The ugly last days of Henry VIII

After Cromwell's execution Henry trusted no more in ministers but, in his own person - fat, coarse, diseased, and dangerous - headed a government more absolute than ever. Parliament had given away some of its own authority by permitting the king to make valid laws simply by proclamation, and it had given a dangerous extension to the scope of treason. It was unsafe to murmur even mild discontent against a ruler who did not hesitate to behead.

(from A History of England and the British Empire)