By 1525, Catherine and Henry no longer lived together as a normal married couple would. Henry became convinced that the marriage was cursed as he had married his brother’s widow. He had also met Anne Boleyn.

Henry wanted to end his marriage to Catherine. However, there was a problem for him. The Roman Catholic Church did not recognise or accept divorce. Henry, as with everybody else in England, was a Roman Catholic. He expected the Roman Catholic Church to make an exception for him as he was king of England. However, the Roman Catholic Church refused to do so.

Between 1527 and 1530, Henry did all that he could to end his marriage to Catherine. All his attempts failed. Throughout these difficult two years, Catherine maintained a dignity about herself and the situation she was in that further endeared her to the people.

In 1530 Henry decided on a different course of action. He decided that he was absolute ruler in all areas in his kingdom – and that included religion and answering religious questions. This was the start of the process that lead to the break from Rome and the Roman Catholic Church and ultimately led to the creation of the Church of England.

The divorce case came before a court in May 10th 1533. It was held in Dunstable and was lead by Archbishop Cranmer – recently appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Henry. Catherine refused to attend. The case ran its course and the marriage was declared null and void on May 23rd 1533 which gave Henry the divorce he needed. The Roman Catholic Church in Rome refused to recognise the legality of the divorce – not that this affected Henry who had already married Anne Boleyn.

After the divorce, Catherine had to endure not being allowed to see her daughter Mary. She also had to live in less comfortable circumstances than she would have been used to as queen of England.

Catherine died in 1536 probably of cancer. When Henry heard of her death, he celebrated at a banquet dressed in bright yellow from head to toes.