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boasted that he had "ridden" her and a papal representative described her as "a very great and infamous whore." Retained as a maid-of-honor to the queen, Mary's rosy complexion soon caught the notice of Henry VIII. Her affair with Henry began some time around 1520, as 35-year-old Catherine approached an age when fathering a male heir was unlikely. Married off to Sir William Carey, Mary Boleyn herself never profited from her fling with the king. For Anne Boleyn, Mary's younger sister, it was a lesson well learned.
Anne Boleyn:"You will not stop till you have your King, Mistress Anne," Queen Catherine allegedly once quipped to maid-of-honor Anne
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Boleyn during a card game. Nor did she stop. Learning from her older sister's example, Anne Boleyn conducted a skillful six-year campaign of seduction that ultimately landed her her king. (See Anne Boleyn.) While Catherine's star faded, the king kissed his mistress publicly and favored her without remorse. The French ambassador believed it was so that "when the grand coup comes, it may not appear strange." But it would appear "strange," and England would be forever changed.
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