Although she had arrived in the court prior to this date, it was on March 4, 1522 that she made her public début at a court event. When a pageant was held in honour of the ambassadors of the Holy Roman Empire at the Château Vert (Green Castle), she played “Perseverance”, one of the dancers in the spectacle, third in precedence behind Henry’s sister Mary, and Gertrude Courtenay, Marchioness of Exeter.
She quickly established herself as one of the most stylish and accomplished women at the court, and soon a number of young men were competing for her. Sadly for the majority of these young men (and indeed, for Anne herself), one of their number was the youthful King Henry VIII, who was not at all shy about pulling rank on them.
