The Other Boleyn Girl

The Other Boleyn Girl is a 2008 historical romantic drama film directed by Justin Chadwick. The screenplay by Peter Morgan was adapted from Philippa Gregory’s 2001 novel of the same name. It is a fictionalised account of the lives of 16th-century aristocrats Mary Boleyn, one-time mistress of King Henry VIII, and her sister, Anne, who became the monarch's ill-fated second wife, though the film does not represent history accurately. Production studio BBC Films also owns the rights to adapt the 2006 sequel novel, The Boleyn Inheritance, which tells the story of Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Jane Parker. Plot Henry VIII of England's marriage to his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, has not produced a male heir. Their only surviving child is a daughter, Princess Mary, whom Henry fears cannot successfully rule as a woman. Meanwhile, Lady Mary Boleyn marries William Carey. Mary's uncle, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk and her father, Thomas Boleyn, plot to install Mary's sister, Anne, as the King's mistress, hoping she will bear him a son and improve the family's status. Anne accepts. King Henry is injured in a hunting accident. Henry becomes smitten with Mary, who tends his wounds, and invites Mary, her husband, and the Boleyn family to court. Mary and Anne become ladies-in-waiting to Queen Catherine, while William Carey is sent abroad. Mary begins an affair with the King and falls in love with him. Anne secretly marries Henry Percy, a nobleman betrothed to Lady Mary Talbot. Anne reveals her marriage to her brother, George Boleyn, who informs Mary. Mary alerts her father and uncle, who forcibly annul the union, keeping its existence secret. Anne is then sent to the French court.