Days that Shook the World - Series 2 (30 minutes) - Execution of Anne Boleyn

After just three years of marriage to King Henry VIII, Queen Anne Boleyn is under arrest in the Tower of London and about to become the first English Queen in history to be executed. This film reconstructs the harrowing story of Anne's final hours and reveals the circumstances that led to her execution. When Anne was crowned Queen of England in May 1533, it was a triumphant moment for a woman who had gambled everything on the love of Henry VIII. Yet Henry's infatuation with his clever and outspoken second wife was not to last. From the moment she gave birth to their daughter Elizabeth, and not the son and heir he craved, Anne became vulnerable to the endless political machinations of a ruthless court system, in which politcal success or failure was the difference between life and death. Anne fell victim to a swift and devastating coup masterminded by the King's first minister Thomas Cromwell. Within a fortnight of her arrest, Anne, her brother and several of her closest allies at court were convicted of treason and sent to their deaths. The film tells the story of Anne's final hours, including; Henry's 'merciful' decision not to have Anne burnt at the stake, but to be beheaded with a sword by an executioner from Calais; Anne's declaration of innocence at her last sacrament; and the spies that surrounded her at the Tower and how their information contributed towards her downfall.