I could just stare at these paintings: Anne Boleyn by Frans Porbus the Younger and Elizabeth Tudor, her daughter, by William Scots. I discovered the one to the left in “Elizabeth & Mary – Cousins, Rivals, Queens” by Jane Dunn.
I read online that there is no certainty that Porbus’ painting is of Anne, but the resemblance to Elizabeth seems evident in the eyes, lips and chin. (I want to put images like this in the book, but I’m worried about expense to the reader; I may make two versions.)
A person could easily have mixed feelings about “our cousin” Anne Boleyn, but not her daughter. Not me, anyway. As a young girl she saw the women who loved her fall to the blade and went on to develop a backbone of steel. She knew when and how to reinvent herself as necessary. She is an inspiration.
I haven’t posted in a while, I have been buried in books. Nothing I have read confirms that Sir Thomas Wyatt had an affair with Ann; it is clear that he loved her.
When Henry VIII let it be known that Anne was his, Sir Thomas started up with another – Elizabeth Darrel, who was Maid of Honor to Katherine of Aragon; Elizabeth was steadfast to the end and was in the queen’s will.
There’s another lady worthy of respect – Katherine of Aragon.
Elizabeth had three children by Sir Tom – one who died with his half-brother as a result of Wyatt’s Rebellion. So, Wyatt cousins … there are more of us than I thought.
Burning questions? Oh, heck yeah.
How did Sir Thomas feel about Katherine of Aragon?
How did he genuinely feel about the king’s Great Matter?
When (and why) did Cromwell develop such a deep affection for Sir Thomas?
How did Sir Thomas maintain respect for a king who grew increasingly violent towards those he loved?
How did he maintain relationships with friends who hated each other?
THE BIG QUESTION: Why was Anne Boleyn so important to the Wyatts that – several generations after her death – George Wyatt would become her first biographer? Was it because she was a reformer, or was it more than that?
So many mysteries, so little time. If anyone has clues – or has contact information for our esteemed “cousin” the Earl of Romney, let me know!
Meanwhile, I’m workin’ on it as best I can.
Sir Thomas Wyatt the Poet 
It seems so obvious to my eye, as a simple observer, that the first painting is not of Anne Boleyn but of her sister who survived her. Anne was a fearless queen who died from and for her ambitions. There is so much fear in the eyes of this subject that would never come from a fearless queen who died a martyr on behalf of protestant religion.
I think there’s no mistaking the eyes – mother and daughter match. I did a little more research – apparently the debate is not over whether this painting is of Anne Boleyn, but over who painted it. “According to Wikipedia, the painting of Anne was by “Marcus Gheeraerts (also written as Gerards or Geerards) (Bruges, c. 1561/62 – 19 January 1636) was an artist of the Tudor court, described as “the most important artist of quality to work in England in large-scale between Eworth and Van Dyck”[1] He was brought to England as a child by his father Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder, also a painter. He became a fashionable portraitist in the last decade of the reign of Elizabeth I under the patronage of her champion and pageant-master Sir Henry Lee, introducing a new aesthetic in English court painting that captured the essence of a sitter through close observation. He became a favorite portraitist of James I’s queen Anne of Denmark, but fell out of fashion in the later 1610s.”
I wonder if Elizabeth described her mother to him from memory. Check it out, the paintings are fabulous:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Gheeraerts_the_Younger
If I remember correctly, the aforementioned Sir Henry Lee is Sir Thomas Wyatt’s nephew, his sister “Lady Lee’s” son … POSSIBLY by Henry VIII. He was a great favorite of Queen Elizabeth. Maybe because they were half-siblings. There were a number of those floating around:-)