Queen Katherine is shocked by the King's orders that she be confined to her apartments. The investigation into her past moves with speed: Francis Dereham is arrested and interrogated. Joan Bulmer is questioned as is the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk – at whose home Joan and Catherine lived as young women and where their immoral acts are rumored to have taken place. Dereham confesses that he and Katherine Howard had planned to get married and that he knew her carnally before she became Queen. A serious revelation, but not adultery.
Uncharacteristically, Henry weeps when told of these discoveries. But his response is unsentimental and swift: Katherine Howard is removed from court and her title as Queen withdrawn. Her pleas for understanding and forgiveness are coldly ignored but she knows she is lucky to escape with her life.
Francis Derehem is brutally tortured as Lord Hertford seeks to establish if Katherine Howard committed adultery. Dereham denies the charge but points to Thomas Culpepper who is promptly arrested. Furious that the betrayal was widely known, Henry isolates himself from his court.Later, Katherine Howard, Thomas Culpepper and lady Rochford are all executed. Betrayed, bruised but unbowed the King gives a banquet, attended only by 26 beautiful young women.
