Peter Rhodes on the new Rebecca, dignity for animals and judging historical figures by our own standards

My item last Friday about giving animals legal rights may have strayed into whimsy (I do not seriously believe elephants would claim compensation in buns), but it raised the issue of animal dignity. Our attitude towards animals is changing. Only a few generations ago, the ritual of killing the family pig was something to show the kids. Today, we shudder at the thought.

So what will our grandchildren think of programmes such as The Yorkshire Vet (C5) with its close-focus images of cattle being bloodily de-horned and an afterbirth being pulled out of an alpaca? Scenes like this may be informative and the treatments are doubtless necessary. But do humans have the right to film creatures so intimately, in such distress, and broadcast it for entertainment?

A Tudor warrant book, newly re-examined by experts, reveals how Henry VIII ordered precise details for the execution of his wife Anne Boleyn. Her alleged crimes carried the penalty of burning at the stake. But Henry insisted on a swift beheading with a sword. One Tudor historian says the document reinforces the image of Henry as a pathological monster. But does it? Should we judge a historical figure by the beliefs of our own times? By the standards of his age, Henry thought he was being merciful.