HOW TO SURVIVE A TUDOR AND STUART COURT
11:00 – 12:15 | SATURDAY 13 APRIL
BRITISH LIBRARY & ONLINE
Join acclaimed actor, comedian, writer and podcaster Charlie Higson for a riveting romp through Tudor and Stuart history. In this special live recording of his popular podcast Willy, Willy, Harry, Stee…, Higson and a star-studded team of experts – Dr Alexander Courtney (James VI: Britannic Prince), Dr Nicola Clark (The Waiting Game) and Ophelia Field (The Favourite) – tackle one of history’s biggest questions: just how do you survive an early modern court? From scandal, intrigue, politicking and treachery, to Tudor queens, ladies-in-waiting, and Stuart favourites, keep your wits about you as we enter the cut-throat Tudor and Stuart court.
INDIVIDUAL TICKET: IN-PERSON £10 / ONLINE £5
SATURDAY PASS: IN-PERSON (SOLD OUT) / ONLINE £15
WEEKEND PASS: IN-PERSON (SOLD OUT) / ONLINE £25
About the speakers
- Charlie Higson: Charlie Higson is an author, actor, comedian and writer for television and radio. He wrote the phenomenally successful Young Bond series which has now sold over a million copies in the UK and has been translated into over 24 different languages. His TV successes include The Fast Show, Randall and Hopkirk Deceased and 2015’s Jekyll and Hyde. He’s the host of popular podcast Willy Willy Harry Stee…, which tells the history of the monarchy.
- Dr Nicola Clark: Nicola Clark is a Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Chichester. Her research focuses primarily on women’s dynastic and political roles across the late medieval and early modern period. Her first book, Gender, Family, and Politics: The Howard Women, 1485-1558, was published by Oxford University Press in 2018, and she also writes for public audiences, with work featured in History Today and on the History Extra website. She has spoken about her research at events for Historic Royal Palaces, the National Archives, various schools, and academic institutions, and was the historical research specialist for the 2016 BBC1 docu-drama Six Wives, presented by Lucy Worsley. Her first trade book, The Waiting Game: The Untold Story of the Women Who Served the Tudor Queens is published by W&N in April 2024.
- Dr Alexander Courtney: Alexander Courtney is an independent scholar whose research has explored several aspects of the kingship of James VI & I. He graduated with a double starred-first from Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he also completed his doctoral research. He teaches at The Perse School, Cambridge. Alex has appeared on the BBC in Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents (2017) and, among other things, is currently working on projects connected with the newly deciphered letters of Mary, Queen of Scots. His first book, James VI, Britannic Prince, is published by Routledge in June 2024.
- Ophelia Field: Ophelia Field is the author of the critically acclaimed life of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (1660-1744) titled The Favourite, first published in 2002 and in revised edition in 2018. In 2008, her group biography, again set in the early eighteenth century, The Kit-Cat Club: Friends who Imagined a Nation, was published by HarperCollins and was named as one of the FT History Books of the Year. She is currently Director of the London-based MA/PhD Biography Programme run by the University of Buckingham, having previously lectured at the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters (CELL). In parallel, Ophelia has worked for over 25 years as a policy analyst and communications consultant for a wide range of human rights and refugee organisations.
This event is kindly supported by PLB Ltd
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