Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves was the favourite of Thomas Cromwell to be Henry VIII's new bride. (PROSE: God Send Me Well to Keep) The King himself disapproved of his prospective next wife, in 1539, seeing in her portrait a woman "ugly as my privy!" Having only just been cured of cataracts by the Third Doctor, and so only recently capable of proper sight, Henry VIII remarked, "Did you think I would not notice when I saw her close? Do you think I have the tastes of a farmer's horse for its mare?" The King commissioned a new portrait to make her more appealing, and planned to learn the truth of her appearance on finally meeting her for the first time. (PROSE: Hiccup in Time)