"Originally published in the UK by Ebury Press in May 2024"--Title page verso

"Anne Boleyn has mesmerized the general public for centuries. Her tragic execution at the Tower of London on the 19th of May, 1536-orchestrated by her own husband-never ceases to intrigue. How did this courtier's daughter become the queen of England, and what was it that really tore apart this illustrious marriage, rendering her the whore of England, an abandoned woman left to be executed on the scaffold? While many stories of Anne's downfall have been told, few have truly traced the origins of her grim fate. In Thorns, Lust, and Glory, Estelle Paranque takes us back to where it all started: to France, where Anne learned the lessons that would set her on the path to becoming one of England's most infamous queens. At the court of the French king as a resourceful teenage girl, Anne's journey to infamy began, and this landmark biography explores the world that shaped her, and how these loyalties would leave her vulnerable, leading to her ruin at the volatile court of Henry VIII. A fascinating new perspective on Tudor history's most enduring story, Thorns, Lust, and Glory is an unmissable account of a queen on the edge"--

Prologue : A rose between a lion and a salamander, Calais, October 25-27, 1532 --

Part I.

In the shadow of the court of Fleur-de-Lys, 1514-1526 : Games of court -- Rise of a magnificent king and his ladies -- Witnessing the pursuit of grandeur -- Troubled waters --

Part 2.

Pursuit of a crown, 1527-1532 : Struggle to power -- Ainsi Sera, groigne qui groigne -- Every rose has its thorn -- "The most happy" --

Part 3.

Pitfalls of glory, 1533-1536 : A Tudor rose cannot replace a lion cub -- An impossible mission -- Tide has turned -- Inconceivable -- Epilogue: À jamais remembered