– What Happened Next? –
by Staff | PBS Masterpiece | April 30, 2025
Even after the conclusion of the dramatic events depicted in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, there is still so much more to the story. From Henry VIII’s surprising second thoughts to the Duke of Norfolk’s unlikely ability to evade execution, and improved fortunes or diminished standing for others, find out what happened to the key characters of Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light after the events as seen in the series finale.
King Henry VIII
After Thomas Cromwell’s beheading in 1540—engineered by rival courtiers—Henry VIII began having second thoughts. “Cromwell was my most faithful servant, and I repent sorely the loss of him,” he reportedly said—too late, of course. But execution had become his default measure, and so the axe kept falling. Catherine Howard, Thomas Culpeper, and the Earl of Surrey, were all sent to the scaffold in the final years of Henry’s reign. Ravaged by disease and weighed down by his own body, he became a tyrant in decline. He died in 1547, aged 55, leaving a kingdom fractured by religious upheaval and dynastic uncertainty. For all the drama of his six wives and break with Rome, Henry’s lasting legacy was the birth of a sovereign English state—centralized, formidable, and shaped by his savage will.
Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, was the escape artist of Tudor politics, regularly courting execution but evading the headsman. He sponsored his nieces Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard as Henry VIII’s second and fifth wives. Both became queens—and both went to the scaffold, a fate Norfolk narrowly escaped. He saved himself by denouncing them. His closest call came in 1546, when he was arrested alongside his son, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, on charges of treason. Surrey was beheaded; Norfolk awaited execution—but Henry VIII died the night before, sparing him by sheer luck. Imprisoned in the Tower, he was released under Mary I and even returned briefly to political life. Astonishingly, Norfolk outlived nearly all his rivals, dying in 1554 at age 81—an extraordinary lifespan for the time, and a testament to his cunning, resilience, and uncanny instinct for survival.
Mary Tudor
After Thomas Cromwell’s fall in 1540, Mary Tudor’s fortunes slowly improved. Once dangerously close to execution for refusing to renounce her Catholic faith and acknowledge her parents’ invalid marriage, she had been a liability at court—a tempting prize for conspiring Catholic princes abroad. But Henry VIII let her live, and under her Protestant half-brother Edward VI, she kept a low profile. When Edward died in 1553, Protestant leaders tried to install Lady Jane Grey, but Mary outmaneuvered them and claimed the throne, becoming England’s first queen regnant. Her reign was short and stormy: she tried to restore Catholicism, married Philip II of Spain, and left no heir despite hopes of pregnancy. She died in 1558 at age 42. Though remembered as “Bloody Mary” for the Protestants she sent to the stake, her rule helped make female monarchy possible—and gave her name to a spicy cocktail.
Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves survived her six months as Henry VIII’s fourth queen. Thomas Cromwell was not so lucky. He had arranged the match with the German princess—a decision Henry quickly came to regret. The penalty in those days for bad matrimonial advice was execution, which Cromwell suffered two weeks after the marriage was annulled. Anne accepted the break with grace and was granted a generous settlement, including estates, income, and the honorary title of “the King’s Beloved Sister.” She remained in England for the rest of her life. Unlike some of Henry’s other wives, Anne kept both her head and her dignity. She lived quietly through the reigns of Edward VI and Mary I, outliving Henry and all his other queens. When she died in 1557, she was buried at Westminster Abbey—a rare honor for someone whose royal role had ended almost as soon as it began.
Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard’s rise in the Tudor court coincided with Thomas Cromwell’s fall. In fact, Henry VIII married her, making her his fifth wife, just days before Cromwell’s beheading. She was a teenager—lively, charming, and totally unprepared for life as queen. A cousin of Anne Boleyn and a pawn of her ambitious Howard relatives, she had caught Henry’s eye while serving as a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves. Henry, nearly 50 and in poor health, was besotted with her, and Catherine had to play along. Less than two years later, rumors of her past flings—and an alleged affair during her queenship—led to her arrest. Whether she was actually guilty is unclear, but her fate was sealed. Her supposed lovers, Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham, were executed, and Catherine followed in 1542. Remembered as foolish and flirtatious, she was more likely a scared young girl, betrayed by nearly everyone around her.
Gregory Cromwell
Gregory and his wife, Elizabeth Seymour (Jane Seymour’s sister), were in dire straits after Thomas Cromwell’s execution in 1540. Once riding high at court, they suddenly found themselves one scandal away from ruin. But Henry VIII spared them—likely out of respect for Jane, his beloved late queen—and Gregory kept his head. He quietly served in Parliament, was later made Baron Cromwell, and avoided his father’s fate. His strategy was to be discreet and cautious. He died young in 1551, likely of sweating sickness—a mysterious and deadly Tudor-era malady.
Rafe Sadler
After Thomas Cromwell’s execution in 1540, Rafe Sadler—Cromwell’s trusted right-hand man—managed to stay alive and in the game. Henry VIII likely saw him as a non-threatening, dependable bureaucrat. He continued serving under Henry and Edward VI, juggling diplomacy, politics, and the occasional military campaign. When Edward died, Sadler backed Lady Jane Grey, a move that nearly cost him everything. With Mary I’s sudden rise, he was sidelined and placed under house arrest. He laid low, and when Elizabeth I took the throne, he bounced back, earning a seat on her Privy Council. He died in 1587—loyal, long-serving, and still standing after decades of Tudor chaos.
Bishop Stephen Gardiner
Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, surely raised a glass when Thomas Cromwell met his end in 1540. A staunch Catholic and savvy political operator, Gardiner had clashed with Cromwell for years over religious reform. With Cromwell gone, he returned to Henry VIII’s good graces. But under Edward VI, he refused to support the Protestant changes and landed in the Tower. His luck turned again when Mary I came to power. She made him Lord Chancellor, and he helped restore Catholicism and arrange her marriage to Philip II of Spain. He even crowned her. Gardiner died in 1555, before Mary’s reign unraveled, sparing him the Protestant backlash that followed under Elizabeth I.
Richard Cromwell
Though he owed his rise to his uncle Thomas Cromwell, Sir Richard Cromwell managed to avoid persecution after Thomas’s fall and retained Henry VIII’s favor—possibly thanks to his military service and skill at jousting, the king’s favorite sport. He died of natural causes in 1544, likely in his mid-thirties. The Cromwell legacy lived on through Sir Richard’s great-grandson, Oliver Cromwell, who led Parliamentary forces in the English Civil War and ultimately ruled as Lord Protector, overthrowing King Charles I—who, like Thomas Cromwell before him, met his end on the scaffold. A fervent Puritan, Oliver pushed religious reform to its limits. After his death in 1658, the monarchy and Church of England were restored under Charles II.
Thomas Wriothesley
Wriothesley remained a key figure in the Tudor dynasty after the execution of Thomas Cromwell. When Henry VIII died, he served as an executor of the late monarch’s will. That led to a position on the regency council, which worked to manage the country after Edward VI took the throne, as he was too young to rule independently.
Lady Rochford
Anne Boleyn’s resentful sister-in-law was brought down in the proceedings against Henry VIII’s fifth wife, Catherine Howard, having admitted to facilitating meetings between herself and her alleged adulterous partner Thomas Culpeper. She was declared insane after her incarceration in the Tower of London, meaning that Henry VIII had to implement a new law solely to have her executed. She was beheaded on the same day as Catherine Howard.
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