A chronicle play in five acts, first produced in 1612-13 and published in the First Folio of 1623 from a transcript of a fair copy, made by the author, prepared for reading. The primary source of the play was Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles.

The figure of the Prologue comes onto the stage to declare that what follows is a serious play.

Several lords, including Buckingham, enter; Buckingham is angry that Cardinal Wolsey has such powerful influence over the king. Buckingham suspects Wolsey of being ambitious and disloyal. The other lords urge him to keep his words to himself, but Cardinal Wolsey, a close advisor to King Henry VII, has arranged that the Duke of Buckingham is arrested on charges of treason. A guard comes to arrest Buckingham. He goes quietly to jail. Henry's wife, Queen Katherine, pleads on Buckingham's behalf with no success.

The king and queen attend a hearing in which Wolsey questions Buckingham's former employee (the Surveyor) about his loyalties. This man declares that Buckingham fancied himself next in line to the throne should the king die without an heir. Henry is angered and sentences Buckingham to death for disloyalty. However, the queen thinks that the Surveyor bears a grudge against Buckingham and has delivered lies in his testimony. Katherine condemns Wolsey, who the populace despised for the taxes he levels on them in the King Henry's name. Many lords go to a dinner party at Wolsey's house, and the king comes in disguise. Wolsey sees through the disguise, and the king meets Anne Bullen a lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine. He is very impressed with her beauty, so much so, that he begins to consider divorcing his current wife, Katherine.

Several men in the street discuss the trial of Buckingham, how he was sentenced to death, despite his eloquent defence. The common people hate Wolsey, they all agree. Buckingham speaks to the people, forgiving those who turned against him. He notes how his own death resembles that of his father, who also was killed by the king to whom he was loyal all his life.

Henry seeks counsel from Wolsey regarding his divorce from Katherine. Henry's argument is that Katherine is the widow of his brother, which makes the marriage one step removed from incest-never mind that Henry and Katherine have been wed for almost twenty years. Wolsey, already hated by Henry's courtiers for his role in Buckingham's death, is now further despised because Henry wishes a divorce. Wolsey agrees to have the Pope send a representative to render a decision on the matter. Katherine, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with such proceedings, viewing her marriage as sacred, valid, and incapable of being dissolved. Nevertheless, hearings will be held.

Several lords hear talk of the king's plan to divorce his wife, Katharine. Anne hears the news, too, and is sorry for Katharine, reflecting that she herself would never want to be the queen. Then, she receives a new title and money from the king, as a sign of his fondness for her.

A cardinal from Rome arrives with the Pope's decision about whether or not Henry may divorce Katharine. Katharine beseeches the king not to divorce her, saying that she has been a loyal and honest wife to him for two decades. She calls Wolsey a traitor and refuses to submit to his will, sweeping out of the court. The king enumerates his reasons for believing his marriage to Katharine is unlawful and must be dissolved. Wolsey and the cardinal from Rome speak to Katharine, trying to convince her to go along with the divorce so she may stay under the king's care. She curses them for their role in her demise, which enrages her after so much faithfulness.

The lords of the court now suspect Wolsey has been double-dealing in the divorce. But before they can work out a scheme to bring him down, Wolsey falls through his own inattention. The king intercepts an inventory of the possessions Wolsey has seized from fallen lords and a letter Wolsey wrote to the Pope urging the Pope to refuse the divorce request until Henry temporarily forgets his infatuation with Anne. The king confronts him and asks Wolsey if he has been a good servant, and Wolsey replies affirmatively. Then, the king shows him the papers he has uncovered. Wolsey knows he is lost. The lords deliver the king's charges against Wolsey, stripping him of his title and belongings. Wolsey regrets his ambitious behaviour and sees that he was wrong to have tried to influence the affairs of state. Saying that he finally knows himself, he leaves the court.

The king announces his marriage with Anne, (Henry proceeds to divorce Katherine and marry Anne in secret regardless of the Pope's opinion.) and people in the street scramble to watch the procession to her coronation. Katharine has now been demoted to "Princess Dowager," and she expects that her demise will lead soon to her death. Hearing of the recent death of Wolsey, she speaks against him again, but one of her attendants {Griffith) praises him. Katharine is, thus, convinced to forgive Wolsey.

In the court, the lords hear that the queen (Anne) is in labour. The king discovers a plot against his recently returned friend Cranmer, so he summons Cranmer to explain the complaints against him. Cranmer is convinced that he will fall into traps set for him, so the king gives him his ring as a sign of his support. Meanwhile, Anne gives birth to a female child.

The Council call Cranmer before them, of which he is a member, to answer to complaints against him. The king watches the proceedings from above. The lords tell Cranmer that nothing can be done about the complaints while he is a Council member, so they want to make him into a regular citizen by confining him to the Tower. When guards arrive to take him away, Cranmer shows the lords the king's ring, and the king enters the Council to scold the lords for infighting, urging them to get along with each other. Cranmer forgives those who have plotted against him, specifically Gardiner.

Commoners gather in the street to view the baptism of the king's daughter. Cranmer baptizes her as Elizabeth and speaks of her future greatness and the achievements both she and her successors will have. The Epilogue comes on stage, urging the audience to applaud.

Henry VIII, which is widely thought to be Shakespeare's last completed play, has had a long and interesting stage history, but from the mid-19th century a number of critics have doubted that Shakespeare was its sole author. Many scenes and splendid speeches were written in a style very similar to that of John Fletcher. Henry VIII differs in other ways from the histories Shakespeare wrote during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It is more episodic--more of a pageant and a series of loosely connected crises united by the deaths of Buckingham, Wolsey, and Katharine--than a skilfully plotted drama.