Plot

Henry VIII marries Marie of Normandy but struggles with her garlic consumption. He seeks to annul the marriage without angering her cousin, the French king, by finding legal grounds for the annulment to avoid political conflict.

After having just wed Marie of Normandy, Henry VIII's eager to consummate their marriage. Unfortunately, she's always eating garlic, and refuses to stop. Deciding to get rid of her - in his usual manner, Henry must find some way of doing it without provoking war with Marie's cousin, the King of France.—Simon N. McIntosh-Smith <Simon.N.Smith@cs.cf.ac.uk>

Tells the [fictional] tale not of the recent discovery that Henry VIII had two additional wives, but of his relationships with them. After Henry has wife number two executed, he immediately marries who is now known as wife number three, Frenchwoman Marie, she chosen by Cardinal Wolsey to strengthen ties with France as she is the favored cousin of France's King Francis I. But just as Henry and Marie are about to consummate their marriage, he discovers something so Frenchly egregious about her not to go through with it, something that she refuses to give up as an integral part of her life. With the aid of his best friend Thomas Cromwell, Henry tries to put off any relations with her so that an annulment can be arranged. But Marie is a tougher person to deal with than Henry imagined in her determination to remain Queen and to have her womanly desires satisfied. The next "wife" is the voluptuous Bettina with who Henry falls in lust at first sight. In wanting her to be his wife, Henry has a larger issue with Marie beyond the fact of she being his wife.—Huggo

The film opens with a passage, which states: This film is based on a recently discovered manuscript by one William Cobbler, which reveals that Henry VIII did in fact have two more wives. Although it was first thought that Cromwell originated the story, it is now known to be all Cobbler's, from beginning to end.

Henry VIII (Sid James) has his wife (Patsy Rowlands) beheaded (as she failed to consummate their marriage) and quickly marries Marie of Normandy (Joan Sims). Thomas Cromwell (Kenneth Williams) is the chancellor of England & is close to the King. This union between Henry and Marie was organized at the behest of bumbling Cardinal Wolsey (Terry Scott) as Marie is cousin of King Francis I of France. Henry's wedding night ardor dies when he finds she reeks of garlic. Before the marriage can be consummated, Marie eats a clove of garlic, claiming it is a Normandy tradition to eat garlic before coitus. Henry is repulsed by the smell and leaves. Marie refuses to stop eating it.

Marie gets sexually frustrated as Henry won't sleep with her and soon receives amorous advances from Sir Roger De Lodgerley (Charles Hawtrey). Lodgerley has sexual relations with Marie in Henry's absence Henry wants to be rid of Marie as soon as possible by getting the marriage annulled. But Cromwell advises Henry that England cannot afford a war with France & hence he should act with caution. Wolsey adds that the annulment would make the Pope mad as he had declared publicly that it would not be appropriate for a man to have 6 wives.

Henry tries to get an annulment of his wedding from the Vatican, but the pope demands 5,000 pieces of gold through this emissary. This demand is conveyed to Wolsey, who in turn asks for 10,000 pieces of Gold from Cromwell (Wolsey was hoping to make 5,000 pieces of gold for himself through the transaction). In turn Cromwell asks for 20,000 gold pieces from the King to secure the divorce. Henry doesn't have that kind of money, so Cromwell advises him to add a sex enjoyment tax to gather revenues.

Henry is keen to be rid of Marie, as he has met the lovely Bettina (Barbara Windsor). Bettina is the daughter of the Earl of Bristol (Peter Butterworth), a punning reference to Bristols. Thomas Cromwell tries to assist in ousting Marie by organizing Lord Hampton of Wick (Kenneth Connor) to kidnap the King in a staged plot. Cromwell and Lord Hampton also secretly plot to bring the King to harm as part of this escapade (they both had been planning to rid England of Henry for several years), but the false kidnapping fails as Queen Marie fights off the kidnappers all by herself

3 months go by & Marie grows frustrated. She tries to convince Cromwell to have sex with her & promises him the throne the England if he was to help her get rid of Henry by means of an accident. But she faints & it turns out she is pregnant due to her dalliances with Lodgerley. Henry discovers that Marie is pregnant with Lodgerley's child. Henry seizes on Marie's infidelity with De Lodgerley to be free of her; all he needs is a confession from De Lodgerley. He orders Cromwell to extract a confession using any means necessary.

Henry imprisons her in the Tower of London and commands Thomas Cromwell to obtain a confession of paternity from Lodgerley. Marie convinces Wolsey to send for the French ambassador, who tells Henry that Francis I is so thrilled with the successful marriage that he will give England 50,000 gold pieces.

This leads to a running joke in the torture chamber as Henry keeps changing his mind about the confession due to political necessities, requiring multiple changes and retractions of the original confession. Henry makes Bettina the Lady in waiting & transfers her to the palace to have sex with her. But Bettina spends all of her time with the pregnant Marie & Henry still doesn't get any. Henry is torn between the lust Bettina and the 50,000 gold coins & hence keeps oscillating between a confession & a retraction from Lodgerley. The fear that the ambassador will discover Marie's imprisonment, convinces Henry to release Marie. He commands Cromwell to force a retraction of Lodgerley's confession.

Henry finally gives in to his lust, gets the confession & marries Bettina. Meanwhile the handsome King Francis of France arrives in England with his army on a surprise visit, & confronts Henry with the need to meet Marie, whom Henry had confined her in the Tower of London. Henry sends Wosley to fetch Marie. Francis walks up to the King's bedchamber & finds Bettina. Bettina tells Francis that Marie is in the tower of London.

Then news reaches the palace that Marie was killed in an attack on the tower of London. But the truth emerges that it was Lord Hampton who had rescued the Queen to expose Henry. The Henry buys Lord Hampton's silence in front of Francis by promising him a bounty of 10,000 gold crowns a year.

Marie plays along when Henry punishes Lord Cromwell for accusing Marie of infidelity, when he produces the signed confession from De Lodgerley. Henry arranges for Cromwell and Wolsey to be executed as a result of their supposed inaction.

The matter is finally settled when Marie offers Bettina in marriage to Francis. Finding Bettina to be a suitable wife, Francis asks Henry if he can marry her. Henry realizes that the only way to avoid war with France is to consent.

Charmed by Henry's loyalty, Marie announces that she loves him and goes into labor. Despite not being the biological father, Henry is moved by the birth of the child and promises to serve as a faithful husband and father, though he immediately meets Catherine Howard (Monica Dietrich) and resolves to marry her.

He rushes to stop the execution of Cromwell and Wolsey, begging for their help in divorcing Marie and ensuring marriage with Howard, but both men cry out 'Carry on, executioner! Carry on!', deciding they would rather be beheaded than face an even crueler punishment from King Francis, whilst Henry watches astonished.