Tags:
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Biography & Autobiography,
England,
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Historical - British,
Queen; consort of Henry VIII; King of England;,
Anne Boleyn;,
1507-1536,
Henry VIII; 1509-1547,
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translate documents from Latin and French; Patricia Macleod of Sutton Library, for putting me in touch with Glen Lucas and for organizing such wonderful events; Sue Wingrove of
BBC History
magazine, for very kindly sending me photocopies of out-of-print articles; Canon Anthony Verhees (Father Luke), for advice and information on funeral masses in the sixteenth century and other issues raised by Anne Boleyn’s fate; the historian Christopher Warwick, another dear friend, for advice, and for photographing a model of the Tower of London based on the 1597 map; Monica Tandy and Alan Mudie, for information on ghost stories about Anne Boleyn; Samantha Brown and Ann Morrice of Historic Royal Palaces, for their wonderful enthusiasm for Tudor history and for making it possible for me to speak about Anne and Henry VIII at Hampton Court, which has been an enormous privilege.
The list of people who have supported me in various ways whilst I was writing this book is a long one, but I wish especially to mention my agent, Julian Alexander; my commissioning editors, Will Sulkin at Jonathan Cape in London and Susanna Porter at Ballantine Books in New York; my editorial director, Anthony Whittome, his assistant James Nightingale, and the dedicated and helpful publishing teams at Random House in the United Kingdom and the United States. I am tremendously grateful to you all.
More special thanks must go to my family and friends, who have all had to put up with me during the writing of this book, in particular my wonderfully supportive husband, Rankin; my son, John; my daughter, Kate; my mother, Doreen Cullen; and my cousin, Christine Armour. I wish also to express my gratitude to (in no particular order) Ian Robinson, Kate Williams, Siobhan Clarke, Anthony Cunningham, Leza Mitchell, Richard Foreman, Alison Montgomerie, Roger England, Joan and John Borman, David Crothers, Richard Stubbings, Kathleen Carroll, Ian Franklin, Jean and Nick Hubbard, Nicholas and Carol Bennett, Anthony and Jackie Goodman, Pauline Hall, Karin Scherer, Gary and Barbara Leeds, Rose Lukas, John and Joanna Marston, Anita Myatt, Josephine Ross, Burnelland Shelley Tucker, Monica and John Tyler, Peter Taylor, Frank and Janet Taylor, Nicola Tallis, Alex von Tunzelmann, Jane Robins, Alice Hogge, Justin Pollard, Nellie Verhees, Kenneth and Elizabeth Weir, Ronald and Alison Weir, Martha Whittome, Jessie Childs, Helen Rappaport, Lynn and Anne Saunders, Jane Furnival, Mavis Cheek, Molly Bradshaw, Dave Musgrove and many more!!
You have all been wonderful in so many ways—thank you.
Alison Weir,
Carshalton, Surrey,
Christmas 2008
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Anne Boleyn, as she probably looked at the time of her fall, artist unknown, sixteenth century, Nidd Hall, Yorkshire © The Trustees of the 16th Viscount Mountgarret Will Trust
Henry VIII, painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1536-7, Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid, Spain/The Bridgeman Art Library
Jane Seymour, artist unknown, 1540s, the Society of Antiquaries of London/The Bridgeman Art Library
Sir Nicholas Carew, workshop of Hans Holbein, 1530s, by kind permission of the Trustees of the 9 th Duke of Buccleuch’s Chattles Fund
The Lady Mary, painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1536, The Royal Collection © 2009 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond, miniature by Lucas Horenbout, c. 1534-5, The Royal Collection © 2009 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1539, The Royal Collection © 2009 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire, Tomb brass, c. 1539, St. Peter’s Church, Hever, Kent, photograph reproduced by kind permission of H. Martin Stuchfield
Signature of George Boleyn, Lord Rochford © British Library Board, Royal MS. 20 B XXI, f.2v
Signature of Mark Smeaton
© British Library Board, Royal MS. 20 B XXI, f.98
Henry Parker, Lord Morley, painting by Albrecht Durer, 1523 © The Trustees of
C. J. Cherryh
Joan Johnston
Benjamin Westbrook
Michael Marshall Smith
ILLONA HAUS
Lacey Thorn
Anna Akhmatova
Phyllis Irene Radford, Brenda W. Clough
Rose Tremain
Lee Falk