Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, once married, then divorced, will be reunited in London’s National Portrait Gallery after a portrait of the devoutly Catholic queen was discovered in Lambeth Palace according to the Jan. 25, Guardian.
“A portrait always thought to be of Catherine Parr, Henry's sixth wife who survived him, was in fact a depiction of the other Catherine – his first wife and the one his quest to divorce led to the titanic split with the Catholic church,” the London-based newspaper reported.
The portrait was discovered hanging in a private sitting room of the official residence of the archbishop of Canterbury. The find, which the NPG's Charlotte Bolland called "an exciting discovery," was made while on a mission to research a portrait of William Warham, the archbishop of Canterbury who joined Henry and Catherine in holy matrimony in 1509.
Beginning Jan. 25, the portrait of Catherine of Aragon, on loan to the NPG for five years, will be displayed in Room 1 at the National Portrait Gallery - reunited with a portrait of Henry VIII.
Hanging next to the unhappy couple is the other woman, Anne Boleyn, who was Henry's second wife until she met an untimely death - by beheading, in 1536.
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