Anne of Cleves - cause of death?

[helenazar]

Anne of Cleves died in her (early?) 40's. From all accounts she seemed like a rather healthy woman, and while most of her female contemporaries who died young did so in child birth, she never had any children. Does anyone know her cause of death?

[Kimberly]

I've had a good look round Helen and all I can find is that she died of a "declining illness".

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

From her portrait, I would say she was attractive enough and not the 'Flanders Mare' that Henry VIII proclaimed.
She also had a very good relationship with Edward, Mary and Elizabeth and led a scandal-free life.
I'd say she was the most fortunate of Henry's 6 wives.

Larry

[helenazar]

I've had a good look round Helen and all I can find is that she died of a "declining illness".

That could be anything, maybe some form of cancer? How old was she exactly when she died?

Hi,

From her portrait, I would say she was attractive enough and not the 'Flanders Mare' that Henry VIII proclaimed.
She also had a very good relationship with Edward, Mary and Elizabeth and led a scandal-free life.
I'd say she was the most fortunate of Henry's 6 wives.

Larry

But do you know what she died of?

[Yankeegirl]

Hi Helen - I also did a little looking around and came up with the same description. She was 42 years old when she died, which I guess was on the old side back then? I too think probably cancer - I have a few books on Henry at home - I'll see if I can find anything else.

[helenazar]

Thanks!

[Vecchiolarry]

Well Helen,

What a snippy response......

No I don't know what she died of;  but as this is a thread on Anne Of Cleves, I just thought I would add to it in general...

Iguess if one can't answer the exact query from you, then it's futile to add anything that might be perceived as educational, informational or humourous - so sorry...
I certainly know now not to respond to any future & further posts by you.

Larry

[helenazar]

What a snippy response......

Larry, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean for my post to sound snippy, I just meant to ask if you knew what she died of.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hello Helen,

Thanks for your messages, both here and PM......
I have answered you by PM, but don't know if it went through correctly.

I'm sorry if I misinterpreted your comment.

Larry

[Yankeegirl]

Helen - none of my books gives any further information - this will drive me crazy now. Hopefully someone else will chime in who has better info - if not I'll have to buy a book on Anne to determine the answer!
Heather

[helenazar]

Come to think of it, I have a book on Ann, called "Ann Of Cleves: Fourth Wife of Henry VIII" by Mary Saaler. I will have to check to see what she says Anne died of, if anything. I read it a while ago, but I can't remember if the cause of death was established in this book... 
 

[Romanov_fan]

We might never be able to determine her true cause of death for sure because of differences between our times and hers. This is because the names of illnesses were usually vastly different than today, but more to the point, they way they would describe the symptoms of an illness would be different from today, so even if we had a really good description, we might not know what caused her death, exactly.Life expectancy was very short then, and things that wouldn't kill today killed then. We will probably never know exactly.

[helenazar]

Wouldn't it be fun to do a forensic investigation about this. If only they allowed her remains to be exhumed, modern science can tell us much about her cause of death... and other things. The same is true for other history's mysteries pertaining to the British royals and others... Maybe one day the exhumation will be allowed, but I don't think Anne of Cleves was "important" enough to history or can generate enough interest to justify the cost for this.

[Romanov_fan]

Where is she buried anyway? I should know, but I've forgotten. Does anyone have a picture of her grave?

[helenazar]

She is at Webstminster Abbey. This page tells you a little about her tomb and has a photo:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/cache/25280-200-73.2558139535&imgrefurl=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/history-research/monuments-gravestones/royalty/12308&h=73&w=200&sz=6&hl=en&start=17&um=1&tbnid=xizfOWmgFitnnM:&tbnh=38&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Danne%2Bof%2Bcleves%2Bwestminster%2Babbey%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1G1GGLQ_ENUS255%26sa%3DG