(first published in the Kent Messenger March 2002)

Anne Boleyn is famous as one of the six wives of Henry VIII. Legend has it that Henry first saw her in the Rose Garden at Hever Castle . But who has heard of her elder sister Mary? A new book sheds an intriguing light on how the course of English history might have been completely different.

The new historical novel by Philippa Gregory led her to be a time detective researching Kent 's famous Boleyn family at Hever Castle . She came across the character Mary Boleyn whilst reading about the Tudor navy and discovered a ship called Mary Boleyn.

"At first I thought there must be some mistake. The ship must have been called Anne Boleyn, or perhaps it was the famous ship Mary Rose," Philippa said.

"But then I read around and discovered that Anne had a sister who was King Henry VIII's lover long before Anne even came to court. Mary was the absolute star of the glamorous competitive court around Henry, she was his popular mistress and gave birth to two children who may have been fathered by him.

"Astoundingly one was a boy. If Henry had divorced Queen Katherine of Aragon - as he did for her sister - he would have at once have had an heir named Henry - and Elizabeth would never have been born."