HER ROYAL DESTINY

A featherheaded biography of that undoubtedly shrewd, sixth and last wife of Henry VIII, Katherine Parr, here a rather scattered Tudorian, blasted by passion, who burbles on (anachronistically) about the men in her life and her delicious encounters with the family jewels (one set royal, if not up to Parr). In the main, the author follows the outlines of generally accepted versions of Parr's life, beginning with her early marriage to middle-aged Lord Borough, a widower with several adult children. However, whether or not Katherine had several fevered tumbles with Borough's son Henry is a speculation not usually aired. Then on to husband John Neville, Lord Latimer, a good kind sort who gets in all sorts of trouble leading a group to present demands to the King (""to do something about the poverty,"" as one misguided rebel puts it). During Neville's ordeal, disgrace, and his release and illness, Katherine begins to think a great deal about the handsome Thomas Seymour; but then after Neville's death, there's that summons from the King (who'd recently disposed of Katherine Howard). ""I began to have dreams about being queen, how I could persuade the king to turn to the reformist faith. . .lower taxes and do a host of other good works."" So the marriage comes about and she rather loves the old bear, although ""my mood was to slip quickly off its pedestal,"" when she's accused of treasonous religious thoughts. (At one point the author has Katherine and her Borough stepdaughter pass Luther's latest work around, circulating-library fashion.) At last there's marriage to Seymour after some love-making extraordinaire, and death in childbirth. Pale historical stuff and nonsense, webbing together a series of robust erotic encounters.