Catherine Howard starting to grate Henry VIII's court, Tudors preview

By April MacIntyre Apr 16, 2010, 22:46 GMT

Divorced, beheaded, died; Divorced, beheaded, survived…the tale of the six wives of Henry VIII. In Showtime\'s THE TUDORS, which premieres Sunday, April 1, 2007, viewers will see Henry as never before – young, sexy, intriguing, romantic and infinitely more complex than he\'s usually depicted.  THE TUDORS covers ten tumultuous years leading to the King\'s first divorce. Filmed entirely on location in Ireland, the series stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Sam Neill, ...more

Tune in alert for "The Tudors" New Episode Sunday 9PM ET/PT

The real Catherine Howard was a cousin of Henry VIII's beheaded queen, Anne Boleyn, and like Anne, Catherine is to follow suit at the Tower Green.

"The Tudors" on Showtime is wrapping the series this season, and sadly we will have to grab our TV drama with all the gusto Henry VIII did when he ripped the leg off a turkey tableside.

According to English history, Catherine's father was the younger brother of the duke of Norfolk. Like Jackie O pre-Kennedy marriage, their family was rich in title but not cash.

Catherine got the plum position as lady-in-waiting to Henry's fourth queen, Anne of Cleves, who Henry got the skeevatz when he looked at her.

Catherine's crime was she was an insufferable silly twit (and she slept with a valet).

Described as a flirtatious girl, she spoke before thinking and was a randy tart.  Not a good combo in that time period for a gal.

In the beginning, our Henry (Jonathan Rhys-Neyers) was besotted with her, calling her his 'Rose without a Thorn' and giving her the golddigger golden shower of trinkets and real estate.

Catherine's behavior and past caught up with her, and she was eventually arrested for adultery. The distraught king at first refused to believe the evidence but it was persuasive.

Unlike Anne Boleyn, Catherine had betrayed the king.

Her head was lopped off on 13 February 1542, only nineteen or twenty years old.

Silly silly girl:

Anne of Cleves a bit of allright: