On this day in 1547, Henry VIII was buried. 

Following his death on 28th January 1547, Henry VIII was laid to rest in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in the same vault as his third wife, Jane Seymour – the woman who gave him his long-awaited male heir.

Today, a simple memorial slab marks his resting place beneath the Quire of St George’s Chapel. However, this vault also contains the remains of King Charles I, who was executed in 1649, and an infant child of Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch.

It is ironic that the woman Henry sought to erase – Anne Boleyn – now has a far more visited grave than he does. Buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London, Anne’s resting place continues to draw visitors who leave flowers and tributes in her memory. In contrast, Henry’s tomb, far from the grand monument he envisioned, is often overlooked.

In the end, Henry VIII – one of England’s most powerful and notorious kings – is remembered less for his own achievements and more for the six women he married. The very queens he sought to control and, in some cases, destroy, have outshone him in public memory.