Mary Doyle Kennedy was 13 years older than Jonathan Rhys Meyers

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Meyers may have been 30, but he looks about 16. He's a good six to eight inches shorter than the real Henry, he does not have red hair, nor does he have a "bulk."

In other words, the age gap is the least of their problems.

The Duke of Buckingham in the first two episodes should have been their Henry. Large, fierce looking, redheaded, full of presence. Next to him, JRM looks like a twerp.

I assume it was to drive home the point of her age and inability to bear any more children. I always thought they made her look older and more matronly than was necessary. When you see Natalie Dormer (Anne Boleyn) in the same scene as Maria Doyle Kennedy the difference is striking. Most people I know who watched this show already knew the general facts. Maybe they needed to play this up so the casual viewer would surely notice one of the reasons Henry wanted to have a newer and younger queen.

By this point in her life Catherine of Aragon had gone through multiple pregnancies and was perimenopausal. She was pleasingly plump as a princess, but the pregnancies and depression had led to weight gain. She was always much more serious than Henry.

In 1526, when Henry and Anne became an item, Henry was a fit 35-year-old man, and Catherine was worn out and 41. Pregnancy, multiple miscarriages, depression, weight gain, fanatical religious observance all made Catherine seem even older.

Of all sad words of mouth or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been. - J G Whittier

I've posted this before in the message boards! I completely agree!! CoA looked like she could have been Henry's mom! But some people said in those days people aged a lot faster but still! That was the hardest part for me to relate to... I honestly wanted Henry to end his marriage with CoA only cause she seemed so damn old compared to him which was not what it was like in real life but I'm guessing they purposely did that So the audience would side with Henry... This is probably the one part of the series I wish they would have been more accurate about... But ¯\_(?)_/¯

Maria looked fantastic on the show, by the time she was divorced Katharine was old haggard and fat; on the show she was a MILF. It makes sense to make the age difference bigger because there was no way they would try to make Maria look so unattractive. I'm sure there were many men around Jonathan's age who would happily snuggle up to a KOA who looked like this.
This was not the youthful Katharine in her 20s, she has gone through a lot of hard years...years we didn't see on the show. If you want to see a really haggard KOA watch Henry VIII and his 6 Wives or The 6 Wives of Henry VIII.

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She looked great though and played her character wonderfully