Living, Breathing History Part I

Throughout the writing of The Common Hours, I wanted to be present with the people I was laying down on the page, starting with the real historical figures of Elizabeth Tudor and John Dee. We are blessed to have access to the different facets of Elizabeth, from her body politic to her psyche.  The latter is what I wanted to understand. Being a psychologist/coach, I have to confess that I wish she could be my client. Her childhood alone was full of trauma: losing her mother Anne Boleyn before her 3rd birthday because her father ordered her murder by beheading, one day a princess the next day seen as a bastard, four step-mothers, two ruling half-siblings and sexually molested at 13 while living in her last step-mother’s home by her new husband, who was also the brother to her mother’s successor as queen.

With that, any experience that brings me closer to the real woman, lights me up. Fortunately, there are several sources that strive to bring you deeper into the real feel of the history, here are a few:

  • Lucy Worsley, OBE, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces has several documentaries Documentary Play List that range from dressing as the queen to celebrating Yuletide, Tudor style
  • David Starkey, CBE, FRHistS, constitutional historian gets right to Elizabeth’s frame of mind throughout her reign in his books, interviews and documentaries Elizabeth Documentary
  • Anna Whitelock, FRHistS, Director of the Centre for Public History, Hermitage & Engagement with the Past  writes vividly about the very human and private sides to Elizabeth’s life as regent in The Queen’s Bed