Henry VII |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/private-life-henry-viii |access-date=10 April 2021 |publisher=History Today |date=9 September 2001}}</ref> The frequent wars between Holy Roman Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] against [[Francis I of France|King Francis I]] of France are depicted as examples of [[French–German enmity]], with Henry attempting to act as peacemaker.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=54-55}} The film inaccurately portrays the French fighting Germans in the [[Habsburg-Valois wars]] rather than the Spanish.<ref name="Walker"/>

In the [[interwar period]], the [[Treaty of Versailles]] was widely considered in Britain to be excessively harsh toward Germany, and successive British governments attempted to promote revision of the Versailles treaty in Germany's favour while also guarding against a resurgence of German militarism.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=54-55}} The [[Locarno Treaties]] of 1925 were an attempt to improve Franco-German relations, and evidence suggests that this policy was very popular with the British people.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=55}} Henry's monologue warning that the French and Germans will destroy Europe because of their mutual hatred and declaring that it is his duty to save the peace may have been understood by a 1933 British audience as an allegory for the current British policy of leniency toward Germany.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=54-55}}

The film possibly refers to the 1932 [[World Disarmament Conference]] and the current debate about rearmament when Henry is warned by Thomas Cromwell that spending on the navy will "cost us much money," to which he retorts that not to spend money on the navy will "cost us England."{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=57}} Korda disliked the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]'s call for disarmament, and Henry's message in the film may have been a rebuke to those who called for Britain to continue with disarmament{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=55-56}} and to those in the government who were cutting military spending in light of the [[Great Depression]].{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=56-57}}

In the 1920s and '30s, many in Britain bristled at Hollywood's domination of the film industry;{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=29-30}} by 1925, only 5% of the films shown in Britain were British.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=31}} In 1932, Sir [[Stephen Tallents]] called for "The Projection of England", warning that if the British film industry failed to tell its own stories that would define Britain, then Hollywood would do so.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=30}} This sparked interest in the [[Tudor period|Tudor era]]{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=30}} and an image of the period as a prosperous, happy time untroubled by class divisions and economic depressions.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=30}} The character of [[John Bull]] was portrayed as uncultured but kind, boisterous and exuberant, all qualities perceived as typically British.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=31}} His lack of sophistication hid a mind that was shrewd and cunning, also a reflection of British self-image at the time.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=31}} Korda, a Hungarian immigrant who craved acceptance in Britain, may have ascribed much of John Bull's imagery and traits to Henry VIII in the film.{{sfn|Walker|2003|p=31}}