A SECRET hidden beneath a 450-year-old painting of Anne Boleyn may reveal the truth about the doomed queen’s infamous “sixth finger”.
Scientists have probed the famous ‘Rose’ portrait to solve the puzzle over Henry VIII’s most famous wife, who was plagued by claims that she was a witch with an extra digit after her death.
Anne is one of the most iconic figures from Tudor history, beheaded for alleged treason in her early 30s.
She was accused of adultery, incest and high treason – though historians believe the real reason for her beheading was for failing to provide Henry with a male heir.
If her untimely execution wasn’t enough, Anne was accused of witchcraft in a smear campaign after her death.
That included the bizarre claim that she had six fingers on her right hand (as well as a growth under her chin and a protruding tooth).
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This bid to make her seem “monstrous” was carried out by an exiled Catholic writer trying to discredit Anne’s daughter, who would become Queen Elizabeth I.
The rumour persists even to this day, but a portrait made shed light on the truth behind the story.
One of the most famous paintings of Anne Boleyn – who was born at Blickling Hall in Norfolk – is the Hever ‘Rose’ portrait, which is held at Hever Castle in Kent.
She’s described as having “dark, watchful eyes”, and wears a “B” pendant around her neck.
Now scientists have worked with Hever Castle to reveal that the portrait was “deliberately altered during its creation”.
The Elizabethan artist who created it apparently “went rogue” by abandoning the standard design for this kind of portrait.
“Tudor portrait workshops relied on approved facial ‘patterns’, reused for decades to ensure recognisable royal likenesses,” a Hever Castle spokesperson explained.
“The Hever ‘Rose’ portrait began life following the established ‘B’ pattern traditionally associated with Anne.
“But scientific imaging carried out at the Hamilton Kerr Institute has revealed a discarded triangular form beneath Anne’s right arm, recording the moment when the artist deliberately changed the composition.
“The result? Anne’s hands are fully visible, clearly and unmistakably showing five digits on each hand.”
The painting’s oak panel is tied to around the year 1583 using tree-ring dating.
That would’ve put it during Elizabeth I’s reign, decades after Anne’s execution on May 19, 1536.
It would make the Hever ‘Rose’ portrait the earliest scientifically dated panel portrait of Anne Boleyn that we know of.
And it would’ve come at a time when she Anne was under scrutiny – despite being long dead.
“This was no decorative flourish,” experts at Hever Castle explain
“At the time the portrait was created, Anne Boleyn was the subject of persistent slander.
“Including claims popularised by the Catholic polemicist Nicholas Sander that she was physically ‘unnatural’ and possessed a sixth digit.
“Historians at Hever Castle now believe the artist was instructed to rework the familiar image specifically to counter these rumours.
“Using visual evidence to rebut a damaging myth and, by extension, defend the legitimacy of Anne’s daughter, Elizabeth I.”
Hever Castle calls the portrait a “purposeful Elizabeth reimagining”.
And that it “preserves traces of an earlier, possibly lost likeness” that would’ve been created closer to Anne’s lifetime.
The idea was previously suggested by historian Helene Harrison in her 2025 book The Many Faces of Anne Boleyn.
“With the Hever ‘Rose’ portrait showing Anne’s hands quite prominently, I was struck by the possibility that it was a very deliberate decision to include them,” Harrison said after the discovery.
“In order to counteract Sander’s claims of Anne having a sixth finger.
“It’s amazing to find that the recent analysis on the Hever Rose portrait supports my theory and I will certainly look at the portrait anew next time I visit Hever Castle!”
Hever Castle will be hosting an exhibition called Capturing a Queen: The Image of Anne Boleyn, which brings together the largest ever gathering of portraits believed to depict Anne Boleyn, from February 11, 2026.
