alison weir

Royal Tudor blood ran in her veins. Her mother was a queen, and she herself was the granddaughter, niece, cousin and grandmother of monarchs. Some thought she should be queen of England. Beautiful and tempestuous, […]

Many historical fiction fans in their thousands have this month been reading The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel, the final book in her remarkable recreation of the life of Thomas Cromwell that, in […]

For the publication of the fifth book in the bestselling Six Tudor Queens series Alison Weir has created this special True or False quiz about Katheryn Howard. Click below to take the quiz!   A […]

The story of Katheryn Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife, is one of the saddest and most shocking episodes in English history. It is also the subject of a very modern debate. Was Katheryn a promiscuous […]

Most people think of Anna of Cleves – or Anna of Kleve, as she should be known – as the luckiest of Henry VIII’s wives. Having re-researched her story in depth for Anna of Kleve: […]

Until last week, I would have stated firmly that there were no portraits of any of Henry VIII’s wives as young teenagers. But, wandering around the Basilika of St Lambertus in Dusseldorf (the former capital […]

Why am I calling my next novel in the Six Tudor Queens series Anna of Kleve? Why not Anne of Cleves, as its subject is usually known? Firstly, I had decided at the outset that […]

It’s always a pleasure to choose subjects for the e-shorts that accompany my Six Tudor Queens novels. There are so many options, some of them not so well known, and the latter are gifts to […]

For publication of the fourth book in the bestselling Six Tudor Queens series Alison Weir has created this special True or False quiz about Anna of Kleve. Click below to take the quiz!   ‘Alison […]

Find out more about the authors featuring in our H for History Rooftop Bookclub on 19th March, sponsored by BBC History. Find out more about the event. Tickets available here. This sensational evening features eight […]

It appears likely that there was some kind of scandal in Jane Seymour’s family before she came to court. By 1519, her brother Edward had married an heiress called Catherine Fillol. She bore two sons, […]

‘Lord! What lamentation shortly after was made for the death of Queen Jane, and of none in this realm was it more heavily taken than of the King’s Majesty himself.’ Jane Seymour’s passing at 2am […]