A newly discovered poem suggests Tudor courtiers believed Anne Boleyn was innocent and Henry VIII suppressed the truth

A recently found version of a 16th-century poem by French ambassador's secretary Lancelot de Carle reveals Anne Boleyn pleaded her innocence moments before her beheading at the Tower of London in 1536. The poem records onlookers — prominent Tudor courtiers — concluding she was 'prudent' and could not have committed the adultery and treason she was convicted of. A new National Geographic documentary, 'How The Tudors Lost Their Heads', claims Henry VIII was so furious when shown de Carle's account that he ordered all copies destroyed.

The newly found version contains an extra passage in which Boleyn begged the crowd not to judge her on rumour alone.

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb says Henry's government actively encouraged the public belief that the queen was guilty, suppressing the opposite view.