Thomas Culpeper Sepulchre-without-Newgate church in London. Queen Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Rochford were both subsequently executed on 13 February 1542. In popular fiction, very little is told about Thomas Culpeper, save his association with King Henry VIII's fifth wife. He is portrayed in several plays and several writings, always closely associated with Catherine. In the book "A Tudor Tragedy; The Life and Times of Catherine Howard", by Lacey Baldwin Smith, the author writes that there were rumours during the time period that Thomas Culpeper and Catherine Howard intended to be married, before Henry VIII set his sights on her. The book
Royal Assent by Commission Act 1541 Royal Assent by Commission Act 1541 The Royal Assent by Commission Act 1541 (33 Hen 8 c 21) was an Act of the Parliament of England, passed in 1542 to authorise the execution of Catherine Howard for adultery. It also created a new way in which the Royal Assent could be granted to legislation. Queen Catherine was to be convicted by bill of attainder, rather than by ordinary prosecution in a court of law. However, until 1542 the Royal Assent could only be granted by the king in person, at a ceremony in which the whole text of the bill