Tea at Trianon: The Infamous Lady Rochford

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, March 5, 2026

The Infamous Lady Rochford

From History...the Interesting Bits:

Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford is generally regarded as one of the key witnesses if not the key witness in the court case against Anne Boleyn. Jane was married to Anne’s brother George Boleyn. As Anne’s sister-in-law and with her own husband, George Boleyn accused of having had an affair with his sister Anne, Jane’s betrayal is seen as a particular heinous crime. Jane is also accused to have been the source of this accusation of incest against her husband and her sister-in-law.

In an article on Jane’s father for example, James P. Carley declares ‘Morley’s daughter Jane, was principal witness against her husband, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, at the time of his trial in 1536.’

However, most historians agree that the charges against Anne Boleyn, her brother, and the others accused were trumped up to rid Henry VIII of his wife. Eric Ives for example states, ‘Under analysis, the case presented by the Crown in May 1536 collapses’. If the outcome of the trial and the guilty verdicts were a forgone conclusion, surely it made absolutely no difference who had said or may have said what during or before the trials?

Why then did Jane Boleyn become the ‘infamous Lady Rochford‘?

Let me first introduce you to Jane Boleyn, née Parker.

Jane was the daughter of Henry Parker, Lord Morley, and his wife Alice St John. Alice was the daughter of Margaret Beaufort’s half-brother John St John. The match was almost certainly arranged by Margaret Beaufort in whose household Henry Parker had served from a young age. During this time Margaret Beaufort became his patroness. She supported him financially and looked after his wife Alice and their children when Henry was away. Margaret Beaufort was also a major influence on his religious beliefs. (Read more.)