Both Anne Boleyn and Queen Elizabeth I have received massive literary, scholarly, artistic and visual attention as separate historical figures, and deservedly so. But surprisingly little has reached popular readership about their complex mother-daughter relationship. Tracy Borman’s ANNE BOLEYN & ELIZABETH I offers a fascinating corrective to the historical limbo into which this crucial connection had fallen.

As women rulers of Britain --- Anne for barely three years (1533-1536) and Elizabeth I for an astonishing 45 years (1558-1603) --- each shattered many precedents of monarchy by claiming, asserting and staunchly defending powers formerly granted only to men. Ironically, the princess Elizabeth was only a toddler when Henry VIII beheaded Anne for supposed infidelity, but in reality for her outspoken religious and political opinions and failure to produce a male heir.

"Perhaps the most poignant revelation in ANNE BOLEYN & ELIZABETH I are the comments that Elizabeth I made from time to time concerning the fate of strong women who lose their power, and often their lives, by marrying and bearing children."

True to Tudor tradition, and that of other royal families since the Middle Ages, the offspring of kings and queens rarely saw their parents until young adulthood. In Elizabeth’s case, however, her childhood far from the court was fraught with debate over her legitimacy and the guilt or innocence of her mother. These were twin burdens that she carried her entire life, even through her years of greatest international power and influence. But both women had their confidantes and supporters, whose loyalty and love --- from child caregivers to court officials --- contributed to forging material and emotional bonds that Elizabeth cherished long after Anne’s untimely death.

In essence, Elizabeth I lived with the elusive ghost of a mother she adored and revered, but never knew, which must have made Borman’s twin biography project (the first of its kind) supremely challenging. Through her painstaking research for ANNE BOLEYN & ELIZABETH I, even the most trivial scraps of information about Anne’s life and activities take on vivid importance, becoming pieces of a human mosaic that reveals just how similar mother and daughter were in temperament, intellect, spirituality and appearance.

In many ways, Elizabeth herself had much less to go on than Borman. But as a clever pragmatist in both her official and private lives, she took care to surround herself with men and women at court who had known and loved Anne, as well as sympathetic family members. Those who broke her trust were often dismissed for life, or lost their lives.

In a series of skillfully curated color plates, Borman shows how Elizabeth I often made a point of dressing in styles unmistakably similar to those seen in portraits of her mother, including the jewelry and hair adornments she wore. Elizabeth also scoured royal bookshelves for volumes (chiefly on religion and philosophy) once owned by the intellectually accomplished Anne, as well as other furnishings and artwork.

It would seem quite natural, in fact, for any daughter to gather around her a collection of meaningful objects and intimate articles once owned by a beloved mother. But Elizabeth’s mission to rehabilitate Anne in the public and political imagination was made both difficult and dangerous due to Henry VIII’s obsession with eliminating his second wife completely from history. Nearly every symbol associated with her was removed and destroyed; even uttering her name was forbidden. 

Perhaps the most poignant revelation in ANNE BOLEYN & ELIZABETH I are the comments that Elizabeth I made from time to time concerning the fate of strong women who lose their power, and often their lives, by marrying and bearing children. Borman argues with heartfelt credibility that, haunted by Anne’s demise, her daughter chose to remain single and childless in order to be the monarch Britain needed.