Since Anne's rise and fall were steeped in drama and controversy, very little is ever said about her role as queen. That her reign was brief only accentuates this problem. But a queen was no figurehead in the 16th Century. Anne was already a great landowner since her elevation to Marquess of Pembroke, and all the lands and revenues that Katherine had previously been responsible for were now Anne's to govern. It is hard to say how much her unpopularity played a role in her generous nature, but Anne was very charitable, and it was often to Anne and not to Henry that people sought help from. Anne seemed to be particularly willing to aid other women, as long as they were deemed worthy, chaste and moral. One woman who was not deemed worthy was Anne's own sister, who was banished from court when she married a gentryman of no importance. This was a slight to Anne, since she was now supposed to be the head of the Boleyn clan and her advice and counsel should have been sought for.

Although Anne was essentially good at her role and both generous and wise, this mattered little to Henry. Anne's main purpose was still to provide an heir, and Henry became increasingly impatient with her. The tremendous strain of the divorce was taking its toll on Henry, since his position as Supreme Head of the Church was a dangerous one, and foreign countries disapproved of his new queen. Henry was all too aware that Spain or France could attack him, and England was vulnerable. Henry was excommunicated by the Pope later in 1538, and Henry was realizing that the gamble of marrying Anne might have been too great. But Henry and Anne's relationship was passionate, and quarrels were soon followed by loving remarks, and it is this volatile nature that makes their marriage so hard to understand, both for witnesses to their sparring, and for us today. It is clear, however, that if Henry was weakened, Anne was in even a more dangerous position, and Henry turned to Anne for blame.

The Act of Succession, a bull declaring Mary a bastard and making Elizabeth and any future children of Anne's the only legitimate heirs to the throne, was passed on March 23, 1534. This, along with Henry's Act of Supremacy, declaring him head of the Church, was meant to solidify the royal couple's position. There was still opposition to their plans, and Sir Thomas More, the "Man for All Seasons", was the figurehead for these disputes. That More never publicly declared his position against the king was of little importance. He was a greatly admired man for his learning, honour and dignity. It was a deep embarrassment to Henry that his old friend should so steadfastly refuse to acknowledge the divorce.

When the Act of Succession was passed, More, along with Bishop Fisher, refused to sign, and although he never said why, all knew his objections, though none dared to openly agree with him. Nothing could break his resolution that he was right, even the threat of death. When he was arrested and brought to the Tower, he still refused to sign. Henry had no choice but to remove this threat, and Anne was particularly concerned that More was silenced. In 1535, on July 6th, More was brought to the scaffold to be beheaded. He was to say "I die the king's good servant, but God's first." Again Henry, and the world, blamed Anne for the death of More, but can Anne really be taken to task for this act? True, she needed it to happen to protect both her and Elizabeth's position, but it was Henry's and More's stubbornness that made his death necessary.

Religion was also changing. In Germany, Martin Luther declared that the Church of Rome was corrupt and religious reform was necessary. In part, the church was indeed corrupt, in that they were getting rich on the poor man's money. Priests and nuns were telling the people to live in deference to God's wishes, yet they were some of the worst examples of excess at the time. Priests were performing sexual acts with nuns and choirboys alike; robbing, raping, and debasing the common people. When Henry dissolved the monasteries after Anne's death, all kinds of stolen goods were found, along with fake "relics" that were claimed to be remnants of the cross, Jesus' blood, and other false items. That Anne agreed with Luther's philosophy is both a sign of her deep devotion to a "truer" form of religion, and a need to ally herself with people opposing the Pope and the king of Spain. It is known that Anne wanted Elizabeth to be brought up in the new learning, which she insured by installing people in her daughter's retinue that agreed with Anne's beliefs. Anne was especially interested in Elizabeth's education; religion was only one of these considerations.

Anne's influence as queen was the real reason the Protestant religion was formed in England. Henry was still a Catholic at heart, even if he had to oppose the Pope to get his own way. The Anglican religion in Henry's reign was different from Catholicism in name only. That churchmen of Protestant leanings were being appointed in increasing numbers was Anne's doing, not Henry's.

Anne's marriage to Henry was only safe as long as Henry wanted it to be. As long as Katherine was alive, she was fairly safe, since to dispose Anne would be to accept Katherine, and Henry was hardly likely to go back to the barren Katherine. However, Anne was also finding it difficult to bear a son. Since we now know that a man's chromosome determines the sex of a child, it is all the more ironic that Henry blamed his wives for producing girls. Soon after the birth of Elizabeth, Anne became pregnant, yet the child was born dead. Again, history is vague as to the exact details of this failed pregnancy. It is thought that the delivery was in July of 1534, but we don't know if the child was a male or female fetus. It seems that the disappointment was too great to mention, yet most of what we now know about Anne is through writings by her worst enemies. It is therefore surprising that they didn't gloat about this great disappointment.

Greater disappointments were to follow. In June of 1535, Anne again had a failed pregnancy. Also to Anne's dismay, Henry had taken another mistress, Madge Shelton. Madge was soon replaced by a far more dangerous one, however, for Henry began to be interested in one of Anne's ladies-in-waiting, Jane Seymour. History was repeating itself, and again a queen was worried about one of her own ladies. Jane is usually treated kindly by history, by virtue of the birth of her son and subsequent death. Henry created her into a form of icon for dying for this great achievement, and Jane is the only wife who shares Henry's grave. Yet for all Jane's seeming meekness, it is likely that she was just as ruthless and as calculating as Anne was in becoming queen; certainly her brothers were very ambitious and had much to gain by their sister's advancement, and Jane was used as a pawn by Catholic enemies of Anne, groomed to be meek and submissive, in contrast to Anne's bold and courageous spirit.

That Anne was worried about Jane is both evident and justified. In one tale, Jane is shown on Henry's knee. Anne, pregnant for the last time, walked in on the playful couple, and found a necklace round Jane's neck with a likeness of her husband as a charm. She grabbed the necklace and ripped it off her opponent's neck, badly hurting her hand in the process. As long as Anne was pregnant, however, Henry really didn't dare move against her, and her enemies had to wait out the outcome of this delivery before they could attack.

On the 7th of January, 1536, Katherine of Aragon was finally delivered of her sufferings and died, most likely from a form of cancer. She had stubbornly clung to the title of queen and truly believed that Henry would return to her and cast off Anne. Katherine and her daughter were cruelly kept apart for years, and Mary was not even allowed to see her mother at her death. Instead of running back to his first wife, Henry was elated at the news of her death, and ordered the court to wear yellow in celebration. Anne as well was happy at first, declaring that "Now I am Queen indeed." But her joy was short lived, for she realized her own position was compromised. Henry ordered a joust to take place on the 27th, the day of Katherine's burial.

During the joust, Henry fell from his horse and lay unconscious for over two hours. Anne's uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, burst into her chambers and told her that the king was dead. We can easily imagine Anne's shock at the news, for her only protection was in Henry's will. Elizabeth would certainly never succeed before Mary, and it was uncertain what the outcome of her unborn child would be. Perhaps the people would rise against Anne, despite a male child. However, this is only speculation, since the shock of the news forced Anne into premature labour. Sadly, the child died, and worse yet, the child was clearly identified as a boy. It was said that she had "miscarried of her saviour." Henry, rather than being touched by his wife's reaction to his near-death experience, coldly said that "I see clearly that God does not wish to give me male children. You will get no more sons from me." Anne was now open season, and Jane and her supporters wasted no time in finding a way to remove her.