The Other Henry VIII

Free at Last

To the annoyance of the Starling family, especially Diana's uncle, the King had decided not to leave Diana Regent while he was in Scotland. He had named Margaret Queen Regent, and upon his untimely death, his daughter Clara would be Queen. This completely excluded both of the King's Starling daughters, and his Starling nephew as well.  Numerous amounts of people raged at this, claiming that Elizabeth was the rightful inheritor, while some even spread rumours of an illegitimate son by Anna Talbot.

This caused an almighty headache in the King of England, of course. There were no disputes over his successor when he went to France a few years ago, so why now? Perhaps because three more possible heirs had been born since. If only George had not died! But he refused to leave Diana in charge, especially after that argument, and no Starling daughter of his would take the throne. No matter what.

24 April 1520

The world felt fresher on Diana's skin as she strode out into the sunshine. The layers of her thin floral-printed dress fluttered in the cool spring breeze in a restful sort of way, parasol abandoned in Catherine's hands. She didn't feel like the hated Queen, mother of two, lover of another. No, she felt like her old self again. Nearly. Gone were the rumours of a bastard son by Anna Talbot, gone were the constant supporters of the Wessex daughter over her own perfect princesses. Neither she nor Sophia had won, Henry had made sure of that.

He'd be leaving tomorrow, and she knew things would be very different with Margaret as Queen instead of herself, but Diana Westerly never thought of the future. Diana Westerly thought of the present. She tilted her pale face towards the sun, smiling serenely as it hit her. Just a little longer in the sunshine.......

"You'll get a tan, Diana, where is your parasol?"said a sharp voice from behind her.

"Catherine has it,"she replied tranquilly, not turning around or opening her eyes.

"Do you expect the King to forgive you if you have a brown sun-burnt face?"he continued, words harsh and firm. Diana spun round, laughing drunkenly.

"He cannot do anything about it, can he? I am his wife!"she giggled playfully. Her uncle grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently.

"You're mad, Diana Westerly, mad! Listen-to-me!" Diana let out a high-pitched cackle. "Don't you understand, Uncle dear? I am the Queen of England!"

"No you are not,"spat Sir James though his teeth. "This morning, Princess Margaret was officially pronounced Queen Regent. You are not even Queen Consort anymore!"

"I don't care,"answered Diana wildly, spinning dizzily in a circle with her arms out. "I am free! Free at last!" Without another word, her uncle slapped her across the face roughly. Diana jumped in shock, clasping her red cheek. "If you don't heal this rift between you and the King by tomorrow, you fool, there will be a worthless Wessex princess reigning over us, do you understand? And all this work to get your ungrateful ass on that throne will have been for nothing! Catherine! Come help your mistress." He turned away, beginning to march towards the building.

"You don't care about us! None of us! You don't care about how I feel, you just want a Starling heir on the throne! Is that all we are to you? Pawns?"she shrieked, but her uncle did not even glance back at her as he disappeared inside. "He doesn't care,"she sobbed into Catherine's arms, "he doesn't care one bit!"

"I know,"replied Catherine, opening the parasol over Diana's head, "but we're just girls. There's nothing that we can do about it."

25 April 1520
Diana watched her husband's horse ride away, feeling rather relieved that it was all over. She was free of her loveless husband and of the constant arguments that seemed to happen every day.  Her sister in law, Margaret was in charge now, and nothing Diana could do would change it. She had tried weakly to persuade the King to name the Starling boy Henry as his heir, but that had proven very unsuccessful.