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The Prologue opens by declaring that what follows is a serious play. After he speaks, several lords, including the duke of Buckingham, enter. Buckingham is angry that Cardinal Wolsey has such powerful influence over the king. Buckingham suspects Wolsey of being ambitious and disloyal. The other lords urge him to keep his accusations to himself, but just then, a guard comes to arrest Buckingham on the charge of treason. He submits and goes quietly to jail.
King Henry VIII and his queen, Katherine, attend a hearing in which Wolsey questions Buckingham’s former employee about his loyalties. This man, known as the Surveyor, declares that Buckingham fancied himself next in line to the throne should the king die without an heir. Henry is angered and sentences Buckingham to death for disloyalty. However, the queen thinks the Surveyor bears a grudge against Buckingham and has given false testimony.
Many lords go to a dinner party at Wolsey’s estate, York Place, and the king and a group of lord arrive in disguise. In the joyful atmosphere created by the masque, the king meets Anne Bullen. He is very impressed with her beauty.
Several gentlemen in the street discuss Buckingham’s trial, noting how he defended himself eloquently but was sentenced to death. The common people hate Wolsey, they all agree. On his way to his execution, Buckingham makes one final speech, publicly forgiving those who turned against him. He notes how his own death resembles that of his father, who also was killed by the king to whom he was loyal all his life.
Several lords hear talk of the king’s plan to divorce his wife, Katherine. Anne hears the news, too, and feels sorry for the queen, who is also her mistress. Just as she reflects that she herself would never want to be queen, she receives word that the king has bestowed on her new title and an income: a clear sign of his fondness for her.
A cardinal from Rome arrives to evaluate whether Henry may divorce Katherine. Katherine beseeches the king not to divorce her, saying that she has been a loyal and honest wife to him for two decades. She calls Wolsey a traitor and refuses to submit to his judgment, then she sweeps out of the court. The king enumerates his reasons for believing his marriage to Katherine is unlawful and must be dissolved. Wolsey and the cardinal from Rome speak to Katherine, trying to convince her to go along with the divorce so she may stay under the king’s care. She curses them for their role in her demise, which enrages her after she’s been so faithful.
The lords of the court now suspect Wolsey has been double-dealing in the divorce. But before they can work out a plan to bring him down, Wolsey gets snared in his own web of scheming. The king intercepts an inventory of the possessions Wolsey has seized from fallen lords. He also happens upon a letter Wolsey wrote to the pope urging him to refuse the divorce request until Henry forgets his infatuation with Anne. The king confronts Wolsey and shows him the papers he has uncovered. The cardinal immediately realizes that he’s finished. The lords deliver the king’s charges against him, stripping him of his title and belongings. Wolsey regrets his ambitious behavior and sees that he was wrong to have tried to influence affairs of state. Saying that he finally knows himself, he leaves the court.
The king marries Anne, and people in the street scramble to watch the elaborate procession after her coronation. Katherine has now been reduced to her former title of princess dowager, and she expects that her demotion will lead soon to her death. Hearing of the death of Wolsey, she again speaks negatively of him. But when one of her attendants, Griffith, praises the late cardinal, Katherine is convinced to forgive him.
In the court, as Queen Anne is in labor, the king discovers a plot against his recently returned friend Cranmer, whom he has installed as the archbishop of Canterbury. He summons Cranmer to explain the complaints against him. Cranmer fears that he will fall into the trap set for him, so the king gives him his ring as a sign of his support. Meanwhile, Anne gives birth to a female child.
The following morning, Cranmer is called before the Privy Council, of which he is a member, to answer to complaints against him. The king watches the proceedings from above. The lords tell Cranmer that nothing can be done about the complaints while he is a council member, so they want to make him into a regular citizen by confining him to the Tower. When guards arrive to take him away, Cranmer shows the lords the king’s ring. The king then enters the council chambers to scold the lords for infighting and urges them to get along with each other. Cranmer forgives those who have plotted against him.
Commoners gather in the street to view the baptism of the king’s daughter. Cranmer christens her “Elizabeth,” then he speaks of her future greatness and the achievements both she and her successors will have. Then, when the stage has cleared, a player steps forth and urges the audience to applaud.
