As I’ve alluded to in my other REAL FACES posts, there are no confirmed contemporary portraits of Catherine Howard. Though she was a Howard, her father was a younger son, and her branch of the family was quite poor, so no portrait or sketch was made of her prior to her queenship. She was queen for such a short time that it is possible no portrait was made; even if one was created, Henry very possibly had it destroyed after her arrest or execution, as he did with Anne Boleyn.
There is one portrait of a lady richly dressed enough to be a queen, who it has been tentatively suggested may be Catherine, and has not been identified otherwise. Since there are no other portraits of Catherine, I have included it here. The sitter certainly seems to be young enough to be Catherine. More research needs to be undertaken before we can positively say this is Catherine though.
The other image below is of a stained glass window, ‘The Window of the Queen of Sheba,’ King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. Historian Antonia Fraser believes that it portrays Catherine Howard as the Queen of Sheba, paying homage to Henry VIII as King Solomon.
Again, neither of these portrayals are confirmed, but as they have no other identities attached to them I thought I would share them with you rather than leave you with no impression of the young, tragic Catherine.
The Window of the Queen of Sheba, King’s College Chapel, Cambridge.
