Finally, when Henry discovered that Anne Boleyn was pregnant, he forced Clement's hand. He pushed some laws through Parliament, one saying that marriage questions could be settled locally, another saying that all English clergy owed their first allegiance to the crown and a third saying that the Peter's Pence collection (an annual collection in each parish going directly to the Vatican) and the Annates (a Church property tax that also went to the Vatican) should go to the Exchequer instead of to Rome. Clement was Not Amused, and decreed against Henry's annulment.

Thus, the actual reason for Clement's action was politics and money.