Katherine Howard

## Catherine Howard

* Current West End portrayal
* Current Broadway portrayal
* Historical

**Katherine Howard** (or **Catherine Howard**) was the fifth wife of Henry VIII and one of the six queens in SIX. She was beheaded after being accused of adultery. Her solo is *All You Wanna Do*, which is about her life story and how, from a young age, she was taken advantage of and abused by many men in her life.

## Appearance

### Main

Katherine's main costume consists of a black-and-pink vertically-striped top with black sleeves and a black choker with a "K" charm hanging from it, which stands for "Katherine". She also wears short black shorts reminiscent of a leotard bottom, and a sheer pink skirt over it that opens in the front. Katherine also wears tights, black boots, and her hair up in a high ponytail held with a spiky cuff. Her hair is usually dyed pink on the tips.

### Swings

When portrayed by a swing or alternate, Katherine wears the performing outfit of each respective actress, her hair up in a ponytail with spikes being her defining feature.

## In History

Katherine was probably born in Lambeth in about 1523, but the exact date of her birth is unknown. Katherine moved in with her step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess, who had many wards who she educated and trained in etiquette. The Duchess was reportedly often away and thus the young girls she was raising were not disciplined and misbehaved. Katherine Howard, as a result of this, became influenced by some older girls who were involved with sex, drinking, and stealing. Because she became involved with these things at a young age, Katherine became vulnerable to men who tried to take advantage of her, and she didn't realize there was much wrong with this. Katherine took dance and music classes, which she enjoyed, but one of her music teachers, Henry Mannox (who is referenced in *All You Wanna Do*), reportedly had a sexual relationship with Katherine, who at the time was probably 13 or 14, while Mannox was in his 30s. Some further investigation suggests that Mannox was simply a predator who was grooming Katherine and pressuring her to have sex with him, which she later explained she did not do, but did engage in other sexual activities with him.

After leaving the relationship with Mannox, Katherine was soon pursued by Francis Dereham, her step-grandmother's secretary. They reportedly became lovers, despite Dereham being much older than her as this was fairly common in those days, treating each other as husband and wife and maybe even planning on getting married before the Duchess found out and ended the relationship. In SIX, it is further implied that Dereham was another predator and, historically, sources say that Dereham forced himself upon Katherine.

Katherine's uncle secured her with a position in the Court of Anna of Cleves, where she became a lady-in-waiting. She caught Henry's eye, and due to her personality and beauty, he quickly became more and more interested in her, therefore also making her and her family more important in the royal world, which was possible Katherine's uncle's plan all along. Henry gave her many gifts, describing her as the "very jewel of womanhood" and many other terms of endearment. Henry married her on July 28, 1540, when she was still a teenager. Katherine was too young to take part in queenly duties, but Henry apparently "indulged her every whim" and claimed to love her dearly. She was treated grandly nonetheless. In 1540 Katherine escaped London, which was overrun with plague. They stayed in Woking, where the king embarked on a lavish spending spree to celebrate his marriage to Katherine.

Now, there are claims that Katherine was involved romantically or sexually with Henry's courtier, Thomas Culpeper. She had allegedly considered marrying Culpeper before she wed Henry, and there is speculation that the two were meeting in secret. But then, Katherine began to get blackmailed by some people who claimed to have witnessed her sexual behavior with Dereham and Mannox, threatening to tell the King about this promiscuity if she didn't do assorted favors for them. One woman, Mary Lascelles, was urged by her brother John to blackmail Katherine into getting a position in the royal chamber, which she didn't want to do to Katherine. John took it up with the Archbishop, who spoke to Mary about it. Mary revealed the truth about Katherine having sexual relations before being wed to Henry. The King was eventually notified about this, and Katherine was questioned. She denied being purposefully promiscuous, and claimed that she had been raped. Her title of queen was taken away, and she was imprisoned, and later forced to return her ring, though the marriage was never officially annulled. Culpeper and Dereham were killed for treason.

