 Although Henry 's marriage to Catherine has since been described as " unusually good " , it is known that Henry took mistresses . It was revealed in 1510 that Henry had been conducting an affair with one of the sisters of Edward Stafford , 3rd Duke of Buckingham , either Elizabeth or Anne Hastings , Countess of Huntingdon . The most significant mistress for about three years , starting in 1516 , was Elizabeth Blount . Blount is one of only two completely undisputed mistresses , few for a virile young king . Exactly how many Henry had is disputed : David Loades believes Henry had mistresses " only to a very limited extent " , whilst Alison Weir believes there were numerous other affairs . Catherine did not protest , and in 1518 fell pregnant again with another girl , who was also stillborn . Blount gave birth in June 1519 to Henry 's illegitimate son , Henry FitzRoy . The young boy was made Duke of Richmond in June 1525 in what some thought was one step on the path to his eventual legitimisation . In 1533 , FitzRoy married Mary Howard , but died childless three years later . At the time of Richmond 's death in June 1536 , Parliament was enacting the Second Succession Act , which could have allowed him to become king . 
