History’s Most Complicated Wives

Henry VIII picked Anne of Cleves, a German noblewoman, based on a painting, but he was very disappointed when she arrived in England in 1540. He told his advisors that she didn’t look anything like her picture and refused to go through with the marriage. Instead of fighting him and losing her head, she agreed to an annulment after only six months. The king was so relieved that he gave her a huge pension and called her his “beloved sister” for the rest of her life.