Katherine remained in jail before a new law was passed that the Queen must give the King her full sexual history within 20 days of marriage, and failing to do so, or committing adultery, was punishable by death. Even though this law was passed after her marriage, it made her immediately guilty, and she was taken back to jail without a trial, allegedly panicking and screaming as she was taken there. Her execution was scheduled for the morning of February 13, 1542. The night before her beheading, she is believed to have spent much time practicing laying her head on the block. During her execution she was allegedly petrified, and needed help climbing the scaffold. She made the standard speech describing her punishment as "worthy and just" and asking forgiveness for her sins. Many believe her last words were, "I die a Queen, but I would rather have died the wife of Culpeper", although this isn't confirmed, and her last words were most likely her speech, which was in the manner of repentance to protect her family from harm. Katherine was beheaded with a single stroke of the axe (however, this is not confirmed, but there is some belief that the axe got stuck in her back and it took nearly an hour to get it out).

## In SIX

Katherine is portrayed as bubbly, sassy, and fun. Her outfit purposely shows the most skin, as a small nod to the fact that she has always been known for her body and taken advantage of sexually. Katherine's solo is *All You Wanna Do*, where she details her life of sexual abuse. In the end, Katherine and the other queens realize that fighting over who is the best is pointless and she, along with the other queens, performs *Six*, where her ideal ending to her life is avoiding Mannox's advances towards her, which would eventually lead up to her unfortunate and untimely demise, and become musically talented, singing for all her life. She performs *Megasix* at the very end, with a reprise of *All You Wanna Do*.

### Portrayal History

**Original Edinburgh and Cambridge productions**

* Annabel Marlow

**Original Off-West End production**

* Aimie Atkinson

**West End productions**

* Aimie Atkinson (First West End production)
* Vicki Manser (Second West End production)
* Sophie Isaacs (Second West End production)
* Tsemaye Bob-Egbe (Third West End production)
* Koko Basigara (Fourth West End production)

**UK tours**

* Aimie Atkinson (First UK tour)
* Jodie Steele (Second UK tour)
* Vicki Manser (Third UK tour)
* Jaina Brock-Patel (Fourth UK tour)
* Rebecca Wickes (Fourth UK tour)

**Broadway productions**

* Samantha Pauly (First Broadway production)
* Zoe Jensen (Second Broadway production)

**North American tours**

* Samantha Pauly (First North American tour)
* Courtney Mack (First North American tour)
* Didi Romero (North American Aragon tour)
* Aline Mayagoitia (North American Boleyn tour)

**Bliss Cruise productions**

* Alicia Corrales (First Bliss Cruise production)
* Bryony Duncan (First Bliss Cruise production)
* Rebecca Wickes (Second Bliss Cruise production)
* Brianna Mooney (Third Bliss Cruise production)
* Nicole Lamb (Fourth Bliss Cruise production)
* Artemis Chrisoulakis (Fifth Bliss Cruise production)

**Breakaway Cruise productions**

* Georgia Carr (First Breakaway Cruise production)
* Maddison Firth (Second Breakaway Cruise production)
* Abigail Sparrow (Third Breakaway Cruise production)
* Lucia Valentino (Fourth Breakway Cruise production)

**Australia/New Zealand tours**

* Courtney Monsma (First AUSNZ tour)
* Chelsea Dawson (Second AUSNZ tour)

**South Korean productions**

* Kim Ryeo-won (First South Korean production)
* Heo Sol-ji (First South Korean production)
* Rebecca Wickes (First South Korean production)

## Trivia

* Katherine's "queenspirations" in the musical are Ariana Grande and Britney Spears.
	+ In an Instagram story, Toby Marlow stated that if Six were to be made into a movie, he would like either Miley Cyrus or Ariana Grande to play Katherine.
	+ Her ponytail is reminiscent of Ariana Grande's.
* Katherine wears a choker, like Anne, to reference the fact that she was beheaded.
* Katherine was Anne Boleyn's cousin.
* Katherine was Henry VIII's youngest wife, being only around 17 when married and 19 when killed.
* Katherine's favorite animal were dogs.