Anna was the "last woman standing" of Henry VIII’s wives—and the only one buried in Westminster Abbey. How did she manage it? Starting with what Anna’s life as a child and young woman was like, this book describes the climate of the Cleves court, and the achievements of Anna’s siblings. It looks at the political issues on the Continent that transformed Anna’s native land of Cleves—notably the court of Anna’s brother-in-law, and its influence on Lutheranism—and Anna’s blighted marriage. Finally, it explores ways in which Anna influenced her step-daughters Elizabeth and Mary, and the evidence of their good relationships with her. Was the Duchess Anna in fact a political refugee, supported by Henry VIII? Was she a role model for Elizabeth I? Why was the marriage doomed from the outset? By returning to the primary sources and visiting archives and museums all over Europe, a very different figure emerges to the "Flanders Mare."