Hear the story of the Boleyn cousins beside the Rainbow Portrait of Elizabeth I.
Join Dr Alison Weir, best-selling author of the Six Tudor Queens series, in the Marble Hall on Thursday 24th September as she talks about her latest novel, The Boleyn Secret. The evening begins with time to explore Hatfield House at your own pace and ends with a book signing in the Armoury, hosted by Books on the Hill.
“Weir perfectly combines the dramatic colour and timing of a historical novelist with the truth to fact of a scrupulous historian.” — The Times
“Weir is excellent on the little details that bring a world to life” — The Guardian
An optional tour of the Old Palace
The evening can begin at 5pm with a guided tour of the Old Palace, the surviving wing of the Tudor palace built in 1485, where Elizabeth I spent her childhood. Tour numbers are limited and tickets must be booked in advance.
Time to explore Hatfield House
From 6pm, the House is open for you to explore at your own pace before the talk begins. The Rainbow Portrait, the Ermine Portrait, and Elizabeth I’s silk stockings and gloves are on display in the house built in 1611 by Robert Cecil, the Queen’s principal Secretary of State and closest adviser in her last years.
The talk and the signing
At 7pm, Alison Weir takes to the Marble Hall to talk about The Boleyn Secret, the woman at its centre and the Tudor world she moved through. Afterwards, from 8pm, she will be signing copies in the Armoury, with books available on the night from Books on the Hill.
Dr Alison Weir is the biggest-selling female historian in the United Kingdom since records began in 1997, and the fifth best-selling historian overall. She has published thirty-two titles and sold more than three million books, over a million of them in the UK and 2.2 million in the USA. She is currently working on two concurrent series: the Tudor Rose trilogy of novels about Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII and Mary I, and England’s Medieval Queens, a quartet of works of non-fiction.
Her latest novel, The Boleyn Secret, follows a woman who has remained in the shadows of the Tudor story.
Katherine Carey is the daughter of Mary Boleyn. At the age of twelve, she attends her aunt, Queen Anne Boleyn, to the scaffold. Horrified by her grim end, and believing her innocent, she conceives a deep hatred for King Henry VIII, who sent his wife to a terrible death.
Katherine spends much of her young life as a companion to Princess Elizabeth, Henry and Anne’s daughter. The two become close, and when Katherine marries Sir Francis Knollys for love, Elizabeth is jealous.
As time passes, Katherine begins to sense that there is a secret associated with her own background. Only when her mother is on her deathbed does she find out the awful truth. It is a secret that will follow her throughout her life, as she flees religious persecution with her husband and lives abroad in fear, returning home only when Elizabeth becomes queen. But the bond between the Boleyn cousins will never be the same again.
“Vivid and utterly addictive… brings to life a fascinating woman who has remained in the shadows for too long” — Tracy Borman
Thursday 24th September, 5pm to 9pm. The talk begins at 7pm, so please allow time to park and make your way to the House.
The talk is held in the Marble Hall at Hatfield House, with the book signing next door in the Armoury. The optional 5pm tour takes place in the Old Palace, a short walk from Hatfield House.
Guests arriving by car should enter via George’s Gate for the main visitors’ car park (AL9 5HX). Parking is free of charge.
All prices are subject to booking fees from TicketSource.
Refreshments
Refreshments are available to purchase from the Coach House Kitchen in Stable Yard, which will be open until 6pm.
Books on the Hill
The signing is hosted by Books on the Hill, an independent bookshop on Holywell Hill in St Albans, run by a team of dedicated book collectors and reading enthusiasts who strive to match the right book with the right person. Alongside new fiction, non-fiction and children’s books, the shop has a Curiosity Cabinet downstairs and a Reading Room upstairs, home to its own events, vintage and antiquarian books and a coffee shop.
This is a special one-evening only event, and capacity is limited.
Book ahead to secure your place.
