Anne Boleyn was arrested at Greenwich and imprisoned in the Tower of London on charges of adultery, incest, and treason.
On 2 May 1536, Anne Boleyn was arrested at Greenwich Palace and taken by barge to the Tower of London, charged with adultery, incest, and high treason against King Henry VIII. The accusations included affairs with several courtiers and even her own brother, George Boleyn, charges most modern historians regard as almost certainly fabricated to serve Henry's political and personal interests.
By this point, Henry had grown enamored with Jane Seymour and was eager to end his marriage to Anne, who had failed to produce a surviving male heir after a series of miscarriages, including the loss of a son in early 1536. Anne's outspoken personality and political enemies, particularly Thomas Cromwell, are believed to have contributed to the swift and severe case built against her.
Anne's imprisonment in the Tower marked a shocking fall from the height of royal power to imminent disgrace and death. She was held in the same royal apartments she had occupied before her coronation just three years earlier, a stark and deliberate irony. Her arrest set in motion a rapid judicial process — trial, conviction, and execution — all within roughly two and a half weeks, reflecting the ruthless efficiency with which Henry's court could act against even a queen when political necessity demanded it.