Who Was Henry VIII?

Five hundred years ago an eighteen year old boy sat on this chair in Westminster Abbey to be crowned king of England. He would grow up to become the most infamous monarch in history. Henry VIII is the only king whose shape you remember.
For Henry is not simply an historical figure. Henry is a myth.
He is the king who had six wives and beheaded two of them. It's the best and the bloodiest royal soap opera of them all.
But Henry isn't just soap opera. He's also one of the most important and original monarchs ever to have sat on the throne of England.
Henry and I go back a long way. I'd been fascinated by him all my life. Now on the five hundredth anniversary of Henry's accession, it's finally time to write his biography.
For the man behind the myth is a psychological enigma. The eighteen year old who was crowned here was a slim beautiful elegant musical poetical reasonable charming sweet tempered young man who'd married for love.
How does he turn into the Henry who is the horror? The Henry who is the tyrant. Who, in short, was Henry?