Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII didn't have a marriage that one would describe as ideal. One of the most obvious glitches is what this book points out right away. Henry wanted Mary, not Anne. In fact, they fall in love, in this retelling. Anne is already in love with someone else too, so the reader learns to see Henry and Anne's romantic relationship for what it is: It is an emotionally difficult "settling down," between people who are a little disappointed to get stuck together.
Meanwhile, Mary is the archetypal type-B sister. Just because she doesn't wear the rich dark colors that her sister wears, and because she competes less for attention, she finds that she comes up short in an important social currency: Appearances. This part of the story underscores the attention they paid to appearances during this season of royal government. It wasn't about fixing problems or helping the people to improve their lives—it was about looking powerful.
When Mary and King Henry go their separate ways, he uses appearance as a weapon against her. By immediately replacing her, he forces her to feel replaceable, like an object that he doesn't need. He picks her own sister, as if to humiliate her. She is the archetypal "other sister," who doesn't get the same treatment as her sister, but not because she is less worthy! She has less clout because the standards of her culture are backwards.
