Digging into Anne’s B Necklace Mystery
So last Tuesday night I’m scrolling TikTok when this weird jewelry historian pops up showing Tudor paintings. She kept zooming in on Anne Boleyn’s necklace with that fancy gold “B” pendant. I’m thinking damn, why’s this thing so famous? Grabbed my laptop right there on the couch.
Started Googling like mad – first just “Anne Boleyn necklace B” and got 20 million hits. Scrolled past all the cheap Etsy replicas till I hit academic papers. These dense PDFs made my eyes cross, man. Eventually pulled up this digital museum archive from London. Spent hours screenshotting close-ups of Hans Holbein’s drawings.
- Finding 1: Turns out the “B” ain’t just for Boleyn – it’s got tiny etchings inside showing Saint Michael slaying a dragon. Wild detail nobody talks about.
- Finding 2: Cracked open three history books from my shelf. Two claimed Henry VIII gifted it, but this crusty old diary translation said Anne commissioned it herself after her first miscarriage.
- Finding 3: The chain’s thickness? Total power move. Thicker than what other court ladies wore, basically flipping off the king’s jewelry rules.
By 3AM I’m neck-deep in browser tabs comparing Tudor jewelry inventories. Nearly missed my alarm next morning cause I kept cross-checking photos against Tudor fan forums. Some nutjob there claimed the pendant had poison compartments – total BS when I checked British Museum records.
Best part? Realizing Anne wore this thing to her own damn execution. That icy final portrait shows it gleaming bright against her black dress. Makes you wonder if she kept it on purpose, like a last middle finger to Henry. Crazy how a tiny gold letter tells such a savage story.
