Famous for being the wife who survived King Henry VIII, Catherine Parr was Henry's sixth wife.

Her survival helped to give rise to the popular saying related to Henry's wives: "Divorced, Beheaded, Died; Divorced, Beheaded, Survived." She was also the only wife to come to the marriage as a widow.

Parr came from a family well-acquainted with Henry's court. Both her parents were born at his court, early in his reign Her mother was a lady in waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon and named her daughter, who was born in 1512, after Henry's first queen. Her father died when he was still young, leaving his wife to raise Catherine and her two siblings. She grew up watching her mother become a strong, independent woman who insisted upon her daughters receiving an education. When Parr began her studies, she was captivated, and became a lifelong learner. By the time she was Queen, she could speak French, Latin, and Italian fluently. Like most young noblewomen; however, she was expected to marry young and marry well.

When she was seventeen she married a nobleman who died only a few years later. It was also during that time that Catherine's mother died. She soon married again and became a stepmother to two children. Within ten years Catherine found herself widowed again. She was thirty-one but still attracting the notice of at least two men: Thomas Seymour, brother of the late Queen Jane, and another suitor, Henry VIII himself. Catherine apparently wanted to wed Seymour, but felt it was her duty to accept the king's suit.

Catherine was similar to her predecessor, Anne Boleyn, in the sense that she was very interested in the new Church of England, and Christian reform, generally. This made her enemies and an arrest warrant for her was drawn up. In a strange, but true twist of history, the warrant was accidentally dropped and when discovered Catherine was alerted. When the king came to chastise her about her talk of reform, she was able to convince him that she only played devil's advocate with him so that she might benefit from his superior wisdom on such matters. Henry bought into his wife's clever ego boost and forgave her. By marrying the king, Catherine became a stepmother for a second time, to the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth, and the Crown Prince Edward. All three children were close to her, and she played a particularly instrumental role in the upbringing of Elizabeth.

She was also a patron of the arts, and encouraged her stepchildren in their own educations. She was also the first English queen to publish under her own name. Her first book, "Prayers or Meditations," was followed by "The Lamentation of a Sinner." Henry was ill through much of his final marriage, and his wife often played more of a nurse's role than that of a wife. When he died in early 1547, she secretly married Thomas Seymour. This act caused a scandal; however, she retained guardianship of Elizabeth. Later that same year Catherine became pregnant, for the first time, at age thirty-seven. She had a difficult pregnancy. In addition to complications due to age, she was hurt and frustrated over her new husband's inappropriate attentions towards Elizabeth. In August she gave birth to a daughter named Mary, but died within a week of puerperal fever.