Why did King Henry VIII choose Anns child Elizabeth to rule instead of the son he had with Mary?
There is no evidence that Mary Boleyn’s son was Henry’s. He never acknowledged him, which suggests that the child was not his. Henry was willing to include his daughters Mary and Elizabeth in the succesion, even though he had declared them both illegitimate, but he had at least been married to both their mothers, even though he had had th emarriages declared invalid. There was never an question of him being married to Mary Boleyn though, which would perhaps have made a difference. there would always be difficulties in making an illegitimate child his heir. When Henry VIII came to make his will, his legitimate son Edward was the heir, followed by his daughter Mary (daughter of Catherine of Aragon) and then Elizabeth. After Elizabeth, the next heirs were the descendents of Henry’s younger sister Mary. Henry would naturally have hoped that his son Edward would live to raise a family of his own, and he would not have wanted either of his daughters to succeed him, but nevertheless he did ma
